Servant Leadership

[0:00] I was still in high school and then was involved in church leadership in different roles over the years.! Our God is still in control.

[0:32] We are clearly not. And sometimes that just happens. So we have had people all over the building stepping into gaps. And most of you don't even know where the gaps are.

[0:43] And I'm going to keep it that way. To protect the guilty and just to keep it. And I overstay that. There are no guilty. It's just a matter of some Sundays are like that. But it's all worked out just fine.

[0:55] So open your Bibles to Mark chapter 10. We're going to continue in our series there. I want to talk to you a little bit about my perception of Mark.

[1:07] And how that's changed over the last several weeks. Several months actually. So I don't know where I picked this up. But some of you may be able to relate to this.

[1:19] I have thought of Mark as kind of the red-headed stepchild. With apologies to people who have red hair. Including two of my sons. But I've always looked at Mark as the red-headed stepchild of the four Gospels.

[1:31] So if you want theological depth. You go to John. If you want to get a real clear Jewish perspective of Jesus as the coming king. You go to Matthew. If you want a really deep.

[1:45] Well thought through. Well researched look at the history of what happened. In Jesus life. You go to Luke. And if you're a new believer. And you don't know much. And you're looking. Or you're looking for some light reading.

[1:55] Go to Mark. Which I think is really a disservice to Mark. Well to add to that. If you read the book of Acts. Well actually. Let me back up.

[2:05] At the end of Mark. Mark kind of gives a signature in the book. We're going to come up to this in a few weeks. There's this weird verse. I think it's in Mark 14 or 15. Where Jesus has been captured.

[2:18] The disciples and the people who are following Jesus are fleeing. And this weird verse says that this young man. Who was wrapped in a sheet. The sheep gets grabbed by somebody. And he runs off naked.

[2:30] And scholars think that that was Mark. Doesn't help his case as being a responsible gospel writer. And then you get to the book of Acts. It's in the book of Acts. He goes out with Paul and Barnabas.

[2:42] And he goes home early. Because he can't handle how rough it is on the mission field. So Paul doesn't think very highly of him. To the point actually. That in a later mission trip.

[2:53] Barnabas wants to bring Mark. Paul says no. And they have such a harsh fight over it. Paul and Barnabas. That they split. Barnabas takes Mark. And Paul takes Silas.

[3:05] Now eventually in Paul's epistles. You discover that Mark actually was a responsible guy. He demonstrated that he had grown up and matured.

[3:16] And Paul speaks very highly of him in a couple of the epistles. So Mark redeems himself. But all of that put together. Leaves you thinking. Oh you know we've got three really good gospels.

[3:28] And you know. Okay and we got Mark's gospel. And I'm learning that that is not accurate at all. Mark was a brilliant writer. Tim and I were hanging out yesterday afternoon.

[3:41] And we were talking. Tim you're right there. Tim and I were talking yesterday afternoon about this. What I've learned about Mark. And to appreciate him. About him as a writer. The layers in the gospel of Mark.

[3:54] Are so subtle. But so profound. That they reinforce. The way Mark tells the story. And then works in Jesus. Dialogue. And then works in the miracles themselves.

[4:06] And the timing of those things. Every thread. That he's woven through the book. Reinforces the other. And when you really look at that. Mark is a profoundly.

[4:17] Well thought out. Deeply impactful book. Mark. And so. I want you. With me. To repent. Of denigrating Mark.

[4:28] And recognizing that. Yeah he's still a knucklehead. You know I was going to work that in there. But he really. Wrote well. And we. We do ourselves. And the gospel.

[4:39] A disservice. By not really. Going deep. And thinking. About. Not only what he wrote. But why. And that. By the way. Is also an important practice.

[4:50] As you approach the Bible. Because not only is it divinely inspired. We know that. God worked through individual gospel. Bible writers. Different authors. But there's a purpose for the order.

[5:02] There's a purpose behind the word order. There's a purpose behind the narrative. There is so much more depth. To God's word. Than we. We can even begin to appreciate. That's why we go back to it again.

[5:14] And again. And again. Because it is. Absolutely. Practical to our needs. It addresses the core needs of our life. The things that we face every day.

[5:24] And trust me. It is absolutely relevant. In 2025. Because God never changes. People don't change. We're as broken today.

[5:35] As we were in ancient times. And the Bible speaks to our condition. We need to be people of the word. Knucklehead. So. With all that to say. I want you to recognize with me.

[5:47] That Mark. Knew what he was doing. So I apologize Mark. When I see you in heaven. But you're still a beloved knucklehead. So.

[5:57] Today. I have a problem. Actually. Every day I have a problem. This is. I'll just tell you what today's problem is. So. I did my studies for the week. Kara and I were sitting up in bed earlier this week.

[6:08] And I was telling her. You know. I could do. 12 or 13 sermons. Out of this one passage. There is so much here. So. I'm making my problem.

[6:19] Your problem. We should get out of here. Probably about 2 o'clock. By the time I deliver all 13 of those sermons. Is that okay? Anybody who says yes. It's okay. Is lying. I know that's not okay.

[6:29] I'm going to give you two sermons. And still get out on time. Because the first one is going to be brief. So you're in Mark chapter 10. We're going to look at just a couple of. Three verses.

[6:41] Starting at verse 32. To set the scene before we get there. Imagine the Sea of Galilee. Jordan River. The Dead Sea.

[6:52] Jerusalem is over here to the west. Jesus is in the Judean wilderness. He's been going back and forth. On either side of the Jordan. Now he's headed up to Jerusalem.

[7:04] We're getting to the end of the story. So that's where we pick up the gospel narrative. Mark 10.32. They were on the road going up to Jerusalem. And Jesus was walking on ahead of them. And they were amazed.

[7:16] And those who followed were fearful. And again he took the twelve aside. And began to tell them what was going to happen to him. Saying, behold we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests.

[7:29] And the scribes. And they will condemn him to death. And will hand him over to the Gentiles. They will mock him. And spit on him. And scourge him. That's whip him. And kill him.

[7:40] And three days later. He will rise again. Let's pray. Father thank you that your Son was at the head of the crowd.

[7:51] Knowing he was going to his death. He was walking with a steadfast. Sure stride. Knowing what was coming at the beginning of the next week.

[8:03] And yet he did that for us. And Lord I pray that as we spend time in your word this morning. As we think about what Mark shares with us in his gospel narrative. That we would recognize that what he's describing was by design for us.

[8:19] You love us so much. That you sent your Son to die for us. And then you sent your Spirit and guided Mark's pen. As he wrote these words that we're unpacking today.

[8:32] Lord make us open to what you're saying. And to take ownership. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. So the first sermon is going to be short. Something really struck me about verse 32.

[8:43] It's actually not describing one group of people. It's describing two groups. So when Mark wrote they were on the road going up to Jerusalem. That's covering everybody. Okay.

[8:54] That's everybody who's part of the crowd. But that crowd is in two groups. The first group is what I've called the crowd. There are people who have been following Jesus all over the place.

[9:04] Because they want his stuff. Jesus is offering stuff. For one thing he's entertaining. Just like WWE is entertaining. We love to watch big guys fight in the ring and beat the tar out of each other.

[9:18] Right? That's why I love football season which started Thursday night. It's watching big guys bashed heads. Well everywhere Jesus went. He ended up in a wrestling match.

[9:29] So to speak with the Pharisees. There's this constant. For the onlookers. It was a very entertaining clash of cultures and worldview and understanding of what God was doing.

[9:40] So that was entertaining. The crowd's following just to get some entertainment. Break up the monotony. Jesus was known as somebody who'd fed the 5,000 and the 4,000. And I suspect that when Jesus fed you, it wasn't off of the day-old shelf at the back of the bakery.

[9:54] It probably tasted like fresh baked bread that was just absolutely perfect like grandma used to make. And the fish, when he divided that up, I'm sure it wasn't sushi.

[10:05] I don't like sushi. Sushi's gross. I think that's in the Bible somewhere. I'll bet that that fish that they ate tasted like it was a fresh filet that had just been hot off the grill.

[10:17] Like Jim Potter would make. Delicious. Because Jesus loves us. So they want his stuff. And then he casts out demons. He heals people.

[10:29] People who have had illnesses that have gone on for decades. And yet Jesus healed them. And so they're following, hoping that they'll either get some stuff or see some stuff, because that's kind of cool too.

[10:41] They want to be entertained. So that's one group. The other group is the disciples that Jesus calls aside. The ones who have chosen to respond to his call to follow.

[10:56] In my devotional reading this week, I read in Matthew about broad is the way that leads to destruction. Narrow is the way that leads to life. This is a very graphic illustration of that.

[11:06] The crowd is large. We know that Jesus attracted crowds as big as 5,000 people, 5,000 men, plus women and children. So when Jesus fed the 5,000, he probably fed 10,000 to 15,000.

[11:18] That's not a small group. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. But he calls aside the disciples. A dozen or so.

[11:29] Probably more than just the 12. But certainly not. 10,000 to 15,000. So narrow is the way that leads to life. What makes the difference between the two groups?

[11:44] The answer to a simple question. Jesus is saying, said to them, he's saying to you this morning, will you follow me? Will you abandon your nets?

[11:58] Like you said to Andrew and Simon and James and John? Will you abandon your tax collector's booth? Will you follow me? If you were paying attention when Pastor Tim spoke last week, it's the exact same thing he said to the rich young ruler.

[12:16] Will you turn away from this thing that's distracting you and follow me? That's the question that Jesus is asking you this morning. Will you follow me?

[12:29] It's a simple question. If your answer is no, you just want his stuff, you're part of the crowd. And you might get some stuff. But what you won't get is what Jesus is offering.

[12:45] Because what Jesus told the rich young ruler, if you recall, was one thing you lack, go and sell your possessions, give to the poor, and you have treasure in heaven.

[12:57] Come, follow me. It's an expression of value. Do you prize Jesus and what he's offering to you above everything else? That's the question.

[13:09] And I can't resolve it for you. You have to resolve it for yourself. And so I would challenge you to ask the question, do I recognize that Jesus is dying on the cross for my sins?

[13:21] And that his resurrection to new life is what he's offering to me. Is the death of my old self that's broken to a resurrection of new life, new life now, a changed life, redemption, and then ultimately eternal life in heaven?

[13:38] That's what's on offer. But you have to decide to put your trust in Christ and to follow him. What I'm going to suggest to you is that if you don't know the answer to that question, or if you know it's a no, we need to talk at the end of the service.

[13:55] You can talk to me. You can talk to Tom Krause, who led our breaking bread this morning. Talk to Joe. He'd love to talk to you. Pastor Tim. We would love to share with you what that means and how you take those steps.

[14:10] But you need to resolve that question. Are you part of the crowd? Are you a follower of Jesus? Trust me, it's much better as part of the small group that's a follower of Jesus. So we're going to pray together, and then we'll head into our next sermon.

[14:25] Father, thank you that you offer us eternal life. That Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin on our behalf.

[14:36] Lord Jesus, that you took all of our sin on yourself. You accepted the wrath of God. You exhausted the wrath of God so that we wouldn't have to experience it. And in exchange, we have the righteousness of God because of you.

[14:50] That's what you're offering to us. And Lord, I pray that for those who have trusted Christ, who are following you, that we would recognize just how great a gift we've received. That we would just be reminded.

[15:02] And for those of us who maybe have never trusted Christ, that we would take a hard look at what you're offering and recognize that no greater gift has ever been offered to us.

[15:13] And all the way we have to do is to accept it. And I pray if there's any here this morning who have not accepted that offer, that they would do so today and put their trust in you. Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name.

[15:25] Amen. So the next sermon is the rest of the passage. It's Psalm, or it's Psalm, Mark 35 to 45. So just turn over a page if you need to.

[15:36] And before we read, I'm going to hold up this red book. So this is one of my favorite non-Christian books on leadership. This man, Jim Collins, is from Colorado, which of course gets him extra bounding points with me.

[15:52] Because you know, Colorado is God's country. Mr. Collins is not a believer. He's a student of organizational management. And he spent millions of dollars employing dozens of people to do a deep dive into what makes good companies that are good over an extended period of time suddenly shoot up into greatness.

[16:13] And the result of all that work was this book. And one of the chapters is entitled Level 5 Leaders. After all this effort, all this research, they discovered Level 5 Leaders.

[16:27] Well, what is a Level 5 Leader, you may ask? Good question. When he brought his research team together, he sat them down and said, okay, we're going to look at good companies. I want to discover why they became great.

[16:38] But I'm going to tell you there's one area I don't want to talk about. I don't want you to bring it up because it's a distraction. Do not come back to me and tell me that some leader came in as the chief executive officer of a company and suddenly did this magical transformation.

[16:52] That's not duplicatable. It's not helpful. I don't want to talk about it. That's off the table. I want you to find other things that these good to great companies had in common that we can then teach to companies that want to follow the same trajectory.

[17:07] So then he sent out his minions, his disciples, if you will, and they went all over the country, did hundreds of interviews, deep dive into stock portfolios, all this stuff.

[17:19] And they come back to Boulder, Colorado, sit down with Mr. Collins, and say, we got to talk about leadership. He says, I told you, no, we're not going to talk about leadership.

[17:30] And they said, we have to. You cannot, you can't say no. He says, oh, really? Whose name is on the book? Whose name is on the last book?

[17:41] I get to make the call. And they said, well, then good luck working by yourself because we can't go forward until you listen to us. But what we have to tell you is different than your assumption going in.

[17:54] You know what their research revealed? Mark chapter 10, verses 35 to 45. That the greatest leaders are servants. That the greatest leaders put themselves last and are focused relentlessly on the good of the people that they serve as leaders and to achieve the goals of the organization that they're called to lead.

[18:16] So all that money, and he could have just looked up Mark chapter 10. One of the things I love about God's word is the more you look into the latest and greatest scientific discoveries, you discover that these big-headed genius people are just rediscovering what anybody who's read the Bible has known for 2,000 years or more.

[18:40] I don't need their research to confirm my belief. I just find it humorous that they work so hard to find out what we already know. That's another reason why you need to be a student of the Bible.

[18:55] Because I'll tell you, in 59 years of life, when someone's come up and said, oh, we discovered the thing! The thing that proves the Bible wrong? Just wait. Because what's going to happen?

[19:06] You know it's coming. I'm sorry, I was wrong. The Bible's right. C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, three men who committed an enormous amount of time, energy, and thinking to disprove the gospel.

[19:24] C.S. Lewis, greatest thinker of the 20th century. Josh McDowell wrote a book called More Than a Carpenter that led thousands of people to Christ, tens of thousands, in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

[19:36] Lee Strobel, investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune, took up the crusade of disproving Christianity to convince his wife that she shouldn't become a Christian.

[19:50] He's a pastor on the West Coast and has written a dozen books proving that this book is true. And God laughs. You can trust the Bible.

[20:01] And when we talk about servant leadership this morning, I want you to enter into what Jesus was telling the disciples. So, Mark chapter 10, look at verse 35 with me.

[20:16] James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you?

[20:27] They said to him, Grant that we may sit one on your right and one on your left in your glory. But Jesus said to them, You do not know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?

[20:42] They said, We're able. One of the dumbest statements in the history of humanity. And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink you shall drink and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.

[20:57] I've always thought that this was bait and switch, by the way. But to sit on my right hand or on my left, this is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.

[21:09] Hearing this, the other ten began to feel indignant with James and John. Calling them to himself, all twelve, Jesus said to them, You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.

[21:24] But it is not this way among you. But whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man, Jesus, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

[21:42] This is critically important. And I would submit to you, this is not new. Jesus is not giving a new way of thinking about leadership. This is actually why, when the people of Israel went to Samuel and said, we want a king so we can be like everybody else, God said no at first because he knew this principle matters.

[22:11] Think back several weeks ago, we talked about why we have to have our hearts transformed. Do you remember that? Jesus talked about in the passage in discipleship, at the end of Mark 8, he said that we need a new heart.

[22:27] Our heart has to be transformed. We talked about the fact that there's three tenses. When you accept Christ as Savior, boom, you have a new heart, you're positionally saved. In the future, when we're in heaven at the Lord's return, or after we die, all the work that God has been doing in our life is completed.

[22:46] Our new heart, the transformation is complete. And in this life, as we go through life, God is working through the circumstances of our lives, the relationships that we have, our times of prayer, our times of being in the word, to shape us, to change the heart of stone to a heart of flesh that was prophesied in Ezekiel as part of the gospel.

[23:12] God knows us that the only way we would accept his rule is a total transformation from the bottom up. And what Jesus is saying in Mark chapter 10 is exactly that.

[23:24] You lead by serving. Effective leadership is from the bottom up. And these guys just rediscovered that principle. The number one trait of good to great companies is a self-effacing servant leader who does exactly what Jesus said to do.

[23:45] And from the bottom up, leads a body to success. And that's what God wants for us in the church. That's why if you get to know me, and you really press me about talking about my extreme discomfort being called pastor, it really is uncomfortable for me because I'm uncomfortable with the title because oftentimes what comes with a title is a mistaken thinking that I'm in charge, that I'm the boss, that you guys need to do what I tell you, and if you do, your life will be better.

[24:23] If you hang around our house, especially when my kids are home, occasionally I might have been known to say, everybody's happier when I'm in charge. That's me being sarcastic and ironic. That's not the case.

[24:36] I'm not comfortable with the trappings of leadership because I know my shortcomings. If you need me, you are in trouble. But if I learn to serve, and if we learn to serve each other, the way Jesus is prescribing here, it's an entirely different, it's a different world because everybody then is entering into their gifts, entering into their calling, and exercising those together.

[25:04] That's when the body functions. The king's not the head. The pastor's not the head. A team of pastors isn't the head. Jesus is the head. But even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

[25:25] Godly leadership is bottom up. We're going to unpack that. And to unpack that, we're going to look at James and John very quickly. It really struck me this week. James and John were all about power and authority.

[25:37] They were just fishermen. But they were about being in charge. Think about it. Mark 9, 38. Don't turn there. I'm just going to outline it for you. Somebody is casting out demons and healing in Jesus' name.

[25:51] What did James and John do? And Mark singles them out. They go to Jesus and tattletale. Hey, that guy was using your name and casting out demons. And Jesus said, I don't care.

[26:02] So? Anybody who is saying good of me now is not going to be a problem later. Leave them alone. It was an authority issue for James and John. Jesus was secure.

[26:15] Let him be. Think about Luke 9, verses 51 to 56. Jesus sends his advance team into Samaria, which is anti-Jewish, sends them into Samaria to set up places for Jesus to go and teach.

[26:29] One of the cities, doesn't say which one, says, oh no, we don't want, Jewish rabbi? New. He is not allowed into town. Don't even try. What did James and John say?

[26:41] Let's call down fire and brimstone. Let's go Sodom and Gomorrah on them. Jesus says, no, you don't understand the nature of your calling and who called you.

[26:53] Power and authority. They wanted power and authority. Think about earlier in Mark chapter 10. Some families come.

[27:04] The children are brought by their parents to Jesus. What do the disciples do? Nope. Those kids, kids, just children, push them aside. They don't belong here. And what was Jesus' reaction?

[27:17] He was indignant. He was angry. That's another power and authority grab by the disciples. We only want to deal with those who are worthy.

[27:28] And kids, kids are a pain. They're kind of stinky and they're loud. We don't need the master to be interrupted by children. Power and authority.

[27:39] Then, think about what we know about John, a lowly fisherman in the north. They worked up in Galilee, on the Sea of Galilee.

[27:52] And yet, when Jesus is captured at the Garden of Gethsemane, they go into Jerusalem and it says that John went into the chamber because he knew the high priest.

[28:07] And then he notices that Peter is outside the gate. So he goes outside the gate and gets Peter to come inside so Peter can see what's going on.

[28:20] And John says it's because he knew the high priest. John was connected. How does a lowly fisherman get connected? Well, I'll tell you.

[28:32] In Matthew's account of this story, Mom Zebedee is the one who's pulling strings to get them into a position of prominence.

[28:44] She's the one who takes her boys and says, let's go talk to the master. Hey, I want my boys in positions of prominence. And then the ensuing dialogue is exactly the same in both places.

[28:58] I suspect that Mom Zebedee made sure that her boys were known by the high priest. So they came by their love of power and authority, honestly. They learned it from their parents.

[29:11] Fortunately, my kids didn't learn any sinful behavior from their parents, but, you know, other people aren't so fortunate. You know I'm being sarcastic there, but that's, that's exactly the point is she taught them power and authority matters and so they come to Jesus and think about how arrogant they are.

[29:29] Think about this. they're the close, two of the three closest friends to Jesus. They go up to the Mount of Transfiguration. They see Moses and Elijah. Now, if they're thinking who's the most likely to sit on Jesus right and left, just having been on the Mount of Transfiguration, who do you think would be a logical conclusion to have those seats?

[29:52] Moses and Elijah. Elijah. So not only are these guys trying to get, jump the line and get ahead of their fellow disciples, they're trying to get ahead of two of the greatest men to ever serve God.

[30:05] Arrogance, power and authority. And that's when Jesus says, no, you guys have got it all wrong. And so they come to Jesus. You read the narrative. They ask, they set a trap.

[30:18] Those of you who are parents have all experienced this trap from your children. Hey, we're going to ask you something. But just say yes now. And every parent says, no. What do you want?

[30:30] Then I'll answer the question. Jesus, being smart, doesn't fall for the trap. They ask the question, we want to sit on your right and your left. And Jesus gives the trap back.

[30:41] Can you drink my cup? Can you go through the baptism? Well, what are they thinking? Well, we were just on the Mount of Transfiguration. Yeah, we can handle that. They didn't know what Jesus was asking.

[30:53] And so Jesus says, you are going to experience that. James was the first martyr. John was the last of the 12 to die.

[31:07] Can you imagine? I'm not sure which would be worse, to die first or to watch all of your friends over time executed for following Jesus. and yet John stayed faithful all the way to the end.

[31:22] That's the baptism that they were baptized with. And they accepted it because they saw the value of the gospel. They came to understand what a dramatic offer they were receiving when they trusted Christ.

[31:34] And then Jesus addresses the authority issue. But it is not this way among you but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.

[31:51] I am not going to unpack that this morning. That's your homework. But what I am going to do is explain the application of a sermon I gave a little over a month ago because it's relevant.

[32:02] Weeks ago I think it was a sermon about the end of Mark 8 I gave you four applications. The first of which was out of Hebrews 13, 17.

[32:15] Obey your leaders in the Lord submit to them as those who have watched over your souls and who will give an account. And then I just I didn't comment I just moved on to the next application which was to wrestle with God which I did develop.

[32:30] That has bothered me ever since. And I want to tell you what my expectations are for you this week. So when when the author of Hebrews said obey your leaders in the Lord he was not saying like Paul said in Ephesians children obey your your parents in the Lord.

[32:48] It's a different word. In Ephesians where children are told to obey their parents it's a do what you're told. Obey. Slaves obey your masters do what you're told.

[32:59] The word that's in Hebrews 13 though is actually watch your leaders assess them. Do they fulfill the requirements of leadership in the church?

[33:11] They're clearly spelled out. Do they bear fruit? That's in verse 7 of Hebrews 13. So your obedience is actually conditional on the type of in this case of the character of the man who's asking you to obey.

[33:28] You have a role to play. You have to assess me. You have to assess is what I'm saying true? Is it accurate? Is it worthy of listening to?

[33:43] That's your first homework assignment. Is this beloved knucklehead that's got the microphone worth following and worth submitting to?

[33:55] The second thing write this down and it will be my notes are always on the website if you go into like you were going to listen to the sermon you'll see a link to a PDF version of my notes and these verses are in there too at the end.

[34:14] Write down Hebrews chapter 6 verses 7 and 8 Hebrews 6 verses 7 and 8 in Philippians 2 1 through 8 because those two passages really unpack what it means to be a servant and what God's intent is for us as servants.

[34:35] Your homework assignment this week is to really take time to think what does this mean? Every person in this room is a leader in some context ahead of a household has children has a leadership role at work you have a particular unique skill set that propels you into leadership every one of us is a leader nobody gets off the hook for what Jesus was saying to the disciples that we need to lead as servants we need to be servants of all of the people who come across our paths and my assignment to you is to figure out what that means and don't be high and mighty don't be spiritual well I just need to pray more I need to pray for my wife because she's errant no what do I do to serve Kara well because I'm taking the assignment as well how do I serve her?

[35:31] Read these passages and think about how do I serve my children? How do I serve my husband? How do I serve the people around me? Because I never let single people get off when I use marriage as an illustration and get down to brass tacks what does this mean tangibly?

[35:49] How do I serve the people that God has called me to lead? And then my email is available on the website you can get my phone number off the off the bulletin I'd love to hear what you learn but what I'm challenging you with today is the application of the sermon is to obey this leader in the Lord because he has your best interests in mind he loves you and what you'll learn will be of much greater value than me just telling you what it says let's pray father it's it's it's it's it's a difficult thing to lead as you called us to love to lead as you called us to lead it's difficult because as a leader I just want to tell people what to do or I'm a follower

[36:53] I want to be told what to do I don't want to take responsibility but Lord you've made it very clear that you want us to serve driven by love following your example you want us to be leaders who serve and servants who lead and I pray Lord that as we as a body dig into your word as we spend time studying scripture looking at at what you inspired in Hebrews 6 and Philippians 2 that we would apply it take it personally and that our lives would be changed as a consequence we pray this in Jesus name amen