VBC Service 3/16/25 Brother Curtis

Leadership

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Amen. Well, I want to welcome you again this morning. That last song, I just, there's so much truth in there. In my father's house, there's a place for me. Amen. We're going to be talking this morning about the topic of leadership, and it's one of those topics that I think a lot of people shy away from. But you think about as we were singing that last song, I was singing even the prodigal son. That famous story of a son who was far from perfect, who had stepped out and made a lot of mistakes, and he says to himself, you know what, even in my father's house, even the servants are treated better than me. And that's that shame DJ just talked about. But what he found out when he went home is in his father's house there was a place for him. Amen? Because he was a son of the Father. And if you're here today and you're a child of God, how many people have been led back to and encouraged by the example of the prodigal son? Even in his imperfection. Amen. You may be here saying, Brother Curtis, I don't feel like I have what it takes to be a leader. I don't think I have leadership qualities. Can I tell you this? If you're a child of God, you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, you're called to lead others. Amen. Go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That is our job, is to lead them to faith in Jesus Christ. And so as we think about that in our own life, in our own context, God's people need leaders. They need divine leaders and human leaders. And there always have been, there always will be people that rise to that occasion. But I believe this. We need people in our in our homes, we need more leadership. In our friend circles, we need more leadership. On the job site, we need more leadership. In the church, we need leadership. In our world, our community. And so every level of life, this is an applicable thing. And guys, uh, we've all been there. We've all been on both sides of it. There's been times that we needed guidance. Uh we had times when we realize others are following us. And the reality is this uh this thing of leadership is not something you can shy away from. It's not something you can you can opt into or opt out of. It's part of life. And I've shared with you so many times, it seems in our culture of the day that there is a vacuum of leadership. Um, so many people just unwilling to step in and lead in so many areas. But at the same time, there are some great heroes of the faith that we look up to, both biblical characters and people in our own life. I hope you have some personal uh characters in your own life, some personal people that you've you've seen and you've followed in your life. And I think about some in my own life. I mean, you have you know the biblical characters. DJ talked about this morning, David. Man, he's been such an inspiration to so many through the years. Uh I find a lot of comfort in Peter's foolishness and sometimes his misspeaking. Um, Hebrews 11 gives us a list of just people that followed the Lord, and yet every one of them we know their flaws. And then there's also people in my own life. I think of uh just people, Dr. Moody down the road, his his uh just his kindness and willingness to teach. I think of people like Rob Lane that was at our marriage retreat this year, just his thoughtfulness, uh, just he just goes overboard. I think of uh old men to me, like some of you remember the name Claude Craven. He was just one of those, he was just one of those, to me, a holy man. Like to be in his presence was to walk in the shadow of holiness, like you just knew that that man didn't walk the earth alone. We sang about it this morning, amen. But it's it's a different thing to understand that the presence of God literally indwells us and walks with us. And so I want to I want to talk to us this morning just on that very simple uh thought process of what kind of leader are you? Because uh I'm not asking if you are a leader, I'm asking what kind of leader are you, because you're leading somebody. People are following you. You may not think they are, but I promise you, if you turn around, uh there are people that are following each of us. And so the first uh of many points this morning, I think we're gonna cover four uh main points and then some subpoints. But number one, and DJ already referenced this this morning, uh I don't want to miss this. We could just jump into the next three, but to be an effective leader, number one, you've got to be saved. And you may be here this morning and not even know what that word means. That's one of those church words, it's a religious word. Be saved from what? I've had people ask me that. What do I need to be saved from? Well, Jesus said this. He said, Don't be don't fear the one that can kill the body, but fear the one that after you're dead can take you into hell. And guys, can I tell you there's an eternity awaiting you? The Bible says we have a real enemy named Satan who wants to steal, kill, and destroy anything that's good, everything about you, certainly our eternal souls. And so this idea of making sure that we are saved. 2 Peter 1.10 says, Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things you shall never fall. Make sure of it. And I think it's just something that we need to return to from time to time. Are we certain of our calling? Do we know that we are saved? Do we know that we've been reconciled to our Creator, that our sin has been removed from the equation? Because if you don't have that, this idea that I'm confident, right? We sang about this morning. I'm confident. Are you? Are you confident? Do you know that you're a child of God? Because if there's any doubt about that, here's what I know. You're not gonna lead well. Because you're not even sure if you're being honest, if you're not authentic, if you aren't confident in your calling and that you don't know that you're saved, if you don't know that you're right with the Lord, you're not gonna lead others to a place that you're not even sure you're at yourself. 1 Timothy 1.12 says, I think Christ Jesus our Lord with enabled me for that. He counted us, he counted me faithful, putting me into ministry, not only uh for salvation, but I believe this, I believe he's still calling people into ministry. Ministry within the church, ministry to full-time ministry. And guys, the thing is we've got to make sure that we're not just following our own pride, that we're not following just our own feelings, but make sure of it, make sure that Christ has called us to salvation. And the Bible says this, that he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You say, Brother Curtis, I think I've I'm too far gone, I've messed up too far. Oh, let me tell you, friend, the Bible says all. And I'm not a great deep theologian, but I think that word in the Hebrew and in the Aramaic and in the Greek, I think it means all. I think it means you and it means me. He he looked out into eternity and he said, Listen, I care about you and you and you and you and you, and I want every one of you to be in eternity with me. I love that line from the song we sing. He didn't want heaven without us. So he came to rescue us. He could have gone on and been God without us, amen. But he he desires a relationship with us, and this morning, the Bible also says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And that means if you haven't done that this morning, then you've got to come to Christ. And I don't want to miss that point, and we'll come back to it at the end. But guys, to be an effective leader, you've got to know where you are. If you don't know where you are, you can't lead others. And so you've got to know who you are in Christ. You've got to know that you're a Christian, you've got to know that Christ is your Savior, your sin has been forgiven, heaven's your home, and the Holy Spirit isn't dwelling you, or you will not have the confidence that Christ calls to. Number two, this morning, and I'll try to be quick, you've got to be dedicated. And man, in this world that we live, so many people, they don't want to be committed to anything. We we live in a world where uh people will, I mean, they want they want to be around things, but they don't want to be committed to something. They want to be a part of it. There's not, there's not hardly any teams out there. I know every, and I say that, or leagues or groups, doesn't matter what it is, if it's with children, they're constantly looking for somebody to be a coach, to be a leader, somebody that would step up, and everybody's like, yeah, you know, I just I want to be a part of it, I want to be around it, but I don't want to, I don't want the responsibility, and certainly that's true in every area of life, but to be dedicated, determined, sold out, committed, whatever other words you want to put with that this morning. We need people that are committed to a cause, dedicated to the situation. Galatians 6.9 says, let us not be weary in well-doing, for if uh for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. This idea of don't get tired, don't quit, don't step back, don't follow in the crowd, but be willing to step up. Like in Joshua's situation where Moses is dead, somebody has to lead the children of Israel. They need a leader. God calls him and says, Listen, I know you're fearful, but step up, be strong and of good courage. And then Paul says this, and this is Paul the apostle speaking, saying, Listen, let us not be weary in well-doing. You've got to be dedicated. Because the difference is this, guys, when he says, don't grow weary in well-doing, he says, we are gonna reap. We shall reap if we faint not. Can I tell you, Christian, this morning, if you are sowing the seeds of the gospel, if you are sharing Jesus Christ with people around you, Christ said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself. If we will just do our job, we don't have to produce the fruit. We can't produce the fruit, but we can lift him up. We can lead others to Christ. And you say, Brother Curtis, I've tried and I've tried and I've tried. Keep trying. Amen. Because here's what he says if we if we if we don't grow weary, then we're gonna reap. We shall reap. Now I want to give us a word of caution. We're gonna get tired. You say, well, isn't that what weary means? There's a difference in being tired and being weary. He he doesn't, Paul of all people, he understood what it meant to be tired. And he doesn't say that there's gonna be seasons where you get tired and you're gonna feel exhausted and you're just gonna want to just sit down and take a rest and take a pause and say, you know what, let's somebody else carry it for right now. But when I when I talk about dedicated, I'm talking about the people that every time you look up, they're there. I was having a conversation with somebody recently about this idea of leadership, and they're like, well, I don't really feel like I'm doing that. And I'm like, listen, you're one of those people, man, there's people in our church, and they may not know anything about you, but you know what they do know about you? Every time doors are open, you're there. You're that person, you're there. You're there every service, you're there every Sunday morning. Can I tell you there's something about being dedicated, about being faithful? People are looking, people are watching, people are following, and this idea of being dedicated, we shall reap. Can I tell you that's a promise of the word of God? There's a harvest that's coming. 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable. What is it that's moved you this morning? What is it that's got you on the sidelines? Paul says, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Guys, can I tell you this? Unmovable. Again, what does that mean? That's not deep theology this morning. Don't move. Stand, and having done all therefore to stand, stand. Stand in Christ, stand on the gospel, stand where you're supposed to stand, do what you're supposed to do, be who you're supposed to be. Unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. What does that mean? It means to be busy about the things of the Lord. Our labor, our work, our effort, it is not in vain. And we used to, the choir used to sing a song, it's not in vain. Can I tell you, it is not in vain. Our labor is not in vain in the Lord. We can trust God on that. Our work, our effort's not in vain. We will reap, the Bible says. We can trust God. We can take him in his word, that his word which never fails, says, listen, if we will abound in the work of the Lord, our labor is not in vain. We shall reap if we faint not. We need to be dedicated to a cause. We need to be willing to do what Paul did in Philippians 3, verse 13 and 14. Very famous words. He says, I count not myself to have apprehended. This is Paul, the apostle, who's done a whole lot, been there, done that kind of thing, spiritually speaking. He says, Listen, I have not apprehended it. I haven't got there. But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which were behind and reaching forth to those things which are before, I press, verse 14 toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Paul says, Listen, I'm saved. I hope you can say that this morning. You're going to be a leader, you've got to be saved. But even Paul says, listen, I'm saved, but I still got a lot of growing to do. I'm far from where I need to be. I'm far from perfect. I'm not there yet. I'll keep pressing on, ever improving until he perfects me in eternity. But Paul says, listen. It doesn't say it took a while. Paul said it didn't say it took a while for me to get here. He said, I'm still pressing. There's still work to be done. Can I tell you this, Christian, this morning? I don't care if you've been saved for five minutes or 50 years. You ought to still be pressing. Pressing toward Christ, pursuing him, learning, growing in our own walk with Christ. So many times, well, Brother Curtis, I've been saved a long time. I've kind of got it all figured out. Well, Paul didn't. Amen. And this is this is one of the guys that I think if there's ever an example, it's Paul. If there's ever a leader, it's him. And he says, I'm still pressing. I'm not there yet. Oh, we'll be there one day. We will reap. But for now, we press. Pressing forward. You don't press toward a finish line once you've crossed it. I think there's too many people. We've settled for what God has for us here on earth and we've forgotten what He has for us in heaven. And we're just, we quit pressing a long time ago. Oh, Brother Curtis, I've been saved. I used to be involved. I used to teach. I used to lead. I used to, I used to, used to. Hey, where's the pressing? Where's the urgency? Until you cross the finish line, you want to run. You want to lean forward. You want to leave it all on the field, as the expression says, right? I don't want to have any regrets when it comes to following Christ. There's no point in leaning forward if you've already crossed the line. Right? That's when you sit down. That's when you rest. That's when you stand with your hands on your knees and you catch your breath. And the Bible says, listen, keep pressing forward. Can I tell you this? To our senior saints, we need you to keep pressing. We need you to keep leading until the day God calls you home. And some of you are going, wait a minute, Brother Curtis, why are you speaking to the senior saints and saying, We, you're one of them. To the ones that are behind us, can I tell you this? We will do our best to keep pressing. I want to say, like Paul, follow me as I follow Christ. Amen? Because here's what I know. I remember as a young person in the church hearing people all the time, even having preachers that would say, listen, oh, don't follow me. And I'm like, shouldn't I be able to? Like, shouldn't I be able to follow you? Like, what a horrible testimony. And I know what they were saying. They're saying there's one Jesus and it ain't me. I'm not your savior. I'm not perfect. If you follow me long enough, you're going to see imperfections. There will be moments of failure. And I would agree with that. But I've also heard another dude a couple years ago on the radio preaching, he said, Man, you follow me around for 30 minutes, you're going to see me fail. And I'm like, dude, I wouldn't go to your church. You know what I'm saying? I mean, literally. Like, that shouldn't be this cop-out of, hey, since I'm imperfect, I'm just going to embrace the imperfection. That's not pressing. That's not leading. No one wants to follow that. A pastor that says, Don't follow me, I'm like, why are you here? We ought to be willing to say, not only as pastors, but as children of God, as Christians that are called to reach the world with the gospel, we ought to be willing to say, we ought to embrace that. Listen, follow me as I follow Christ. I'm not a perfect example, but if you follow me, I'll get you to him. If you follow me, you'll hear about him. If you follow me, you'll learn some things about him. You'll know what it looks like to love him and to serve him. Be dedicated. And if I'm gonna keep a word to hurry, I've got to move this morning. The next one is this. They're not just alliterated because I looked up words, but they fit. I think one of the things that's missing in Christianity today, I I told y'all a couple weeks ago, I I'm an adrenaline junkie for the most part. I've paid a lot of money to do a lot of crazy stuff that most people are afraid of. But the sense of adventure in following Christ. The idea of being daring, being willing to step out and say, listen, I'm not afraid to take chances. We're fixing to kick off a new members' uh class again for those that have joined recently, or if you're considering joining, we'll do that on a Sunday night during the evening service. DJ B preaching, I'll teach that. And one of the things we share with our congregation, if you're a member of Victory Baptist Church, I want you to know you're part of a church that's willing to risk some things. Man, my biggest fear is we get caught treading water. Things are good, the status quo is good. We just want to be comfortable. We just want to be. Can I tell you this? Christ called people to follow him, to step out and press forward and to take a chance and to risk. And here's the thing: if we're following the Lord, guys, he's not going to leave us hanging. He's a God that we can trust. And we ought to be willing to take chances because here's the thing. Every time you share the gospel, you're risking a relationship. You're risking the fact that they may reject Christ and they may reject you. Every time you speak truth into somebody's life, we talked about that in Sunday school, man, you're risking a relationship. Why don't we speak truth and love like we know we should? Why don't we help each other because we know it's going to cost something? And since we know it's going to cost something, the honest answer is I don't care enough to risk our relationship, so I'm just going to sit here and watch you fail. I'm going to sit here and watch you struggle. How many times do we have that happen in the Christian life? We've got to be willing to be daring, not afraid to fail. Because here's the thing, guys, and this is a statement that'll help you in life. This isn't just true of spiritual things, but if you take your notes, write this down. Failure is a non-negotiable part of success. Let me say that again. Failure is a non-negotiable part of success. If you're going to succeed, you're going to fail. Nobody's perfect. Nobody just takes off and man they just never make a mistake again. Christ did that, but you're not Him. Failure is a non-negotiable, it's gonna be part of well, I don't want to fail, Brother Curtis. I don't either, but I do all the time. I really don't want to publicly fail. It's humiliating. People will point it out. They'll remind you of it. They'll point it out in front of others. Because being afraid to fail means that we don't succeed. And by that I don't mean foolish. Paul said, God is gracious. Does that mean we should just fail more to make him more gracious? That's just foolishness. We're not talking about failing for fun. We're not talking about planning to fail. We're not talking about foolishness. We're talking about being full of faith, believing that we will reap if we faint not. Maybe not in every season. I love the terminology Paul uses. Can I tell you this? As you follow Christ, you're not gonna reap in every season. There's gonna be times you reap. And you may not even reap every year if you're a farmer. Some years are good, some years are bad. Amen? But we will reap if we faint. Not only you gotta be saved, you gotta be dedicated. You gotta be dare to have that sense of adventure, but this one makes all the other ones work. You gotta have direction. If you don't know where you're going, I don't want to follow you. That makes sense. I know it's not deep. But if you don't know where you're going, I don't want to follow you. You ever followed somebody that apparently seemed to not know where they're going? We did it, we did an event years ago with our youth. We took some of our youth leadership up, we did a thing at the camp, and we had a we had one GPS unit at the time, probably because I was a cheapskate, but that's all we had. And so the the game was basically, it was like a geocaching type thing where I had gone and stashed stuff out, and we had to find that thing. And we had two vans full of people, leaders and kids, but there was one GPS unit. And we would move that the the leadership, we would move the GPS unit from van to van. And it was amazing the commentary that would go in, go on in the van that didn't have the GPS. You ever follow GPS somewhere you don't know where you're going? You're driving down the road, you're going, and this is, I'm not talking about Siri telling you turn left here. You're just trying to find this coordinate, this dot on a map, and you're driving down the road and you realize, oh wait, I should have turned back there. And they you turn, and everybody in a second, my gosh, why didn't they turn back there? They're just stupid. How crazy. If you don't know where you're going, guys, nobody's gonna follow you. But the reality is this we gotta have divine, and by direction, I don't just mean pick one. I don't mean action for the sake of motion for the sake of action, I mean divine direction. We seek God's will. We seek divine direction. James 1.5 says, if you lack wisdom, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God to give it to men, all men. I love that all men liberally, and a braid is not, and it shall be given unto him. We need to ask for wisdom. You say, Brother Curtis, I don't know which way to go. I'm at an impasse. Pray. Ask God to speak. And here's what the Bible says: if any of you, not just certain ones, this is not exclusive. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who give it to all men liberally, and it shall be given unto him. God will answer. God will give you divine direction. If you lack wisdom, ask him. Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, those famous words, trust in the Lord with all thine heart. And the reason he has to say it that way is don't just trust in the Lord with part of your heart. Because then you'll have God's leading and your leading, and you'll constantly be torn between the two. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. He doesn't say trust the Lord when you feel like it, and then do what you want to when you want to. And God will bless it. No, he says, trust him with all your heart. Don't lean into your understanding. Listen, you have your own opinion. God's not asking for that. That's why we pray. You had your opinion before you hit your knees, but as we pray, we seek his divine direction, and as he gives it, he says, Listen, when God speaks in all your ways, acknowledge him. In other words, do what he says to do. How many times does God speak and he says, this is what I want you to speak? That still small voice says, Listen, this person right here, I want you to speak to them. And you're like, Yeah, but I don't know them. And we begin to give our commentary and our emotions begin to speak, and our fear and our anxiety. And instead of allowing him to direct our paths, he speaks and then we don't acknowledge him. We read his word, and his word says, Hey, listen, I need you to share with that person. Maybe it's a word of advice, maybe it's the gospel, maybe it's just a word of kindness, maybe it's a word of encouragement. But we don't do it. It's not that we don't pray, it's not that he doesn't lead, it's that we don't acknowledge him. And then we wonder why he doesn't direct our paths. Trust God and let him direct you. Because this is this is so simple to understand, and it's so hard to pull off. How many times do we pray? And then God leads, and we're like, yeah, I don't that's not what I was hoping you'd say. It's kind of like when I started to say your spouse, but I don't want to start any fight here this morning, so I'll say the other person in the vehicle. Where do you want to eat? I don't care. Okay. You start driving, where are you going? I'm going there. I don't want to eat there. Wait a minute. You said you didn't care, right? Isn't that a picture of our relationship with God? We're like, God just lead me wherever you want to go, and He starts leading, we go, but I don't want to go there. Like, I mean, I want you to lead as long as your leading agrees with what I want. And I don't even know what I want, but I'm gonna not that. How sad is that when that's a picture of our relationship with Christ, our following Christ. Trust him and let him direct you. And to be honest, sometimes it's hard to know. But can I tell you this? I'd rather be guilty of pressing too hard than standing too long. Sometimes we we just got to be willing to, he tells us to go and to share and to do. And we stand around and say, man, if God will just give me clarity. But you're not being obedient to the things he has given you clarity on. Make sure that your plans don't violate his word and then go. And then move. And you've got divine direction. Move forward. The same David that DJ spoke about this morning, we sang about Psalm 23, says in Psalm 25, lead me in thy truth and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation. On thee do I wait all the day. God, listen. He's not always present. He says, sometimes we have to wait on him. But at the same time, David says, Man, I wait on you all day long. Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness, for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. God knows your failures. And he'll use you anyway. According to thy mercy, remember thou me for thy goodness' sake. God, I want you to remember me for your goodness' sake. And you're like, how does that work? That goes back to the salvation piece. I want you to remember me for the goodness of Christ. But I didn't do that. Yeah, but he did. And there was that glorious exchange at the cross where he took our sin so we could have his righteousness. Which is why one day when we step into heaven. Do you understand this? For those that have walked with Christ, for those that have been obedient, those that have followed him and done what he's called us to do, we're going to get to heaven and he's going to reward us for what he did through us. Like, does that fascinate you? He's going to reward me for what he did through me. Because it was never me to begin with. God, I need you to remember me for your goodness' sake. Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment, the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. Thy namesake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. You want to know one of the best ways to be a leader? I think it's the missing component in so many people that strive and crave leadership. They strive for it, they want it. One of the things that you see in David's life, one of the things that you see exemplified in him, it's why he was a man after God's own heart, is because he never lost sight of his brokenness. That's what set him apart. Is his humility. Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Can I tell you this? If you lead humbly, people will follow you. If you lead arrogantly, people don't want to follow you. Psalm 143, verse 10, teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God, and thy spirit is good. Lead me into the land of uprightness. Teach me, lead me. Like Paul said, I'm not there yet. Here's David saying to God, God, I need you to lead me. You've blessed me, you've brought me from the sheepfold to the palace, but just because I'm here doesn't mean I don't still need lead. Just because I'm a pastor doesn't mean I don't still need God to lead me. I need him to lead me more now than ever. And so this idea that I've arrived and somehow, hey, I don't need him anymore, guys. Can I tell you nothing to be further from the truth? I've got to have his leadership in my life. I need him to lead me. And so let me give you four must-haves real quickly. Those are the components. And here's the thing: you're not going to be a leader. You can't lead without these. You've got to have those. But let me give you four things real quick. To be effective, you have to have faith in God at all times. Not just when the going's good. Isn't it easy to trust him when it's smooth water? When it's smooth sailing, when he's blessing, and amen, the money's coming in and the bills are getting paid and everything's good. And it's easy to trust him then. But we have to trust him at all times. How do you get that type of faith? Sometimes you've got to look back in your own rear view and say, hey, God has been faithful. And sometimes you've got to get close to some people that are consistent. Follow them, some other people around you that'll, what the Bible calls edify. They'll encourage you. They're going to speak to you about, hey, it's okay, you can trust God. I've seen this work, I've seen God be faithful in my life. And there's so many passages in Scripture. Ephesians 6.16 says, above all, the shield of faith, above all the other spiritual pieces of marmer, that shield of faith is the thing that'll protect you. Faith at all times. Romans 14, 23, whatever isn't faith is sin. That's why you have to have faith at all times, not just in the good times, not just when it's easy. Hebrews 11:6 says, without faith it's impossible to please God. You can try all you want to, but if it doesn't include faith, then you're missing the mark. That's why 2 Corinthians 5.7 says, walk by faith and not by sight. Number one, you must have faith. Number two, you must be unselfish. A selfish leader is not much use. I could spend a lot of time here. Let me just give you one image. You remember when Abraham and Lot, God had blessed them so much that they'd become too great for the land? And they had to divide it up. You know what Abraham did? Was he selfish? He tells Lot, hey, you pick. Because here's what I know God can bless whatever God wants to bless. And Lot looks down at the well-watered plane and he says, ooh, I want that. That's nice. That's pretty. That looks better. And Abraham's like, okay. Right? Remember Jacob? Give me the ugly cattle. God will bless whatever God wants to bless. Amen? I don't have to be selfish. I don't have to try to pry my way into it. He trusted that God could bless either one of them either way. Abraham says, okay, you can take that. Which one got blessed more? Abraham or Lot? It's not complicated. Paul spent his life ministering to people. Unselfish. In Mark chapter 10, the greatest example of all, Jesus didn't come to be ministered unto, but to minister. Unselfish. A good leader inspires others to have confidence in himself. We know that. But beware of pride. Because what happens, I can inspire you to have confidence in yourself, but I don't have to put myself first. What I mean by that is celebrate their victories. You want to lead somebody else, even in the secular world, in the work world, in your family, but especially when it comes to Christianity, celebrate the victories of others. The Bible says, you know, rejoice with those that rejoice. I mean, you don't have to put yourself first, unselfish. And I've shared this example so many times, but it's one that I just find myself having. The Bible says we've got to preach to ourselves. And again, the image in my brain, somebody asked me this morning about deer hunting. Then if you're the great white hunter and you kill bigger deer than anybody, you know. And some little 10-year-old boy comes up and says, Hey, did you see how I see I killed a deer? And he pulls out his phone, he shows you a picture of a little spike. You've got two choices. You can either go, son, let me show you this right here. One day when you grow up, you'll be awesome like me. Or you can say, Oh, son, come here. Let me see that right there. Oh, man, I need to go hunting with you. One day I need you to have take me hunting. Man, that is so good. I'm so proud of you. You know what that takes? It takes being intentional. You know, because you know what our nature does every time? You've got bigger deer on your phone. You've got bigger fish, you've got better stuff, whatever the situation is. That's just one example, but we all do it. A good leader inspires others to have confidence in themselves. But a great leader inspires others to have confidence in themselves and in God. Because you can have all the confidence you want to in yourself. Self-esteem, and it's a good thing. It's helpful, but it'll only get you so far. But if you help them to understand they can have confidence in themselves only because they can have faith in the God they're following, remind them don't get too big for your britches. Amen. And your parents ever say that? The word britches don't get used enough these days, I can tell you. I've met some children. You know how you know the best way to lead that? Don't get too big for yours. Lead humbly. And number two, remind them it's God who gives the increase. We can plow, we can plant, we can water. We can do everything we want to do. As a person, as a family, as a church, we can do all we want to do, but if God doesn't give the increase, then it was all nothing. And then lastly, and this morning I'll close, you've got to be compassionate. Paul says, you can have everything else, but if you don't have love, it's a waste. You can even have spiritual gifts. But if you don't have love, it's a waste. We have to be sensitive. We have to care enough to get involved. We have to have compassion. That word Jesus, every time he looks on a multitude, he has compassion. He sees people and he sees their brokenness and he sees the mess. And oftentimes we see that. We're like, man, what a mess. Ooh. And Jesus goes, somebody's got to do something. Somebody's got to do something. I'll never forget a missionary years ago came by and he was sharing that illustration of you're standing at the beach and there's thousands of people drowning. He says, you know what? You can sit there and save. I can't save them all. Yeah, but you might save one. Amen. You might save two. You might make a difference. Oh, I wish I had time to tell you a story this morning of that same situation in my life where I saw a massive tragedy unfolding and I got in my car and drove away. I didn't know. I just saw a small fire on a vehicle. Found out later that day 20-some people had died in that bus that I drove away from. I couldn't have saved them all, but you know what? We might have got one more off. It might have been one less. You gotta be compassionate. And how many times do we miss it? Because we have our own excuses, and there were reasons that I drove off, and I had bad information and I what I was seeing wasn't accurate, but guys, can I tell you we gotta care enough to get involved? Compassion is an action. There's an old saying again, they become old sayings because they're true. People don't care how much you know. Do you know it? Until they know how much you care. You can have all the truth in the world, but they're not gonna follow you if you don't care for them. We must be willing to lead, and to lead, you've got to care. Because all these other things are not gonna come into place. If you don't care, you can, that's why Paul said you can have everything else, but if you don't love people, you won't do anything else. You can know it all, but it won't ever be exercised in your life. The most insulting thing somebody could say about you is that you had great potential. Every one of us have a capacity to lead. But if somebody says, man, they I mean they they had everything it would have taken. How many people are capable? They're just not willing. And I would say if Christians, every one of us are capable. The question is, are we willing? And and can I can I say this too, is just a quick footnote and then I'll close. It's just as problematic when you're willing but not capable. You can you can be willing. But here's what I know, guys. If we use our talents for the cause of Christ, he'll multiply. If we're willing but not capable, that's the blind lead the blind. That's leaders with no direction. They both fall in a ditch. But in most often, it's just about making decisions. We can't be afraid to lead. We've got to be willing to be daring. We've got to be willing to say, listen, God, if you'll speak, I'll listen. If you'll point, I'll go. Wherever you lead, I'll go. Leadership, man, it's a responsibility and it's a privilege. You may be here this morning and say, Brother Curtis, I'm I want to be a leader, I want to make a difference. I just don't know what to do. Hey, you know what? Here's an idea. Lead them to Jesus. Lead them to Jesus. I don't know what, hey, here's the thing. Get them from where they are closer. How do I do that? Just love Jesus and serve him in front of them. And somewhere along the way, they'll start to see and start to ask for input. It's not even a matter of necessarily we need to speak the gospel, but sometimes they're not going to be receptive to that. Hey, just love Jesus in front of them. Let them see what it looks like. Let them see what a true follower of Christ looks like. How many times in scripture in our own lives do we see one person follow Christ, and that begins what we call that domino effect. People see something, and next thing you know, because one person gets honest, somebody else goes, hey, if they can be honest, why can't I? You may be the one here this morning that if you'd get honest and say, Listen, Brother Curtis, I'd love to be an example, but I'm not even sure I'm saved. Can I tell you, if you would admit where you're at and get honest, not only would you find salvation, but you'd lead others to it. Every time we've seen people do that, there's other people that fall in line and say, Listen, if they if they can be honest, why can't I? First off, you've got to be saved. You've got to know that you are right with your creator, that your sin has been forgiven. I'm not talking about giving more money to church. I'm not about coming to another service. I'm talking about trusting in Christ and Christ alone. He's the one that said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. You can't get there on your own. Or you may be here this morning. And it's one of those other points. Are you daring? Are you willing to risk it? Following Christ, it takes risk. Oh, I don't want to offend somebody. Hey, I got news for you. In modern America, if you're breathing, somebody's offended. Amen. You didn't quit breathing. So, right? I mean, I'm I'm willing to do that. Are we willing to be dedicated to the cause? And do we know what direction we're headed? Guys, here's the thing. We as the church need to know which direction we're headed. And that direction ought to be wherever Christ leads me. Wherever he leads, I'll go. Do you need to exercise more faith? Do you need to be more selfless? Do you need to have more compassion? And do you need to take responsibility leading others to Christ? Guys, the world needs leaders. There's only one. And it's Jesus. And our job, as DJ said last week, is we got to decrease so he can increase. We got to get out of the way. It doesn't mean we quit leading. It doesn't mean we go silent. It means we do our job, and our ultimate job of leadership is to point others to him. Follow me as I follow him. Come with me as I follow him. Hey, I'm headed to heaven. I want you to be there too. So here's the invitation for the day. I'm going to ask you guys to stand to your feet. When it comes to leadership, there seems to be a vacuum, but can I tell you this? Christ is still on the throne. God is still in charge, and God's commission to the church has not changed one bit. There seems to be a void of leadership in our culture, but there should not be in the church. Do you know that you know it? Do you know which direction you're headed? Are you dedicated to it? And are you willing to risk it? Are you daring? The truth this morning is this. If all of us were doing all of that, we'd have had to build years ago. Jesus said, the gates of hell will not prevail against my church. And if we're not thriving, it's most likely because we're disobedient. So, Lord, we come to you this morning. I think there's two kinds of people in this room. There's some, Lord, that may not be certain of their salvation. If you would this morning give them the courage to step out and to come and to meet me right here at the front, Lord, so we can take the word of God and show them how they could leave here. The Bible says that we can know that we've been saved, that our sin has been forgiven in the heavens or earth. And Lord, while that may be a limitation for some, there's there's many more in this room this morning. For them, it's not that they're not saved, it's that they've given some excuse. They're trusting in the Lord with part of their heart. They'll follow you when they understand it, when it makes sense. But Lord, this idea of faith at all times is something that we've got to do better now. Faith in our doubt, faith in our fear, faith in our frustration, being obedient even in the difficulty, Lord. To trust in you with all heart and lean not to our own understanding. Give me the willingness. Give me the confidence. Lord, eternity is at stake. We have a community full of people that don't know Christ and they need someone. They're desperately waiting on someone to lead them to Christ. God, give us the compassion and give us the courage. Maybe somebody this morning needs to come and ask for that. Lord, whatever it is that you're doing in our midst, I pray that we'd be found obedient this morning. Lord, draw us near so that we might lead others near.