Who Are Our Leaders?

If you were starting your life’s work over, are there certain things you would do differently? In this week’s sermon, Rev. Larsen will use Jesus’ example to tell what he would change in his parish ministry in order to build better church leaders.

Scripture: Mark 9:30-37
They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon, “Meditation,” delivered on Christian Crusaders July 14, 2002.
“. . . turn to the Scriptures. There you will learn that your Heavenly Father is the Creator. . . Realize that only after you get to heaven will the answers come, and the only way you can get to heaven is through trusting in God’s Son Jesus Christ. . . God has a word for us. He says to take some time every day to be alone with him and meditate on his Word. Then you will be adequately prepared to face life in a broken world.”

From a Recent Sermon:
In his August 30 sermon, Rev. Larsen referred to the book An Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University by Kevin Roose. The book describes an experiment Roose undertakes, transitioning from the progressive Brown University to a large fundamentalist school – Liberty University – built by Jerry Falwell. “Here, right in my own time zone, was a culture more foreign to me than any European capital,” Roose writes. Struggling to control his penchant for cursing, he makes friends and is surprised to find guidance in an unlikely – and foreign – source as his time spent among evangelicals changes his way of looking at the world.

On the Light Side
Bob couldn’t believe it – he’d made it to the last round of his favorite game show.

“Congratulations, Bob,” said the emcee. “Answer correctly and you go home with five million dollars!

“This is a two-part question on American history,” he continued. “The second half of the question is always easier. Which part would you like first?”

Bob figured he’d play it safe. “I think I’ll try the second part of the question first.”

The emcee nodded approvingly, while the audience was silent with anticipation.

“Okay, Bob, here is your question: And in what year did it happen?”

The program "Who Are Our Leaders?" will air Sunday, September 27, 2009. Visit www.christiancrusaders.org for radio stations and times, or to listen online.