Spiritual Leadership

Leadership in a community of faith is a HUGE deal! Throughout the whole bible, we see God's design for leadership and how that effects the impact on God's people. Paul writes to Timothy the qualifications for spiritual leadership. He writes what the qualifications for an elder and also a deacon. These qualifications are presented so that the community of faith, or church, will maintain integrity, keep people focus on Jesus Christ, and to give maturity in the spiritual oversight of a local church. The Deacons responsibility is to serve the church in areas of stewardship, mercy, and outreach. The Elders responsibility lead the church as they oversee all matters regarding discipline, vision, and theology. These two sermons give a brief overview of Elders and Deacons within the Reformed Church of America and Grace Church specifically.

Deacons:

Notes / Acts 6: 1-7 / 1 Timothy 3: 8-13 / RCA: The Ministry of the Deacon

Elders:

Notes / 1 Peter 5: 1-5 / 1 Timothy 3: 1-7 / RCA: The Ministry of the Elder 

Red Letters: Zacchaeus

Series : Red Letters

Scripture : Luke 19: 1-10

Zacchaeus sought after Jesus. In fact, he craved and strived to see Him. He did no let anything get in his way and was determined. The result was that Jesus transformed him from the inside out. We too can have this type of transformation. In fact it is God's heart that we do and also to share it with others.

 

Notes

 

Red Letters: Sinful Woman

Series : Red Letters

Scripture : Luke 7: 36-50

Do you mourn for your sin? Most of do not. The sinful woman at Simon the Pharisee's house is an account we can learn from and allow Jesus to take our burdens in life.

 

Notes

 

Red Letters: Nicodemus

Series : Red Letters

Scripture : Various

God desires for us to grow spiritually. We see in Nicodemus that he went to Jesus at night and then grew every time we see him throughout the book of John. The end result is that he risked everything for Jesus and we are to do the same. Risk our reputation for Jesus and see what the Lord will do with that.


Notes 

Disciple: Goes Out

Series : Disciple

Scripture : Matthew 10: 5-15

When Jesus looked at the crowds that were following Him - He had compassion on them. He then told His disciples that the harvest is plentiful and to seek the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers. Today, a disciple of Jesus goes out and serves the community and also verbally shares the Hope found in Jesus. The two go hand in hand. When you serve and share, you will receive opposition to the message of Jesus - that is OK because we are not responsible for the results - Jesus is. All we have to do is to be faithful to the message, because there is a huge harvest field in front of us. A Christian goes on a mission trip, but a disciple is a missionary. This is how. 


Notes

Disciple: Breaks Bread

Series : Disciple

Scripture : Acts 2: 42-47

Community. Fellowship. These are not just "buzz" words around churches, they should be a way of living that penetrates every level and area of a local community of faith from the small groups, to the ministry teams, to the Sunday Morning worship and even on the Governance level. Community and fellowship is much deeper that just sharing a meal together or participating in a fun event and creating a welcoming atmosphere. It is about accountability, love, nurture, and living out the "Biblical One-Another's" A disciple of Jesus should look others and not just focus on themselves. 


Notes

The Biblical One-Another’s

Love one another (John 13: 34)

Be devoted to one another (Romans 12: 10a)

Honor one another (Romans 12: 10b)

Accept one another (Romans 15: 7)

Teach one another (Romans 15: 14)

Greet one another (Romans 16: 16)

Serve one another (Galatians 5: 13)

Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6: 2)

Be compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4: 32)

Submit to one another (Ephesians 5: 21)

Forgive one another (Colossians 3: 13)

Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5: 11)

Spur one another toward love (Hebrews 10: 24)

Live in harmony with one another (1 Peter 3: 8)

Offer hospitality to one another (1 Peter 4: 9)

Disciple: Wash Feet

Series : Disciple

Scripture : John 13:3-17

A disciple of Jesus should not think too highly of themselves. They should also not think to low of themselves either. We are to look outside of ourselves and serve one another. The world tells us we should look out for #1, but following Jesus we look at how we can serve others. We follow Jesus' example as he washed the feet of the disciples, we are to wash each others feet. 

Notes

Disciple: Go Fishing

eries : Disciple
Scripture : Luke 5:1-11

For a follower of Jesus, reaching out is not an option, we are commanded to do so. We do not need to do this without any tools, we have some items in our tackle box as we go and catch people - Just like Jesus told us to do.

Notes

Disciple: No Christians Allowed

Series : Disciple
Scripture : Various

God never called anybody to be a "Christian" - He did however, call us to follow Him with our whole lives. Being a Passionate Follower of Jesus means we do several things; this sermon scratches the surface to these things.

Notes

Remember: Baptism

Series : Remember
Scripture : 1 Peter 3:18-22

The infant baptism and believer baptism debate has been going on for hundreds of years. What has been lost in recent years is the theology of baptism into the family of God. Baptism does point in three directions that we can reflect on no matter what your theology is. Because baptism is a sign of this, we need to be good stewards of God's Grace. 

Notes

Remember: Fasting

Series : Remember
Scripture : Isaiah 58

Fasting is a discipline that has lost its impact in the church today. What does it mean? How do you do it? What is the purpose? God in His sovereignty places an outline in scripture. Check this out and learn about fasting.

Notes 

Remember: Communion

Series : Remember
Scripture : Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

Taking Communion has become routine in the church today. We need to remember the deeper meaning of this practice each time we take it. When we do; we grow, we become more obedient, and we celebrate what the Lord has done in our lives. We do so by looking inward, looking back, and looking ahead.
Notes

Bringing People to the Cross

Leadership Community

The Baldhead Blog Future

As I look at my blog, I realized that I have not posted regular thoughts and ponderings. There is a lot of my sermons and I am excited to post these and will continue to do so. I had a thought yesterday as I was driving to a meeting with other pastors that are in the process of making "adjustments" in their communities of Faith to become more effective with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The thought was this - I will be posting more thoughts about a wide variety of things, but will do so via video. So The Baldhead Blog will have video's of random thoughts, my sermons, and written thoughts as well. Of course all these will be linked to facebook and twitter (you can check them out on the links below). I am extremely excited and have already started a log of idea's to video and write. My prayer is that these will make us think, seek the Lord more, become better leaders, and become more committed and passionate followers of Jesus Christ. Look out future - here we come.

www.twitter.com/baldheadbruce
www.facebook.com/baldheadbruce
www.youtube.com/user/baldheadbruce

The Kingdom

Series : God Is Closer Than You Think (sermon #6)
Scripture : Various

As followers of Jesus, we often think that the Kingdom of Heaven is on our future as we pass from this life to the next. The reality is that the Kingdom of Heaven is right here and now and we have to live our lives accordingly. 

Notes

The People

Series : God Is Closer Than You Think
Scripture : 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24

We need each other as we grow in Jesus. The Christian life was not meant to live out alone. No man is an island or a lone ranger - we need each other in this journey. 

Notes

The Voice

Series : God Is Closer Than You Think (sermon #4)
Scripture : Luke 8:9-21

We can look at the parable of the sower and see that each type of ground represents parts of our heart today. God is speaking, but we need to listen with our hearts so we can shine God's light into every area so our whole heart can be a willing heart. 

Notes

The Presence

Series : God Is Closer Than You Think (sermon #3)
Scripture : John 16:5-15

Before Jesus went to the cross for you and me, He had a conversation with His disciples. As a part of this discussion, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to them and what the Holy Spirit will do in their lives. Today we have this same promise that we should not resist, but allow the Holy Spirit to; help us, convicts us, and teach us. 

Notes and BaldheadBruce YouTube Channel  

The Creed

This series is based on the Apostles Creed and gives some basic tenants of the Christian Faith. The prayer behind this series is that this would not just be a series about knowing what you believe, but living life with passion rooted in Jesus. 


February 21, 2010 "Living What You Believe" (notes)
February 28, 2010 "Living With God As Father" (notes)
March 7, 2010 "Living With Jesus As Savior" (notes)
March 14, 2010 "Living With The Holy Spirit" (notes)
March 21, 2010 "Living With God's People" (notes)
March 28, 2010 "Living With Eternity in Mind" (notes) (video)

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