Answering the Call...: Week 6: Leading by Serving

This week our lesson was on Servant Leadership...but before the teaching we opened the floor to questions and discussion...Denise asked the ladies what had impacted them about last week's lesson.

Susan was the first to share - the concept of Accountability had really helped her see an important aspect of being a godly leader...

Lively discussion before the time of teaching

Then Rose shared of an experience at her church in which a young man tried to take over areas of her ministry without her knowledge. She managed to handle the situation in a very constructive way.

Rose sharing her ideas

By sharing their experiences, the ladies really edified and supported one another...

Looks like Elijah is taking notes!

Meanwhile Elijah was just too cute!

Patricia answered the question - how do you select leaders in your ministry; people you will pour into, who will work alongside you?

Susan, Valerie, Patricia, Rose and Rachel

Patricia shared they must have a willingness to serve, be available and always pray for God to direct you in the decision.

Rose shared that we must always choose leaders who can work with us for the work of the Kingdom; the ministry does not belong to any one person, but to God. There is power in working together...

It was good to see Rose so engaged in the lesson!

Denise then highlighted the relationships among the disciples and Jesus...

Denise got caught up in expressing her thoughts and forgot to pause for Josephine to translate!

Elijah loves to sit in the doorway to watch what is going on outside...

Sarah shared with the group a current situation in her church that the other ladies helped her think through...

Sarah, Susan, Valerie and Patricia

One of the greatest tests of character is the issue of authority, not only how one acts when under authority but also how they respond when in a position of authority.

The whole group and a good shot of the church hall

The first thing a leader must learn is that leadership is "servanthood"...

Denise then told a story about two farmers - the first farmer beat his animals to get them to work harder ...eventually his animals died resulting in many years of hardship for him and his family.

The second farmer also worked hard, but took care of his animals; always being sure they were well fed and rested when they were tired...of course his animals worked hard for many years and the farmer had a good return for all of his work. In the same way leaders must love and serve the ones they lead...

Jesus, of course, is the greatest example for us of a servant leader. Read Phil 2:1-11 for a great summary of how Jesus humbled himself when He came to earth...

Valerie, Patricia, Elida, Rose and Rachel

Jesus was equal with God, but did not try to hold on to His high position.

Two of His disciples, however, wanted special positions of dignity and honor. James and John approached Jesus with their request...

He taught them, and us, that leadership is not about lording power and position over others. True leaders serve those they are leading...

In John 13:12-17 we read the story of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. Actually in those times, washing feet was the job of the lowliest servant...this simple act communicated a powerful truth to His followers. In this passage Jesus is instructing His disciples that they must love and serve others in the same way He has demonstrated love and service to them...

Josephine reading from her Swahili Bible

Then it began to rain! Yikes, it was soooo cold and the rain on the tin roof made it impossible to hear, and the dark sky made the church hall so dark we could barely see each other!

Fortunately the church has light bulbs hanging from the ceiling so we could see once again!

We can see a progression of humility in the Apostle Paul's life; in 1Cor 15:9 he declares he is not worthy to be called an apostle...

...in Eph 3:8 he declares he is the least of all God's people...towards the end of his life he says "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst" 1Tim 1:15

Attentive...Rose and Rachel

Here Denise is reading what is called the Wesley Covenant Prayer...she has been praying this for years - it is a powerful prayer of complete surrender and humility.

Today's teaching ended with the reminder that one additional area that church leaders need to include in their service to God is their own families. It is easy to put the church and ministry before family, but that is always a mistake!

As always we ended our time together in prayer...today was a bit different in that prayer requests were shared and then we all prayed aloud, to ourselves and together...normally someone then "closes" but on this day Consolata began to sing "The Power of the Blood"

...we all joined in and knew that this was closing our time of prayer together...

Denise chatting with Rose to see how she is doing with the head injury. She had the stitches removed and is having a burning sensation, but Denise looked at the wound and says it is healing well. Rose will return to see her doctor just to make sure that all is well...