We had an incredible leaders retreat in Flagstaff, Arizona this past weekend. Twenty four brother and sisters went. Those who went were house church and bible talk leaders and a few who are in training to lead a bible talk.
Called
Our brother Matt Sullivan started off preaching a message to us on Friday night entitled “Called”. He began with the question,” Do you feel called by God? Every person who has become a disciple of Jesus Christ has been called by God! But as a disciple, do you still feel called by God? God has called every disciple to live a sold out life for Him. He has called us to live a Holy life.
Exodus 3:2-5 said to Moses, “The angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.’ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’ ‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ “ God is always trying to get our attention for us to come to Him. Do you believe that God believes in you after He has called you to be a disciple? You should! God wants to use all His disciples until the day they die and go on to Heaven. But you must continue to live a holy life. The word holy translated in the Hebrew means to be “set apart” or “separateness.” God expects us to live our lives fully sold out to Him. We are to hate any sin in our lives and repent of it immediately. Psalm 101:2-3 says, “I will be careful to lead a blameless life — when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.” Make no mistake, our God expects us to live a holy life.
Chosen to Follow
The next message was given by Chris Chloupek entitled “Chosen to Follow.” In the story of the rich young ruler, Matthew 19:16-30, the man comes to Jesus and asks the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus tells him, “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” “Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. To be a sold out disciple, we must be willing to give up everything to follow Jesus. Luke 14:33 tells us, ”In the same way any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” A true disciple of Jesus will not be afraid to ask God in prayer what he or she lacks. They will also ask this question of the brothers or sisters with whom they are in a discipling relationship. You see, when you are chosen by God, you humble yourself and follow Jesus in every area of your life. To be a great leader, you must be a great follower of Jesus and His Word. Following Jesus in our world today takes great courage. Different states are now approving same sex marriages. In the world today, it is completely acceptable for men and women to live together in sexual immorality. To follow Jesus in this world takes deep conviction and great courage and faith! Are you following Jesus? We also must learn to follow the leaders in our churches. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” We are chosen to follow Jesus first and then we need to learn and strive to follow the leaders in our lives. If you are a bible talk or church leader or discipling someone, you need to be leading by example. But many times we look at the things that are wrong with a person instead of looking for the things that are worth imitation. God is always in control. He will not raise you up until you learn what you are meant to learn from the leader in your life now. James 4:10
says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
Chosen to Lead
Mike Patterson followed up with a message entitled, “Chosen to Lead.” He asked the question, “Why do you want to be a leader?” He then went on to say that it should be to make a difference in peoples lives. When we do nothing, nothing happens! A leader in God’s church is someone who is a watchman.
Ezekiel 3:16-19 says, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die’, and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.” We need to love our fellow brothers and sisters enough to disciple them when we see sin in their lives. The bible says for each of us to “continue to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12)
Lets all strive to be leaders for God’s kingdom and continue to lead people to follow Jesus and to stay faithfully on the narrow road to Heaven. (Matthew 7:13-14):“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Life is short and then we get to go to Heaven!
Love, your brother in Christ,
Chris Chloupek
