GOD EMPOWERS MEN TO LEAD IN THE FAMILY -- JACOB
No man can deny the fact that God made him the head of the family. He married his wife and brought her to his home. He changed her surname and the woman took the name of her husband's family.
When children are born they are giving the name of the man. The Bible teaches that man is the head (1 Tim. 3:4-5). This leadership in the home has contingent Responsibilities like providing for the family's physical needs (1 Tim. 5:8), protecting family from danger, providing spiritual leader (1 Tim. 6:4), and more.
Joshua being the head of his family, it was his responsibility to define the direction of the faith of his family. He told the nation of Israel that he had made a choice for his family to serve the Lord God Almighty (Joshua 24:15). God asked Jacob to go back to Bethel and build an altar for Him, as an answer to Jacob's prayer for safety.
As the leader of his family, he took all his family members along "... they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem" (Genesis 35:4).
Again, Jacob gave spiritual leadership to all the members of his family and did an in-house cleansing and revival.
They all obeyed him. Men should be in control of their family. One of the requirements for being a deacon, elder is he should rule
his family well (1 Tim 3:4-5).
CF (Gen. 3:16; 1 Corinth. 11:3; Eph. 5:23)
DISCUSSION:
Why do some men lose control and leadership in their household? How would the local Church Men's Ministries assist such members?
GOD EMPOWERS MEN TO LEAD IN CHURCH - PETER, TIMOTHY
Effective leadership in the Church is what the LORD, the Head of the Church needs.
To demonstrate His preparedness to give the Church strong leadership, He chose and appointed apostles from among His disciples. All were men - the seven men that were chosen by the people to serve as first deacons is a clear indication that the LORD has called Men to provide leadership in the Church - Acts 6:1-7.
Jesus personally spoke to Peter to feed my flock (John 21:15; 1 Peter 5:2;2; Timothy 4;1-8)
cf (Acts 20:28;1 Timothy 2:12-13; Titus 1:5-9).
DISCUSSION:
Discuss the roles and responsibilities of the Men's Ministries in promoting effective leadership in the Church, in the light of the above understanding. To what extend should this authority be exercised since women,youths and children have roles to play in the Church?
GOD EMPOWERS MEN TO LEAD IN NATION BUILDING -- NEHEMIAH
Leadership role of the men is not only to lead in good times. What about bad times. When there is a national call to rebuild the nation? What about the time of war? What about addressing in the insecurity in the nation? The failure of both political and economy of the nation, who should beheld responsible to rebuild them?God has empowered Men to be gate keepers right from the beginning.
Nehemiah, though in exile took up the responsibility and the initiative. When he heard about the devastating condition of the fallen walls of Jerusalem, he mourned and fasted and prayed for several days and asked God for favour. The leadership here was not about gender but about commitment and courage. When we talk about nation building or defence it is about concern, commitment and initiative. (Nehemiah 1:1-7; 2:5-8) and Ezra (Ezra 7:6-10); David (Acts 13:36).
GOD EMPOWERS MEN TO LEAD IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY -- ABRAHAM
God empowers men that provide stability to the global ecosystem. In the Garden of Eden, God created all things and planted all types of tree or plants and authorized the man to dress it and keep it (Gen. 2:15). When the LORD brought flood to the Earth, He chose Noah to preserve posterity through his family. Finally, when God blessed Abraham with the intent that through him, "all the families of the earth shall be blessed"
(Genesis 22:18, ESV). In different generations, God had always chosen men and empowered them to preserve the global ecosystem and continuity of man's existence and the Earth.
Abraham's role as a father of many nations,the father of and father of the children of Israel, all point to the fact that any man's responsibility can assume a global impact affecting the global community. Joseph told his brothers that God sent him to preserve posterity - Gen.41:57; Sometimes God can use women to do that job like in the case of Esther, but Mordecai's role to make her use her position to preserve the nation of Israel.
DISCUSSION:
In order to make a global impact and preserve the global community (global village), what role should the men in our local churches play.
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