 okay here we go yes Psalm 34 was one I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul shall make its boast in the Lord the humble shall hear of it and be glad oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears they looked to him and were radiant and their faces were not ashamed this poor man cried out and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles the angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them o taste and see that the Lord is good blessed is the man who trusts in him right just want us to focus on the verse one where we notice something there you see that the psalmist says I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall my soul shall you know so thrice we see in those two verses he says he talks about praising he says it's it's like an act of his will he says I will bless the Lord his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul shall make its boast in the Lord right so today I don't know whether it's you know what kind of a season or what kind of a phase you are in whether you're having a good day bad day but the psalmist says he makes a statement and it's an expectation for us he says I will bless the Lord at all times I will make a choice and make a conscious decision to bless the Lord at all times different times whether I'm feeling down whether I'm up his praise shall continually be in my mouth and my soul shall make his make its boast in the Lord we are exalting the Lord magnifying the Lord we're boasting in the Lord and this is not just coming out of our mouth but from our soul from our mind our will our emotions everything put together there is a boast and it says that his praise shall continually be in my mouth and my soul shall make its boast in the Lord so I just want to encourage us maybe challenges today to with this with these verses to make that our declaration as well where we can say I will bless the Lord at all times you know today I will bless the Lord whether I feel like it emotionally or not but I'm choosing and I'm making a conscious choice of my will to bless the Lord and even as we do that you know we will even as we make his praise to be continually pouring out of our mouths of our lips and I'm sure that we will be able to experience the truth experience the presence the power of the one that we are praising of the truth that we are hearing of the one whom we are magnifying above the mountains maybe seem to surround us about the challenges that we seem to be facing right so let's do that let's begin to just even as we pray let's begin to just praise the Lord or bless the Lord hallelujah we thank you Lord we thank you even as we come to your presence Lord we even as we've read your word we choose to bless your name we choose to praise you we choose to ensure that your praise is upon our lips continually Lord we choose to lift up your name and magnify your name Lord much bigger than the storms much bigger than the mountains Lord we choose to elevate Lord lift up and magnify and exalt your name God above everything else God we bless your name Jesus we bless your name God just go ahead and just lift up the name of Jesus Lord we thank you for who you are God yes Lord we thank you for the revelation of who you are Lord that we have received in us in our hearts Lord even as we Lord look in look into your word oh God you see that you are the king of all kings God that you are the ultimate sovereign king the one who rules over all one who's kingdom whose domain extends and expands and you rule over all the nations and so God we we magnify your name we agree oh God that this is who you are we acknowledge Lord this is who you are we thank you God in in what seems to be like difficult situations Lord Lord you bring out the victory out of the midst of them God we thank you that you're the God who turns around things God even when we see that things are so bleak and so dark God you turn around things for us God in the midst of what seems to be like failures God you turn around and Lord you turn it around for our good Master God that that is what we see and so we we choose to praise you we choose to declare who you say you are we choose to praise you and say that you are our deliverer we choose to praise you and say that you are our provider we choose to declare that you are our peace our Prince of peace our Shalom Lord we choose to declare that you are our anchor Lord we choose to declare that You are the living Word. Lord, we choose to declare that there's nothing that can exalt itself above the knowledge of Christ and everything that tries to exalt, we bring it down in the mighty name of Jesus. We choose to declare God that You are our anchor, O God. You are our sure foundation. Lord, we declare this morning that You are our rock and our refuge, O God. We praise You. We thank You for who You are, God. Yes, when we exalt Your name, we exalt Your name, or we lift up Your name, Lord. And yes, Lord, as the Psalm is declared, O taste and see that the Lord is good. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Lord, we pray that our walk with You will not be something that is devoid of experience, God. Lord, we pray this morning that even right now that there will be an experienced God, that we will tangibly experience God in our minds, in our hearts, Lord, in our circumstances, in our surroundings, that we will taste, that we will experience and know that You are good. We thank You for Your goodness. We thank You for Your holiness, God. We thank You for Your righteousness and Your faithfulness, God. We thank You. We bless Your name today. We give You thanks, Lord. We give You all the praise and all the glory, Lord, even as we magnified Your name, be magnified, be lifted up, God. We thank You. We give You all the praise and all the glory. In Jesus' matchless name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Hey, welcome to all those who joined us now during the prayer. Okay. So, yeah, we're going to continue from where we left off last class, right? And yeah, I think we almost at the end of the first section where we've been looking at leadership in transition. And as a last section, we were looking at how we need to maintain our strength, our personal strength, which means we need to be renewed spiritually. We need to be growing. We need to take some time to rest and be refreshed, right? Even to exercise and make sure we are in good health and strength, right? One of the things that, you know, which is very, very, which can really change our internal atmosphere, if I may use the word, is to be thankful, right? To be grateful and to make a list of all the things that you can be thankful for. And it's a great exercise. You will never, you see that, you know, when you look at the small things and even the minute things that you can be thankful to God for, right? And as we list down for the blessings that we have received, as we list down those things that, you know, those times when he has come through, you see that it becomes a very inexhaustible list, just goes on and on, just to see that. And that changes us, that changes the whole atmosphere. If we are thinking negative, just to go over, just to reflect about, reflect on what God has done and who he is, and to be thankful for it, you know, to verbalize it, to, to open our mouth and just say, or maybe even to write down and say, God, I thank you for this. I thank you that you did this. I thank you that you're continuing to do this. I thank you that you will do it. You know, when we, when we make that list, it's, it's something that renews us spiritually. I remember reading a testimony of one person who came under such a very strong, you know, oppressive spiritual attack and, you know, and he was just, he couldn't move. He was just sitting in his couch or lying down in his couch. And this happened the whole day, sunrise to sunset. He'll just be there and so heavy. And the Lord spoke to him and said, you know, just think about those times, that, think about those times that I've come through for you. And, and, and he was trying to recollect, he was trying to remember it was so difficult for him. And finally, he did that. He thought about those times. He thought about those things that he, that he could be thankful to the Lord for. And he started mentioning his, he started, you know, speaking it out, and he started to bring to remembrance. And then he realized that his mind was so clouded that with the emotions with, with this whole levy oppression that he couldn't actually remember. You know, he was finding it very difficult to recall those things that those things that happened in the past and that he could be thankful for. But, but he did. So, you know, it started with just one little thing. And it came with such great effort, but he thought about it. And then he, he spoke to the Lord about it. And then one by one, you know, like a, like a stream, it just, like a flood even just came and then all these thoughts and, and he started to thank the Lord one after the other. And then he realized soon after that he was just walking out of that oppression. It had broken through, he had broken through, and he was delivered from that oppression. So it's, it's so powerful when we testify to ourselves about what the Lord has done. And the psalmist does that, right? He says, why are you cast down for my soul? Hope in God. And I will yet trust him. So, so that's one way of renewing our strengths, virtually, you know, at our lowest moments to, to think about what the Lord has done and to thank the Lord for what he has done, right? To keep our vision refreshed, you know, that's another thing. We, when we're talking about the vision, we were saying that, well, vision leaks and, you know, to the, it can happen to the best of us, right? Because we get bogged down with details or we get overwhelmed by the, by the tasks. And sometimes we need to sit back and reflect and be refreshed about the vision, you know, what is the big picture and to make any course corrections and the vision, the God given vision will refresh us, right? So, and, and for us to intentionally think about the vision and about the details of it, about the, you know, even those moments when you receive that vision from God and how it grew and how, you know, how the Lord added to it will really keep our strength, refresh our strength, right? So, keep our vision refreshed. Okay. The last section is in this leading through transition is about passing on the bait and on the turn. I still can't figure out how to say that word. But passing on, basically to raise up others, other leaders to whom you can pass on to whom, who can actually carry on the vision, right? Carry on the vision. So, this is something that I remember hearing pastors say over and over again, your success in ministry is incomplete if you do not raise successors, you know. Well, it's great if tomorrow the Lord comes and everything is fine and, and, you know, we're all, everything is wrapped up, ministry year on earth is done. But the thing is, should the Lord tarry, right? And should we depart before that, the work that we've done or the ministry that we have done should not come to an end, you know, with that, with our departure. So, success in ministry is incomplete if we do not raise up others who will, who will run the race with the vision, will, with the mission and, and continue the work, right? The day you, yeah, I just read this out. The day you begin any ministry, I'm sorry, I'm not sharing the notes. Let me just share that. Okay. Yeah. So, the day you begin any ministry is the day you should start planning your departure. So, the plan of God or the desire of God is that what he's put in our hearts, what he's given us, what he showed us, it could be the revelation, it could be his anointing, the gifting, he wants to, he wants that to be passed on to the next generation. He wants that to be, to be the, a new benchmark, a new water level for the next generation, right? So that, you know, it's almost like, like somebody said, you know, that the next generation will stand on the shoulders of the previous generation. So that becomes, you know, the, that becomes level ground for them, that they are at a elevated place, and they don't have to start from zero, but they're actually at a higher place now, regarding the revelation, regarding whatever God has poured out into our hearts, right? So that, that requires us to pass on and whatever in the natural that we need to do, whatever practical things that we need to do in order to pass on. And I think the best place for us to do that is, is our family to start with, family members, maybe just one person, maybe a few, and of course, you know, with the ministry, with colleagues, with people, with other leaders whom we are raising up, definitely, right? So this is what we see in Psalm 71, versus 18 and 19. So the Psalmist says, oh God, you have taught me from my youth, and to this day, I declare your wondrous works. Now also, when I am old and gray-headed, oh God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation, your power to everyone who is to come. So he's saying, Lord, you know, right from my youth, you have taught me, and I've been declaring your works, I've been declaring who you are, what you do, till today, right? Now, I am old. So he's no more a young person, he's old, he's gray-headed, and he says, Lord, this is my desire. But do not forsake me, give me that strength, give me that, maybe the opportunity and the ability so that I can declare your strength, declare what your wondrous works, your abilities, to this generation. Okay, so to who are, who to my peers, to this generation, and your power to everyone who is to come, right? So something that is passed on. So the thing is to, you know, the challenge is to raise up two or three generations after us, which means the, you know, the youth of this day and the younger, the younger children who see today, right, to pass on to them. This is what Paul writes to Timothy, second Timothy chapter two, he says, you therefore my son, be strong in the grace, that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me, among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. So he's again talking about, you know, two sets of people there, the first immediate sphere of influence. So he's saying, Timothy, you teach it to others, right? And in turn, these faithful people are going to be, who will be able to teach others also. So yes, that's God's desire that, that what he's put in our hearts is passed on. Okay. And we see that this is a, this is a characteristic, important characteristic of a Christian leader, of spiritual leadership, that God raises up people, God, it's, he puts in a vision, he gives the grace, abilities to call everything he puts in a person. And so this, so that we can pass on what he has revealed to us to the next generation and to the next. So some of the things that we can do is to impart the vision, values and culture. Now these are things where we take many, you know, even in the context of a local church, in the context of a ministry, you know, even in the context of a secular organization, right, to impart that vision, to impart those values, to impart the culture, right? To continue to provide direction and to point the way ahead. That's important responsibility. And then to step aside at the right time. And so we can nurture, to cheer the people on the team on, right, where we leave a legacy, right? So, so this means that one needs to plan intentionally. Again, we come back to that word plan, which requires us to partner with God, look at plan as something that we partner with God, look at, you know, a life plan when we say it's not devoid, it's not disconnected from God, right? It's not disconnected from the Lord. It's actually dreaming with him, right? The thing is to have, you know, for a, it can be really overwhelming to come to the understanding that God has big plans for us, like plans that have not, eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, like we read in First Corinthians chapter two, that God has these things in store for us that he wants to reveal through the Holy Spirit. And he is revealing, he is unfolding those things for us in every season, like in every phase, every season of our lives, he's unfolding that. And yes, so that we might walk in it, we might walk in them and fulfill that, right? So well, God has good plans for us, God has big plans for us. So for us to make a note of that, you know, to approach God, with whom we have access 24 seven, to sit down and do that and to say, Oh God, this is, let's say, you know, I have X number of years, I think. So, Lord, what do you want me to do, right? And to, and to plan that out. And just think about the season of life that you are in, maybe, you know, it's a season where you're a student, where you are a young person, or maybe you're a working professional, you've gone past that formal, you know, education, whatever, university, college, and you're, you're a working professional, you're in business, or, or maybe you're in a, you know, a later stage in life where you are retired, and, you know, whatever season of life to, to really plan out to ask the Lord. And maybe we can do it in, you know, chunks of time, like four years, or five years, and 10 years or so. Because the Lord, you know, if you look back, it's surprising that there could be a pattern, like how the Lord has worked. And I know that this could be different for different people, but they could be very well be a pattern in which the Lord has worked, the Lord has changed seasons in our lives, and so on. So Isaiah 46 was 9 and 10. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. And from the ancient times, things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Just talks about the greatness of God, talks about the omniscience of God declaring the end from the beginning. So we are sitting with one who has infinite wisdom, and knowledge, and understanding, and to receive, and to, and for the fact that he has, you know, great plans for us, his thoughts for us are to give us a hope in the future. So the situation we are in, the circumstance we are in, you know, sometimes we look at the difficulty of it, or the never-ending, you know, sometimes the cycle of it, and saying, you know, how and when is this going to end, and will there be anything beyond this? You know, the thing is to go to God because his plans are to give us a hope in the future. The thoughts that he has for us are good thoughts, the plans that he has for us are good plans, not of calamity, but of peace and prosperity, right, to sit and to write down, and to say, okay, God, you know, this is a plan. So we know that a plan is good, but we also, you know, like we saw, a plan is only as good as it is being executed. We could have the best of plans, but we need to intentionally begin to walk in it. Now, sometimes what we do is, okay, I have a plan from God, and I know that God will make it happen, and that's it. You know, we just, sometimes we drift along, or just we're just coasting. But the thing is that we need to do something. We need to intentionally pursue the plans and the purpose of God. Does anyone have a question? Okay, Louis, I think your mic is unmuted. So I just heard something. I'm just going to mute your mic. I hope that's okay. Sorry about that. No, no, no problem. No, no, no, no, okay. So, I just like us to do a small exercise. Okay. So this is what we're going to do. We're going to, I think we might have done this. I don't know if it's this class, you might have done this, but we're just going to, you know, however old you are, maybe you are, let's say, 30. Okay. And you just take your lifespan. Okay. Let's say, how old do you want to be? How long do you want to be on this earth? Let's take a very positive estimate. Okay. For those of us who are very positive, you take it as 100, or, you know, what maybe, what do you think? Is 100 okay to live to be 100? And how many of you are saying okay to that? Can I see your hands? 100? Wow. Okay. Great. Awesome. Let's do it. Let's go with 100 then. Come on. Let's do it. Okay. Okay, I see Thorin's hand. I see a lot of hands going up. Awesome. So let's go with 120. Yeah. I think that's the scriptural number. 120. Yes, that is something God said. Yeah. So go with 120. So, but this is what we'd like to do, right? So if you are, okay, let's say Srikumar has put 120. So Srikumar, how old are you, if I may ask you now? For today. Okay. So Srikumar would say, only if my body and mind is functioning well, yeah, that's a given, Beth. That's what we're saying. 120 minus 42. Okay. So which is 78, is it? Yeah. Okay. 78. So Srikumar, so, years. So 78, you just break it down to how many seconds, you know, you can get 78 into, that is 365 days, right? And you get the number of hours into 60. You get the number of minutes into 60. You get the number of seconds, right? So I think I see Avni's hand. So Avni, you have something to say and question. I said, okay, 100. For 100, I raise my hand. Oh, yeah. Okay. Awesome. Okay. Okay. So let's do this. Like each one of you, you know, if it's 100 or 120, but 100 is, you know, we're just claiming 100 for everyone. Okay. And like Beth said, yes, body, mind functioning well, you know, spiritually strong. So just find out how many seconds that is. Okay. So do the math. So we're doing, you know, if it's 78, so we're just taking the calculator out. Yeah. So 78 into 365, that's 28,470 days into 60. That's 1708200 hours into, sorry, is that in, yeah, into 60. Okay. So we have a number and that's the number of seconds that we have. Okay. So just put that for yourself. So we can see it. Okay. And as we look at these seconds, we see that some of the seconds are ticking away. Right. It's actually, you know, reducing, not to make us fearful or paranoid. But for us to know that, yeah, you know, this time, this lifetime is a great resource, is a gift God has given us. And for us to know him, you know, he has drawn us, we have responded, we know him, we responded to his love, we know him. And so it's only right that we find out, or we choose to walk with him and say, okay, God, these seconds of my life, I want to live for you. Right. And so when we say live for you, the Lord would want us to do, like many different things and many different spheres. It could be in business, like what we've been saying, it could be in government, it could be in, you know, as a working professional, it could be something that he wants to start and wants you to start and do. So it's never too, you're never too old to start something. We have examples right there in scripture, Apostle Paul being one of them. So, or you're never too young to start something. So irrespective of whether you're old or young or somewhere in between, just figure out how many seconds do you have and plan with God and say, God, you know, these many seconds I have of my life left. And now I want to, I want to sit and dream with you. I want to sit and plan with you. And I want to, you know, that's basically the big picture of your life plan. And if you can break it down into, if you look back and see a pattern, okay, I look back into my life and I saw that there was a pattern for every four years, really. Things happened in, you know, in chunks of four years every season. And it was, it was amazing to just look back and what started all that. I mean, for me, and I'm just saying, this is, this is how it happened for me. What started all that was a dream. So I had this dream where I saw, you know, certain people whom I knew in the dream, certain people in ministries and some pastors, and basically I was actually in a line to get prayed for. So I reached the end of the line. The pastor was actually there praying at the start of the line. By the time I went there, it was some other person. But then this is what that person said. It wasn't said that don't you know that in your life, things are happening every four years. And that was the end of the dream. So I was really puzzled, very intrigued by it. And I just went back and checked. And I just saw that it was so, you know, when it came to education, when it came to, you know, work and all that, it was in, you know, as a pattern for four years. And I'm not saying that God can, you know, of course, he's, he can, he's above that he can change things and all that. And he's, it's in his hands, right? But I see that. And so, so it was easier to, you know, sit down and, and talk to him and say, and ask God, God, what, what next? What is it that you have? And sometimes I've seen that, okay, it could be if not for it could be eight years, but then, you know, there's something that he's adding, something that is changing. So, so yeah, so for, for your life, for your life plan, you know, you can dream with God and say, okay, God, you know, I'm just breaking it down, you know, you're free to change it, but five years, maybe 10 years. And what do I need to do to prepare, right? Maybe the five years, it's like, you know, preparatory stage as a student, and maybe in the next five years, God, you know, what, what are the things that you want to bring into my life? And maybe for those who are single, maybe you're looking at, you're looking at preparing for marriage, getting ready for marriage. I'm sorry, there's a bit of a firecracker's going off outside. I don't know what the celebration is. So yeah, so maybe you're thinking of marriage, maybe you're thinking of, you know, starting a family and all that. So, preparation for that, right? Preparing for that emotionally, spiritually, physically, in a materially, all that. So it doesn't, you know, just, we're not getting into any season blindfolded, but we have the one who creates times and seasons, and it's who changes times and seasons, and who's with us, who's our guide. So let's walk with him, you know, let's talk to him, and to see from him, and, and prepare ourselves ahead, spiritually, relationally. And there's so many things, you know, that we can do to prepare ourselves and be equipped for every season. Okay, so, so that is something that we can look at. Okay, so we've come to the end of that section. So we go into the next section, which is winning with people. Okay, any questions, anything that you or me may want to add to what we have seen in this section? Yes, go ahead, Louis. I want to share something. Good morning, sir. I just wanted clarity for, let's say you're starting a ministry. And what timeframe views do you look at to start putting your exit plan in place, considering the fact that most of the people that will come in at the initial stage, speaking to catch a bit of vision with the spirit and all that. So at what particular time do you start putting that plan into effect? Yeah, so, you know, having heard from people who are, you know, who are really experienced in ministry and they've been pioneers. So the thing is, you know, when you, when you talk about an exit plan, well, I wouldn't use that word, but then you just transition into a different role. You're not totally exiting out of, you know, a ministry itself, you know, you continue to minister, but then it's just a different role in which you minister. But yeah, like you asked, when people say that you start from day one, you know, with that in mind, that you are the minute you start, yes, when you start off in the preparatory stage, you're doing everything by yourself or most of it by yourself. And then God sends people or you raise up, you know, you, and as he sends people who partner with you, who, you know, who, who resonate with the vision, who walking with you. And then you are also racing up leaders and taking people from, from where they are, you know, to where they should be and immature, you know, all that. And, and they're also running with you alongside. And so you're raising them up. And this happens from really from day one. And, and as you go through the different phases of ministry, and how the timeframe could be different. Right. Like for, you know, that we've heard of people who, for them, the growth, you know, was very, very quick. And it's not that it was, it was, you know, it was, they had to do some gimmicks or anything. But then that is how it was, you know, God did so much in that, maybe in six years or so. So everything grew and everything was, was really fast. But it need not be the same for everyone. But for us to recognize that, okay, right now, we are in this stage is very important to discern and say, okay, right now, the first three years or the first five years, you know, we are in this phase. Now, now it's time to step up things, because we are entering into another phase of ministry, and so on. So for us to be, you know, for one to be aware of that is very important. But really, to, to start from day one, and, and slowly as the ministry grows, and as the, you know, the, the sphere of influence of the ministry grows through the ages, through the years, sorry. Then you begin to, of course, delegate, you begin to, you see people who have been caught on with the vision, and you begin to play a more of a counseling, or a mentoring kind of a role and providing the oversight at the same time, not totally disconnected. But, but the day to day functioning of the, of the ministry, or some of the decisions, you know, you've, you've just laid down the principles, you've laid down the process. So now you're just providing oversight as and when you are approached for, you know, and you moved on to other things. So, so that is how it really unfolds. Yeah. So, but we can't really, you know, put the timeframe and say it's five years, six years. Hope that helps. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Anything else that you want to add, you know, we looked at, if you look at the first section, we looked at what leadership is, we looked at, you know, a vision, we looked at values culture, we looked at organization, how to organize ourselves and organizing our finances, people, ministry, time. And then lastly, we looked at reading through transition and some of the, you know, we looked at some experiential thoughts there. So we looked at that also. Okay. Okay. If there's nothing, feel free to add, you know, at any point, we'll move on. Right. We'll look at the second section, which is winning with people. Okay. So, you know, many times, we forget that, you know, ministry is with people. Right. We are serving in ministry. We are serving people, the people of God. So people are central part of what ministry is about. Right. If you look at, not just ministry, if you look at anything else, you know, whatever it involves technology, it involves maybe even manufacturing and, you know, IT and so on. We see that the end, at the end of it all, you know, it is for the betterment of people, it is for consumption by people. It is for the betterment of, you know, maybe the services, the facilities, so many things, but it involves people. Right. Not just as end users, but also as people who work together to make that possible. Okay. So when we were looking at Christian leadership, one other important aspect to think about and really be, you know, to remind ourselves that it's about people. Who are we influencing? It's people. Right. To have the right perspective about people is very important. Right. Otherwise, we will be using, manipulating people. And like someone said, you know, I love ministry, but it's just that people are getting in the way, you know. So we might be, you know, of different temperament in a unique way as God has made us, but whatever it is. Right. You know, we might have a, let's say, a bad experience, a broken image, but then we have this redemption and restoration in Christ. Right. So we come to a place of wholeness and health emotionally. So we can relate to people. We can engage with people in the best way possible. Right. So I'm just reading this verse again, which we read earlier, which is in 1 Peter chapter five, where Peter writes, and he says, shepherd the flock of God. Okay. So shepherd the flock of God. So we realize, we understand that it's the flock of God. Right. People who belong to God, people who are created in His image. Right. If they are not believers, well, they are still created in the image of God, but it's just that the image is broken, tarnished. It's shattered because of sin. Right. And people who are believers again, in the works in progress, where that is being restored in Christ, spiritually, you are made whole. But, you know, emotionally and otherwise, it is, it is being, that image is being restored. Right. Well, 2nd Corinthians 3 talks about how we are being transformed into that same image, right. The image of the Lord from glory to glory, as we take a glimpse of His glory. Right. So the important thing here, shepherd the flock of God. Who are you being over, you know, who are you leading? Right. Who are you being placed with oversight over? You know, so shepherd the flock of God. And it says here, serving as overseers. Okay. Serving as overseers. So understand that the leadership is about influence, influencing people for their good. And it is a service. It's serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. Right. Not for dishonest gain, not out of compulsion. And this is, this is our heart's posture, even as we provide oversight, even as we serve willingly. Right. It's the flock of God. Verse 3 says, not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. Okay. So not as being lords. That does not mean that you do not, you know, bring in, speak the truth in love. It does not mean that, you know, there's no communication or with regard to discipline or change or being firm. It doesn't mean that. But the thing is that you're not being lords over, you're not being boss over, bossing over those entrusted to you. You know, that again talks about whether it's in a formal way or informal way. We realize that here are, you know, this bunch of people and they are being entrusted to you. Right. Which means God has a hand in it. And it's much bigger. The, you know, the, even this whole thing of leading people is much bigger than we thought. Right. That God has entrusted to you being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will just see the crown of glory that does not fade away. So while on the earth, there might be, you know, there might be approval of man, they may not be, you know, there might be recognition, they may not be, but then surely when the chief shepherd appears, surely there is the crown of glory that it does not fade away. You know, so there is recognition and there is reward from the chief shepherd who has entrusted the flock to you. So really, the reward comes from him. Right. So the central thing is that it's people that we are serving and they are the flock of God, they're being entrusted with this leadership and, and we lead as being examples to the flock. So wherever you turn, you know, there, when it comes to leadership, well, people are going to be there. Right. So it's time to get comfortable with that aspect, saying that, okay, as a leader, as a Christian leader, I'm going to be dealing with people. So what are some of those things that I need to, I need to, you know, change in my perspective, right, when it comes to people, there are some things that, you know, some of us maybe are unnatural at this, relating to people, maybe some of us are not. And maybe we could, we could grow in that area of relating to people and, you know, leading people and so that, you know, whatever we are doing is effective and it's a win for both, for both us and for those who are being led. Okay. So we'll take a break now and when we come back at 11, we'll, we'll continue with this, you know, winning with people the second section. Right. Okay. We'll take a break now.