THREE 'PS' OF LEADERSHIP... 13/03/13

 Another day of fellowship and refreshment in the House of the Lord was upon us again, and it came in the form of the Wednesday Bible Study.

The service started with opening prayers led by Sam. It was followed by a brief worship session led by Gabriel with "Let it rain."

Maryann led the praise session with "High in all the earth," Ufuoma took over with "In the sanctuary," "You're worthy to be praised." After the praise session, a second Maryann took over and led the worship session with "You are my passion," "Here I am to worship," and "How great is our God."

Announcements came next. They were given by Dexter:: This coming Sunday will be a celebration of Women, in the spirit of Mothering Sunday, the women were reminded of their upcoming meeting on Thursday March 14, 2012, CITH (Church in the Home) will hold this coming Sunday, the congregation was also reminded to stay updated with happenings during and after services on Facebook and the blog.

After the announcements, our host pastor here at HOTR Asaba, Cosfinney N. Udoka was welcomed to the altar to the song "Lord I give you my heart" led by Maryann and "De Masterpiece."

Before the message, Pastor Udoka invited a member of the congregation, Princess to give a testimony. Her testimony was that God healed her daughter, Adanna of Asthma, which she had been previously diagnosed at 6 months of age. This actually caused her to be placed on regular medication for a long period of time. The healing came after the carol night held in the church last year: 12-12-12. Detail on this, can be gotten from the Mp3 download page.

Pastor Udoka started a new series, titled "The three P's of Leadership."

Genesis 1 vs 26-27, Romans 8 vs 11, Matthew 4 vs 18-20

The ability to lead a person, group or organization is called Leadership. It is not about what you know, but about who you are. You are born and made a leader, you are a leader by (spiritual) birth, by ancestry. If our God is the leader of all leaders, then you who is created in His image and likeness is also a leader. You should not let anyone tell you otherwise. What you need to do is to learn the act of leadership. Leadership is not based on position, but on influence. God will not ask you questions based on your position, but on your existence. Leaders who are tied only to positions cannot lead until there is a position available, but leaders of influence can lead from anywhere, they do not wait for a position to lead.

1. Person-   When a person is committed to a goal and influences people to achieve that goal, that person is a leader.

                    You cannot tap into your full leadership potential until you give your life to Christ. Your spirit man can only be activated by Christ because the full image of God is not our flesh, but               our Christ-activated spirit. If God is not your leader, you cannot lead effectively.

2. Purpose- Every leader must be purpose-driven and committed to a vision. Human beings follow vision, not the man. It takes a man of vision to fulfill purpose. Men will not follow anyone whose visions do not align with theirs. When the vision starts lacking, the people start slacking and drawing back. Do not become a part of something because of how it sounds, become part of it because of the vision. Vision cannot be achieved alone, once God gives you the vision, He will provide ways for the vision to be fulfilled. You cannot fulfill vision without having a purpose, they work together.

3. People-  There is no leadership without follower-ship, that is one of the characteristics of leadership. The best followers-hip is leadership outside the position, leadership by influence.  Follower-ship is structure, if the structure collapses when you are not around, then the leadership is faulty and shaky. Vision cannot be fulfilled in isolation, you need a team to help fulfill it. Those people need to be influenced and not intimidated into fulfilling that vision with you. If you have to stand in leadership in this life, you must submit to the authority and leadership of the Lord.

He concluded by praying for the grace to live and lead influentially and not by intimidation.

 Tithes and offerings were collected and closing benedictions said.