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Jul 01, 2018

Wise Leadership

Passage: Proverbs 21:1

Speaker: Brian Land

Series: Proverbs

Category: Grace Brevard

Keywords: leadership, leading, submission, following wisdom

We all have people in authority over us, from parents to bosses to government leaders. Most of us also have people who we are responsible to lead, like kids and employees. Proverbs speaks much-needed insight into how to lead and follow wisely, even (especially) when you have issues with the person in charge. The key to Gospel Authority (leading and following) is to keep our hearts on the big picture: that our true leader is and forever will be God who is a perfectly loving and just Father who has, for the time being, set up all other authorities (even ones we don’t like) for the purposes of glorifying him and restoring creation.

Order of Worship

Call To Worship: Philippians 2:5-11 ESV

Songs: Indescribable, Reckless Love, Wonderful Merciful Savior, Great Are You Lord

Reading: Ephesians 2:13-14a,19-22 ESV

Prayer: Prayer: Humility In Service

LEADER:  O Mighty God, we humble ourselves for faculties misused, opportunities neglected, and words ill-advised.

ALL:  We repent of our folly, inconsiderate ways, and paths of unbelief

LEADER:  Fill us with an over-flowing ocean of compassion, Bury our sins in the cleansing blood of Jesus.  The reign of love our motive and the law of love our rule.

ALL:  O God of all grace, make us more thankful, more humble and work in us a deep sense of our depravity and your daily rescue.

LEADER:  That faith may adhere us to Christ, that love may entwine itself around us, your Spirit pervading throughout; making known Your grace to all.  

ALL:  Lord Jesus, give us repentance unto life.

Sermon Title: Wise Leading and Wise Following

Central Text: Various Proverbs on Leadership 

  • 16:10-15, 21:1, 24:21-22, 28:15, 29:4, 14

 Response: Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,

begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God,

Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made;

of the same essence as the Father. Through Him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven;

He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,

and was made human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered and was buried.

The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.

He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.

His kingdom will never end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.

He proceeds from the Father and the Son,

and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.

He spoke through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,

and to life in the world to come. Amen.  

Benediction: Jude 1:24-25 ESV

Media:

7.01.18 Album

Related Scriptures:

  • Daniel 2:20, Daniel 6, Rom 13:1-7, 1 Samuel 8:19-22, Matthew 22:19-21, Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Peter 2:10, Matthew 26:39

Discussion Questions & Applications:

  1. What are good and bad qualities for leaders?
  2. What about for followers?
  3. Why is it hard to follow leaders you don’t respect, or ones that are outright bad?
  4. Why and how should we be respectful to leaders we don’t like?
  5. Scriptures repeatedly tells us that God is our ultimate leader and even installs every leader, even the bad ones. How do you feel about that? How do you explain the terrible leaders (remember that he overtly elevated Babylon, a horrible murderous country, only to USE them to enslave Israel which would bring them back to faith)?
  6. How did Jesus interact with his heavenly leader (the Father)? How did he interact with his worldly leaders, even the ones that murdered him (think of what he even said about Jerusalem’s leaders while he hung on the cross)?
  7. How can knowing this and trusting in God’s perfect plans, even his installation of leaders, impact our peace and our behavior toward leaders around us?
  8. How should our ultimate citizenship influence our human versions of it?

Docs & Quotes:

  • “We naturally fancy that they acquire their power by their own talents, or by hereditary right, or by fortuitous accident. Meanwhile, all thought of God is excluded when the industry, or valor, or success, or any other quality of man is extolled! Hence it is said in the Psalms, neither from the east nor the west, but God alone is the judge (Ps. 75:6f). The Prophet there derides the discourses of those who call themselves Wise, and who gather up reasons from all sides to show how power is assigned to man, by either his own counsel and valor, or by good fortune, or other human and inferior instruments. Look round, says he, wherever you please, from the rising to the setting of the sun, and you will find no reason why one man becomes lord of his fellow-creatures rather than another.” - John Calvin
  • “The most basic office we hold is indeed that of divine image. Respect for authority must begin with this authoritative office, in which all the other offices find their focus and point of origin.” - David Koyzis
  • “Perhaps our sincere prayers could contribute to the revival in the public mind of a sense of the inherent dignity of public office. Unless that sense grows among ordinary citizens, it is likely that most of those offering themselves for “public service” will merely be seeking their own private advantage.” - Ellen Davis
  • “I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

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