lessons for leaders from the life of moses - fumc durango · slide “lessons for leaders from the...

Sermon preached by Jeff Huber – September 26-27, 2015

“Lessons for Leaders from the Life of Moses”

Theme: Moses the Reluctant Prophet Scripture: Numbers 14:1-4

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This study guide is designed to help you dig deeper into the Bible and to grow in your faith as we look at the life of Moses. This week we'll focus on leadership skills we learn from this reluctant prophet. Use this study guide on your own, with a friend, co-worker, or your family. Enjoy! Meditation Moments for Monday, September 28 – The Clear, Compelling Cause of Moses

We learned in this weekend's sermon that leaders must have a compelling cause and a clear goal as they try to lead others. Let's take a look at Moses' cause and goal.

Read Exodus 6:1-9. Here God calls Moses and gives him the compelling cause and the clear goal. What are they? Notice in verse nine how the Israelites initially responded to Moses' vision for the future. What lesson is there to learn in this? It is important to note that the ultimate goal of Moses' ministry and God's liberation of Israel was not merely freedom from slavery and the move to the Promised Land. God had something more in mind.

Read Deuteronomy 6:4-12. What is the ultimate goal of Moses' leadership and God's deliverance? What does God really want from the Israelites? Do you have a compelling cause or vision for your family, or business, or ministry area in the church? Have you thought about what the goal - the Promised Land - looks like for these various areas of your life?

Tuesday, September 29 – Facing the Opposition with Tenacity and Perseverance

Review your sermon notes if you have them – especially the second point of the sermon related to perseverance. Note the three things Moses did in the face of opposition that are listed in the sermon outline. Let's take a look at just a few of the places the Israelites grumbled against Moses' leadership.

Read Exodus 16:1-12. Describe how Moses must have felt at this point as the "whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron." What does this tell you about being a leader? By the way, did Moses ever grumble at God? Is it possible the people grumbled because they learned it from their leader? Why or why not?


Read Numbers 14:1-4. Here the Israelites have just received word from their spies that the Promised Land is filled with mighty warriors and fortified cities. They are terrified by this and now want to turn and go back to Egypt. How did Moses feel when the people said they wanted to elect a new captain to take them back to Egypt? Imagine if Moses had given up at this point. Why did he keep going? How have you faced opposition? What do you learn from Moses story that is helpful in your own life?

Wednesday, September 30 – Avoiding Burnout by Sharing Leadership

Today's scripture is such a powerful lesson in leadership. It could have been a case study written for the Harvard Business Review, but instead it is found in the Bible as a lesson from God for us! Look over your notes from the third point of this weekend's sermon on delegation.

Read Exodus 18:1-27. What lessons does this chapter hold for you? In what ways do you see the principles of this passage at work at First United Methodist Church? Are you developing leaders or only followers? Are you empowering and equipping those around you (including children) to lead and work or are you trying to do it all yourself? If you are in a ministry position as a volunteer or on staff at FUMC, are you raising up other leaders and sharing leadership?

There is an interesting parallel to this story in the New Testament. Read Acts 6:1-7 where we find the apostles could not keep up with the demands of the early church. They appointed helpers to take care of the things that others could do, so they could devote themselves to the primary calling God had placed on their lives. Notice verse 7 where the result of this willingness to delegate and share leadership is described. Where is one place in your life, either at work or home or church or some other place you volunteer, where you can begin to share leadership that you are not sharing already?

Thursday, October 1 – The Key Characteristic of Moses Heart - Humility

Look over your sermon notes - especially the fourth point of the sermon related to humility.

Read Numbers 12:3. This verse is merely a parenthesis in the entire Moses' story, but what an important parenthetical statement it is. How did Moses maintain his humility in the face of his awesome experiences as God's "man of the hour"? Do you ever struggle with pride?

Read Philippians 2:3-11. What kinds of things help us cultivate a humble heart? Friday, October 2– Bringing it All Together

Today's scripture brings together all of the key ideas that we've examined throughout the week.

Read Numbers 11:4-30 and look for examples of key principles related to leadership and Moses’ experience and character. After reading this section, what one thing jumped out at you that might be God’s message to you about leadership from the life of Moses? End your time in prayer, asking God to give you wisdom and courage as you move to implement that change in your life when it comes to leadership.

Saturday, October 3 – Moses in the New Testament – Mark 6: 6b-13

Each Saturday during this series we will look at a reference to Moses in the New Testament. Today

we read about Jesus calling and sending the disciples. Remember that Jesus would have been

listening to these stories of Moses since he was a young child as the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible,


was his Bible.

What similarities do you see between Jesus and Moses and their leadership style based on this

passage? Jesus clearly understood the need for shared leadership as he chose his disciples

carefully and gave them responsibility. Can you think of ways that Jesus shares leadership with

you and me? We say in our church we want to “be Jesus Christ to the world.” How do you think

God is calling you to live that out in your work place, home, church or other area of life?

Family Activity: Both Jesus and Moses understood they could not do it all on their own so they asked

others to help lead. Go around your house and look for an object that needs more than one person

to pick it up. Get enough of you together and work together and see if you can pick it up! Find an

activity that takes more than one person to do and do it together. Was it more fun or more work

to do those things together?

Prayer: Thank you God for the blessings we receive when we work together to do the work of Jesus. Help

us to rely on each other and rely on you as we keep our hearts humble, like your son Jesus Christ. In

his name we pray. Amen.


Theme: Moses the Reluctant Prophet “Lessons for Leaders from the Life of Moses”

Sermon preached by Jeff Huber

September 26-27, 2015 at First United Methodist Church, Durango

Scripture: Numbers 14:1-4

1 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3 “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

VIDEO Sermon Intro – Moses Week 4

SLIDE “Lessons for Leaders from the Life of Moses”

Can you imagine poor Moses having to deal with that crowd? He delivered them from slavery in Egypt and then all they did was complain about his leadership. They were constantly upset about the food they were eating and the land upon which they were living. In the midst of that we learned many things from Moses about leadership and about people and about ourselves and about God.

I want to encourage you to take out of your bulletin your Message Notes and your Meditation Moments. There is a space for you there to take notes on anything you want to remember and feel like the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. The Meditation Moments will take you through the complete story of Moses and we are encouraging all of you to read the story of this remarkable man. Every week you will have a chance to read through the life of Moses as it was written by him and the people who loved him. At the end of each week you will find Scripture passages from the New Testament which tie into the life of Moses as well as a family activity. I think you will find it to be a blessing so I hope you will use it in the days ahead.

In 2001, Richard Koch wrote a best-selling book on leadership that could be found in the business section of most bookstores. It was a book that I read as part of the leadership class and it had a startling title considering it was a secular book.


GRAPHIC 1 Moses on Leadership

The books was entitled, Moses on Leadership: Or Why Everyone is a Leader. Koch found that Moses offers us profound lessons on leadership for corporate executives and business owners and pastors and even in our homes. In particular the book highlights how Moses has leadership lessons for every Christian and so it is appropriate that we take some time during this sermon series to look at those lessons. In his book Richard Koch writes these words.

SLIDE (put graphic of book on left and this quote on the right.)

“The story of Moses is the story of naked leadership, of a man taking his people from disease and oppression through many trials and difficult times, to the famed Promised Land. It helps us see what leadership really is.”

I realize that some of you may not think of yourselves as a leader because you are not a manager or a CEO or the owner of a business or a leader here in the church. You might be thinking to yourself, “I’m not a leader. I’m just an ordinary person. I’m a follower. Plus, I have no leadership skills. On all those spiritual gifts test and Myers-Briggs personality type tests and strength finders I flunk out on the leadership part. I can’t be a leader because I don’t have what it takes.”

What’s so great about the Moses story is that Moses didn’t have those gifts either. We have learned in this sermon series that Moses was 80 years old when he finally listened to the call of God. It’s not until the last part of his life that he leads the people out of slavery in Egypt and into freedom. He was a goat herder of all things and certainly not upper-level management who gets the promotion up to being CEO or president of Israel Incorporated. This man has seemingly no gifts and he’s not even an eloquent speaker. He has a speech impediment if you remember and so rallying the troops and inspiring them was not his gift either. Yet God calls this 80 year old, Bedouin goat herder with a speech impediment to be the greatest leader Israel would ever know.

The point of that in the story is that God chooses unlikely people which is why the subtitle of Richard Koch’s book is, “Or why everyone is a leader.” In a sense, every one of you in this place today is a leader. You might not be the chair of the committee or the leader of a team or a manager of a group of people in your office, but if you are a mother or father who takes care of your children then you are leader. If you have influence over the lives of anyone else around you then you are leader. One of the gurus of leadership in the 21st century is John


Maxwell and he states simply that leadership is influence. If you hope to influence people around you to see Christ then you are leader, even if it’s just by your actions. If you are concerned about your country and are informed and active citizen in America then you are leader. Every one of us is called by God to be leaders and to lead others towards Jesus Christ through not just our words but mostly our actions.

That means Moses has a great lesson is to teach us as he takes a ragtag band of close to 1 million people who are enslaved in Egypt and leads them to the Promised Land. There are hundreds of things which could be lifted up out of the life of Moses but we are just going to look at a few of them today which should shape how we lead and how we see ourselves as followers of Jesus Christ.

SLIDE Moses had a compelling cause and a clear goal.

If you don’t have that rare gift of charismatic leadership, that small percentage of people for whom everything seems to work right, this becomes even more important, that we have a clear and compelling call as a leader. Having that clear and compelling goal means we understand what the Promised Land is all about and why we are heading towards it. We understand why we are influencing our friends. We understand what we hope to do in our family. We understand what we want to do at work. We have a clear picture of what it would mean for us to make it to the Promised Land.

Moses had a clear and compelling goal and a great cause, which was to take a ragtag band of slaves which had been beaten and abused for over 100 years in Egypt out of slavery to freedom at a life of liberty with God. Moses didn’t really have to be a riveting speaker to get across that compelling goal and cause to the people. He did need courage to stand up and paint a preferred picture of the future which God wanted for his people. Moses didn’t have to be a great preacher to convince people that God wanted them to be free because the cause was profound enough.

What about us? Do we have a sense of what life is about? Do we know why we are doing what we are doing in life? Do we have a picture of what the Promised Land might look like for our children as we raise them up? Do we have a preferred picture of our workplace or our business? Do we have a picture of what we want our relationships to look like? Until we can develop that picture of the Promised Land and what it looks like is very difficult to embrace our role as a leader.


Jesus had a preferred picture of the future. His goal was to find people who were out of the synagogue and in the streets and who had been turned away by others and who were considered sinners and reprobates and tax collectors and teach them about how much God loves them. His picture of the Kingdom of God included people who were broken and hurting and wounded and lost, like sheep wondering without a shepherd to protect them. His goal was to go out and bring those lost sheep back home.

SLIDE Jesus’ compelling cause was to seek and save those who were lost.

The apostle Paul had a compelling goal and a clear picture of what God was calling them to do, which was to take the gospel of Jesus Christ not only to the Jews but to those who were Gentile, outside the Jewish faith. He had a clear picture that God was calling him to fulfill the promises God gave to Abraham, which was to be a blessing to all nations and all people. Jesus made it possible for people to come to God and know God personally and that included everyone. Paul devoted his life into this great mission and wonderful cause of taking the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout the Roman Empire and the world, so he could bring those Gentiles who were lost into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

John Wesley, who was the founder of our own Methodist denomination, in the 18th century painted a vision for what it meant to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It wasn’t just about going through the motions or sitting in church for an hour with your hands neatly folded on your lap. Being a Christian involved ones entire devotion and commitment to something greater than themselves included acts of love and acts of mercy. When one was committed to Jesus Christ one found the only life worth living. He devoted his entire life and calling to that great mission.

What is your compelling cause? What is your picture of the Promised Land in your life? Here at First United Methodist Church we have a compelling cause. We want to be the presence of Jesus Christ in the world which involves connecting with God and with each other, growing into the likeness of Jesus Christ, serving others in the name of Jesus Christ and sharing with others the Good News that God made you to love you and the worst thing in your life will never be the last thing in your life. Many of you are the fruits of that labor but we haven’t reached the Promise to Land yet.

Hundreds more will move into this community in the coming years, whether we like it or not. Some of them will become your friends. They will be people that you care about and that you work with who don’t know or


understand the hope that we can find in Christ. I know this is true because you often ask me to pray for them. I get prayer requests weekly for a spouse or a friend or a family member or coworker who is struggling to find hope and the prayer is that they will find it in faith in Jesus Christ. Our work is not finished but it has only just begun. Part of our compelling vision is that we will be building a second campus just west of the hospital in Three Springs because we know that as that area develops they will need spiritual encouragement and a place to find God. We have had a vision for our church being in Three Springs for almost 10 years now, since land was donated to us, and that leads to the second leadership characteristic we see in Moses.

SLIDE Moses persevered and had the gift of tenacity

We learn from Moses that leaders are willing to stick through things even in the face of adversity. Moses experienced what we read about in the Scripture for today on more than one occasion. Many times we read in the story of Moses said the Israelites got fed up with the way life was in the wilderness. Quickly they forgot what it was like to be a slave in Egypt. Quickly they forgot what Moses had done for them in the past. It wasn’t what Moses had done for them in the past but, “Moses, what have you done for me lately!”

GRAPHIC 2 The Negev Wasteland

GRAPHIC 3 The Negev Wasteland

As you look at these pictures of the Negev Wilderness you can see why they might be complaining. It’s a barren wasteland to say the least. I stood at the top of Masada at the end of the Dead Sea where you can look out over this area and while it has its own sense of beauty, it couldn’t have been fun living there is a transient group of 1 million people for 40 years. Imagine spending 40 years here. You might be complaining as well! You might be a little upset having to eat manna day after day after day. You might become scared walking across what seemed like miles with no water and wondering how you were going to survive. Can you imagine trying to handle the sanitation and health requirements of 1 million people in this kind of desert? It’s not like they had porta potty’s they carried on their carts!

When I stood on Masada and looked out over this place I had a heart for the Israelites who wandered in this area for so many years and complained. I’m pretty sure most of us would’ve been complaining at some point. Imagine being poor Moses, remembering where they came from and still having to listen to


these people complain again and again about the accommodations. In the Scripture text we have before us today it’d only been a year or so of being in the wilderness. They had sent spies into the Promised Land who came back talking about cities that were fortified and how there was no place for 1 million Israelite refugees from Egypt. Moses and Joshua and Caleb knew that it was possible for them to go to the Promised Land but the rest of the people were terrified and would have no part of it.

“Moses, what did you bring us out here for? Did you bring us here to die at the swords of our enemies? We should of stayed back in Egypt where at least we had cucumbers and leaks and good things to eat. We want a new leader because you have failed us.” Can you imagine what it would’ve felt like to have been Moses in that moment? They wanted to vote in a new leader because they didn’t want Moses leading them anymore and they wanted to go back to Egypt and beg for the mercy of Pharaoh.

This is the price of leadership sometimes. Leadership in our families sometimes means our children will criticize us and tell us we are the meanest parents in the world. Leadership in our workplaces means that others will criticize us behind our backs and they will even say we have done the wrong thing as a leader and there should be a new leader chosen. You can pour your whole life into a place as a leader and people will still question your judgment in your decision and your commitment. You’re doing the very best you can and whether you are in the church or in the world, everybody has a better way to do it than the way that you are doing it. This is not the way it works? That’s just how we are as human beings.

Leadership calls for tenacity in the face of adversity. Even though it hurts when someone has criticized my leadership or thinks there is a better way, we sometimes have to persevere and continue moving forward because we feel like God has called us to this picture of the future. We listen and try to bring everyone back together again but then we don’t give up.

Moses at times wanted to give up, and who could blame him really? Moses actually goes to God at one point and prays this prayer, “God, it would be okay if you just killed me right now. Go ahead and take my life because I’m sick and tired of leading these people!” I imagine that Moses felt this way many times and there may have been moments in your life, as a parent or business leader or church leader where you felt the same way. I have to be honest and say there have been times in my life as a pastor where I have said, “God, it would be okay if you called


me to go and sell used cars today. Lord, I’m ready to go to heaven but please don’t leave me here any longer.”

That’s how it works in any leadership position. Even John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, would feel this way. He would go into the towns and villages of England and preach this great cause in the gospel of Jesus Christ and they would throw vegetables at him. At one point he got people so stirred up they picked him up and carried him out of town were going to throw him from off a cliff. He was ran out of town on more than one occasion. But at the end of his life, when he died, there were parades and thousands upon thousands of people lined the streets, reflecting on the profound impact this man had on the British Isles for the Kingdom of God. No one had tomatoes in their hand then, because he pushed through and he pressed on and he didn’t give up. He did not give in.

Maybe you have felt like giving up sometime. Maybe you have felt like Moses. This is part of being human and part of being a leader. One of the questions I would ask you is if you know people who are in leadership who need someone to come alongside of them and encourage them and tell them, “I’m proud of you. No matter what anybody else says, I’m behind you. I’m going to follow you and I believe that God is with you.” It may be your boss at work we need to hear that from you. It maybe your spouse at home who needs to hear they are doing a great job no matter what the kids have said. It may be the leader of your Sunday school class or a volunteer at church. They just need a little word of encouragement and it’s like a glass of cold water when you’ve been taking the heat for being a leader.

SLIDE Moses delegated and empowered others to lead

The third thing we learn from Moses about leadership is about the power of creating new leaders and delegating so others can share the load of leadership. Leaders develop additional leaders because they give away power and they delegate. Moses didn’t know this lesson up front but did what many people do when they first start out as leaders which is they think they have to do everything. Moses tries to settle all the conflicts and take care of all of the people. He tries to make everyone happy and he’s a people pleaser, trying to organize and have his fingers and everything that’s going on. He’s a micromanager trying to take care of an entire nation of people.

He soon finds out that it’s impossible to continue at the pace he’s going and he is going to burn out. He was burned up and frustrated and irritated and angry


and had no time to do the big picture things because he was constantly putting out fires. Often it takes someone older to speak to someone younger and Moses’ father-in-law Jethro came to him in Exodus 18 and gave him a profound lesson on leadership. Listen to these words from Exodus 18:13-27.

SLIDE 13 The next day, Moses took his seat to hear the people’s disputes against each other. They waited before him from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?” 15 Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. 16 When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.” 17 “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. 18 “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself. 19 Now listen to me, and let me give you a word of advice, and may God be with you. You should continue to be the people’s representative before God, bringing their disputes to him. 20 Teach them God’s decrees, and give them his instructions. Show them how to conduct their lives. 21 But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. 22 They should always be available to solve the people’s common disputes, but have them bring the major cases to you. Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you. 23 If you follow this advice, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace.” 24 Moses listened to his father-in-law’s advice and followed his suggestions. 25 He chose capable men from all over Israel and appointed them as leaders over the people. He put them in charge of groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. 26 These men were always available to solve the people’s common disputes. They brought the major cases to Moses, but they took care of the


smaller matters themselves. 27 Soon after this, Moses said good-bye to his father-in-law, who returned to his own land.

Notice that Jethro not only gave profound advice but then he followed his own advice by leaving and letting Moses take care of it so he wasn’t doing it for him. This is a profound lesson for leaders who are called to invest in the lives of others and help them to be leaders to raise up leaders who then delegate responsibility so the work of God can be accomplished.

Many of us have a hard time giving away leadership to others, including myself. This is a constant human struggle as we all need to feel needed and important. We also often get a bit big headed and think that no one can do it as good as I can do it. We are pretty sure that it needs to be done just so and in a certain way but the Scripture is teaching us the opposite and leadership which is sustainable seeks to find future leaders with gifts and abilities, investing in their lives and raising them up as leaders, authorizing them to do God’s work.

When I first came here to First United Methodist Church I went to every committee meeting and every Bible study and every small group that I could attend and it just about killed me. I remember reading this text and being convicted in my heart that I had made a huge mistake. When I assumed that I had to be involved in everything it did two things that were both unbiblical. First, I made myself into an idol and thought I was way more important that I am. Second, I deprived others of the opportunity to lead. The reality is that this kind of leadership which does not delegate can kill us and it certainly will keep God’s plans from coming to fruition. Ministry is one of the best jobs in the world, but it can become drudgery when you are trying to do it on your own and I think this is true of probably any profession or any leadership position. We just get worn out trying to do it all on our own.

We find the same lesson in the book of Ephesians where the apostle Paul talks about some who are called to be apostles, some prophets, some pastors, some teachers and their primary task is to prepare God’s people to do the work of ministry to help bring about the Kingdom of God. It’s clear with the size of this church that there is no way as pastor I can be everything to everyone who comes to this church. Sometimes I know it’s frustrating for you to call because you want to talk to me and you get referred to someone else. It might be frustrating to be in the hospital and think one of your pastors is going to come by but then a Stephen Minister comes by or a Congregational Care Minister or a Hospital


Visitation minister.

Sometimes it’s frustrating to call the office with a great idea or send us an email with the brainstorm saying that somebody at the church should do this and then we respond by saying, “Great, let’s sign you up!” Yet that’s what biblical leadership looks like because those people who come to visit you in the hospital are called to do that and they are great at it as they have been gifted to sit and pray with those who are hurting. The reality is that it takes all of us to fulfill God’s vision for the Kingdom of God and when we think we have to do it all we deny others the opportunity to fulfill their calling and their part in the vision.

Being the church is really about finding people like you, empowering you and raising you up, giving you the training that you need and then setting you loose to help be Jesus Christ to the world. When this happens it is awesome and the church really begins to fulfill its potential.

The only way shared leadership happens however is if we as leaders are willing to give up some control and create a culture where others can share their gifts. This is the next leadership lesson we learn from Moses.

SLIDE Leaders create culture

Moses led his people out of Egypt but they had no laws no structure and no cohesiveness. Moses is the one who took the commandments God gave him and then instilled them into the people by creating a culture where those laws were important. 1300 years later Jesus, who was Jewish, quoted those two main laws which shaped the Hebrew people.

SLIDE Love God and Love Others

Those actually came from Moses. The first 4 commandments are about loving God and the second 6 are about loving others. There were 600 other laws that would come but they all fit into those two categories. Leaders who follow in the footsteps of Moses and Jesus today create culture where we love God and love others in our families, workplaces, neighborhood and churches. The apostle Paul, who was born Saul and was Jewish, wrote letter to church leaders in Corinth because they were in constant conflict in which he describes this kind of love. This kind of love is not a feeling but rather a choice. We read this passage at weddings because we want this passage to create a culture in our marriage. It is meant to create culture in our churches and unfortunately we mess that up sometimes. Maybe you have heard this text before, even if you are not a Christian.


SLIDE 1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

That is meant to be a culture shaping passage for all of us as leaders and inside that passage we find the last and most critical of the lessons on leadership we learn from Moses. Without this characteristic none of the rest of the leadership principles will work.

This leads us to the last characteristic of Moses’ leadership. Moses was called to a pretty big task and was pretty important because he was the pastor of the First Church of the Negev which had 1 million members. Moses was a big shot and when he went to all of the conferences for church leadership he was the keynote speaker because he had the biggest congregation and the biggest business for that matter! When you look at the greatest miracles ever done in God’s name you will see Moses right at the top. Imagine how awesome it was for Moses to be able to say, “I was a Bedouin goat herder or not long ago and look at me now! I’m really something aren’t I? Look at what I’ve accomplished. Can I tell you the story about the time I stuck my staff in the water and what happened next? Let me tell you about the time I was face-to-face with Pharaoh. I know his entire cabinet and I stared them all down.”

Can you imagine the certificates and trophies and awards that are on the shelf in Moses’ tent? He had to have been Hebrew of the year and probably was given a lifetime achievement award as well. Somebody even gave him a Rolex watch and the Mercedes-Benz for all that he had done. He was a very important person. Can you imagine what that might’ve done to his head? Do you think that might’ve messed with them just a little bit and he would have begun to believe all


of his press clippings?

The dangerous thing is when we start to believe that we really are something and we forget who it really was that parted the Red Sea we can get into big trouble. We start to think that we are God and it’s because of us that all of these great things have happened and we forget that it is God who gave us all of the ability that we have. Moses is the one who got to stand up and say the words but it is God who shook the leadership of Egypt until they finally relented and had a change of heart. It was the power and might of God, but it’s easy to forget that and Moses teaches us something very important here.

SLIDE Leaders are humble and remember who really gives them success This is very important for many of us in this room because many of us have seen great success. Some of you have multiple degrees and many titles in front of your name. Some of you have made great business decisions and made a lot of money in the process which is a real blessing. Some of you are held in high esteem and respect to greatly for what you have accomplished in our community. While all of that is true and not necessarily bad, we can’t forget that none of that really matters to God. We could have just as easily been goat herder Bedouins because the truth is that it is God who does the amazing things in our lives.

If there is anything worth doing in life that we want to be remembered for in the end it is because we were willing to lay our lives in God’s hands and let him do whatever he wants to do with us and with our gifts. The truth is that most of what the world values doesn’t really matter when you end up on the other side of the turf.

This is what the Scriptures say about Moses. He was a great leader because of one very important reason that we find in Numbers 12:3.

SLIDE 3 Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.

Wouldn’t it be great to have somebody say that about us? Wouldn’t it be great not to care if they did?

There are hundreds of other lessons we can learn about leadership from the life of Moses and these are just a few. As you read to the book of Exodus and numbers and Leviticus and parts of Deuteronomy in the coming month we will have a chance to gain great insight on what it means to be a leader for God, but these four seem to be central to the life of Moses and his leadership.


We must have a compelling goal in our life that is worth living and dying for. We don’t quit in the face of adversity but we persevere. We have a willingness to develop other leaders and give other people credit and let other people use their gifts. And finally, that we maintain a humility before God.

When those four characteristics are in place God can do amazing things through anyone. Let’s pray…

SLIDE Prayer

God, we give you thanks and praise for what you did through Moses—how you took this 80-year-old Bedouin goat herder with a speech impediment and used him to deliver your people from slavery and bondage to freedom and the Promised Land. Lord, we pray that you would help us claim the leadership role you have for our lives—to lead our children, our families, our friends and our coworkers. Help us to be an example for them of what you call us to be as human beings and make us see the hope that we have in you.

Help us God to see the compelling cause and vision that you have for our lives and for our church, for our careers and for our families. Help us to not give up in the face of adversity. When others are speaking poorly about us, when others are questioning our leadership, help us to listen and learn from them and to gain insight but in the end not to give up on what you call us to be and to do.

Help us to encourage other leaders oh Lord. May we invest in their lives so we can raise up other leaders and give away leadership. Finally God, teach us to be humble, to walk with you and to give you the glory. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

lessons for leaders from the life of moses - fumc durango · slide “lessons for leaders from the...

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