Here is a saying you can trust. If anyone wants to be a leader in the church, they want to do a good work for God and people. 1Timothy 3:1 

a. Who is a leader?

b. Are you a leader in Christ? 

But God chose you to be his people. You are royal priests. You are a holy nation. You are God’s special treasure. You are all these things so that you can give him praise. God brought you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1Peter 2:9


Lessons from 5 leaders in the bible; 


1. Paul: "Believe in something bigger than yourself."


"I have appointed you as a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth" (Acts 13:47). Paul thought of himself as nothing in the total scheme of things. He was submitted to the will of God, and he was committed to a specific, meaningful mission. Paul had courage in the face of opposition because he had limitless horizons in his mission. He believed in himself, but he believed in something bigger than himself, namely, "Jesus Christ and Him crucified," (1 Cor. 2:2).

What can we learn about leadership from Paul’s life? 


2. Nehemiah: 

Upon learning of the distress of his people, Nehemiah receives permission from the king he was serving to go help them. Despite obstacles and opposition, he discerns a challenging vision and contributed his part in leading the people in accomplishing it.

3He and the men with him said to me, “Some of the people who returned are still alive. They are back in the land of Judah. But they are having a hard time. They are ashamed. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down. Its gates have been burned with fire.”  4When I heard about these things, I sat down and wept. For several days I was very sad. I didn’t eat any food. And I prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:3-4

4The king said to me, “What do you want?” I prayed to the God of heaven. 5Then I answered the king, “Are you pleased with me, King Artaxerxes? If it pleases you, send me to Judah. Let me go to the city of Jerusalem. That’s where my people are buried. I want to rebuild it.” Nehemiah 2:4,5


what can we learn from Nehemiah?

3. Joshua: 

He took up the challenge in filling in the gap after Moses died. He had served faithfully with Moses and he now had to trust God to lead His people in a very crucial time in the life of the people. 


1Moses, the servant of the Lord, died. After that, the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun. Joshua was Moses’ helper. The Lord said to Joshua, 2“My servant Moses is dead. Now then, I want you and all these people to get ready to go across the Jordan River. I want all of you to go into the land I am about to give to the Israelites. 3I will give all of you every place you walk on, just as I promised Moses. 4Your territory will reach from the Negev Desert all the way to Lebanon. The great Euphrates River will be to the east. The Mediterranean Sea will be to the west. Your territory will include all the Hittite country. 5Joshua, no one will be able to oppose you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will never leave you. I will never desert you. 6Be strong and brave. You will lead these people. They will take the land as their very own. It is the land I promised to give their people of long ago. 7“Be strong and very brave. Make sure you obey the whole law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn away from it to the right or the left. Then you will have success everywhere you go. Joshua 1:1-7


What lessons can we learn from the scripture above on Joshua’s leadership?


4. Moses: "Blind your eyes to petty criticism.


Moses also said, “You will know that the Lord has heard you speak against him. He will give you meat to eat in the evening. He’ll give you all the bread you want in the morning. But who are we? You aren’t speaking against us. You are speaking against the Lord.” Exodus 16:8


Moses was seen as the patient leader of a people with little faith (Ex. 16:8, 16-20). His church was a murmuring people. They complained and whined at every inconvenience (Ex. 15:24; 16: 2-3). He did get disgusted. Remember, he struck the rock and disobeyed God, but his patience had worn thin. He had had enough. Petty criticism wears on the leader. The wise leader will work hard at blinding his or her eyes to the pettiness of church members' criticism. If that doesn't work, he outlasts them. Just about every pastor has "struck the rock" at one time or another; but then, like Moses, the same pastor usually has the resilience to see things through. Nobody said it would be easy.

 What lessons can we learn from the leadership of Moses?


7. Peter: "Bounce back after you are knocked down."


16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah. You are the Son of the living God.”

17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! No mere human showed this to you. My Father in heaven showed it to you. 18Here is what I tell you. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will not be strong enough to destroy it. 

22Peter took Jesus to one side and began to scold him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This will never happen to you!”

23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are standing in my way. You do not have in mind the things God cares about. Instead, you only have in mind the things humans care about.” Matthew 16 : 16-18, 22-23


In Matthew 16, Peter was both a "rock" and a "stumbling block." He was both blessed and disgraced almost in the same breath. It is enough to discourage any leader. You are the foundation. You are the devil's advocate. Discouraged by the disapproval of Jesus, yet blessed by the warmth and affection of Jesus. One church member compliments your sharing, the next complains about your quoting Carl Jung because he is not a Christian.


How does a leader deal with the encouragement and discouragements of leadership?

Any other leader in the Bible you can talk about?