Leading The Family Series

ON A MISSION FROM GOD

Part 1-Leading Your Family

Joseph’s Story

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Pastor Brian Matherlee

The events of our world today cry for Christlike leadership more than ever before. Jesus said, “I have come down not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”-John 6:38

Leaders are rare. Jesus-style leaders are even rarer. There’s a reason for this. If you look up “leader” in the Scripture you will find the word 78 times. And every reference is in the Old Testament. Jesus didn’t subscribe to the typical notion of leadership. Jesus model of leadership is based on the following principles:

• Servanthood-Matthew 20:28, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.”

• Modeling-Matthew 11:29, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”

o Do as I do, not just as I say

• Sacrifice-John 10:15, “I lay down my life for the sheep.”

These are principles that must govern our lives if we are going to be people on God’s mission. I’m going to speak about three areas of leadership over the next three weeks. We’ll talk about leadership in the church and leadership in our country. Today, we’ll look at leading our families. It’s not just for the stereotypical family though. So, if you’re single, or don’t have kids you can’t tune the Scripture out. These principles apply to each of us because somehow, we belong to a family and God wants us to accept our mission to lead our family like Jesus would. Therefore I want to speak today about an atypical family situation that demonstrates to us Godly leadership. It’s found in the book of Genesis over several chapters.

Joseph demonstrates the opportunities of leadership:

1. Never pass up a chance to do what’s right

Genesis 39:9, “No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

In the comic strip “Frank and Earnest.” Frank is in the courtroom standing before the judge who says to him, “It’s ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty.’ You can’t plead ‘I gotta be me.’”

Joseph did right continually by modeling spiritual excellence in 5 areas:

a. Perseverance

b. Purity

c. Prayer

d. Worship

e. Witness

2. Never pass up a chance to plan ahead

As a result of poor planning a Texas man needed some same-day dry cleaning before he left on a trip. He remembered one store with a huge sign, “One-Hour Dry Cleaners,” on the other side of town, so he drove out of his way to drop off his suit. After filling out the tag, he told the clerk, “I need this in an hour.” She replied, “I can’t get this back to you until Thursday.” “I thought you did dry cleaning in an hour?” “No,” she replied, “that’s just the name of the store.”

We talk about planning ahead but it’s in name only. We have to be people of foresight and action. Joseph demonstrated both of these qualities.

Genesis 41:33, “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt.”

The crucial areas for our families to plan ahead in these days:

a. Priorities

b. Pocketbook

3. Never pass up a chance to forgive

Genesis 45:14-15, “Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them.”

a. Let go of the past

i. The “right” to get even

ii. The bitterness

iii. The constant recall and replay

b. Embrace the future

i. Do this by recognizing God can bring good from bad.

 Genesis 50:20, “you intended to harm me but God intended it for good”

 Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

ii. Do it by sowing positive seeds into your relationships

John Maxwell rights the following in his book, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”:

“Leadership develops daily, not in a day.” (pg. 21)

We must seek God’s face daily if we are to effectively lead our families. There aren’t shortcuts and there are no days off.

And just in case you think your family is too far gone, remember Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”