Small Group Study Ideas – July 2009

 

God + the Arts series

Where faith intersects life.

There is a reason great movies stir our soul and kindle something deep within us. What is it about these powerful stories that make us weep, make us laugh, and make our hearts come alive? Is it not that these stories borrow from The Story. It is no accident that great movies include a hero, a villain, a betrayal, a battle to fight, and a rescue. It is The Epic Story. Great movies speak to us because they are echoes of the larger story, and story is the language of the heart. It was through story that Jesus captured peoples’ hearts and illuminated truth, and it is through story that He speaks still.

This growing line of small group studies will help you see something greater in movie epics of stage and great music from the past and present. Some of the books in this series feature “dinner and a movie” nights. Guided gatherings give you outlets for discussing the core truths inside the film and songs, uncovering worldviews, and providing a new way to watch movies and listen to songs.

Titles: (click on a title for more information)

• Finding Jesus in the Movies
• Finding Redemption in the Movies

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Soul Café series

A Guide to spiritual conversations.

Millions of spiritual sojourners don’t yet connect with church or see it as the epicenter of their spiritual adventure. In fact, a dorm room, a café, or a coffee house can become the processing plant that leads to weighty, group-dynamic discussions of spirituality, truth, and matters of the heart. Soul Café is series of open-ended conversations developed to drive you deeper into the story God is revealing. Soul Café is not a place for being comfortable or indifferent. It’s personal. Penetrating. Raw. The conversation demands something from you. It isn’t for the religiously refined; rather it’s much better suited for spiritual barbarians.

Titles: (click on a title for more information)

• Story. Narrator. Intrigue.

 

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MORE series

More depth. More meaning. More life.

Ever felt like there’s something in Bible study that others are getting but you’re not? The more they carve and dig and analyze, the more lost you feel, the more distant and mysterious the big picture remains. But what if there was a way to put the pieces of Scripture together so that each slice seemed to be a part of a single story? What if you could see the individual books and chapters united by common threads, held together by context and connections, an amazing meshing of God-inspired purpose extending far beyond time in both directions? You’d not only find the “more” in your Bible study, but more in your relationship with God, with each other, and with each day’s experience of life. You’d enter the real adventure, and find something about it that you never saw before. Something MORE.

Titles:

• Song of Songs: The Epic Romance
• Mark: Beyond the Red Letters
• Job: A Messy Faith
• Colossians: Embrace the Mystery
• Ruth: Gleaning Hope

Ask the Network – This month: “What is a huddle?”

This month’s Network Exchange question comes from Donald Dillard of South Carolina who just recently attended our Atlanta conference…”What is a huddle?”

Here are the answers from you – our PDSG Network members…

From Jen Hurst, Regional Point Person for Los Angeles area

Just a short time ago, I wasn’t quite sure what a huddle was. I have heard the term for years, and suddenly found myself organizing them. So when I sent out an email to my friends and contacts who lead Small Group ministries in other churches in Los Angeles, I told them that a huddle provides an avenue for Small Group Point People to pray for our churches and cities, encourage one another, and brainstorm how we can further reach our cities and churches.

When I recently held my first huddle, I discovered something else. Our huddle became a way to set aside our own agendas for the benefit of others as we could sense the urgency in one another’s voices. It reminded us of our roots, as well as our aspirations as we remembered the differences between leading a Small Group Ministry of 5 groups and looked ahead to a ministry with 500 groups. And ultimately, it reminded me that Jesus is leading this ministry. Not me. Not the ladies I met with this morning. Not Cheryl Shireman or Steve Gladen.

We’re still figuring out what a huddle looks like for us (Discussing a book? Case studies? Mini-seminars? Or just a good cup of coffee with friends?), but I’m discovering what it is – it is people coming together because of a shared passion for seeing Jesus’ name lifted up in relationship and in real life.
This month we discussed ideas for getting and training new hosts/leaders, and how to encourage groups that have had a long lifespan to be open to the program/vision. jen.hurst@belairpres.org

From Reid Smith, Area Point Leader for Florida

A “huddle” is a learning community with a missional focus. It’s a gathering of small group ministry point leaders who come together to learn from one another, pray for one another, network with each other, support one another, and freely exchange ideas and resources with one another – all so that we can help one another advance God’s purposes in and through His Church.

I’d say there isn’t ONE format for a huddle. It depends – simplicity and freedom in how we communicate what it is and looks like is important I think. What I’ve done, for example, is a 3-hour gathering mid-week (since a lot of pastors either take Mon or Fri as their day-off) or a 2-3 hour gathering Sat morning if you want participants to invite unpaid small group leadership (SGLs / coaches, etc.). Each huddle has a beginning, middle, and end.

The beginning includes fellowship, an introduction of the network & participating churches, and the topic (if applicable) of the huddle. I’ve done a 10-15 presentation in order to provide talking points in the breakout.

The middle consists of the breakout time. This is the largest body of time leaders spend together. I’d advise AT LEAST an hour, but preferably 90-minutes that includes a couple sets of discussion questions. The goal here is to make connections and find commonalities. Think of a huddle as a launching pad for ongoing partnerships among participants.

Finally, the end brings everyone back together to share & synthesize learnings with the large group. I conclude with announcements (e.g. tools they can use like purposedrivenchurch.com, when the next huddle will be, and what I – as the APL or SPP – will do as action steps like email everyone a contact list of network participants along with a summary of their contributions whether they’re thoughts or tools) and prayer. reidsmith777@gmail.com

From Elaine Morse, State Point Person for Washington state

We have a unique variety of rugged individualist in the NW. Often we find it challenging to understand the ways of the Northwesterner. In recent months a Washington based insurance company has aired television ads with a tag line, “…we’re a lot like you”. The commercials depict “wool-sock-sandal-guy” “efficient-recycler-woman” and “rainy-weekend-blue-tarp-camper-dad” If you are from around here you understand these depictions.

In our huddles we seek to understand and relate to ‘wool-sock-sandal-guy”. We want to be relevant to “efficient-recycler-woman” and we desire to find community with “rainy-weekend-blue-tarp-camper-dad”. As a huddle group we share pieces of information with one another that we’ve picked up along the way.

We also look at some of the technology each of us utilizes to collate information and synthesize it into meaningful action. We share curriculum and re-launch strategies with one another. We share ideas for catalyzing events that we hope will move people into group life. elainem@occ.org

From Michael Moore, Area Point Leader for Atlantic Coast

One thing we promise to do at every huddle is to have time for everyone to ask their “burning question.” When you come to a meeting, we will do our best to help with that one thing that is the biggest need in your ministry. We also pick one subject to go deeper into at each huddle. It is usually chosen by everyone during the previous meeting or via email. For instance, in May we all discussed how to best train and invest in our Coaches or Community Leaders. Michael.moore@gcconline.org

From Jay Daniell, Area Point Leader for North Central and our PDSG Network Database Manager

I feel that each huddle should encourage participants in their ministry as well as their personal faith walk. With this in mind, it would seem appropriate to get to know one another personally (fellowship) through light personal discussion. I usually plan to share a scripture (discipleship) for encouragement and potential discussion. In some huddles a heavy duty Bible study may be appropriate, but often just a Word of encouragement is appreciated. I also like to allow time for prayer (worship) with and for each other’s mission and ministry.

Mission and ministry can usually be covered thoroughly by everyone sharing “The 4 P’s”:

• Praise – What’s one good thing that has happen in your ministry?
• Problem – What is one challenge facing your ministry?
• Plan – What ministry plans do you have?
• Pray – How can I pray for you?

Just as in small groups, huddle ownership and participation can be increased by sharing roles such as host, snacks, prayer leader or devotion leader.

To stimulate discussion in the first few meetings, before arriving at the huddle, I will ask the host what Small Group challenges their specific ministry is facing. Then I come prepared to discuss that issue with the group. I have learned that all Small Group Point People face similar challenges as they relate to the individual congregation’s culture. It’s likely that others have already; are currently; or will be soon facing the same issue. smallgroup@oursav.org

From Bruce Southerland, State Point Person for New Hampshire

Huddle outline:
What’s Hot? (What is working great in your ministry?)
What’s Not? (What problems are you facing in your ministry?)
What’s Next? (What have you thought about doing to address your problems?)
What Do You Need From Me? (What can I do to help you?)
What Do You Need From God? (What personal issue are you facing that we can pray about together?) bsoutherland@manchesterchristian.com

Thank you to all of you who gave us an answer to the question, “What is a huddle?”

Remember – a huddle will reflect your area and your culture. Put simply, a huddle is a meeting for Small Group Point People. These huddles may be as informal as a few people gathering over coffee or as elaborate as a small group conference. The idea is to get together with other Small Group Point People in your area so that you can build relationships, exchange ideas and resources, and be more intentional in your strategy to build healthy groups.

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NEXT MONTH’S QUESTION is from Elaine Morse, our State Point Person for Washington – “What is the latest in curriculum? What works well for moving a younger (30 something) crowd toward spiritual growth and action in their communities?”

Send your answers and other questions to cheryls@saddleback.com. Who knows, your answer or question could be featured next month!

Soul Searchin – Dark Times and a New Direction: The Making of Churchteams

by Boyd Pelley, President/Co-founder Churchteams

In the fall of 1999, I was ready to bail on ministry. I had given it my all for a decade. I was disillusioned and tired.

I began talking to a friend about the possibility of joining him in his financial services company. He suggested that I do some research on the anticipated influence of the Internet on our economy. As I continued to read and learn, I began to think differently and was intrigued about the possibility of combining the Internet and ministry.

I shared my ideas with Mark Horan (he built the MS Access membership database we used in the church and is a world-class programmer). He, too, was intrigued by the idea and we decided to work together to build a web-based tool for making disciples and building teams. The obvious place to start was small groups.

The spring in my step for ministry returned and Churchteams was birthed. Within a few years dozens of churches were using (and thus developing) the online tool with me. A few years later there were hundreds. Finally, in 2008, the time came for me to leave the church staff in order to focus completely on Churchteams. We truly grew into this ministry.

Churchteams, started and still exists, primarily as a small group software that compliments other church management software by helping:

1. people connect to groups
2. leaders communicate with their group, coach and staff
3. staff receive the info they need to better shepherd their small groups

However, in recent months at the urging of many churches, we have added features to serve as a full church database with a distinct small group flavor. Here’s how it works.

First, we link to your website providing a simple filter and interface between people looking for groups and group leaders. Guests don’t even have to login to use the tool to email leaders whose information is completely secure. Cced in, staff are kept in the loop without being the bottleneck to group connection.

Secondly, after each group meeting, we automatically send the leader an email with three choices:

1. We met this week.
2. We did not meet this week.
3. I need to update my group information.

One click (no password to remember) and the leader is on the appropriate page. If he doesn’t respond to the email, he will get up to two more that week with a 4th notification going to his coach to check on him. Best of all, the meeting reports are intended as an email from the leader to his group keeping everyone engaged in the life of the small group. The result is 90-100% response from leaders each week!

Thirdly, there are unlimited options for communication and reporting. My favorite comes by email to the small group champion at the end of each month as a downloadable spreadsheet summary of her entire small group ministry. I used to spend 4-6 hours per month putting a fraction of this spreadsheet together. Now, we do it for you. Here are the highlights:

1. group attendance each week,
2. distinct number of attenders,
3. number of guests,
4. average overall attendance for the week and month, and
5. groups with less than a 50% consistency rate.

This report gives you a monthly dashboard so that you can identify the groups that most need support and coaching. At the same time, you get the data that is most helpful to elders, trustees and executive staff.

In early 2009, we released features to track contributions and membership attributes building on our experience with membership databases and using the same proven principles of development that guided the genesis of our small group software. Examples include:

1. contribution summary report that includes percentages of giving from people in groups,
2. group-based assimilation,
3. spiritual gift tracking,
4. ministry involvement tracking,
5. text-messaging, and
6. emails for individuals to update their own information.

If you are happy with your current church management software, keep it and simply use Churchteams as your small groups add-on. We serve many hundreds of churches in this way.

As the Purpose Driven Small Group Network began to take shape in 2008, there was a need for online software to manage the rapidly growing network of members across North America. Cheryl Shireman, the PDSG Network Coordinator, contacted me about the possibility of using Churchteams. She had successfully used it in her previous position as Small Group Director of a church in Indiana, and thought that we might be a good fit. Many of the leaders in the PDSG Network were also already using Churchteams in their local churches, so I agreed it was natural for us to partner with PDSGN. Now we provide our software service to help manage this new and growing network of leaders committed to the notion that no leader should stand alone. I will never forget that others joined me in the dark night of my soul. The result was Churchteams. As you go through those times, let others stand with you. Who knows what God might do?

To learn more about Churchteams, visit us at www.churchteams.com. Click on the demo tab and accept our invitation to join Boyd for a small group and/or a membership webinar and to sign up for free passwords to look at a sample.

Boyd believes that analytics will do for ministry in the next 20 years what the arts have done for worship the past 20 years.

The Cincinnati Saddleback Small Group Conference

Cincinnati’s Vineyard Community church was the location of the Saddleback Small Group Conference on May 15 and 16. The weather was gorgeous, the people were friendly and the small group community was electric.

Almost 1000 pastors, small group point leaders and small group members came from 20 U.S. states and Canadian provinces for two days of learning and sharing. As in the earlier conference in Atlanta, one of the highlights for returning conferees was the Think Tank segment, in which small group point people gathered by geography for discussion and chewing on the leading issues of their ministries. The result was terrific synergy, highlighting the value of community.

The Purpose Driven Small Group Network was well represented, with many Area Point Leaders, State Point People and others in attendance. Cheryl Shireman, coordinator of the Network, drove over from Indiana to be part of the conference, answer questions and collect registrations by attendees wanting to take benefit from the Network. She also recruited several new Regional Point People to the Network. Interested in the possibility of serving in your area and holding your own “huddles” for other Small Group Point People? Contact Cheryl for more information at cheryls@saddleback.com.

On September 11 and 12 the conference goes to Dallas, Texas. Put on your boots and “cowboy up” to Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall for two exciting days that promise to be a great finish to the 2009 NEXT Saddleback Small Group Conferences.

For more information on the Dallas conference, please visit the NEXT Conference Website by clicking here.

Are People in Your Church Hurting?

by Pastor Steve Gladen

Read the news. Every day in every city around the world, hurts, hang-ups and habits are the secret and sometimes not-so-secret ways that the enemy uses to try to defeat both believers and non-believers. These are the wounds that continue to infect even the most healthy-appearing people. Despite the appearance of health and vitality on the outside, these “issues” continue to fester and sicken, weakening the church and the community from the inside.

Jesus gave us one of the most effective teachings on the topic of personal spiritual healing and renewal in the Beatitudes.

This fall, your church can join Rick Warren and Saddleback Church in the path of freedom from hurts, hang-ups and habits in a brand-new, 8-week church-wide spiritual growth campaign called Life’s Healing Choices.  This experience will transform your church and begin to transform your community. I invite you to suggest that your church take this 8-week journey on the Biblical road to total spiritual renewal for every member of your community.

YOUR CHURCH WILL BENEFIT

• People in your church and your community will discover how to get freedom from their hurts, hang-ups, & habits
• This is a great outreach opportunity
• Grow more small groups
• Great spiritual growth for participants
• Another way your church will be seen by the community as relevant and important

• For more people to come to church
• For more people to get into small groups

 The Life’s Healing Choices campaign delivers complete, ready-to-use resources with an online access pass. For more information please visit the Life’s Healing Choices website.

Regina Brett’s 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on

Although this isn’t straight from the Bible, life has a way of teaching us Biblical lessons. As you are doing groups, this may help you set your perspective so as to do for God what he needs done.

The following column was written by Regina Brett, columnist at The Plain Dealer, Cleveland Ohio in May of 2006:

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here’s an update:

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

Copyright Plain Dealer Publishing Co. Used with permission.
To enjoy more of Regina Brett’s wisdom, please visit her website at www.reginabrett.com. You can also read all of her past columns, including the columns nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, at http://www.cleveland.com/brett.

Steve’s Tips – July 2009

The key to health is balance. This is true in everyday life as well as group life. Balance of the Biblical purposes ensures group health.

Here are a few ideas for groups to take steps in each of the five purposes.

FELLOWSHIP: Pass out graph paper to the group members.  Ask them to first make a timeline of their life along the bottom of the paper and then to indicate with a graph whether the events were high points, low points, or somewhere in between.  Have each member take a minute to share their “life line,” holding it up for others to see.

DISCIPLESHIP: Pass out a piece of paper to each person in the group. Have each person list the top ten qualities of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Ask people to share their answers with the group. Record the ideas on a piece of butcher paper that everyone can read, and see if you can reach consensus on the top ten.

MINISTRY: Take some extra Bibles to your group meeting so that everyone in the group will have a Bible. Have your group open their Bibles to the gospels (You might even assign a different group to each of the four gospels). List together all the times that Jesus modeled servanthood. Take time to read some passages aloud. Close with a discussion of what we can do to be servants in our home, church, place of business, and neighborhood.

EVANGELISM: Take construction paper, scissors, and markers to a group meeting. Ask everyone to develop a list of friends who need to know Christ. Then have them use the supplies you brought to make a Bible bookmark that will remind them to pray for the people whose names they write down.

 In the weeks that follow, encourage group members to use their reminders and pray for those people on their list.  Once every month or so, you might ask members to report on any new interest in spiritual things or even a new commitment to Christ made by the people they listed

WORSHIP: Start your group at about 9 p.m. on a Friday night.  Create a special room for the kids to all sleep in.  Provide sleeping bags and plenty of pillows. Have your regular group meeting with the adults.  Know that without time restrictions, prayer will move at a more relaxed pace.  After the study, have a midnight snack break.  Next, encourage each group member to lead a half-hour prayer session.  After that or around 5:00 a.m., whichever comes first, have a time for praise reports and then celebrate God’s goodness with a group breakfast. This is an event that your kids will remember, and it will model for them a real commitment to prayer.

For more ideas like these read 250 Big Ideas for Purpose Driven Small Groups.  More next month!

Steve Gladen is Pastor of the Small Group Community at Saddleback Church and founder of the Purpose Driven Small Group Network.

Leadership Lifter – July 2009

RICK WARREN’S LAWS OF LEADERSHIP

1.    NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL SOMEONE PROVIDES LEADERSHIP FOR IT.

That is a law of life.  Look at history.  The Civil Rights movement was nothing until a man came along named Martin Luther King and said, “I have a dream” and then provided leadership.  The NASA space program was nothing until a guy named John Kennedy said, “We’re going to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.”  A man by the name of Ray Crocks said, “I want fast food at a convenient price in a clean atmosphere,” and he invented an entire industry called fast food.  Saddleback Church started because God said, “Rick, I want you to be a leader and get the thing off the ground.”  When you have problems in your own family, you will not find a resolution until somebody in the family assumes leadership and says, “We’re going to do something about it.”  Everything rises or falls on leadership.  Most problems can be traced to a lack of competent leadership.  

2.    LEADERSHIP IS INFLUENCE

If I had to summarize leadership in one word it would be influence. That influence can be positive or negative.  A leader can be identified immediately – whether it is on the playground, in a group of teenagers, or in a committee meeting.  Very often, it is not the “official” leader.  It is the person everyone keeps looking at to see what he or she thinks.  Every time you influence somebody you are assuming leadership.  In I Timothy 4:12 Paul told Timothy, “As a young man be an example in leadership.”  Age has nothing to do with leadership.  You can be an influence at any age and you are a role model whether you like it or not.  The issue is not whether you are a leader.  Everyone is a leader – whether at home, school, or work.  The issue is whether or not you are a good leader. 

A Biblical definition of a leader:  A leader is someone with God given ability and responsibility to influence a group of God’s people to accomplish God’s purpose for that group.

3.    THE TEST OF LEADERSHIP IS “IS ANYBODY FOLLOWING?”

If you want to know whether you are a leader or not, look over your shoulder.  Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice and I know them and they follow me.”  In I Cor. 11:1 Paul said, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.”  We all need human role models.  Sure we are to follow Christ, but we also need human models to follow.

John Maxwell’s parable of leadership, “He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.”

Leadership has absolutely nothing to do with titles or position. It has to do with influence. There is a big difference between having a boss and having a leader.  Many people have authority but they don’t have leadership.  I’ve been in a lot of churches where they have elected leaders but the church is really run by brother “so and so” who everyone knows is the real leader, the real pace setter.  If you are not influencing anybody, it does not matter whether you think you are a leader or not, you are not.

4.  THE FOUNDATION OF LEADERSHIP IS CHARACTER, NOT CHARISMA

A lot of TV evangelists have had charisma, but they have failed because they had no character.  They had major character defects.  The foundation of leadership is character, not charisma. Charisma has nothing to do with leadership.  Charisma is not a prerequisite to leadership.  Character is.  If you do not have character and credibility,  nobody is going to follow you. 

Reputation is who people say you are, character is who you really are.  D. L. Moody said, “Character is what you are in the dark when nobody is looking.”  In I Timothy 3:1-13, Paul defines the necessary characteristics of a church leader.  Not once does he mention the necessity of a seminary education. Leadership is not based on academics. It is based on character – on who you are.

Leaders are found in all types of personalities. There is no one leadership personality.  Never say that you want to be like another leader.  In fact, if you try to imitate another leader you will likely burn out because you won’t be using your unique gifts. God wants to use your personality.

Great leaders do have certain traits in common.  These are found in Hebrews 13:7-8. “Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”  This passage gives us three characteristics of good leaders:

• They have a message worth remembering.  When they talk, people listen.  “Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.”  Evidently, there is something worth remembering there.
•  They have a lifestyle worth considering.  “Consider the outcome of their way of life.”  Does their walk match their talk? Does their life match what they say they are?
•  They have a faith worth imitating.  “Imitate their faith.” 

 If you want to be a good leader, you need to develop a message worth remembering (What is my life message?  What does God want to say to the world through me?), have a lifestyle worth considering and have a faith worth imitating.  That’s all character.

  5.  LEADERSHIP CAN BE LEARNED

 Every one of you can be a great leader.  Philippians 4:9 tells us, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put into practice.”  Leaders are made, not born.  There is no such thing as a born leader.  They are made by the way they respond to circumstances.  You can take two people in the same situation, and one of them will end up being a leader, while the other washes out because of the choices they make. 

 The priority of training leaders can be seen in the ministry of Jesus.  Mark 3:14 tells us, “He appointed twelve that they should be with him and he should send them out.”  Jesus had a public ministry and a private ministry.  His public ministry involved preaching, teaching, and healing.  His private ministry involved training the disciples.  Even within the twelve, He had an inner circle of Peter, James, and John.  Those three went to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Mount of Transfiguration.  In Galatians, Paul said Peter, James and John were the pillars of the church.  Jesus invested the maximum time with those who would bear the maximum responsibility.  He fed the masses but He spent most of His time training leadership.  Leadership can be learned.

6.  THE MOMENT YOU STOP LEARNING, YOU STOP LEADING

All leaders are learners.  The moment I stop learning, I stop leading.  The moment I, as a pastor, stop growing, Saddleback Church will stop growing.  You must always be developing and growing and becoming what God wants you to be. Learning to be a leader takes a lifetime.  If you stop learning, you are not only short-changing the people that you lead, you are also falling short of God’s plan for your life.

Rick Warren is the senior pastor of Saddleback Church and the best-selling author of many books, including The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church.