HOW TO become a 'PILLAR' of 'SUPPORT' to your 'CHURCH'

Today, we want to share on becoming a pillar of support to your church. Becoming a pillar of support to your church, and we want to read from Exodus chapter 18. Exodus chapter 18.

Now, there are some attributes of a vibrant church. There are some attributes of a healthy church. [Music] And intentionally, intentionally, we must consciously build structures and systems in the church that capture all of these vital attributes of a vibrant and healthy church. [Music]

And so, quickly, before we look at some very, very interesting insights from the recommendation of Jethro to Moses, we'll quickly run through some of these attributes of a vibrant and healthy church, which we have identified. And number one, a vibrant and healthy church is a Holy Spirit-led church. That is number one. And that is always the beginning. That's a foundation. A true church is led by the Holy Spirit, directed by the Holy Spirit, guided by the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit. A Holy Spirit-led church.

Number two, a church whose beliefs and doctrines are drawn from the Holy Bible. [Music] The beliefs of the church, the doctrines of the church, must be traced [Music] to scriptures in the Holy Bible.

Number three, a church that takes evangelism and soul-winning as a major priority and trains all members to do likewise. [Music] A church that is going to be, that is truly vibrant, [Music] must intentionally take evangelism and soul-winning as a major priority and train all members to do likewise.

Number four, a church that aggressively follows up new converts until they become disciples. A church that aggressively follows up new converts until they become disciples.

And number five, a healthy church is a church that prepares its members to make heaven. A church that prepares its members to make heaven.

And number six, a church that emphasizes repentance, holiness, and a godly lifestyle. [Music] A healthy church is a church that emphasizes repentance, holiness, and a godly lifestyle.

A church, number seven, a church that trains its members to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, especially love, faithfulness, and humility. Especially love, faithfulness, and humility. [Music]

And number eight, a church that teaches and trains its members to be very sound and knowledgeable in the word of God. A church that teaches and trains its members to be very sound and knowledgeable in the word of God.

And number nine, a healthy church is a church that teaches and trains its members to engage in fervent prayers and consistent intercession. Fervent prayers and consistent intercession.

And number 10, a healthy church is a church where high-quality praise and worship is consistently offered to God. A church where high-quality praise and worship is consistently offered to God.

Number 11, a church that believes in the demonstration of the power and gift of the Holy Spirit, including healing, deliverance, and miracles. A vibrant church, a healthy church, must believe that in this present time, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God still works signs and wonders, miracles, healings, deliverance. And these are not just things that happened in the early church or in scripture at times.

So, number 12, a healthy church is a church that caters for the diverse needs of different age groups in the congregation. For instance, the children, the teenagers, the youth, the women, the men, and the elders.

And number 13, a church that has a leadership team of God-fearing men and women. A church that has a leadership team of God-fearing men and women. A church that consistently trains its members to also become good leaders. [Music]

Number 14, a church that is well-structured in leadership. A church that is well-structured in leadership, administration, rules, and procedures. A church where there is order and discipline. It doesn't help the church. A church where there is order. A church where there is discipline and strict compliance with rules and procedures.

Number 15, a healthy church is a church that is very hospitable and caring to both members and non-members. A church that is very hospitable and caring to both members and non-members. And one interesting thing you should have in mind is that as you're listening to these various attributes of a healthy and vibrant church, the Spirit of God will minister to you where you fit in. The Spirit of God will minister to you what ought to be your own role in making this happen in the church where God has placed you. [Music]

For all of these things to happen, God will raise a man. He will raise a woman. He starts from that, and then eventually he raises more than one man, more than one woman, to ensure that all of these attributes are a manifestation in that church. A church, still on number 15, a church that is very hospitable, caring to both members and non-members. A church that is genuinely concerned and supportive of the welfare, career, and financial needs of its members.

And number 16, the 20 of them. Number 16, a church that places high value on marriage and family relationships. A church that places high value on marriage and family relationships. It consistently teaches its members on how to conduct themselves as Christian husbands, fathers, wives, mothers, sons, and daughters.

17. A healthy church is a church that trains and empowers its members to succeed in their career and calling. You can see balance. This is an essential balance [Music] that when it is missing, it can affect the environment where a church is located. A church is supposed to affect its location. [Music] The community, the state, the region, the nation where it is located. It starts with godliness, starts with character, but beyond godliness, character, and the people that are prepared to make heaven when the trumpet sounds or when they pass unto glory, the church also has another responsibility to ensure that you assist every member of the church discover their destinies. Some people are destined to lead, to be leaders in different sectors of life. The church is not supposed to be indifferent [Music] to the destinies of any member of the church. [Music] Not all are called to be pastors. Some are called to lead in public service. Some are called to be in politics. Some are called to be in governance. Some are called and destined by God to excel in a given field of life. So the church must also train and empower its members to succeed in their career. The church must assist these members to excel in their realm of calling. A church that supports and trains its members to succeed in the seven mountains of influence.

And what are the seven mountains? Religion, family, education, economy and business, government and politics. Government and politics is one of the seven mountains of influence for which the church has a responsibility to open the eyes of its members to discover their role and then rise up and go forth to play that role. Another mountain of influence for which the church should prepare, assist to prepare its members to play and fulfill their role is in the media. Yes, the media. Then arts and entertainment. It is not just enough for the church to point out some types of entertainment that are ungodly, that glorify the kingdom of darkness, that amplify immorality. The church must also raise up men and women who have a calling in this area, and these people, these young men and women would be able to provide godly entertainment. Godly entertainment. When we tell our teenagers, "This is wrong, don't go there," we must also be able to provide for them where to go. [Music] We must also be able to show to them something they can do after studies. There's time for recreation, there's time for vacation, there's time for holidays. And some people are exceptionally gifted. And one of the challenges we've had is that because the church was indifferent to some of these mountains, Christians, believers who obviously had a gifting, talent, and calling in some of these areas, eventually, because, you know, your calling will propel you towards the field of your calling, so believers who obviously had giftings and talents in these areas eventually moved into that field, and unfortunately, they started expressing their gifts and talents in ungodly ways because the church never did its homework, and we never prepared our sons and daughters to go forth and excel in those fields. In fact, sometimes we've seen situations where some of these mountains of influence are condemned outright, and that was an error.

And number 18, a church that is free. A healthy church is a church that is free of racial, tribal, or gender bias. These can kill the move of God in a ministry. It can kill the move of the Spirit in a church. There is nothing like a church for black people. There is nothing like a church where only blacks must be the leaders. There is nothing like a church that is strictly and only for a particular tribe. It may attract a majority of members from a particular tribe, [Music] but no church is ordained by God to close its doors to any tribe. [Music] A church that is free of tribal or gender bias. And if we are to talk about gender inclusiveness, we are talking about a church that is very open to women in leadership, in ministry. As I speak today, this is still an issue in some established churches in the globe. It's an error that must be corrected. So, a church that is free of racial bias, tribal bias, gender bias.

And then number 19, a church that is actively involved in the programs and goals of the larger body of Christ. [Music] A church that supports the outreaches and special projects of all the ministries and external ministers.

And the last on our list, number 20, a church that is responsive to the needs of its community. They use their resources, manpower, and skills to engage in projects in the community. A church, for instance, can decide to have an outreach to its community. And all medical personnel in that church, and then some members of the church that have close friends, close relatives in the medical field, can use their relationship to pull a team of medical personnel together and offer free medical outreach. [Music] Free medical tests, consultation to members of a given community. [Music] A church that offers welfare solutions that benefit the less privileged in the community. When the missionaries came to this part of the globe, one of those things they also offered, apart from the gospel, was education. And they also offered healthcare. And these are two major pillars when you are talking of human capital development: education, healthcare. So they built schools. [Music] Are not just schools, schools with very high standards of excellence and high standards of morale and discipline. Their schools were also affordable. [Music] The schools were affordable, even though they were of high standard in terms of quality. They also provided hospitals.

And as we run through this thing, you must also understand that for every church, there are phases. Phases. A church will end up having up to 30 different departments in the church, but the church would not begin with 30 departments. It may start with just one department, two departments, and then with time. So that also applies to some of the things mentioned here. If they are not already manifestations, some of these things must be a manifestation from day one. For instance, racial bias, gender bias, tribal bias, that must be dealt with from day one. But in terms of ministering to certain types of people and all that, you do such things in phases because some of these things, you need people, you need to have a membership strength, you also need to have some measure of resources to be able to engage in some of the things also mentioned. So you do them, you take them in phases, but it must be part of your master plan. There are some churches today that have up to three universities, and the standard is quite impressive. But there was a time when that ministry did not have a single university. There was a time when that same church did not have a single secondary school, but it was part of the master plan that sometime soon. And the time for one ministry could be different from another ministry. So there is nothing like, "That church achieved this in 10 years, so within 10 years you must also be at the same level." For some others, it could happen much earlier, some others a little longer. But these are major attributes of a healthy and vibrant church, which we must intentionally plan to achieve and keep once we have activated them.

The visit of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, to Moses in Exodus chapter 18. And the message is this: In whatever circumstance you may have come into the body of Christ and become a believer, become a Christian, the Lord expects every believer to grow in the Lord, grow in the things of the kingdom. And the Lord has made it clear that it is better to give than to receive, and giving includes service. There will be a time where all attention is on you as a new convert, as a new member of the church, but after a while, God also expects you to grow to a point where you are now one of those who, on behalf of the church, is reaching out to other people.

Now, check out some of the interesting insights from what transpired between Moses and Jethro. He said, "Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. Moses bowed down before him and asked him." That's this from verse 7. He bowed down before him and kissed him. Kissed him. The two men asked about each other's health. Now, please help me turn to your neighbor and say, "Neighbor, how is your health? How are you doing? Are you feeling fine?" Can we answer one another? How good you are as a neighbor will be determined by the fact that you are not asking this question now for the first time, even though you are sitting by that person for so many times, week after week. This is supposed to be a usual question that you ask from anyone you are connected to. How are you doing? And sometimes you could observe a significant change in the person or the mood of the person, and that should also prompt you to ask the question, "Hope all is well."

This is one of the foundations of a structured organization. [Music] In a structured ministry, a structured church, things are deliberately done in a way that the health and wellness of any member of the church is never negatively affected as a result of the goings-on and operations of such a ministry. You know, there have been errors in the past, and unfortunately, these errors are still happening in some places to date. And some of us who do not recognize that these are errors, because you don't recognize that it is an error, you still demand for it. Or it's an error in any church where things are done in a way where the health and wellness of the members, the workers, the pastors in the ministry is now, you know, affected negatively. It shows that something is wrong in terms of structure and systems, and it has to be quickly corrected. [Music]

It is not God has already planned out how things should be done, including the running of His church. You know, sometimes we could want to excuse it as going all out for God, making the best of the time, and we may use that as an excuse to neglect family, neglect your wife, neglect your children on the grounds that you are running ministry. It is an error. It's a big error. There must be a balance. But have this in mind, there could be, there could be some, some critical times. And when I say critical times, it happens in every field. For instance, in 2020, because of the COVID-19, it was a critical time for medical workers, workers in the medical field, in the health sector. So, if in 2019 you are married to a husband, a doctor husband, who for two weeks, three weeks, four weeks could not even come home and was virtually resident in the hospital, you are expected to understand with him. But that cannot be a lifetime arrangement. It's just a time of emergency. It's a time of emergency. Olympics are in the games ahead, once in four years, and it takes up to a minimum of eight years of serious planning, involving building of new infrastructure, not just infrastructure, transport, accommodation, and the rest of it, to host the whole of the world coming for the Olympic Games. Now, if you have, you are married to someone who is very, very critical to the successful hosting of such an eternal games or tournament, [Music] people will expect you to understand with him or her for the year, sometimes maybe a year and a half, where his attention will be needed so consistently to make that project a success. However, there are times and there are seasons. Scriptures cannot be broken. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 1 makes it clear: "For everything under heaven, there is a time, there is a season." There is a time. And you know where the problem is? They are certain things that God ordinarily wants us to hold infrequently. Infrequently. But in our own understanding and zeal, we hold such things too frequently. And what will happen is that eventually people will get, become weary as a result of the preparation and involvement in such programs or activities. Should we hold this program? Yes, but sometimes we get it wrong in terms of how frequent we should hold such a program. So we must, in church, recognize that. [Music]

No church, we are not talking of a power ministry now. No church where people will gather and all the attributes of a healthy and vibrant church as listed will be met and fulfilled, can effectively function through the efforts of just one pastor. Just one pastor. It is going to wear him out. And on record, there are pastors who have died before their time. They died before God's time. Unfortunately, part of what took them before God's time was excessive engagement in terms of ministry. It's not every invitation to preach that the Holy Spirit will actually give you consent to honor. The Lord has spoken to me personally on the wisdom of holding infrequent programs. That there is a lot of wisdom when your programs, your services are not too frequent. This journey of Christianity is a marathon, and you need good health, you need energy, you need physical fitness, mental fitness to be able to function very well to the very end. So Moses and Jethro asked about each other's health. You must be concerned about the health of your pastor. You must be concerned about the health of your ministers. And when you are truly concerned, you will recognize that it's not possible for this same man to visit every member of the church that has a health issue, that has a particular challenge, that has a particular need. Some of us can go and see five of the members. Another team can also go and visit some other five members of the church. That way, when we set out by 10 a.m. in the morning, give or take three, four hours, we would have visited all five members, and everyone of us will go home well. If you give that assignment to just two or three ministers in the church, it would take them 12 hours, 10 hours to visit the same number of people. And I don't think it would be you, it would be nice when to you for you to see a situation where a minister has visited so many families, and by the time you are, maybe you are number 10 on their visit list. So when they get to your house, the minister sits down, there are three of them, and one is talking. Now, while one is talking, the other two are sleeping. The other two are sleeping. It's not about they didn't sleep at night, they slept at night. They have visited too many people on the same day. And what I'm sharing with you happens from time to time. And so the, you know, or you just see a minister nodding and nothing. And then when somebody says, "Oh, amen," "Yes," "Oh, yes, praise the Lord." So what's the next take for me from that conversation?

You see, in verse 14, Jethro saw Moses judging the people. He asked, "Why are you doing this?" This was a man who understood the essence and dynamics of structure and systems. Why? No, no, no. Jethro could see ahead. Moses, "You continue like this. I, I can give you time within a particular time, you're a dead man." And when you are doing your service or songs, let nobody stand and say, "God gave it and God took it." It wasn't yet that man's time. It wasn't yet that man's time. He over-walked himself. He overstretched himself. He's a-borted himself. He said, "No, Moses, why are you doing this? It is too much work for you to do alone." [Music] Too much work for you to do alone. Why do we have many pillars upholding a big structure? Why not just one pillar? Why many pillars? Just one big central pillar. Why not just one big central pillar? Why many pillars spaced out upholding the same structure? It's too much work for you to do alone. God wants you to be a pillar of support to the church He has placed you. He wants you to be a pillar of support. Even if your church has cleaners, how many cleaners can they afford to pay? [Music] What does it take you? If you, especially when you even live within the environment of your church, what, what does it take you to go in for two hours on a Saturday or on your free day and just, you know, assist in cleaning up some sections of your church sanctuary? Whatever you assist in doing reduces the burden of those who are officially asked to do that job.

Jethro went on in verse 18. He said, "You cannot do this job by yourself. It wears you out. It wears you out." And it makes the people feel tired. Can you also see the other aspect of it? Yes, it's not just about the person attending to people. It's not nice. It's not nice. Is it one of the ways, you know, an excellent system is that people are not kept waiting for too long? [Music] Show me a man who knows how to organize things. A lady that can organize things. Is a woman that, you know, she was put in charge of immigration at the airport, and she comes in there and sees people arrive from a flight, and the next one or two hours they are still on a queue after a six-hour, ten-hour flight. That is wrong. An organized person will sit down and think out how it should be done so that these people don't spend more than 10, 15 minutes. 30 minutes is too much time. 10, 15 minutes. Some things that should be done electronically to save time should be done with updated and up-to-date gadgets. Praise the Lord.

So he said, "The people, it makes the people tired too." So a situation where you see so many people waiting and waiting for so long doesn't show that there is proper, uh, uh, organization. Verse 21. He said, "But you should also choose some of the people to be judges and leaders." God, this is a, this is the plan of God. That in every church, in every ministry, there must be men and women that are also godly, who have now been raised as mature disciples to also handle some of the functions, some of the responsibilities that were previously handled by just one person or a few people. Then verse, uh, verse, we're still talking from verse 21. He said, "Choose good men you can trust." And this is a, this is a, this is a challenge God is throwing to you. If this question, if this was to arise in your church, choose good men. Good men you can trust. So for you to become a pillar of support to your church, it begins with character. You must be a person, you must be a truly godly person. And if you are godly, those who live in the same house with you would know. They would know. [Music] Men who respect God. Men who respect God. Why is he general mentioning this particular criteria? This particular requirement? Why is he telling Moses to particularly look out for men, good men, and not just old men, not just young men, but good men? [Music] So it's not about old men, it's not about young men, but about good men, integrity, godliness, men and women of character. Listen to this. He said, "Choose men." [Music] Yeah, choose men who will not change their decisions for money. Now, which, which, uh, was this scripture from the Old or New Testament? Can we answer from which testament? Old Testament. From which book of the Old Testament? Exodus. As early as in the time of who? Now, Moses. Now, Jethro was not his age, made Jethro was the father of Moses' wife. So from experience, from experience, even in the time, from the experience of Jethro in life, he had discovered that a lot of men had issues, a lot of women had issues with money. They had issues with money. And so some people today cannot be a pillar in the house of God because of their love of money. You put them in the board of trustees, they will sell church building. They will sell church building behind the church [Music] without the knowledge of the church. They will sell some church properties that they are sure that nobody is currently checking on. [Music] He said, "Men who will not change their decisions for money." So it's an old issue. So from that time, they had issues with men and women who could change their decision for money. When somebody remains in a church based on financial calculation and not because God said, "This is your church," it is a big danger to that ministry. For that person to rise to the core leadership of the ministry is a big, that is a weak link in the leadership of that ministry. It's a, choose men who will not change your decisions for money. Make these men rulers over the people. Can you see the benefits of conquering? When you conquer money, when you have overcome the love of money, when money has become a servant to you and not you a servant to money, [Music] once you have conquered the love of money, you will be entrusted with many things. Starting from God, God now will be able to entrust you with many things. You can be in a church and not be part of those who support your church. [Music] You can earn income and not give a portion of your income as instructed by God to support the church where God has placed you. Money has been an old issue. It's not today. So Jethro was telling Moses, "Son, I have seen life a little. When you are making your choice of leaders, money is, is a game-changer that will help you choose right. Their attitude to money goes a long way in showing whether or not you can rely on them in leadership positions, in trustworthy positions. Their attitude to money. It's not today." So Jethro said, "Look for men and women who have conquered the love of money, who are not servants to money, for the love of money is the root of all evil." Of all evil. That statement is waiting. It's not the root of evil, it's at the root of all evil. I pray that in the day of testing, which of which 2020 is one of those seasons, I pray that in a time of divine scrutiny, God will find you as one of those faithful sons, faithful daughters that He can rely on. I'm speaking to some people who give a little time. God, not man. God will use men, but it is God that is behind it. He would have raised them to become pillars, giants, some spiritual giants, some political giants, some financial giants. In a season from now, "He that is faithful with little," so says our religious, our Lord Jesus Christ, "will also be faithful with much." Praise the Lord. Because God has found you faithful at this stage, He is going to take you to a much higher level. You shall be entrusted by God with so much, so much, so much. Can that man or woman say, "Amen"? And those who just want to also say, "Amen" to belongs, amen as well. We've, we can close at this point. Praise God.

So he said, "There should be rulers over a thousand, some over a hundred, some over fifty, and some over ten." This was a man of wisdom. This was an organized Jethro. Jethro was an organized man. [Music] I pray that God will bring into your life people that will add value to your life, men and women that will help you run your destiny in the best way possible. This man did not spend a year with Moses. He didn't have to spend six months with Moses. Just a few days, and this advice he gave him was given in just one session. Just one session. And you can imagine the level of wisdom that was transferred.

What else did he say? In verse 22, he said, "Let these rulers judge the people. If there is a very important case, then they can come to you. They can come to you and let you decide what to do." Three things: character, competence, and commitment. Once you find a man, a woman with three qualities, you have a pillar. You have just found another pillar that you can use to build up that great structure that God has given in the future. And may you all become formidable pillars that God can rely on in the name of Jesus. So, but say, "Let them come. Let the incompetent." If there is a very important case, then they can come to you and let you decide what to do. But they can decide the other cases themselves. So he said, "Share some of this. Let all the people." They are workers in our various, uh, groupings. We have the teens church. The teen church has leaders. Teenagers have a team of leaders. There are teams that the team of the prophet and the team of leaders of the teen church can competently counsel. Another thing about, let's not despise our youth. There are things that they can competently counsel. Another thing about, they can lead a thing to Christ, even lead an adult to Christ. Our teens can do that. [Music] So we don't just despise them and put them aside. We have the youth. There are many things that the youth can handle on their own. Then we have the women. There are many issues, many issues that sometimes, if it's even better when it's, uh, it's first of all mentioned to another woman. [Music] And then there are some issues that the men can handle. Then there are issues that workers in the church can handle. Then there are issues that ministers in the church, deacons, pastors in the church can effectively handle. God has given them the training, given them the grace, and they have experience. [Music] Only some very, very important, difficult, complicated cases. [Music] This was the advice. So he said, "In this way, these men will share your work with you, and it will be easier for you to lead the people." If you do this, now take note of this. This is, we are closing now. This man said, "This man was truly a good father-in-law. He wasn't an overbearing father, and as such, he was not now an overbearing father-in-law. An overbearing mother would ultimately become an overbearing mother-in-law if given the opportunity in the child's marriage." This man was, was, was a good man, this Jethro. Now, having told Moses all of these things, he said something strategic. He said, "If you do this, as God directs you." That means I don't have the authority to dictate to you how you should run. Because sometimes, sometimes God can deliberately put aside, you know, conventional wisdom, conventional structure. You know, sometimes we are about to make a choice, there is a right way, some of these criteria could come up, there will be criteria for making a choice. Sometimes God can put those criteria aside and tell you to do otherwise. So that is why, especially in the running of the church and God's people, you must constantly wait on the Lord to know the mind of God. Someone that is not so popular with the church may be God's best choice, and it's all about who God wants. Who God wants. So Jethro ran, he said, "I've told you, and all these things were excellent. However, as God directs you." So that means take all these things back to God in prayer and ask God for His consent, His final word. God has the final say. Praise the Lord. Then you will be able to do your job without tiring yourself out, and the people can still have all their problems solved before they return home. When a ministry is already on ground, and you're coming every week of the year, and your pastor is on the pulpit, you know, sometimes some people in other places, they also ask, "He said, does a pastor never go on vacation?" A pastor never goes on vacation. And don't tell me that COVID-19, the lockdown of four months, is another vacation. That was not a vacation, that was compulsory lockdown. Praise the Lord. There must be a time, there must be a time where everybody, any person, is out of the scene for at least three weeks, 21 days. And this is actually necessary to prove that you have a structure, because you must check yourself from time to time to be sure that everything will run well in the absence of any one person. Praise the Lord.

So these are very essential things we have learned. God wants you to be a pillar of support in the church where He has placed you. And we have found that for you to be a pillar, your character, you must be a good man, you must be a good woman. And you are not the one that will tell Moses that you are a good man. People must speak for you. People must recommend your name as one of the good men, good women they have observed in the church. And then, apart from that, he said, "Men who will not change their decisions for money." Now, there is no problem with liking money. Money and surrender all things. Money is good, very good. And there are many things in life that will be, if the money is not available. [Music] However, it is the love of money that is bad. [Music] The love of money, where you can do anything, anything. Immorality, pornography. How can, how can somebody go out and make fake drugs? Fake drugs for someone selling? Making fake drugs? Somebody goes to buy a drug for diabetes, for headache, for pains, and unknown to that, to that person, you are buying something that is, you know, a deadly chemical that has been missed to look like the real thing. So somebody takes that as his own way, our own way of making money. That is the height of wickedness. It is the height of wickedness. [Music] The love of money. [Music] The love of money. By your head.