There may not be anything more stressful to a pastor than a facility expansion.\u00a0 We have all heard stories of building programs destroying a church\u2019s ministry and culture.\u00a0 One day the church is growing and the next day they are fighting about paint colors. \u00a0What causes one ministry to flourish during a building program and another to struggle?<\/p>\n
Working with hundreds of churches over the last 35 years, I have observed three common elements of successful building programs and all three are characteristics displayed by quality leaders. These strengths are so prevalent in the lives of the church leaders, they become engrained in the culture of their ministry.\u00a0 When the adversity of a building program strikes, these strengths emerge and allow a church to rise above the fray.<\/p>\n
The book of Nehemiah provides us with a wonderful illustration of these strengths. As cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah was in a position of authority. One day he asked his brothers about Jerusalem and the Jews who escaped captivity.\u00a0 He learned Jerusalem\u2019s wall was crumbled, its gates were burned, and the people were in great distress.\u00a0 Upon hearing the news, he wept, mourned, prayed, and fasted before God. Displaying great courage, he asked the king to allow him to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall.\u00a0 To the glory of God, Nehemiah rebuilt the wall in 52 days and restored the city\u2019s might and honor.<\/p>\n
Strength 1:\u00a0 Spiritual Passion <\/strong><\/p>\n Spiritual passion is created when a leader embraces a burden. Effective leaders naturally take on burdens and respond with action. \u00a0When Nehemiah asked about the \u201cJews who had escaped\u201d, we see clearly his passion for the people and their spiritual condition. \u00a0Effective leaders have a burden for people and express it openly as part of their ministry.\u00a0 When it\u2019s time to build a wall, the spiritual passion of a church and its leaders provides the energy and momentum necessary for success.<\/p>\n Building programs lacking spiritual passion become focused on \u201cthe wall\u201d instead of the mission. \u00a0These programs become obsessed with the cost, height, and color of the wall without connecting to the wall\u2019s greater purpose.\u00a0 \u00a0Unfortunately, for the church without true spiritual passion, building a wall has the potential to become a frustrating business transaction or divisive political event.<\/p>\n Components of Spiritual Passion: <\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cFor Spiritual Passion to fuel a building program it must be engrained in the DNA of a church\u2019s culture, not just the heart of the leader.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n Strength 2:\u00a0 Dependent Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n Prayer acknowledges our total dependence on God.\u00a0 Effective leaders know they desperately need God to show up.\u00a0 When Nehemiah heard Jerusalem\u2019s wall was damaged and the people were in great distress, his heart was broken and he wept and mourned for days.\u00a0 Through prayer and fasting, God helped Nehemiah move from being overwhelmed by the problem to developing the solution.<\/p>\n Building programs marked by dependent prayer see and experience the power of God as people walk by faith.\u00a0 Opposition is expected and not feared.\u00a0 Each step is prayed for and celebrated as the congregation stretches their faith \u2013 knowing God has them right where He wants them, totally dependent on Him.\u00a0 It\u2019s a beautiful thing to see the people of God walking and growing in their faith as they build the wall.<\/p>\n Far too many leaders underestimate the potential conflicts surrounding church building programs.\u00a0 These leaders work in their own strength and power.\u00a0 They offer token prayers, but no one truly believes God needs to show up.\u00a0 The physical nature of construction and finances distracts these leaders as they fill with pride and self reliance.\u00a0 The goal of bringing glory to God slowly fades and the focus shifts to trivial and tangible things.<\/p>\n Components of Dependent Prayer: <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cDependent prayer moves our focus from the problem to the solution.\u201d Proverbs 16:3 \u2013 Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established.<\/em><\/p>\n Strength 3:\u00a0 Strategic Planning<\/strong><\/p>\n Planning drives passion<\/em> and prayer<\/em> into action.\u00a0 Successful strategic planning always begins with the selection of the right leader.\u00a0 As cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah was respected and had demonstrated his ability to lead.\u00a0 His passion was evident when the king asked him why he was sad.<\/p>\n When selecting a leader for a building program, finding a servant leader is critical to the outcome.\u00a0 I believe leadership trumps technical knowledge every time. Construction knowledge can be useful, but a lack of leadership ability can lead to disastrous results.\u00a0 Nehemiah was a servant leader, not a contractor.<\/p>\n Effective strategic planning requires leaders to discover the truth of their situation.\u00a0 Gathering pertinent information to develop a successful plan is a must.\u00a0 Poor or insufficient information leads to flawed conclusions and strategies.\u00a0 Nehemiah was able to accomplish the task of rebuilding the wall because he understood his situation \u2013 he knew letters from the king would be required to complete the work.<\/p>\n During the implementation of your plan, the selection of the right leadership really pays off. \u00a0Like Nehemiah, effective leaders motivate and inspire people to rise above what they would normally be able to accomplish.\u00a0 In the heat of a construction project your congregation will need to know that God is in this and it is for His glory.<\/p>\n Components of Strategic Planning: <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cQuality communication is the hands and feet of vision, strategies, and tactics.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The leadership strengths found in successful building programs today are the very same as Nehemiah displayed centuries ago when he restored the city of Jerusalem. \u00a0Passion, Prayer, and Planning.<\/p>\n Additional Resources:<\/p>\n Ebooks<\/p>\n Website<\/p>\n Video<\/p>\n There may not be anything more stressful to a pastor than a facility expansion.\u00a0 We have all heard stories of building programs destroying a church\u2019s ministry and culture.\u00a0 One day the church is growing and the next day they are fighting about paint colors. \u00a0What causes one ministry to flourish during a building program and … Continue reading “Passion, Prayer, and Planning: Ministry Building the Nehemiah Way”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\n