Presenter's Notes

Whenever a new pastor is transferred to serve a new congregation, it is customary for that minister to given an ice-breaker sermon.  I suppose the term “ice-breaker” is a northern term.  I suspect that the term ice-breaker was derived from the wintertime practice when it was important for a farmer to chop a hole in the ice so that his livestock could drink.  An ice-breaker sermon is similar in the rhetorical sense.  An ice-breaker sermon is intended to “break through” barriers to communication in order for the minister to be able to bring the spiritual water of Jesus Christ to the congregation.   

While I am not exactly new to all of you, this is my first Sabbath as the pastor of the Northwest Congregation, so I thought I would follow tradition and bring an ice-breaker sermon to you.  

I have entitled this message “Principles of Leadership.”  After all, as I have certain ecclesiastical responsibilities for the congregation, it is understandable that you would like to know what kind of leadership you can expect.  

I chose the topic of the Principles of Leadership for my initial pastoral sermon because I want to dispel some myths about real leadership and leave us with four essential points to remember about leadership.  We cannot and will not cover the entire subject of leadership in 45 minutes.  There are many books and articles written about leadership.  We will cover two “Don’ts” and two “Do’s” of leadership – the four principal takeaways from today’s message. 

But first, a little bit of my biography.  

As you can tell by my lack of a rich Southern drawl, I am not a native of Arkansas.  I was born and raised on a Brown Swiss cattle dairy farm in a German farming community in south-central Minnesota.  

I am the second son of four boys who were born in five years.  I don’t suppose my parents exactly planned to have four sons that quickly, but as a little kid those kinds of family planning issues didn’t occur to me.  Most of the neighboring farms also had four boys in each of their families. Girls were strange and wonderful creatures that we really didn’t know much about.  

My great-grandfather Martens homesteaded the farm that is still in the family name.  I attended the same one-room country schoolhouse that my grandfather attended when he was a little boy over a hundred years ago.  My mother was a young country school teacher in that one-room country school when she met and married my father – the dashing young farmer nearby.  

Later, the country school was consolidated with the nearby town school district.  When the country school contents were auctioned off, my father purchased half of the little library of the school.  In retrospect, there weren’t many books, but it sure seemed like a wonderful assortment to me while growing up.  As a youth I was heavily involved in 4-H and FFA.  

I went on to have six of the same high school teachers that my dad had.  Many years later my dad and I rode together to our high school reunion. I went to my 25th reunion party while he went to his 50th reunion party. 

The Vietnam War was going on at the time I was graduated from high school.  At age 17 I was too young for the draft when I went off to college in Minnesota.  For some odd reason the Selective Service board overlooked me and I was not drafted into the military. I was fully eligible to be drafted because the draft board quit giving student deferments.  

While at home on the dairy farm we listened to the radio in the barn while feeding and milking cows. The deep voices of the World Tomorrow broadcasters would be playing on several different radio stations.  We didn’t know there was a church connected to the radio broadcast.   

My mom subscribed to the Plain Truth and taught her Sunday school classes at the Methodist church with the magazine for ten years.  My mom is a hoarder and didn’t throw things away – She just stored the old Plain Truth magazines in a farm outbuilding.  One day my elder brother discovered the boxes of old Plain Truth magazines and started reading them.  He wanted to attend Ambassador College, quit eating unclean meats, and keep the Sabbath.  As you can imagine, this caused a stir in the household.  I was curious about the belief system, but I was not yet convicted of the truth.    

After one year of attending Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota my elder brother went on to attend Ambassador College in California.  At the same time he went off to college in California I started as a freshman at Bethel College in Minnesota.  Our family was not Baptist, but the Vietnam War was ongoing and a private college was a much safer environment than the wild and raucous public universities.  Those who remember the Vietnam era watched the news where helicopters were dropping tear gas canisters on the rioting war protestors on college campuses.  

I worked on the home farm during college breaks.  One summer I worked on a dairy research farm in another city starting on the job at 4:10 a.m.  Another summer I painted houses while  went to summer school in the Twin Cities.   

During the winter break of my junior year of college I decided to visit my brother who was attending Ambassador College in Pasadena, California.  I was amazed at the warm desert, the palm trees, and green grass. I camped on the floor of his dorm room. Bright, sunny Southern California was quite a change from the cold, snowy winter in Minnesota.   My college had let out earlier for the winter break than did his college, so I was able to attend classes with him daily for over a week.  I took lots of notes because it was so interesting.  

I returned back to Minnesota and went back to my own college classes.  Then my elder brother came back from California to Minnesota for a visit.  He flew in to the Twin Cities on a Thursday evening and I gave him a ride to church that Sabbath – so I knew when church started and how to find the place.  He caught a ride out to the farm after church with another church family.  The following week he said he was shocked to see me in church of my own volition.  I did not know at that time that visitors were supposed to get permission to attend church.  I just walked in the door as if I owned the place.  Over a year later I was baptized during the spring of my senior year in college by a young pastor in St. Paul, Minnesota.  His name was Victor Kubik.  I knew his mom and siblings.  

After college I went to work for a company called Land O’ Lakes in Iowa.  You may have heard of Land-O’-Lakes butter.  I still have friends in church whom I met in Iowa over 40 years ago. 

Then I decided to start farming on my own back in Minnesota. I rented some farmland and rented some machinery from my father.  Later I purchased one of the rented farms.  Unfortunately, the economics of farming was such that I could either pay for the farm, or I could eat, but I could not do both.  

So, I took a job as the manager of the dairy research station at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota.  It was an exciting opportunity in an academic and agricultural environment.  I oversaw the construction of a new dairy research facility and was able to implement a number of design features that are still in use there over 35 years later.   
 
When the construction of the new dairy research facility in North Dakota was complete, I looked for a new challenge and moved to Oregon.  Over the next dozen years I worked to build an industrial distribution company that grew from the trunk of a car, to a garage, to a 1,500 sq.ft. commercial building, to an 11,500 sq.ft. industrial building that was the largest distributor of its kind in the state. 

We sold that company to a large competitor and after managing the merger for over a year I went to work in Los Angeles for an industrial manufacturer.  My job was in sales – so I frequently traveled all over the United States.  Often I traveled 10,000 air miles per month.  

Over the years I attended several different church congregations in Minnesota, and one each in Iowa City, Iowa; Fargo, North Dakota; Eugene, Oregon, and Pasadena, California.  Later while going to graduate school I attended church in San Diego.  I have been in Northwest Arkansas for the past 17 years.  

I accrued 15 years in a church-sponsored speech club known as Spokesman's Club.  I also attended a public Toastmasters Club.  

I married Arkansas.  What I mean is that my future wife Linda already lived in Arkansas, so when we married, I moved here.  My wife and I have a blended family of nine children – and we are raising number 10, our eldest grandson who is now a college freshman.  

My maternal grandmother was born and raised just a few miles from here in Gravette, Arkansas. I have a bunch of shirttail relatives in these woods.  I still have the farm in Minnesota and like to visit the farm and my mother and another family there each summer. 

My wife and I are both high school teachers.  Fortunately, I married someone smarter than me so I have some who can help me to look good.  

Before I was born my dad was a sergeant in the National Guard.  When the Korean War broke out he was drafted from the National Guard into the United States Army.  My dad was assigned to be a staff sergeant because he could operate a typewriter.  I had to laugh when he told me this because we both had the same typing teacher in high school.  As my dad was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers, he was project oriented and had to work with others to get things done – such as building inflatable, floating bridges to span a river.  

On the farm, I saw my dad organize and carry out projects daily.  He didn’t bark out orders.  Instead, he explained what needed to be done – and then took the initiative to get started doing things.  He gave us hints and we were expected to use our own initiative to get things done. In so doing, he taught us personal responsibility.  Dad said that 90% of getting something done is simply getting started. 

I saw first hand, up close what leadership was like in our family.  Dad set the expectations and then gave us room to accomplish whatever task was set before us.  This meant that we were also free to fail.  Failing was a scary thought.  Failing meant more work to fix whatever it was that didn’t get done right the first time.  It was easier to do things right the first time. 

Now for the Four Principles of Leadership

First, we have the Two "Don’ts” of Leadership

Leadership Principle 1.  Do not be a stumbling block  
Leviticus 19:14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

I am fortunate to have my eyesight.  And even with good eyesight any of us can still trip over things by accident from time to time.  How terrible it would be to deliberatively place something in front of a person even if they could see – so that they tripped and fell.  How much worse would it be to put something in front of someone who could not see?  

To the person who falls down, it doesn’t really matter whether the stumbling block was placed in their way deliberately or by mistake.  The results are the same.  

We are instructed in Leviticus 19v14 to not put a stumbling block in front of others.  The underlying principle here is that we must respect and fear God – who make all of us potential members of the God family.   We must take great care to avoid deliberately hurting another family member.  

The instructions in Leviticus 19v14 are followed up by the writings if Isaiah the prophet in chapter 57v14: 
Isaiah 57:14 [ Healing for the Backslider ] And one shall say, “Heap it up! Heap it up! Prepare the way, Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people.”

Sometimes a stumbling block is not just in front of one person, but a stumbling block can be in front of a group of people.  As the prophet Isaiah says, it is our job to remove stumbling blocks or barriers.  

This principle of not being a stumbling block is reiterated by Jesus Christ and recorded in the books of Matthew, Luke, and Mark.  There are three different words that are used to express the concept of not being a stumbling block in front of others.  
Matthew 18:6 [ Jesus Warns of Offenses ] “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Christ refers to “little ones” when he admonishes everyone not to lead astray these children such that they sin.  The little ones Christ refers to can mean actual children, but it can also refer to those who are new in the faith.  

We read about those who are new in the faith in I Peter 2v2 where they are referred to as newborn babes who need milk of the word (meaning spiritual milk) 
1 Peter 2:2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

We all start out as babies in human life.  We start out as spiritual babies in our spiritual lives.  And milk is a good thing – it is essential for early growth.  So is spiritual milk important to begin our spiritual lives? 

There is another reference to spiritual babes in Hebrews 5:13: 
Hebrews 5:13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

It takes time for babies to grow, to crawl and then walk.  It takes time for young ones to learn to talk.  At some point babies begin to eat solid food.  It is the same with growing Christians.  We learn a little bit at a time.  We learn more and more until ultimately we all become teachers of the truths of God. 

When a baby is learning to walk we do not put stumbling blocks in front of those little ones.  We guide our babies with loving hands – we show them the way.  Just as we read in Matthew 18:6 we are instructed to avoid causing others to sin.  

Now let’s look at the next recording of Christ’s statement as written by Mark: 
Mark 9:42 [ Jesus Warns of Offenses ] “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.

Here Mark uses the turn “to stumble” thus equating that terminology to the writer Matthew’s use of the term “to sin.”  

And then the writer Luke uses a third expression to carry forward that same thought: 
Luke 17:2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

So we have three terms to help our understanding:  to sin, to stumble, to cause to be offended.  

And just to be sure that we understand the importance of not placing a stumbling block in front of someone to cause them to sin, or needlessly cause them to suffer offense, we are reminded in Paul’s letter to the Romans: 
Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. NKJV
New English Translation (NET):  
…determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister. 
English Standard Version (ESV)
 … decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB):  
… — not to put a stumbling block or a snare in a brother’s way. 

In the enterprises or jobs that I have been involved in throughout life where I was the supervisor, I was not the most talented person in being able to perform all of the functions for that company or enterprise.  I learned to get out of the way and let those who are the most talented do their jobs without me being a speed bump or roadblock.  

I saw a bumper sticker that simply stated:  Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way.  

True leadership is following the principle: Do not be a stumblingblock to others.  Just as a doctor is obligated under the Hypocratic Oath to do his patient no harm, each of us as leaders must take care to avoid being a problem for others, to avoid causing others to stumble or sin, to avoid causing offense to others.  

And it works both ways.  Those who are leaders must make every effort not to cause others to stumble, and because we are all children before God, all of us must make every effort not to cause those who are leaders to stumble.  (Sometimes leadership is like a bottle. The bottleneck is at the top of the bottle.) 

Leadership Principle 1.  Do not be a stumbling block  

Leadership Principle 2.  Do not lord it over the brethren as the Gentiles do (micromanagement)

Matthew 20v25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye, know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
27And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant[slave] NET-CEV-CJB
I have worked with for some interesting bosses.  I am sure some of you also have stories to tell. 

Some bosses will micromanage their employees or helpers to the point that the employee quits.   In graduate school, I had an adjunct professor – a part-time professor who taught an evening course. His day job was as a school principal.  I asked him what he did if he wanted to fire a teacher.  He said he generally didn’t have to fire teachers.  He just micromanaged them to the point that they were so miserable that they wanted to leave and find a different job.  

I am quite pleased with the school where I work that my principal does not play “Gotcha” – where the supervisor does not look over the employee’s shoulder every minute and criticize every tiny misstep that the employee makes.  

I have seen some interesting and unusual transformations in some people.  The minute you put a badge of authority on some folks they instantly become a dictator because they think that is what bosses are supposed to do.  

Years ago at our small company of 12-15 employees, I admit that I micromanaged new employees for the first day or so – maybe up to a week until they were trained in and knew my expectations.  Then they were pretty much autonomous – they did their jobs and learned how to interact with other employees and our customers.  Whenever they brought a problem to me, I asked them to bring me at least two solutions.  Eventually, they realized that they were empowered to solve problems on their own and I was only needed in case of a really big issue.  
 
I occasionally went on business trips for one-to-three days.  I had several senior employees but no regular Number Two person in charge.  Before each trip, I informed the staff which employee was to be in charge while I was away.  Each temporary boss had to be careful how he managed the other employees because someone else would likely be the supervisor the next time I went on a business trip.  There was motivation among my employees to be gracious to each other.  They simply didn’t know who was going to be in charge next, so they had reason to be kind, helpful, and forgiving.  

We sold the company after a dozen years and those three senior employees who were quite responsible people who took turns being the boss all went on to establish their own successful companies.   They had learned to serve the needs of others by not lording authority over them.  They had learned to allow their employees to grow and be responsible decision-makers.  

We are all leaders, first in our own lives.  Then in our families and our communities, Then in our congregation, and then in the church at large.  As we assume greater and greater responsibilities in our own individual spheres of influence, we must take on the cloak of being responsible servants and not pretend to be lords or masters for our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

    1 Peter 5 (KJV)
v1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
    3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.

Notice that the Apostle Peter emphasizes what we previously read in the book of Matthew – that we are not to be lords over God’s heritage.  We are to be examples for them.  This instruction is specific to the elders, but by extension applies to all of us because our destiny, our heritage is to be priests in the kingdom of God. 

The books of Luke and Mark closely parallel the account of Matthew 20:25-27 

Luke 22:24 Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. 27 For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.

Mark 9:33 Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.”

Mark records Christ as explaining the importance of being gentle – as with a child in his arms – not chasing the child away with harsh commands as if the child were a nuisance.  

I teach a college class in high school on American Government, and in that class, I teach the definition of politics.  Politics is simply this:  the process by which people make decisions for a community.  That’s it.  It is quite simple actually.  It is neither good nor evil.  Politics is a decision-making process. People can use the political process for good or evil, but the definition of politics itself is just the decision-making process.  We have politics in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our cities, states, and nation – and even in the church.  Politics is how people make decisions for a community – whether that is one decision-maker or many.  Whether the community is one or two people, or thousands or even millions.  

People often think of politics as someone having the rule over us.  If there is a strong decision-maker over us – then we don’t have to think much about it or worry about personal responsibility – We’ll have someone else be responsible.  And if someone else is responsible, then we can escape responsibility.  If we insist that somebody else be the boss – then we can say, “It’s not my fault.  It’s someone else’s job.”   In the end, we can either be responsible individually, or we can be a victim.  

At the beginning of every semester I ask my students if they want me to make their decisions for them – when to get up in the morning, what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, what classes to take a school, how much to study, who their friends are, what they can eat for lunch, if they can participate in after-school activities, whether they can watch TV – if so, which programs they can watch for how long, whether they can have a cell phone, whether they can see of movie (of course, I would pick out the movie), the type of music they can listen to, and when they go to bed.)  I emphasize that I am a very good decision-maker – that my children have made wonderful transitions to their adult lives and have become persons of accomplishment.  

Yet, with all of my great experience in decision-making, for some reason, these budding students want to make their own decisions in life.   However, this individual decision-making has not always been so in the church.  

Frankly, it is easier to let someone else make all of your decisions for you because then you have someone to blame.  There is a tendency to want someone else to be responsible so that we don’t have to be so responsible.

But we are going to show up individually at the Judgment Seat to be personally accountable.  It won’t work to point the finger at someone else and say he or she made my decisions for me. 

    Romans 14:10 …For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 

2 Corinthians 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Jesus Christ specifically said not to lord it (meaning authority) over the brethren as the Gentiles do.  God expects each of us to become good decision-makers.  If we have autocrats, dictators, bosses and such telling us what to do about everything, then we become weak decision-makers.  We must step into the decision-making process ourselves.  
    Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard!  Consider her ways and be wise,
v7 Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler,
v8 Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. 
We can each take the initiative as does the tiny ant to get things done.  As a practical matter, I simply cannot be everywhere and do everything – I rely heavily on each of you for your support and participation for our congregation’s participation in the administration locally and in the overall mission of the church. 

Leadership Principle 2.  Do not lord it over the brethren as the Gentiles do    

We have covered the Two Don’t of Leadership
    Leadership Principle 1.  Do not be a stumbling block  
    Leadership Principle 2.  Do not lord it over the brethren as the gentiles
Now let us look at the last two points – the “Two Dos of Leadership”

Leadership Principle 3.  There is safety in a multitude of counselors.  
The church of God in modern history has had challenges understanding how to manage a church that was expanding rapidly. Those of you that have read about church history know about the problems that grew out of a management style that could not keep up with the growth of church membership.  Therefore, a different management structure was developed – a hierarchal military system with layers of authority.  This new, more centralized, authoritarian system then became a cultural norm for the church for decades.  

However, this centralized, authoritarian administration did not have checks and balances on human nature.  We will see the advice from Scripture anticipates the weakness of man when he is left to his own devices – how an individual can go astray if he or she does not have a number of counselors. 

When some church members heard someone in authority tell them that they no longer had to keep the Sabbath or avoid unclean meats, those people immediately began to eat pork, drink shrimp cocktails, and disregarded the Sabbath.  They simply obeyed someone else without taking personal responsibility for following God.  We follow the leadership of the church, which is the inerrant Word – Christ expressing himself through the Bible.  

Some people want to be told every little thing to do, and some people are quite willing to tell others everything to do.  But it boils down to that we have to develop our own character and make decisions.  We can’t play the victim and blame everyone else.  We will appear before God for our decisions – we can’t lay off the blame because we gave our decisions to someone else.  

At the founding of the United Church of God over 20 years ago, the elders gathered together to preserve the foundational beliefs of the church. Together they labored with the support of the many congregations around the country and around the world.  These elders formed the United Church of God using the principles revealed in Proverbs 11:14: 
¬Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
A counselor is an advisor.  No one individual was going to be entrusted to lead an entire church fellowship astray.  Instead, a system of checks and balances was put in place to ensure that a multitude of counselors would manage the temporal affairs of the church.  

Therefore, all of the elders in the church from around the world vote annually to elect 12 members on a rotational basis to the Council of Elders (the COE) that becomes the governing board of UCG.  Each elder from around the world becomes one of those many counselors referred to in Proverbs 11:14.  There is safety in a multitude of counselors.  

However, the multitude of counselors safety principle does not stop there. The COE-- the Council of Elders, the governing board of directors of the church—has committees and subcommittees to assist with the work of the church.  The COE carefully selects a President who serves a term of three years.  The President selects his various operations managers – and asks the Council of Elders for advice and approval for the appointment of each operations manager.  Again, there is safety in a multitude of counselors.  This pattern is expected to be followed throughout the United Church of God as a governing style of collaboration and mutual submission under God.   

What happens if collaboration does not occur? 
Proverbs 15:22 Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established. 
There is a natural consequence when a multitude of counselors are not sought.  And that natural consequence is generally a problem – or as the Proverb notes:  “plans go awry.”  Things can get messed up.  

Decisions are sometimes made in a hurry without adequate advice.  When more people are involved, then there is a better chance to avoid complications that arise because the decision-maker didn’t have all of the information. 

No matter how big or little the issue may be, I welcome your input as I hope you welcome mine.  We are all in this together as God has entrusted all of us with a ¬measure of responsibility for this congregation. ¬

Leadership Principle 3.  There is safety in a multitude of counselors.  

Leadership Principle 4.  Be helpers of your joy  (fellow servants) 

2 Corinthians 1:24 Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand. NKJV

2 Corinthians 1:24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.  KJV

The first three principles of leadership 
1.  Do not be a stumbling block  
2.  Do not lord it over the brethren as the Gentiles do.
3.  There is safety in a multitude of counselors.  
…lead us to this Point 4 – that we are to be helpers of joy. 

Let us flashback to 
Matthew 20v25 [KJV] But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
27And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant[slave] NET-CEV-CJB

Notice verse 27 that we are to be servants to our brethren.  How can we best help them within our ability to do so?  

If we are not a stumbling block to others, if we diligently work to avoid offending or creating a problem for others, if avoid lording authority over the brethren, if we serve our brothers and sisters in Christ, and if we ask them for their input, for their participation, if we are their partners, then we are active helpers of their joy. 

I am very proud of this congregation.  A couple of years ago when Mr. Barron was in the hospital, our then-pastor Mr. Welch was surprised when he came to the hospital on a visit.  He was surprised that all 22 people were there on that Sunday afternoon.  He told me that he had never before known an entire congregation visit one person in the hospital on the same day.  I understand that we all can’t make it every time someone goes to the hospital, but I’m glad that everyone did at that time.  It was all done voluntarily, where each person took the responsibility of leadership of one to be helpers of someone’s joy. 

“Pastor” is a word derived from the same word as “shepherd”.  I have a small flock of sheep on our little farm, and as their shepherd, I move the sheep from pasture to pasture so they can get the best green grass.  You might say I lead them to green pastures.  It is my hope and expectation that I am used by God to lead this congregation to green pastures, as well.  But we must each consume our own spiritual food.  Each of the sheep must eat and drink their fill.  And a flock by instinct does best when they stick together, they eat together, and they watch out for each other.   

Summary: 
Leadership Principle 1.  Do not be a stumbling block  
Leadership Principle 2.  Do not lord it over the brethren as the gentiles
Leadership Principle 3.  There is safety in a multitude of counselors.  
Leadership Principle 4.  Be helpers of your joy  

Every individual in the congregation should exercise all four of these principles of leadership – the two don’ts and the two dos and not rely on the person at the moment who happens to have the title of Pastor.   
Ultimately, isn’t that what God expects of us – to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8) 

The church is not a corporation.  Nevertheless, the church here is an organized body – with many spiritual functions but very few spiritual offices.  

In our fellowship there are elders, and deacons/deaconesses – and that’s it!  We have a very flat organizational structure in the United Church of God.  We have collaborative decision-making as a model through the General Conference of Elders.  We have checks-and-balances on the excesses of human nature through the church’s constitution and bylaws.  We have a process for policy-making and administration that the church might be scripturally organized: 
1 Corinthians 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

The rest of the jobs listed in Ephesians 4 and elsewhere are functions within the church:  
Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
We read about prophesying (Romans 12, I Corinthians 14), evangelizing, teaching, and preaching.  These are functions, not offices.  We’re all on the front lines for evangelizing – for it’s our example, whether good or otherwise, that influences people’s opinion of the church as we carry forward the gospel message. 

Summary: 
Leadership Principle 1.  Do not be a stumbling block  
Leadership Principle 2.  Do not lord it over the brethren as the gentiles
Leadership Principle 3.  There is safety in a multitude of counselors.  
Leadership Principle 4.  Be helpers of your joy  
One final comment:  These four principals discussed today are essential to recognize, support, and practice good leadership.  But how do we put these points into practice by the words that we use? 

I presume that most of us are familiar with the television game show called  “Jeopardy.”  This is where the contestants – ask everything in the form of a question.  Here are some of the questions that we can use to avoid creating stumbling blocks, avoid lording it over the brethren, seeking a multitude of counselors, and being helpers of others’ joy: 

“Would you like to…?”  
“Would you help me?” 
“May I help you?” 
“How about this?” 
“Is it okay if…?”  
“What about…?” 
“Could we…?” 
“Would you…?” 

I am sure there are many more ways to put into practice these leadership principles. 
I want to thank you all deeply for your love and support.  We have an important work to do together as we preach the gospel and build up God’s people.  
May God watch over each of us and encourage us as we follow Him.