Learning to Walk with Others

There's only so much that a natural man can accomplish in his own strength.

We have a good idea what a natural man can accomplish in his own strength. He can only run so fast, lift so much, or live so long. Ever so often a special person comes along and shatters a record. But when he does, it's only by a few yards, a few goals, a few split seconds, or a few dollars- whatever measure that we try to use.

We also know that in time, even the greatest men are forgotten. The Bible says in 1 Peter 1:24 (NIV), "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall..." We spend our lives in denial about our mortality. Deep down, we know that our strength cannot last forever. We cannot remain in control, not forever. Even our greatest achievements will be forgotten.

But suppose we could transcend these natural limitations? Suppose we could be a part of something supernatural? What if we could reach beyond our own strength? What if we could shape the course of history? What if we could be part of something so extraordinary that future generations would marvel at what was done?

The Church of Jesus Christ is a supernatural community.

My friends, that is what this thing we call the Church is all about. The Church of Jesus Christ, of which you are a part, is a supernatural community. Supernatural refers to those miraculous things that surpass what is humanly or naturally possible in our own strength. Supernatural things are those things that cannot be explained away as mere luck or good fortune. Jesus promises that nothing in all the world, not even the gates of hell, will ever prevail against the Church. We're more than a dynasty. In Christ Jesus, we're eternal victors.

We prevail through prayerful dependence.

I don't know about you, but I've always imagined Moses having a strong physique, a chiseled jaw, and six-pack abs. Thank you Charleston Heston! But in Exodus 17 Moses faced a powerful enemy named Amalek. Now we might think that the battle against Amalek is to be won on the battlefield, with sword drawn, and with much bloodshed. But our battle is not against flesh and blood. Our battle isn't won by human strength.

As Amalek pressed his attack, where was Moses? We find him high atop a mountain, with arms stretched out toward heaven, praying to the living God. So long as he kept his arms lifted toward heaven, Israel prevailed in battle. But when he let his arms down, the Amalekites prevailed. Exodus 17:12 (NIV) tells us, "When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up- one on one side, one on the other- so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amakalite army with his sword."

Moses knew his strength came from the Lord. Nothing supernatural can happen through this church unless our arms are raised to the living God. A prayerful church is a powerful church. You may think that what matters most is what happens out on the battlefield. But what matters most is prayer.

When is the last time when you prayed so hard that your hands became too heavy to lift? When is the last time you prayed so far beyond the limits of your strength that you had to invite two others alongside you, to physically sustain you in prayer? The sooner we acknowledge our weakness, and raise our hands in prayerful dependence, the sooner we will prevail in victory. Nothing will be impossible for us. A prayerless church is a defeated church. A prayerless Christian is a defeated Christian.

We prevail through empowered leaders.

Some wrongly believe that Moses was a barbarian of sorts. In reality, Moses was raised by his natural mother while receiving the finest education in all of Egypt. Moses was an exceptional man who possessed extraordinary wisdom, who was grounded in his faith, and who knew the will of God.

If you've ever met such a capable individual, you know how his workload tends to multiply. People would seek Moses out as an expert to solve their riddles and meet their needs. But with such a large community, Moses discovered there weren't enough hours in the day to serve God's people.

In Exodus 18:1 we find the secret to his success. Moses was so overwhelmed with trying to meet his peoples' needs that he had packed up his wife and children and sent them to his father-in-law! And in Exodus 18:7, when Jethro tried to return with Moses' wife and kids, Moses went out and
pled with Jethro. "Jethro, look at everything God is doing. Pretty pretty please! Keep my family. Look, I'm bowing down to you and kissing your feet."

Instead, Jethro shadows Moses for a day and notices that Moses is a total control freak. Moses had to personally judge every matter that came before God's people. He was the expert. The problem was that he was neglecting his family. He was physically exhausted. Needs were backing up. Conflicts were escalating. Tension was rising.

In Exodus 18:17-23 (NIV), Jethro confronted Moses. "What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring the disputes to him. Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. But select capable men from all the people- men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain- and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. This will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."

A church's capacity is limited by the number of its empowered leaders.

Did you catch the principle? A praying church is a prevailing church. Likewise, an empowering church is a prevailing church. Whenever a church relies upon a singular man, the church limits itself to the capacity of that man. If that man cannot even manage himself or his own household, he'll destroy the church. If that man can only serve ten, fifty, or a hundred, then that will be the size of that church.

I have spent a good part of my life leading small churches. I preached in two small churches. One was 10-15 people in size, and one was 35 people but grew to over 115. A lot of people think small churches are more spiritual than larger churches. But in reality, they are not more spiritual. They can be less empowering. One man, or a key family, reigns in power.

But look what happens when we empower leaders! We gain capacity and ministry bandwidth in multiples of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands. With empowered leaders, we gain a supernatural capacity to change our world.

In addition to prayerful dependence, victory is contingent on empowering leaders. When people bring problems to me, I remind them that they hold the solutions. When God shows you a need, then you come to me and say, "Pastor, our church really needs to..", I see it as my responsibility to empower you to answer God's call on your life.

Just the other week someone came to me saying, "You should blank..." Friends, if I spent all my energy answering the call God puts out for each person in this church to serve, I'd never get around to answering the call God has put on my life to complete the works he has prepared for me to do!

I regularly remind our leaders and staff that they hold the solutions and they do the ministry. You study the word. You baptize. You marry. You pray. You intervene. You encourage, rebuke, and admonish. You judge the matter. You lead a small group or ministry team or shepherd circle of ten to help people know the Lord. Do you have greater capacity than ten? Then lead a Bible class of fifty, or the junior high ministry with 50 kids, or a children's church gathering of fifty ankle-biters, or a young adults harbor gathering of 50 students. And if you have greater capacity, lead our senior high ministry of nearly 100 youths. Lead our women's ministry with fifty to a hundred women.

Recently I said to Brad Owen, our student pastor, "Brad, you are a capable leader. Why not lead our preschool, elementary, junior high, senior high, and young adults? Appoint leaders of ten, fifty, and a hundred. And let's get 1000 young people on fire for Jesus through your leadership." Jay. Mark. Nic. Dan. Jake. You are all empowered to do the same.

If you come to Lakeside and want me to be your hero, superstar pastor, guess what? I'm not going to give up on you until you answer God's call. Then you will become the hero, superstar pastor who is pastoring ten, fifty, a hundred, or a thousand while I stand in the corner amazed by the glory of God shining on your face, not on mine.

We prevail through empowered leaders. Moses empowered leaders. Jesus empowered twelve disciples, then seventy, than 500 brothers. Read Acts 6:1-7. The apostles appointed seven men to carry out the ministry so that they could devote themselves to the word and prayer. Next thing we know, the Church exploded in growth. Acts 6:7 (NIV) tells us, "So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."

If you don't want to be part of a church that empowers leaders, or if you have no desire to receive ministry from empowered leaders, you probably aren't going to like Lakeside much. Sadly, there are plenty of less empowering churches for you to attend.

We prevail through an empowered priesthood.

In Exodus 19:4-6 we discover God's real intent for his people. It is so amazing and extraordinary, that were we to embrace God's call as a community, the works that would flow out of this church would be nothing less than supernatural, spectacular, miraculous, and awe-inspiring.

In Exodus 19:4-6 (NIV) God tells Moses, "You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of preists and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

Interesting enough, these are the same words Peter spoke over the Church. In 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV) he says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

We don't have the capacity of a singular Pope. Nor do we have the capacity of those who can lead ten, fifty, a hundred, or a thousand. We have the infinite capacity of the whole body of Christ, of every one of us who are being built up and equipped and empowered to do the good works (the supernatural works) that God has prepared in advance for us to do. These are works that transcend our individual strength. These are works that transcend our ability to personally do, control, or micro-manage. These are works that transcend our lifetime and that will matter for eternity.

We look for a church that is to meet our needs. Shouldn't we instead look for a church that's empowered by prayer? That empowers her leaders? That empowers each and every member to do God's work? I believe that Lakeside is just such a church.