04 Healthy Churches have Godly Leaders and fruitful Structures

Sermon outline

Blunders (Ex 18:13-18)
1. It is easy to think as a leader that it all rests upon you.
2. Look at Moses
  1. He has just led the people out of Egypt, and what did he have to do in that?
  2. But here, on the other side of the Exodus, his Father in law brings his wife and sons to him, and watches (Ex 18:13-14, 17)
Godly Fruitful leadership
1. Heeds the advice of others (Ex 18:24)
2. Intercedes for people before God (Ex 18:19)
3. Warns about ways that lead away from God(Ex 18:20, Dan 12:3, Ezek 3:17-21, Heb 13:17)
4. Instructs them on how to live a godly life (Ex 18:20, Tit 1:7-9, Gal 5:23-24)
5. Establishes a structure of leadership development (Ex 18:21)
6. Appoints godly people with delegated power (Ex 18:22)

1. In Moses’ circumstance, the structure that was needed was a structure capable of instructing a pagan people in the ways of living as God’s covenant people
2. Similarly, we need structures in the church that help us to do what we are called to do:
  1. We need structures that promote internal church life – hospitality, scripture study, worship, prayer
  2. We need structures that promote external gospel ministry – evangelism, benevolence, global concern
  3. We need structures that keep us centered on the word and gospel
  4. We need structures that help do train up leaders and ensure that the main things are the way that our teams are looking at things.
The structures at HICC
Challenge:
1. Let’s continue to develop structures that give us flexibility, but center us on a broad vision to see people come to faith and worship the Lord Jesus,
2. But also engage a mission that allows us to know who and how we want to see Christ made known in the world.