Great Leaders

I know I often ramble on and on about how great it is to work alongside such extraordinary leaders. But I can't help it. I continue to be amazed at how the leaders at our church continue to step up to the plate and knock it out of the park.

For instance, this past Sunday I did something that I've only done once before in the past 23 years as a pastor -- I actually missed church even though I was scheduled to speak. I've been preaching on the subject of compassion -- of getting involved and "sharing the struggle (the literal meaning of "compassion") -- and God clearly wanted me to practice more than preach on the subject that day. So I was released to be with a family walking through an extraordinary crisis while our Elder Team and Worship Leader quickly figured out how God might have them lead the service.

The end result, I'm told, was terrific. (Hmm. Always nice to be reminded how utterly unnecessary you are, right?) Wade prayed, Mick preached, some musicians quickly changed roles and re-learned their music on a different instrument... and everyone was blessed.

What's funny is that our Elder Team had just talked about the need for us all to be prepared to jump in at the last minute should something happen to make me unavailable one Sunday. Little did we know that God would call upon us for that very purpose just 60 hours after our meeting.

And now, as we're preparing for our Annual Church Family Meeting, I've been impressed once again at the dedication and expertise of our church leaders. From putting together a complex budget in the midst of a season of extraordinary ministry growth, to finding ways to mobilize and empower even more volunteers for ministry, to getting involved in people's lives and truly showing them God's grace in such practical ways, the folks at Hope constantly amaze me.

I know that having such committed, capable leaders is a real blessing. It's not something that every church enjoys, and I've been in previous situations where the lack of a servant's heart or the lack of biblical integrity on the part of leaders has caused entire churches to suffer and decline. So I thank God every week for the gift he has given us in our Elders, Deacons, and Ministry Team leaders, and I count it a joy to serve alongside them.

Even if that means I continue rambling on about how wonderful they are...