Sermons on Leadership

Sermons on Leadership

Avoiding Kingdom Obstacles

Matthew 6:33 reminds us to seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously. Satan’s seduction involves creating distractions and stumbling blocks that keep God’s children from seeking after the Lord and potentially not entering God’s Kingdom. Jesus warns us that we must never become an obstacle for others in their Christian faith, nor should we ever allow any earthly obstacle – physical, mental or spiritual to keep us from serving God and entering the Kingdom of Heaven…

Rev. David Harris – Sermon from July 14, 2024

This Sunday, we welcomed the Rev. David C. Harris to the pulpit! He explored the nature of faith and leadership through Micah 6:6-8 and Jesus’ Baptism and calling in Mark 1:9-14. You may know David as the co-chair of the Racial Justice Committee here at Govans, but David is an honorably retired Minister Member of Baltimore Presbytery since June 2016. David also had his own consulting firm for over 30 years, focusing on organizational change, coaching, team development, and diversity…

Words of Encouragement for the Pastoral Transition

In our story today, Jesus pauses on his way to heal a little girl so that he can attend to a desperate woman. During the pause the little girl dies, but Jesus then raises her from death. Pastor Tom reflects on how we as a church never stop our ministry but sometimes we do have to take time to focus on immediate needs that demand our attention. Doing so faithfully, positively, and gratefully will result in us doing greater things…

“Provoking Good, Fair-Minded, Hardworking People”

Jesus tells this story of the Laborers in the Vineyard in a way that intentionally challenges and provokes good, fair-minded, hardworking people. In doing so he calls us to reconsider whose voices we welcome to the table. We are called to stop privileging the voices of those who have been around doing all the work in the church and instead privilege voices who have just arrived or even those who have not come in yet. We might also reconsider if…

Bad News, Good News, and Finding the Blessing

What are we willing to lose to serve God and our neighbor? In this sermon, we continue discussing the stories of early leaders in our faith as we turn toward Abram/Abraham and Sarai/Sarh in Genesis 12:1-9. We talk about all of God’s promises to Abram, as well as the many things God challenges Abram to let go of.

Leading Like a Christian: Stay Humble

Nehemiah’s enemies return! We’ll finish our summer sermon series this Sunday with a discussion of Nehemiah 13. Even our biggest wins are temporary at best, so how should Christian leaders act accordingly? We’ll talk about humility, hope, and the grace of God that sees us through it all.

Leading Like a Christian: Leaders Make Mistakes

Even Christian leaders make mistakes. What do we do about that? Pastor Billy continues his five-part series on Christian leadership this Sunday. Throughout this series, we are using the books of Ezra and Nehemiah from the Hebrew Bible as guides for how we can be faithful leaders in this moment. On Sunday, July 24, Pastor Billy preached on Ezra 10 and some of the mistakes that Ezra made. You’re invited to read through both of these books this summer as…

Leading Like a Christian: Claiming a Gospel Vision

How do we lead as Christians in this moment of tumult and transition? Pastor Billy will begin a five-part series on Christian leadership this Sunday to complement Pastor Tom’s summer series on critical social justice concerns. Throughout this series, we’ll use the books of Ezra and Nehemiah from the Hebrew Bible as guides for how we can be faithful leaders in this moment. This Sunday, Pastor Billy will preach on Ezra 1 and 3. You’re invited to read through both…

Speaking Hope on Behalf of the Next Generation

God invited Ezekiel to participate in raising the dead in the valley of dry bones. The bones did not have to do anything to be worthy of resurrection. But Ezekiel was called, as we are, to speak love, truth, and hope on their behalf. This is also what we do when we baptize a baby.

Leaders Keep Dreaming

Joseph and Julian (our storybook character for this week) are both leaders, and they’re both dreamers, too. Julian’s abuela responds to his dreams with support; Jacob responds to Joseph’s dreams with critique. Christian leaders know that the world will respond with both support and criticism; our job is to keep dreaming anyway.