EE Leaders | Leadership Lessons Season 2 Episode 4 - The Beauty of the Church
Pastor Daniel talks with Pastor Ron Jones, Coastal Chapel, Lake Worth, FL about how he and his wife, Erin, came to plant their church in Florida and what his thoughts are about the church in general. “I don’t think when Jesus first used the word church, he was describing a building. He was looking at people.” What is so important about seeing the church as people? It is not about success; it’s about fruitfulness. The fruit that is produced through relationships with people and for the kingdom of God is the fruit that remains (John 15:16). What is the importance of being connected with a local church, having fellowship with other believers? Every person in the church has been gifted by God and plays an important role in the health of the body of Christ. This is a great discussion about the vital role of the church and how we can reach people saturated with social media and not feeling the need for anyone or anything to give them more input into their lives. What is the beauty of the church?
QUOTES:
“The church has been the church throughout history….We have a great lineage…that great cloud of witnesses.”
“I don’t tell my kids we’re going to church. I tell them we’re the church that goes.”
“If we’re using our gifts, our talents, our skills and our experience, and we’re pouring into people, then we’re building the church—we’re building Jesus’ church. And it’s going to be fruit that remains.”
“We’ve got to find our place in the local body and be connected to God’s house.”
“You can get information online or listen to a message and hear a good word, but you will never get the spiritual dynamic of God’s impartation—what God puts in people and us receiving from the fruit of other people’s lives.”
“Every person has a spiritual gift. Every person in God’s body is a gift to the body, and there is strength in just them being there. There’s a spiritual gift in them, there’s a measure of grace that they have.”
“Our story is the platform that God uses to really minister to people. We inspire people with our strengths, but we connect to people with our weaknesses.”
One Piece of Advice | You Go First
Mike Lawrence, Port Saint Lucie, FL, recently returned with his family from 13 years as a church planting missionary in Costa Rica to start a new work in Florida. This is his advice: You cannot lead people where you have not first allowed God to lead you. You have to be willing to let God work in your own heart and life first. Your personal experience will give you greater authority and compassion to lead others through similar things. “We are surrounded by people who need to know that the gospel is not only for heaven, it’s for today. They need to know how God is working in your life, so that they, too, can find encouragement that God will do the same thing for them.”
QUOTES:
“We see this principle throughout scripture, that when God is going to call someone into leadership, He is going to do a work in them before He does a work through them.”
“We have to be wiling to be vulnerable and transparent about who we are and where we’re at.”
“While there are qualifications for leadership, perfection is not one of them.”
Links:
Contact Daniel: daniel@eeleaders.com
Leadership Lessons/One Piece of Advice/Blog/Recommended Books: eeleaders.com
