Video Transcript: First Steps

Hi everybody. I'm Dr James Hunt. I'm chairman of the board for Christian  leaders College, and it is my pleasure to be with you here today, we're going to  talk about how to develop a ministry board. This is part of a mini series, or mini  course, and this is the first part. This is an introduction. So I just want to  welcome you into this course. We want to talk about how to develop a ministry  board, because it's important. Some of you may be thinking of beginning a  ministry board. And so we want to give you some insight and some knowledge  and some wisdom, especially from a spiritual perspective, on what it means to  develop a ministry board. Sometimes we think of ministry in terms of what  happens in the church. For instance, we have youth ministries. We have men  and women ministries, we have small group ministries. But a lot of ministry  occurs outside of the four walls of the church. For instance, there are food  pantries ministry. Food pantries that feed the homeless. There are programs that go inside the prisons to educate prisoners and minister and mentor them. And  so those are just a few examples. And also there's the example of a church  having a foundation to help to raise money and to do special projects. And so  those are all ministry boards and work that goes on in conjunction of what  happens inside the church. And so we want to give you some wisdom and some insight on what it is, and how do you develop a ministry board. So this is the first of nine many courses regarding how to develop a ministry board. Bishop Dale  Bronner once said, If serving is beneath you, then leading is beyond you. What  do I mean by that? That means that we need to lead like Jesus. That means that we need to have that same attitude that Jesus had when he washed the  disciples feet, he showed them how to lead by serving them. That was what he  came to do. He said, I came to serve people. And so we need to have that same attitude if we're going to develop or work with ministry, work and develop a  ministry board, we need to follow Jesus as matter of fact did you know that you  are already a leader. If you're a disciple, you are a leader. Think about this,  Jesus. We're following Jesus as disciples, and He called us to disciple others.  That means we need to lead others to Christ. So you're already a disciple. And  so how do you do that? You do that by serving. You do that by doing ministry.  And so I think that's key, and that's important to what we want to try to  accomplish during this mini course. Let's go to the next slide. So first steps, first  steps to developing a ministry board. It's real simple, PRAY, LISTEN for God's  voice and then get to work. Let me say that again, PRAY, LISTEN for God's  voice and then get to work. Get to work. Think about this. You know, whenever  you begin a work, whenever you ask God for something, you you pray, you pray  about it. And this no different for a ministry, no different for a ministry board, you  need to pray and ask God for guidance. Think about Solomon. Solomon said  that he didn't know what he needed to do. He needed wisdom. He needed  understanding to lead the people. And so to do that, he prayed about it, and God answered his prayer. And we know in Philippians 4:6-7 says, Don't be anxious 

about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,  let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which  surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ,  Jesus, that's really what Solomon did. He trusted God. He took it to the Lord in  prayer. So anything that you're getting ready to do, anything of consequence,  anything of significance, in fact, anything if God, if you want God to be in this.  You want God to be the creator of this thing, you have to take it to God in prayer. So the very first thing is to pray. Pray about it. Pray and let God know what the  desires of your heart are. It is. So number two. Number two, listen for God's  voice. Listen for God's voice. There was a time when Samuel. Samuel was a  prophet, and he came under the tutelage of Eli, and he kept hearing this voice,  and he thought it was Eli, but it wasn't Eli. And he told Eli, he said Eli thought  about he said, that has to be God. He said, next time answer that voice, and  then the next time that God spoke, he says, Speak, Lord, for Your servant is  listening. We have to listen for God's voice. So after we pray, sometimes we  want to get ahead of God. We pray, and we think it's time to move, but it's not  time to move. We need to listen for God's voice. He will give us confirmation,  affirmation, in terms of consequences, in terms of, let me say, circumstances, in  terms of people coming in terms of speaking to us, in terms of the word. So we  can receive and listen to God's voice. Listen for God's voice before you get  started. So pray and then listen for God's voice. But lastly, get to work. After you  pray, after you listen for God's voice, then you need to get to work. Isaiah 6:8  says, And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I stand and who will  go forth? Then I say, Here am I? That's Isaiah. He says, Send me after you  prayed about it, after you listen for God's voice, then just get to work. Get to  work. So those are the first steps to developing a ministry board. Pray, pray like  Solomon. Pray, pray and ask for wisdom, ask for discernment, ask for guidance,  pray and humble yourself and let him know that you need him, and then listen  for his voice. The next day, the next when he woke up, God blessed him with  wisdom and discernment that surpassed anything anybody else had. But he  also gave them some other gifts. He blessed them with some other things. So  listen for God's voice after you pray, and then when God gives you confirmation, when God tells you to go forward, then get to work. Get to work. So this is the  introduction for how to develop a ministry board. Want you to remember what Dr Brown has said. Bishop Brown has said about you have to lead before you can,  sir, you got to serve before you lead. And then we need to understand that we  have to pray and listen for God's voice. And then, when he tells us, gives us to  go ahead, to go sign to high five, there's a move forward. So those are the first  steps. Thank you, and just stay tuned and we'll continue this as we go forward.