SERMON - THE POWER OF LEADERSHIP TO TRANSFORM THE GLOBAL CHURCH
In this message from November 27th, 2022 at Bethel Church in Redding CA, Kris Vallotton shares on the importance of the global Church remaining pure to the Word of God. He calls the Church to a higher standard, rebuking the immorality that has seemingly seeped into the four walls and urging the Body to turn back to holiness. He reminds us of the importance of spiritual authority and that great leadership will create a healthy Church. This message is an invitation to have God search our hearts and cast off whatever may be hindering us from experiencing the fullness of what He has paid for.
THE POWER OF LEADERSHIP
TO TRANSFORM THE GLOBAL CHURCH SERMON NOTES
- In the last twelve months, Bethel has received several prophetic words about holiness, justice, God cleansing His church and becoming a plumbline for the nations. I believe these are not just words for the Bethel family but they are words for the global Church!
- The word ‘church' comes from the Greek word ecclesia, meaning to be called out from one place into another, and it was used in the context of politics but Jesus redefined this word to be used within the context of those who chose to follow Him and be set apart.
- The leadership of Jesus Christ is so profoundly powerful that to this day Jesus remains the greatest leader of all time among both secular and sacred groups. As we look at the state of the world today, it's easy to see that humanity is in a free fall, but Jesus came to save the world!
- Today’s message is not about the world but about the Church. I am deeply concerned as I see the Church embracing immorality, impurity and an anti-biblical lifestyle. The crisis is in the leadership and has worked its way down.
- Jesus had a high value for leadership as He himself spent most of His time with the future leaders of the Church, twelve men and a small group of women.
Who instituted leadership in the Church? What was the goal of leadership?
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:11-13
- Christ Himself gave the Church different roles in order that His Church would be strengthened and mature.
What is the result of equipping the saints?
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
Ephesians 4:14-16
- The outcome of the saints being equipped is that people aren’t in deception. There is health throughout the saints and the Church body is able to build up the body. The outflow of great leadership is that the body actually takes care of the body!
- In the example of Paul and Titus, Titus was commissioned to appoint leaders in every city where a church was planted. This is a multi-generational legacy!. Paul is making the point that, you can speak to the crowds but if you don’t form leadership within people, you’re not going to build something that lasts.
- Though there is an understandable growing distrust with church leaders in our culture, and I am just as concerned by the lack of disciples. Jesus never called believers ‘christians’ in the Bible but ‘disciples’, which means someone is discipling us and the word disciple comes from the root word discipline. I’m concerned we are raising christians but not making disciples who have spiritual authority in their lives.
- Throughout the New Testament, we see that the Church understood the importance of leadership and spiritual leaders were appointed by God and other godly men. (Acts 6)
- I believe in spiritual authority in the Church. I think that the rampant immorality in the Church is not actually the problem but a symptom of rebellion. As leaders our role is not to fully agree. Let me point out that agreement is not the same as love because if love means to agree, then Jesus didn’t love anyone because He disagreed with everyone.
- There are shepherds who will give account to God for their flock and you should obey them. (Hebrews 13:17)
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Romans 10:17
- God is inviting us to clean out our ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. If our ears are dull and our faith is low, the Lord is coming to open our ears and is giving us spiritual hearing aids so that we can receive the words of righteousness and be changed.
- I hope you hear this message as an invitation to have God search our hearts for any rebellion that might be present in us and a reminder that God is bringing us back to be a plumbline of holiness and is raising us up again as leaders who will rise up and see deception broken off the lives of believers.
