 Hello everyone. Good morning. Welcome to a new week. If you had a great week, class week, yeah. Right, so let's just begin this time with the word of prayer, so maybe one of us can please leave the prayer, get it to our class. Any one of us can leave please. I'll pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of life that you've given all of us. Father, as you come into your presence, as I pray that you will bless and will reach our teacher, first of all Emmanuel, so that you're going to use him as a bridge to teach us, Father Jehovah. I commit everybody into your hands, Father Jehovah, that whatever you're going to learn, Father Jehovah, a little bit for your honor and glory, Father Jehovah. I pray trusting in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Kennedy. All right, so let me just protect the notes within the notes here. So we've been talking a lot about small groups and disciples, as leaders we must continually develop ourselves. So last week we talked about developing the leader in each of us. Now, just because I'm teaching it doesn't mean that I don't have to work on it. Every moment of our life as leaders, we are continuously learning. There's never a place or never a time that we can say, I know it all, and so I'm ready to do what I have to do. No, we are continually growing, continually developing, and this is something that will happen always. So last week we talked about developing the leader in you. Four important areas of growth and leadership. We saw competence. That is, competence is basically what we have learned, our skill, our experience, and all of this matters, right? Two is our confidence. Confidence is very important if we're not confident. For example, we have a message or a sermon to share for 40 minutes. You must be confident that we know the message, we know what we're talking about, so that practical aspect as well. Not being afraid of failure or confidence that, hey, I don't think I can go up on this stage, or I don't think this is something that God has called me for. So as leaders, we need to build confidence in ourselves. Of course, stay around people who will encourage and build confidence in us. Thirdly, compassion. This is very important because we saw that Jesus, whatever he did, he was motivated by compassion. So even as we do the small groups, ministry, our motivation, the real reason for what we're doing, ministry must be compassion. Because sometimes we like to do something, and we very easily flow into that, and that's wonderful because God gives us those gifts and those skills that we can develop. Very easily, we can get into the call that God has for us, but there are times when we get into that call and it becomes a comfort zone. So we are ministering out of, not an obligation, but we are ministering out of just, hey, this is what I have to do. That's not what Jesus did. Even though he moved around, he met with hundreds and thousands of people, he always taught and he preached about his message. It was all motivated by compassion, all motivated by love. So everywhere in his ministry we see Jesus was moved with compassion, or he was moved with love. He loved the people, and that must be our desire as well. Ministry to, without compassion, ministry becomes a burden, and that's really true. Because imagine you, as a leader, you've got so many people, they come and tell you, this is my problem, this is what I'm going through. Then they say, can you pray for me? Can you do this? Can you come home? Can you minister to us? Can you tell us why this is happening in our lives? And when we do it on our own strength, not out of love, out of compassion, it becomes a burden. We feel, oh, I have to go back here, I have to talk to these people. It becomes a burden. So minister of love. Then we talk about collaboration. Developing the ability to work together, work together as teams, work with different organizations, build a connection with each other, think about the sources and support and strength that God puts in your life. So connecting with people again is important. Then we look at five levels of leadership, position, permission, production, people development and personal development. So the five Ps. And so very importantly, we also look at developing the ability to minister the word and the spirit. Paul writes to Timothy and says, Timothy, you preach the word. So it's an ability that we can, the most beautiful part is even as we learn it, the ability to learn the word, teach the word. It's not like we're doing it. I'm called to be a pastor, so I have to do it. We're doing it because we love the Lord. We are doing this because it not only empowers us, but God has put us in a place where we can be a blessing to others. So it is the greatest privilege that we can have. So Paul tells Timothy, you teach the word. I preach the word. I'm a student of the word. Then also the other aspects of baptism in the Holy Spirit, ministry of healing on people, ministry of deliverance, developing the ability to counsel one another. And so we also look at that. So today, we look at chapter 20, developing people and relationships skills. Now, I'm sure all of us must have heard this. I was from an L&D learning and development in my previous organization many years ago. And I remember they would always say, it's all about people. So when it comes to human resource, HR, human resource management, it's all about people. Without the people, there is no ministry. Without the people, there is no business. Without the people, there is nothing. Remember when COVID hit, how was life? It was so... You just want to go out and talk to people. It could even be the vendors on the streets who just come out with their fruits and whatever they are selling. Even to talk to them, we feel, okay, it's nice that you spoke to a few people. Why? Because God has created us to be relational. None of us can say I don't need to be in a relationship. It could be with parents, brothers, siblings, friends, peers. We all are built for that. I remember those, especially in India. I don't know what happened in the other countries of India. It was 21 days of that lockdown where we couldn't go out. So I think it was 5 a.m. or something. They had opened the stores and 5 to 6, 6, 30. That's the only time you have. You go pick up what you need and come back home. And I realized that during those days, I began to think about what we are doing. So we are so wired to people. Is this that we don't realize? We don't realize that we take people for granted. But it's so true. God has called us to be relational. And ministry is not about how many people I have in my church. It's not about that. Ministry is about the people that are able to develop and build a relationship. Yes, it's wonderful. God is building a church. God sets people a church. It's wonderful to see a church growing. I personally have seen it. It's so nice. You get new families into church, young people come in. And then you see the church growing. It's wonderful. The target is not about, okay, I need to reach 500 people, 1,000 people. Yes, that could be there. But we must learn that ministry is about people. It's not about the tasks that we do. There is a place for tasks. There is a place for programs that we are able to see do a lot of tasks and programs and events. But it's about people. Are people being ministered? Are people being developed? Are relationships being built? These are questions that we must ask ourselves. So remember, in those 12 people or 10 or 12 people in your cell group are as much important as the 500 who are sitting in church. Because ministry is about people. Picture this, right? The apostle Paul, he went on in his missionary journals. When they started the church, how many people would have been there? They were all house churches, probably 20, 15, 20 people, 10 people. Remember last, I think it was last semester we talked about, you know, when he went into Athens, he went into Corinth. And the church that was started, there were three people, they said, three or four people. Few of them became believers in the world. It started off small. And that's the apostle Paul understood this. In one of his letters, he says, you are my crown in heaven. The Paul is not saying I did first ministry during the second third. I planted so many churches. I went to so many places. These are the churches I started. These are the epistles that I've written. And I've also met with the Lord Jesus in Arabia. He told me what I should do. I've gone up to the third heaven. He says, my crown in heaven is you people. This is a very big, very important lesson for us as leaders. I remember this and it's engraved in my spirit. It's wonderful to see things that we are successful in. And God has been faithful to us. It's wonderful. But we don't boast about that. It's about the people. How many people are we able to interact? Getting rid of fear of meeting people. Now, there may be some of us who are not very keen to meet new people. So we need to come out of all of that. Proactively meet newcomers in church. If you want friends, you've got to make that. Proverbs 18-24. A man that had sense must show himself friendly. Be sensitive to people, their background, culture and upbringing. Proverbs 16-21. The wise and hard shall be called prudent. And the sweetness of lips increases learning. Some translation says the sweetness of lips increases knowledge. So be sensitive to people. And we talked about this previously as well. So there will be people coming from different backgrounds, different cultures, different upbringing, different faiths. Could be very sensitive to them. Can't just say whatever we feel and say. Especially I would say in rural areas. Because of the zeal of God, they may not know how to put across things. Many times, ministries have gotten to problems. So we need to be wise. It's about people. People have feelings and passions. We need to minister to them in the right way. Being kind, courteous and wise without being compromising. Now this is an ability that comes over time as well. We go through seasons. There's ministering to people. Maybe a year or two years. There are ups and downs. We learn from our mistakes. I should have done it this way instead of doing it this way. And many times, I personally as well, I've learned from my mistakes. Because some of the things were simple things. All I had to do was send an email. But maybe I didn't do it. And then I realized, hey, I should have just sent an email. All of this would have happened. So we learn over time. But don't let those failures bring you down. Learn from it and pick up from there. Being kind and courteous to people. Being wise in the way you behave. Now as leaders, we need the wisdom of God. And I will share it with the other classes as well. Second years as well. Wisdom is something that we as leaders in the church need. It's a big need right now. Because, see, God is pouring out His Spirit. God is using so many of them. There's anointing. There's gifts. There's grace. There's healings. There are miracles. That's wonderful. But we also need the wisdom to handle all of this. Because I know of, I've heard of many stories where ministries have broken down. And pastors and big leaders have fallen because they are greatly anointed. They have a great understanding of the word, wonderful preachers, expository teachings, you know, very well-learned big ministries. But because of some unwise choices, because of compromising, the whole ministry has come down. And that could be financial, because of financial reasons. That could be because of, you know, behavioral problems. It could be because of adultery, fornication. It could be because of love for money, all kinds of things. So we need a wisdom of God. Sometimes it's teachings that is erroneous, that has caused problems, that have set something. I don't know if I'll try and forget for a minute or just a second. During the elections in the United States, all these pastors are wonderful, wonderful men and women of God. What happened? They started saying, you know, this job, this person, God has broken to me. The Lord came to me. The Lord came and sat with me and told me this may be true. But then after that, whatever the prophet said was not true. It wasn't even true. And so what happened? Everyone started pointing fingers at each other. There are some ministries here. They're saying, hey, this person said this, this, this. This is a false prophet. And the church was going through a very difficult time. There's a lot of ridicule between each other. Why? Because of lack of understanding. God gives us a word. God gives us a certain plan or he reveals something to us. There's a way to put it across. And that's why some of the things that we teach our students is always, you know, when getting a prophetic word, when you're getting a word of knowledge, when you feel the Lord is ministering. Words that you can use that can help. Just being wise, right? So say, hey, here's what I sense. Here's what I feel that God can do for you. I feel that God is leading you to go abroad and do your studies. Now, this is what I sense. This is what I feel. Maybe you can pray about it, think about it, and see this is what God is leading you towards. Now, what have you done? You said what God has put in your heart and what he says in his book. Set it. But you also say, you know, maybe this is, this is what I feel, this is what I sense. You also pray about it, think and see if this is what God is leading you towards. Now, what are we doing? We're being wise. Because later we don't want people to come and say, oh, Pastor, you said, you know, give me a prophetic word and I will go abroad and do my studies. Pastor, you said, you know, give me a prophetic word and I will go abroad. I think it's worked out and see I'm still here. It's five years now. So it's all about being wise, but not compromising. And this can be for anything. There are times when, you know, even in terms of genders, right, and leadership. So what we do is men leaders, women leaders, women leaders, we all work together as a team. We're very careful about how we, you know, how we portray ourselves, how we do things together. We all are a team, but we work in this stuff. So these are things that we develop over the years. Be kind, courteous, wise, overcome personality weaknesses. Now, we may all have different personalities and I've shared with you many times that can be introverts, very soft, very kind, very, you know, don't like to talk much. You need to overcome it, right? Because as leaders, we are, we are people first. We need to build relationships. We know that we're going to deal with people. So we have to overcome personality weaknesses. I remember when I joined ABC, I was very shy, very, very shy, right? So I'm the most comfortable when I'm alone. I'll be very comfortable, right? I can sit at the church. There are 500 people. If I'm sitting alone, I'm more than comfortable. But all of a sudden, you know, I joined and I was taking part of, you know, just handling the life groups. During those days, we had about nine, 10, five groups. So all of a sudden, I was doing life group and member care. You know, life group requires me to talk to people, connect them to life groups, train life group leaders, right? And member care requires me to, you know, just care for the members. Right? So that will involve calling, talking, waiting for them, you know, greeting them. They would come for prayer. Maybe sometimes they would have some kind of godly council or some kind of help. And so it was all about people. Very less to do on the computers. I liked it. But the problem was, I was an introvert. I was very shy. Sometimes I didn't know what to say, right? English and all of that, maybe, you know, I was comfortable in talking English, but very shy. So I knew that, hey, if I need to do this, I have to overcome this. I can't say I'm shy and not do my work that is a sight to me. Right? Was it difficult? Yes. But you have to overcome. That's where the word overcome is. So we need to come out of our comfort zone. So I remember I used to go to people. I used to talk to them. I used to get to find out how are they and, you know, just pray for them, meet with people. And over time, you know, and another thing was, I was very comfortable calling them and talking to them. So I worked in a call center for many years. So I was okay. But the moment I have to meet with people, you know, even if I was training some people, I would become very nervous. But over time, I thank God that God gives us the grace to overcome all this. And so you and I, we may have certain weaknesses. I remember one of my classmates in a Bible call, he would always say, you know, his hands, everything starts shaking when he goes in front to speak. His hands, he kind of, it can be summer and hot outside, but he starts shivering. Right? And we both were very quiet, but we would always encourage each other and say, hey, we can do it. We did some practical thing. I would say, why don't you wear a jacket and, you know, go and speak. Over time, we thank God. When we step out, God steps in. So I would encourage each one of us. It could be anything. Maybe some of us don't like to read. We don't feel comfortable doing a certain thing. It's okay. Just ask God to give you the grace to come out of it. Because as leaders, we must be willing to do these things, right? A leader's most important asset is people's skills. You must develop it. Recently, I was just talking to a few new people at church and they were talking after the service. And they were all just two, this couple, they were standing alone. They were new. And so I went to them and I started speaking to them. And, you know, they were saying, they just told me after the entire problem, they said to me, I was going to leave. I was not feeling comfortable because there are so many people in this church. I remember just talking to them, hey, you know, there are many people, but then you can get connected. We have life groups. So I really got to know them. Where are they from? They were coming from another city. They had truly come from another city. They don't know anybody. Nobody. They didn't know places in Bangalore, right in this city. And they're just using, you know, the Google Maps and their finding places. They went on Google, said churches near me. The first thing that came was ATC. So they came. Nothing. They just probably a week in Bangalore. But last week, they came to church again and they said, when I saw them, they were talking to so many couples in the church. I was so happy. Why? Because they somehow got connected. Now they don't feel alone in the church or in the city. They know that there is a church. There are people in the church and they can connect. That's why people skills is so important in this way. A good leader can lead various groups because leadership is about people. So he can lead a cell group. You can lead a member care team. He can lead a media team. Now, not to overburden yourself, but you can lead two or three groups because it's about people. And if you look at pioneers, people in ministry who have started off, why do they start ministry? Not because they want to get named, say something about that. It's because of people. Now, here's another important point. You can have people skills and not be a good leader, but you cannot be a good leader without people skills. You get that? You can have people skills, but not be a good leader. So for example, we can have people skills. We can talk to people for hours. We can pray for them. We can do all of it. But in terms of leadership, we may not be effective, but we cannot be a good leader without people skills. So to be a good leader, people skills must be. Leadership is relationships. Whichever ministry you're leading, it's all about relationships. Build them. Build each other. There will be times when people in your ministry or in your churches will come and say, hey, I'd like to give you some feedback about the way you preach and teach. Be open to it. Never say, hey, I'm the leader. You are the sheep, and you have to listen to me. Or never say it, but never feel it hard. I've already been teaching. I've already been teaching. I've been doing this for 10 years. He's just coming to church one year. And he's telling me, hey, why is giving me feedback on you? Never feel that way. Leadership is not free. And only when we are open to it, we can get it. Now, or it may be 500 people in your ministry. Whatever it is. When it comes to people, you will find all different kinds of people in the church. And now I say this because I have this wonderful opportunity to call. I talk to a lot of church folks. So we have five locations in that role. And so I talk to people from all across the north, south, east, west, and central. So just calling them, talking to them, talking about maybe they want to start a life group. They want to connect to a life group. You know, different other matters as well. But just to think that we can remember, people are insecure and need to give them confidence. This is really true because many times, I would probably look at a couple or a huge, I see them and say, hey, this person can be a good leader. So many times I've gone up to them and said, hey, why don't you even come into church for two years? Why don't you start a life group? I'm not sure how is the life group. But over time, you know, just being there, just to encourage it there. They've become very good life group leaders. They have also raised up other life group leaders. They're in a position to train other life group leaders. All they needed was a little push. Hey, you can do it. You can do it. Go ahead. And it could be other volunteering teams in the church as well. You can do it. Give people opportunities. Give them confidence. Now they make mistakes. Give them feedback. Encourage them. People like to feel special. So honor them. Honor your church folks. Honor people in your ministries. Treat them like how you would like to be treated. Honor people. People look for a better tomorrow. So give them hope. Now, always, you know, now preaching and teaching. Yes, we know things that are happening right now. There are many things that are happening. Earthquakes, wars, and the economy is going up and down. There's fluctuation in the market. All kinds of things are happening. But they come to church. They come to you not to get a review of what is happening in the newspapers or other news headlines. The reason they come to you is because they want to hear words of them. They want to hear something that can encourage them. Sometimes people come up to us and say, I'm going through this problem. I'm really afraid about my children because they are teens and look at what is happening. Things that are happening. They are exposed to so much of the internet. That was a genuine fear. Imagine they come up and share to me and I will say, oh, yes, I have two kids. I'm also really fearful about what will happen. My kids are only at school but they are exposed to all this. What's going to happen? The person who's come for some hope will say, oh, man, that's even worse. And they're not going back in time. So people are hoping and looking for a better tomorrow. So give them hope. Give them words from the scripture. So some things that we can say, don't worry, God has said our children will be like quivers and our children will be like trees planted by the rivers of water. God is with them. Just keep putting the word of God in them. You may not be there but the Holy Spirit is there with them and they will get through this once they grow it. Once they keep growing, they'll overcome all of these teenage things so that they feel the same. People need to be understood, listen to them. Never make a mistake of saying, hey, you didn't understand me or never come to a place where you say, I know what you're talking about. We as leaders must take the time to listen to them and that's why some of the things that we do in APC is we have a lot of volunteer teams. Each volunteer team has a volunteer leader. So we meet with the volunteer team leaders and we get together and we talk and we say, what's been happening over the last three months? What are the things that worked out, things that didn't work out? How can we better ourselves? And so we're just listening to them being available. Now in terms of a selling group, people may want to be heard. They just want to share their heart. There are people who are going through challenges, going through difficulties. No one to share with. They may not be able to share with their own spouse or their own family members but when they come to a selling group, they may open up to listen to them. People lack the friction. Navigate for them. Not navigate them. Navigate for them. Help them. Now, again, as I mentioned, we don't make their decisions. We can help them. We can say, hey, so for example, a youth says, I don't want to do my studies. I want to work for two years and then study. Now, looking at it, it's not like it's wrong. Maybe this person or youth would like to just work for some time, get some knowledge in the corporate world and then study. So you have to navigate, whether if you can say, hey, if this is what you want to do, then you need to immediately get a film because you need to be healthy at home and save up and then decide how you want to start studying, where you want to study again. Is it in this nation or you want to travel abroad to do your studies? Just being there to give them direction. People are needy. Speak to their needs first. People get emotionally low and encourage them. People want to succeed. Help them when people desire relationships so provide a community. Very important. People desire relationships and community is very important because, you know, if you have a cell group or a church and ministry and people have built relationships with each other, yes, you come to church for worship, God spent time in God's presence, but those relationships, the community that has already been built, is a very strong aspect. So it gets all of them together. Now, how does this relationship build? How is this community built? It's built over time. By people just, as a leader, you set the tone, you set the example, right? You be there, talk to people, let everyone see that you are a person who talks to people. It's not like we preach in them. We're not away from the back door. We're there. We're talking to people. They know that we are around. They know that, hey, he's maybe just preaching, but then we're all together. We are one, right? Providing community, providing and designing relationships, right? People seek models to follow. So, be an example. Very important. Be an example. Let's get into any questions. Any questions with regards to any questions with regards to people? Kennedy says, how do you have the poverty given that it can be a challenge in relationships in a church? Given that there could be a divide between the rich and the poor, this is the prosperity gospel. That's a very good question, Kennedy. Now, it also the episode of James answers that very clearly. He says, what if a person comes to the church with good clothes or good jewelry or whatever, and you give them the front seat and a poor man comes and you tell that person, go at the back or sit at my feet. James says, this is favoritism and we have done something dishonorable with the eyes of God. Right? So, how do we handle it? We first, as leaders, need to set the example. Right? So, we need to for example, we are starting a life, starting a ministry. Set the tone from the beginning. Whether you give offering whether you don't give offer whether you come in a car whether you come by cycle whether you come in a chopper or aircraft, whether you come just walking you're all same this place. You set the tone as leaders. So, it's not that because you give so much offering or just because you're rich you have to do this. You are there's some kind of extra or love for you or extra or the same for you. So, set the tone right from the beginning. Now, one of the, there are two ways one is you set it by an example two ways you teach from God's word. Right? One, you set the tone by example, so if a rich person comes. So, street in the same to you teach from God's word to the people that it's not that all of us are equal and now we're teaching it, we must also show it. I'll show it in the way we behave. I remember when I was at Mangalore at the church there we were a small church maybe about 20, 25 people and then slowly it started growing and there was this suddenly this very very rich person in the city of Mangalore in India very rich right, he's a big builder very very rich person so he came into church and after church I was just talking to all the church everyone were very worried coming to me and saying you wanna go talk to him, you wanna go talk to this person I said hey, why everyone doing that then one of our elderly church folks said he's a big builder he's a millionaire, he's a big builder he's come to this small church so you need to go talk to him I remember very clearly very clearly that they afraid that I said God give me wisdom I remember what I said to them these are my church folks he will wait just like how others are waiting in life he's way way way above me in terms of wealth and all of that and he's elder to me he's done big things there are people who are standing in life ok if he wants prayer he will stand in the life and I remember our church folks would you just who speak to him otherwise he may not speak to us these are people who are standing in the life for the prayer after church he has his hand and so I didn't go I stood there and he stood in the life for prayer and I prayed for everyone I prayed for him properly and then he said he didn't make a big show about who he is but the people the church were worried because he's like this big believer and then I remember I made it a teaching very clearly to remember after this whole thing he just came for prayer I prayed for him and said God bless you give your name and number to our volunteers one of them from the church for the call and pray for you what we do to everyone he went back home and then I remember that day I met with all the church folks we were about 20 people so I met with all the leaders you are all equal to me we are 25 people we all are equal it doesn't matter who comes whether he is a religious or not in God's eyes we are all the same so even if he comes next week just be normal it's okay don't have to feel that just be normal it's not beefed so they said thank you for telling us this they really feel normal and so next week he came and they were normal and eventually this very rich problem so he kept coming and he kept saying there's something different about you and your church because you all did treat me like what the other churches did they made me come in front put me in the front row they announced that this person bothered about all that all you did was you preached you made me stand on the line which I liked I liked being normal and of course he still attends every now and then church he keeps traveling but he set the example so now our church members know even if the president comes he does his hand at a line wait for 12 doesn't matter so I think Kennedy it is one you teach from God's word two you set the tone you set the example and then three you talk to your people short by your example and as you keep doing that people will realize I know this leader he's going to do this I hope that answers your question okay okay just a moment please present the notes any other questions any other questions okay so what we do is we stop here and since we have a little more left what I suggest we can do is we do not take the next class but you can spend the next class just studying, reading you can look up here you know discipleship or you can talk about anything that is happening any of your courses you'd like to study you can study but take this next hour to study will be next week and we will continue talking about leadership is that okay alright so we will just close in prayer can any one of us please pray and close maybe you can just pray that each one of us will we can also pray that each one of us can develop in our people's skills God gives us the praise to do what he has called us to do so yes go ahead Elisha would you like to pray yes Pastor I would like to pray please go ahead our heavenly Father once again we are grateful we thank you for the love that you have bestowed on us and we thank you for appointing us and calling us into various leadership and into various roles in your ministry Father we pray O God you have called us, you have known us to be able to do perform our functions effectively and to be able to raise the people that you have entrusted to us Father we pray that you help us you grant us the grace to nurture our various small groups and disciple our members into the fullness of Christ Father we pray that Lord O God you grant us the leadership skills the people's skills that we need to be able to manage our members to be able to lead our members in an exemplary way Father you help us in this area where we are weak Father let your strength O God strengthen us where we don't have grace Father be gracious unto us in the mighty name of Jesus we pray that you will creep us with people's skills and you will anoint us to be able to lead your people into the promised land in Jesus mighty name we pray Amen just a quick announcement what I will do is I will post the midterm assessments during this week so just take some time do your assignments and post it I will put the guidelines as well so I am sure most of us know e-learning students as well midterm assessments so you can do that as well thank you so much everyone I will see you next week, God bless