Leader 101: Lesson One

“Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply. It is like discovering a well in the desert. Once you have touched wet ground, you want to dig deeper.” Nouwen, p. 31.

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Note:  The content of our  Leader 101 Course is being made available to everyone in the LK10 Community (ie, those who have subscribed to the LK10 Newsletter).  However, the best learning takes place in the context of “communities of practice”.  We call these, Leader Teams.  Click on the link to learn more.

LESSON ONE:  Cultivating the habit of joy  

FIRST WEEK. 

(Our learning process in LK10 always starts with our relationship with the Holy Spirit as our Coach (Paraclete).  He is the One who leads us into all truth.  So, read until He stops you.  Use that as the beginning point for dialogue with Him.  Repeat.)

LEADING A GROUP IS ALWAYS CHALLENGING!    Because we are working with people, there will be many setbacks and discouragements and disappointments.  Even Jesus experienced this.  “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Jn. 6:66

In addition, the Enemy especially targets leaders.  (Example from war… snipers are taught to look for officer insignia to determine their primary targets.)  If the Enemy can take out the leader, the group/church often struggles or dies.  The flock (group) is scattered.

  • “The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flocks are scattered.”  Jeremiah 10:21
  • Same verse in The Message…”It’s because our leaders are stupid.  They never asked God for counsel, and so nothing worked right.  The people are scattered all over.”

Question: In your experience, what difficulties or challenges have you experienced as a small group leader?

STRENGTH OVER TIME IS CRITICAL.  This quality of strength over time can be called endurance, perseverance or resiliency.  James 1:2 says that it is a mark of maturity.

HOW CAN LEADERS DEVELOP RESILIENCY?  “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”  Neh. 8:10.  As joy grows so does our ability to be strong over time.  Joy must become the centerpoint of our lives. Our default.  How does this happen?  By cultivating a daily dialogue of joy with the Lord.  A dialogue is a conversation between two people.  (Picture the joy that goes back and forth between a parent and an infant.)  “Each of us enters life wired for joy.  Joy means someone is glad to be with me.”  Wilder, Joy Starts Here, p. 55.

Ideally, this dialogue of joy begins early in life.  But, even if it was not well developed early on, it is never too late to cultivate this wonderful experience.  Spend a few minutes looking at this picture.  What happens to your heart as you look at it?

Screen Shot 2016-08-02 at 3.56.59 PM

 

UNDERSTANDING THE TWO ASPECTS OF THIS DIALOGUE OF JOY

  • We speak to the Lord.  (Our delight in Him)
      1. “Bless the Lord, O my soul; let all that is within me bless his holy name.  Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget none of his benefits…”  Ps. 103:1-2.
      2. “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  1 Thes 5:18
      3. “I found setting a goal of one thousand gifts over a few months beneficial – it kept me attending to all the ways He whispers, “I love you.”   …Whatever you do, the practice is intended to be a way of cultivating a habit, of learning to live praise, to make gratitude and joy your default, to move thanksgiving away from a holiday to a lifestyle – that all the days might be holy and set apart for real joy.”  Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts Devotional.
      4. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;  give thanks to him and praise his name.”  Ps. 100:4.
      5. “…deliberately focusing our attention on things we appreciate will consistently generate the corresponding positive emotion of gratitude.  (p. 179) …appreciation does something that prepares the person’s brain for positive relational connection (p 180.  JW:  connection with the Lord and with people) …if I appreciate the Lord in the context of specific memories, I start with taking several minutes to think about, reconnect with, and re-enter specific memories of previous positive connections with the Lord.” (187).  Lehman, Outsmarting Yourself.
      6. “Appreciation is the best state for perceiving God’s presence whether we are alone or in community.”  Wilder, Joy Starts Here, p. 141.
      7. Assignment:  As close to daily as possible, write at least three things (benefits) you are thankful to God for.  (Part of your 1000 gifts list?)  Pick one of those benefits and journal about it in depth.  (Enter into the emotion of it.)
  • The Lord speaks to us.  (His delight in us)
    1. Prior to ministry (or anything we accomplish).  The Father to Jesus:  “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  Mt. 3:17.  The Father speaks this to Jesus before He had “accomplished” anything.  And, since we know that God is the best Father in the universe, it is likely that He spoke this way to Jesus on a regular (daily?) basis.  This was the foundation and bedrock of Jesus’ ministry.  We begin the way Jesus began, as beloved sons and daughters.  This is the foundation for our ministry also.
    2. “Yes, there is that voice, the voice that speaks from above and from within and that whispers softly or declares loudly:  “You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests.” It is certainly not easy to hear that voice in a world filled with voices that shout:  “You are no good, you are ugly; you are worthless; you are despicable, you are nobody – unless you can demonstrate the opposite.”  Nouwen, Life of the Beloved, p. 26.
    3. “Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply.  It is like discovering a well in the desert.  Once you have touched wet ground, you want to dig deeper.”  Nouwen, p. 31.
    4. During ministry.  “His master replied, ‘Well done good and faithful servant!  you have been faithful with a few things (or ‘a very small thing’ in Lk 19:17); I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share in your master’s joy.”  Mt. 25:23.
    5. “And yet – this is the other and equally important side of it – this Helper who will, in the long run, be satisfied with nothing less than absolute perfection, will also be delighted with the first feeble, stumbling effort you make tomorrow to do the simplest duty… Every father is pleased at the baby’s first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm, free, manly walk in grown-up son. In the same way, he [George MacDonald] said, ‘God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy’ (p. 202-3).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
    6. Assignment:  As close to daily as possible, spend time listening to the Lord in order to hear His pleasure about both who you are and what you are doing (even “the first, feeble, stumbling effort”!). Ask Him to tell you one specific thing (however small) He is pleased about in your life today. Journal what you hear.  Teach what you are learning to someone else.  (CO2 partner, house church, a friend at lunch)  “The real “work” of prayer is to become silent and listen to the voice that says good things about me.”  Nouwen

 

Come to your Leader Team this month ready to share what you are learning about cultivating joy in your life.

 

 

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