Organisation lives a secret life all around us.

It is the concealed scaffolding around which virtually all of God’s work is framed.

So I want to look at how good organisation makes God’s work happen

You may think this is a rather odd topic for a sermon on a Sunday morning so (particularly if you’re not a regular at Victoria) you need to know that we’ve been preaching on the Thriving Church recently – and this is the last one!

I spent some time looking around at thriving churches and said ‘are there things they have in common and can we learn from them?

We’ve also spent time meditating on the scriptures to seek out principles that apply to us today as we seek to build Victoria

A thriving church communicates a living gospel – its people embody the life and freedom that knowing Christ brings
A thriving church has outreach that meets our friends needs – it is constantly seeking to engage with the people we know and love in our families and friends
A Thriving Church displays a godliness that is infectious – the kind of faith that feeds our own souls and inspires people who may be just investigating the place of Jesus in our lives.
A Thriving church has activities or ministries which use our God-given gifts.

Today – I notice that

a church thrives when its organisation enables God to work <ppt>

And whether you look at the Old Testament and the children of Israel or the nation state which followed it,

or whether you look at the New Testament and the ministry of Jesus or the exceptional growth of the early church you will always find this to be true: In addition to the anointing of God,
They organised themselves.
They framed and planned and directed their activity so that God’s work would not be hindered. It was not a style of organisation that stopped things from happening it was organisation that made things happen.

Unfortunately organisational excellence is not always a characteristic of the Christian church

sometimes it has been over-organisation that is its downfall. Especially when the minister thinks that he has to veto every decision.
In the thrombosis of the church the minister is often the clot!

Or what about this verseS?

“Let everything be done decently and in order”

When Paul wrote that the last thing on is mind was the way it is sometimes used – as a straitjacket on the administration of a church that prevents new things happening.

A verse without a context is a pretext! – so here’s the context:

The church in Corinth was going over-the-top with speaking in tongues.

So Paul says “Speaking in tongues is good – it’s of God – it’s right and proper – and in fact I speak in tongues more than any of you lot!

BUT Be careful how you use this wonderful gift.
Because if you all start uttering gibberish in your public meetings and someone who doesn’t know what’s going on turns up they will think you’re bonkers!
And (implies Paul) I’d agree with them!

SO let your communication be done decently – treat people with decency –

Worship in such a way as to respect the spiritual journey of the people you’re worshipping with

and in order –

let there be a discernible, logical, organised sequence to your meetings

My dear friends, whatever we do, let’s do it with excellence – then we will glorify God and inspire people to follow him.

We’re going to look at one example of good organisational leadership

Exodus 18

I don’t know you feel about your in-laws (if you have any)

Lawyer to his client:

I’m sorry to hear that your mother-in-law passed away in her sleep. Shall we go for burial, embalming or cremation?”
Son-in-law: “Take no chances go for all three.!”

A BIG-GAME hunter went on safari with his wife and mother-in-law.

One night the couple woke to find the mother-in-law gone and the air filled with the sound of growling
In a clearing not far from the camp they came upon a chilling sight, the mother-in-law was backed up against a tree with a snarling lion facing her.
The wife said: “What are we going to do?”
“Nothing,” said the husband. “The lion got himself into this mess, he can get himself out of it.”

Jethro

No true of Jethro, Moses Father-in-law

Just look at him! – several things emerge.

a. Jethro was a Godly man.

When Moses came to name his son he called him Eliezer

4 and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

My father’s God was my helper – Where did Moses find out about God?

40 years in obscurity – with Jethro in his extended family
so much so that when Moses came to name his son he attributed the help the Lord had given him to ‘my Father’s God’

Where did Moses learn to trust God? – in his family!

I sometimes hear children from Christian homes imply that they wished they could have experienced some of the things that others have experienced – that is always a false economy! Your Christian heritage is a valuable and precious thing!

Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the desert, where he was camped near the mountain of God.

b. Jethro was thrilled to see God at work

9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians.

Jethro was delighted – Here we see the heart of this father-in-law – delighted to hear how God was working.

Here’s what happened

[Read verses 13-27]

Moses example point out some of the dangers of ministering for the Lord, whether it’s in a full-time capacity (like me) or in your spare time (like most of us)

a. the danger of relentlessness

the relentless nature of the task he’d taken on

13. The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood round him from morning till evening.

from morning till evening – little or no break

Moses needed breaks – not for relaxation, but for recovery

whenever we are involved in ministry that involves giving there is a need for corresponding receiving

We try to put this into practice for people in ‘giving’ ministries in the church.

if you teach – you should also have regular opportunities for input >>>

I’ll bet Moses loved it!

enjoyed every moment of dispensing advice
wrestling with tough cases
praying through what God wanted to happen in some of the knotty or tragic situations that would have faced him
he got a buzz from doing it

But he was in danger!

danger of burning out!
drying up before his time!

b. the danger of alone-ness

14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand round you from morning till evening?”

Notice the danger of being alone.

Ministry of this sort is one thing that can’t be done alone!

we need other people

c. the danger of blind spots

15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws.”

Curiously Moses appears not to have spotted the danger he was exposing himself to.

He was responding reactively here >>>

letting the people set the agenda
His attitude seems to have been ‘if there’s a problem here, I, Moses must solve it
after all – that’s my position

Illustrates that feeling indispensable is a danger sign >>>

There is no doubt that the cases brought were genuine situations of need, but we have to ask “Was Moses the best person to handle them all?”
Even in Jesus ministry, not everyone in Palestine was healed!

3. fulfilling his calling

If Moses practise of ministry was not best for him or the people, how could he move out of this position

a. take all the wise advice you can find!

17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good.

In a church there are any number of people who will say “What you are doing is not good”!

It’s the person who’s saying that makes a difference! This is Jethro! The man of God who is thrilled to see God working.

What you are doing is not good. – Not good for whom?

for Jethro?
for Moses personally
because he’ll wear himself out?
because he’s not sufficiently gifted in this area.
for the people of Israel – because a burned out leader is not a leader at all

Moses took his advice

b. recognise your limitations –

18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.

and these people who come to you – It was not just Moses who was in danger of burning out here, it was the other people too

why? Perhaps they were taking the burden on themselves to solve their problems

19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him.

I will give you some advice – Not unwanted advice!

I will give you some advice, and may God be with you – We can see there the heart that lay behind Jethro’s advice

not a heart of ‘I know better and I’ll prove it’ but ‘this may help us glorify God and edify other people better’

c. and recognise your uniqueness

22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.

but have them bring every difficult case to you – Moses saw still to act as the long stop

There were certain situations (the tough ones) where only Moses could minister so let him judge there!

d. teach and train others

20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.

Teach them – A primary function of the church

Jesus commission ‘ make disciples by teaching, baptising, going (read Matt 28:18-20

e. select people who can do the job

21 But select capable men from all the people- men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain- and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.

select – there is an element of choice from the existing leaders

capable men – Ministry according to gifting

f. hand over the task

Often the hardest part! – letting go!

isn’t this my ministry?

In fact if its’ easy to let go, you probably shouldn’t have been doing it in the first place!

4. effects of this strategy

a. Moses could loive at a sustainable (and high!) pace

23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain,

with excellence!

b. the people will be satisfied

23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”

As of now they’re not really satisfied

always having to queue up
when you’re talking to one person you’re always looking past them to the next

But that will all change if you do what the Lord asks you to do and get someone, specially trained, to take the burden.

Results? satisfaction all round

5. Go for it!

24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.

The result – a system of Godly leadership that lasted the nation for several centuries.

In fact these judges (saviours) became central to God’s work in the nation

A thriving church’s organisation