Principles of Effective Leadership - Part 2

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As I mentioned to you as we began, we are examining two key principles of effective leadership. The first of those is to be the right kind of leader. That’s where we focused in the first session together. Now I want us to focus on the second part of that, and that is exercising the right kind of leadership—exercising the right kind of leadership. Now let me start by setting some context for the leadership that we are going to watch the apostles display in Acts chapter 6. It’s important to understand that the church in Jerusalem was a much more complicated church than ours. It was a huge church. Look back in Acts chapter 2, verse 41. This is the day of Pentecost: “So then, those who had received [Peter’s] message were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to” those aspects of church life. Go down to verse 46:

Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Not just three thousand, but the Lord continues to add to His church. Look at chapter 4, verse 4: “Many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.” This church is exploding. 

Look at chapter 5, verse 14: “And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number.” So, this church is ballooning—it’s huge. Now initially, the apostles served as the elders of this church. If you go back to chapter 2, verse 42: those who were converted on the day of Pentecost were “devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching”—not in written form yet, to the actual teaching of the apostles because the apostles were the leaders of this church at this point.

Look at chapter 4, verse 33. It says, “with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales”—notice verse 35: and what? “Lay them at the apostles’ feet.” Why? Because the apostles were functioning as the elders of this church. Verse 37: Barnabas “who owned a tract of land, sold it brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

Chapter 5, verse 2: remember Ananias and Sapphira. They brought what they said was the total sale price of the property and laid it at the apostles’ feet. Chapter 5, verse 41: “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” This is the apostles—“And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the [Messiah].” 

Now what is going on here? This is how the church met. They met on the Temple Mount. You could meet there with a large group. Just like Jesus did often with His disciples, and so that was the gathering place that would hold them. And they met there and then they were ministering as well from house to house. But the apostles were serving as the elders of the church. Eventually, however, the apostles appointed elders to serve as the leaders. You go over to chapter 15, verse 2, Paul and Barnabas are sent by the church in Antioch to go to Jerusalem, the end of verse 2, “to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.” So, now you have elders that have been put in place, and, of course, one of the leading ones is James, the Lord’s half-brother. Verse 4, “When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church, and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.”

So, initially, the apostles served as the elders, then they seated elders in the church as time went one. But during the time when the apostles were serving as elders over the church, a problem arose that threatened to split the church specifically along cultural lines. It was a conflict, if you will remember, over providing for the daily needs of the Hellenistic Jewish widows—Hellenistic meaning they were Greek speakers who had been educated in Greek culture. They were considered by the native Jews who had not embraced anything Greek to be compromisers and so forth. So, there was this cultural difference between them: language; culture; and in a very real sense, their theological position. It divided them but there was a concern about these Hellenistic Jewish widows being cared for. Let’s read it together. Look back Acts chapter 6, verse 1:

Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, who we many put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them. 

Now, the reason I bring us to this passage is because in this context, the apostles serving at this point as the elders of this huge church in Jerusalem demonstrate profoundly wise leadership. Now, obviously they were apostles. Secondly, they were serving as elders. But what we learn from their leadership in this passage instructs every one of us regardless of how we lead in how to demonstrate wise leadership. By the way, notice the leadership functions that the apostles exercised in this passage: they fielded the problem; they determined the key issue was the shortage of manpower; they determined the solution was to put some men over the specific tasks; they decided how many men were needed to lead that ministry; they set up the qualifications for those who would be appointed; they decided who would select the men themselves. The only thing they decided they wouldn’t do and didn’t do was to actually serve in this ministry or to lead this ministry. All of these are undeniably the functions of a leader. Through their example in this passage, we also can learn how to exercise the right kind of leadership. We have seen from Jesus how to be the right kind of leader. Now, let’s consider how to exercise the right kind of leadership. Here in Acts chapter 6, we are going to discover together several practical lessons about the right kind of leadership. 

The first lesson we learn about leadership here is to be a problem solver—be a problem solver. Look again at the first three verses: 

Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the spirit and wisdom whom we may put in charge of this task.

You can very clearly see that the apostles are exercising leadership here by solving problems. This is what leaders do. This is what you spend your life and ministry doing is solving problems. Now, to be a problem solver, you first have to discover the problem. There are three main ways that you can learn there is a problem in your ministry. The first is if you personally discover the problem. And that happens. Sometimes I am interacting with someone, either a member of the church or a member of our staff and I learn about the problem, not that they tell me there is a problem, but I pick up on the fact that there is a problem just by the context of the conversation—what’s going on. Or I am walking around campus, and I see that there is a problem of some kind. So, sometimes you personally discover the problem. 

Another way you discover the problem is that someone tells you about the problem. This happens often particularly in a larger church or a larger ministry. You can’t see everything, so somebody will come up and say, “Pastor, did you know that” and then there comes the problem. I didn’t know about it and yet they are telling me. That’s helpful; I don’t mind that; I need to know. We need to know that there are problems in our ministries, or we can’t fix them, right? But sometimes you come on it; sometimes, somebody tells you, and here’s one you might not expect, and this happens all the time: someone comes to you suggesting what may in fact be a bad idea. But if you will stop and listen to what they are saying and look behind the suggestion that is a bad suggestion, there may often be a real problem that person is identifying that needs a different solution than the one they are suggesting. These are the ways in my experience we discover there’s a problem. 

Now, we aren’t told here how the apostles learned about this problem, but it was obviously one of the three. Those are the only three options. Now once you become aware of the problem, you must then, and this is also very important, identify the real problem. This is where a lot of people fail in their leadership, because often the initial way that the problem presents itself isn’t the real problem. In the case of the Hellenistic widows, what do you think the apostles might have assumed to be the problem? Prejudice, right? There’s cultural conflict. The apostles might have come to the conclusion that the real problem was latent prejudice on the native Hebrews against the Hellenistic widows, and that was the reason they didn’t want to serve them. That could have been the real problem, but it wasn’t. If they had concluded that that was the problem, they have come up with the wrong solution. Think about it. They might have done a ten-week series on not being prejudiced against others in the local church. But the apostles determined the real reason that Hellenistic widows were being overlooked wasn’t some sort of innate bias, it was a simple shortage of manpower. Often what you might first conclude is the problem, isn’t really the problem. So be wise. What is the real problem? The effective leader has to know what the problem is and has to identify what is the real problem.

Thirdly, determine and implement the best solution, and this is key, with wise counsel. You see, what lies behind this verse in this passage is that no one person is making all of these decisions as some sort of executive decision. Because the biblical principle of leadership is what? Plurality. That’s why there isn’t one man, me, over this church who makes all the decisions. Why? Because God in His infinite wisdom can make all of the decisions individually that He wants and be perfectly wise, but no one of us as individuals can do that. Instead, God brings together a plurality of godly men, the elders and I talk about this all the time, our collective wisdom is greater than our individual wisdom. And that is how it works and that’s what happened here with the apostles. So, even as you are trying to determine a solution to this problem, don’t make it in a vacuum. Don’t think that you are wisdom incarnate. Recognize the principle of plurality. There is wisdom in including others and getting wise counsel. In a multitude of counselors, the proverb says, there is wisdom. So, the apostles together determined that the solution was to put several men in a position of leadership over this specific task. I don’t think that these men did all of the ministry work. I think it was too big for that. I think that these men are leaders in this ministry. The apostles decided how many men were needed, seven men—look at verse 3—“select from among you seven men whom we may put in charge of this task.” The apostles set up the qualifications for those who would be appointed, again, verse 3: “men of good reputation full of the spirit and of wisdom.” They decided who would select the men who would serve in these rolls, beginning of verse 3: “Therefore, brethren, [you] select from among you.” 

So what you see the apostles doing here is what every leader has to do and that is constantly solve problems. If you are going to be the right kind of leader, you have to be a problem solver and that means you discover the problem; you identify the real problem; and then with wise counsel, you determine and implement the best solution. That is what you see them doing here. 

Secondly, if you are going to be an effective leader, cultivate a team approach. Now, think about this for a moment: you are one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. You have been handpicked by Jesus and you are leading this large church, and you have ministry that you need to get back to. Once the apostles learned about this problem, they could have just made an executive decision. After all, they were apostles. It would have taken a whole lot less time, it would have been a whole lot less messy; they could have gotten back to their study and to their prayer sooner. Instead, they intentionally involved the entire congregation in helping to solve this problem. It is not because they didn’t have authority, or they didn’t have wisdom. This is what good leaders do. Verse 2: “So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, ‘Brethren, select from among you seven men . . . whom we may put in charge of this task.’” Verse 5: “The statement found approval with the whole congregation.” You see, the apostles had apostolic authority given to them by Christ Himself, but they understood that leaders are those who lead what? People. They understood that leaders manage things, but they lead people. Leading people doesn’t mean that you just always tell them what to do. It means that you intentionally lead them. Think a shepherd leading sheep: you intentionally cultivate a sense that we are each an important part of this team, and we are working together for what we all believe is important. You see, bad leaders are always making executive decisions and telling people what to do. Good leaders cultivate a sense that we are a team working together. Doesn’t mean they don’t lead; doesn’t mean they don’t make the decisions and have to make them. But they intentionally work on building that team approach. 

A third practical lesson about the right kind of leadership we learn here is delegate responsibility—delegate responsibility, verse 3: “Therefore brethren select from among you seven men of good reputation full of the spirit and of wisdom whom we may put in charge of this task.” This is such an important lesson for leaders. One of the greatest mistake leaders make is thinking they should do everything in their ministries. Somebody gets appointed a leader of a ministry and now it’s “Wow! I’ve got a lot to do!” Well, you may have a lot to do but you are not to do everything in your ministry. That’s not what leaders do. Imagine how unproductive it would be if your physical head, that thing sitting on your shoulders, decided that it was going to do all the tasks that are assigned to the other members of your body. Think about how messy that would get. As we saw in Ephesians 4, the Holy Spirit has gifted every person in your ministry to serve. If you have been around me, you have heard me say this: “Let the church be the church.” Let people serve as they have been gifted by Christ and challenge them to serve as they have been gifted by Christ. Don’t do everything; lead others to do the work of ministry. That is what leaders do. If you are going to be a good leader, you must delegate responsibilities to others. 

But how do you delegate effectively? A lot of people mess up delegation. How do you delegate effectively? Well, there is some crucial principles for delegation right here in this text. First of all, delegate to those with the right character—delegate to those with the right character. In Acts 6, the apostles looked to delegate the responsibility—now think about this—the responsibility for a ministry that made sure the Hellenistic widows had food every day and for that ministry leadership, they established three criteria that were about the kind of men these were. Notice, it’s a great reminder that in the church, character trumps capacity. Spirituality trumps skill. Great if you can have both but understand what they say here, verse 3: “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men”—notice the qualifications—"of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” Leaders in the church must have a good reputation, that is, no obvious flaws. It’s like the command for the elders not to have anything that’s a reproach in their life—no handles on to which people can grab and criticize the Lord or His church. So, have a good reputation, be truly spiritual people full of the Holy Spirit, permeated by the Word of God, and have wisdom. If you are choosing someone to lead in your ministry, here’s a great set of criteria. No obvious flaws, truly spiritual, they are filled with the Spirit, that is, they are filled by the Spirit with the word and they have wisdom. They are able to sort through what needs to be done and make a decision that’s wise and not always be making messes everywhere they go.

If you are not choosing someone to lead but you’re choosing someone to serve in your ministry, you might scale that standard back a little bit, but it is still a pretty helpful one. You probably don’t want someone serving who lacks all those character qualities. 

A second principle of wise delegation is delegate to those with a passion for that ministry. Remember, the problem in the Jerusalem church was with the care of whose widows? The Hellenistic widows. Notice who they chose in verse 5, look at all seven of those names and you can tell even in English that they are not Jewish names, they are Greek names. Why was that important? They would be especially motivated to care for the Greek widows. In the same way, look to delegate roles to people who are passionate about the ministry you lead. 

A third principle of delegation is delegate to those who are skilled or gifted to serve in that roll. It’s likely the Hellenistic widows spoke Greek as their primary language—most of them did. The native Jews on the other hand would have spoken not Greek at all but primarily Aramaic. So, there was a language barrier and there was definitely a cultural barrier between the Jews who had embraced Greek culture and those who had not. So, the congregation selected, and the apostles confirmed and delegated leadership to those who had the right gifts and skills, the right language skills, the right cultural knowledge to serve in that ministry. This is a great reminder. Sometimes in the church, frankly not often in this church, churches just get desperate for warm bodies. This isn’t about warm bodies. We are looking to identify those whom the Holy Spirit has gifted to serve in that roll or who has the potential to grow into that roll based on what you see. They have the skills, possibly the experience to serve in that ministry. Delegate to those who are skilled or gifted to serve in that roll.

Number four. Delegate to those whom others affirm. Verse 5, “they chose. . .  And these they brought before the apostles.” Why did the apostles let the church choose? Because the apostles wanted to make sure that the congregation affirmed these men as the right men for this role. Again, they were apostles, and they weren’t wimps. They weren’t afraid to lead. This is part of leadership. This is making sure as you lead that the people they are going to be serving say, “Yeah, these are great people. We are grateful for who they are, the kind of person they are, the way they lead.” So, you want to delegate to those that the elders, your ministry leaders and even the others who serve in your ministry would affirm for whatever role you are giving them. You don’t want to put someone in that role of leadership who doesn’t have the confidence of the people they are serving. 

A fifth principle is delegate guidelines and perimeters but provide freedom for people to use their own minds and gifts. Explain what the duty is, explain any important factors about how it needs to be done, but don’t micromanage. There is no indication in this passage that the apostles worked out all the details for these seven men. Instead, they chose men who were wise and spiritually minded and they trusted them in their gifts. Now, that doesn’t mean you don’t ever follow up. We will get to that in a minute. But it means that you don’t micromanage. It means that you trust them, and you give them perimeters and let them work some of that out on their own. 

Number six: delegate not only responsibility but authority. Look at verse 6: “And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, [the apostles] laid their hands on them.” Now, the laying on of hands in the New Testament represented two realities: the first is a recognition of that persons gifting and calling. Secondly, a visual sign of the transfer of authority from one person to another. That’s what you see happen when we lay hands on either a deacon or an elder. We are saying that we confirm this person has been gifted by Christ to serve in this role as best as we can determine that, and we are saying that we are giving them the authority now to serve in that roll. Make sure everyone in your ministry knows the rolls others serve and for those you choose to help you lead in your ministry, make sure they understand what they are supposed to do and that you have given them the authority to do it as it has been delegated to you by others. 

One last principle of delegation is shepherd those to whom you delegate. The text doesn’t mention the outcome of this situation, but I can promise you this, the apostles checked up on this new ministry to make sure it was functioning properly. You need to do the same. You have to inspect what you expect. Shepherd your leaders and those who serve in your ministry. Pray for them; model; disciple; teach; check-up; see how the ministry is going. In fact, here are three helpful questions that I picked up somewhere along the line that I have used in various ways, three helpful questions: What’s working? Secondly, what’s not working well? Thirdly, what changes can we make to improve that? That way you get not just problems, but you get the positive: what’s working well? Let’s hear about that. Let’s celebrate what the Lord is doing. What are some things that aren’t working quite as well. We need to know those as well. Again, remember that you are a problem solver. And then, what changes can we make to improve that? How can we strengthen that? 

Maintain a gracious accountability for all of those who are involved in your ministry. If it’s a larger ministry, especially make sure you do that with those who report directly to you if not everyone does. 

So, to demonstrate the right kind of leadership, be a problem solver; cultivate a team approach; and delegate responsibility. A fourth practical lesson we learn here is cast a vision for the priorities—cast a vision for the priorities. Look at verse 2, “the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, ‘It is not desirable for us to neglect the Word of God in order to serve tables.’” Verse 4, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The apostles now functioning at this time in the church in Jerusalem’s history as the elders of the church say, “Listen, these are the priorities. Yes, we need to make sure that the widows are cared for. That cannot fall through the cracks; that cannot be in anyway lessened as a responsibility we all share but the ministry of the word and prayer is what is foundational here.” Much of leadership is keeping the main things the main things. Don’t get lost in the weeds of your ministry. 

You probably heard the familiar illustration about the many different assignments that have to be given in a local fire station. For example, somebody has to ensure that there is food there for the fire fighters on a regular basis. Someone has to make sure that the equipment is regularly cleaned. One of the fire fighters has to maintain the equipment in good working order. Someone else may be responsible for answering the phone. Some else for scheduling the firemen for various shifts, and on and on it goes. And all of those are important tasks for the proper functioning of that fire station. But folks, none of those is the fireman’s job. What is his job? It’s to put out fires. It’s so easy for all of us to be so engaged with our responsibilities that we lose sight of the main thing. It’s even easier for those who serve in our ministries to forget: the main reasons for the church, the main reasons for that ministry. So, ask yourself often what’s the

primary reason for the existence for my ministry in this church. What is the main reason this ministry exists? Then, make sure that everyone serving with you understands that is the main thing. Remind them of it often. Why is this important? Because as a church grows and gets larger, it's really easy for bureaucracy to take over. Pretty soon we are making rules because it’s easier for us rather than this is the best way to serve these people. Obviously there have to be guidelines. There have to be ways to function, but it is easy to lose sight of what is the main thing. We are here to worship our God; to honor our Lord; and to serve and love His people. So, we can’t lose sight of the main thing. Leaders cast a vision for the priorities, and they don’t let people lose sight of it. 

Number five: motivate people to get involved. This is one of the keys to leadership. In fact, to be a leader, somebody has to be following. I read this week the true story about a young woman who was applying to a university and one of the questions on the application was: are you a leader? And she thought about that question honestly and she came to the conclusion that “I’m really not. That’s not how I am wired. That’s not what God has made me. I don’t know what to do. I think I’m going to absolutely ruin my chances to get into this university but I have to be honest.” So, she checked the box “No. I am not a leader.” Thinking, “Well, that’s it. I’m never getting accepted at that university.” She got a letter of acceptance and in the letter of acceptance it said, “We have decided to accept your application. This year we are receiving 1452 leaders. We figured there needed to be at least one person who was following.” So, to be a leader, somebody has to be following. But how can you motivate people to serve in your ministry? Let me give you some ways the apostles did it here. 

Here's how to motivate people to get involved in your ministry. First of all, maintain open communication. The twelve summoned the congregation to the disciples and said, “Here’s the problem. We need to talk about the solution.” They didn’t make this in a smoked-filled room somewhere, not that they smoked cigars or anything. I am not implying that. But you get the point. By open communication.

Secondly, by making people feel they are part of the process because you make them part of the process. Again, verse 3: “Brethren, you select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” They were part of the process because the apostles made them part of the process, and therefore, they feel like they are part of the process. People engage with that. By using those who are especially gifted or as especially passionate about a particular ministry, again, as we saw before, they are all Greeks. They are all in. 

Number four: by expressing gratitude for their ministry in a variety of ways. Now obviously, volunteers who minister either in leadership or in ministry in the church aren’t paid. That’s the definition of volunteers. But do you know what motivates employees who are paid more than their paychecks? Go and look at some of the studies. What you will find is what motivates them is genuine appreciation for what they do for their work. They would rather really feel that they are valued and a part of the team; that they are treasured as an employee in that company than have a small increase. Most people. Don’t take people’s service for granted. Regularly express gratitude sincerely and creatively at times. And I am often reminded and sometimes when I write thank you notes I will put in my thank you note Hebrews 6:10 which says, God is not unfaithful “to forget your labor of love.” And neither should we be. 

A sixth practical lesson about effective leadership is model hard work yourself. Notice verse 4: “We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” There is a great lesson in leadership there. Listen, you set the standard for hard work and excellence in how you carry out your responsibilities and when you do, you will raise the bar for everyone else around you in executing their responsibilities. It always filters down. You need to demonstrate the importance of working hard in ministry by how hard you work. And at the same time that you are working hard, be committed in that hard work to excellence. You say what is excellence? Again, the guys around here get tired of me saying this but the difference between mediocrity and excellence lies in the details. The details. Do you care about the details? Look at the details in what God prescribed for the tabernacle and later the temple. God sweats the details, and so should we because that is the difference between something mediocre and average and something that is excellent. So, you set that standard by what you do—by the work that you do: that it’s hard; you are all in; you are devoted to what you are doing and guess what? It is going to encourage and challenge the people around you to be devoted to what they are doing. If you set the standard of excellence: this is how we do things here by what you do, then guess what? The bar is going to get raised generally. People are going to sense that and know that.

So, if you are the right kind of leader: the kind of leader our Lord describes in Matthew 23, then you need to exercise the right kind of leadership like the apostles did here in Acts chapter 6. Be a problem solver. That’s what leaders do. Cultivate a team approach. Don’t be a lone ranger. Delegate responsibility wisely in the ways the apostles did. Cast a vision for the priorities. Keep people realizing in your ministry what matters most about that ministry. What are we really doing here? If you minister in children’s ministries, for example, remind them that we are building the next generation. We are looking at the next generation of the church. We are trying to pass the baton. We are not coming up with something for Sunday. We are looking at the future. That’s true with every ministry. What is it? What are we really doing.

Number 5: motivate people to get involved in the ways we talked about by open communication; by challenging them with their gifts and what they have and saying listen I can sense that you have the gift for this. Let’s get you involved; let’s get you engaged. Then, model hard work yourself. Set the standard by the way you work and by the excellence with which you do what you do. Now, let me tell you, if you are the right kind of leader that our Lord describes in Matthew 23 and if you exercise the right kind of leadership like the apostles in Acts 6, people will follow. They will. And you will be a biblically effective leader. That’s my prayer for me. That’s my prayer for everyone of you and for every leader that God ever raises up in this church. May God make us this kind of leader. Let’s pray together.

Father, thank You for Your revelation. Thank You for the wisdom that You gave the apostles, that we get to look over their shoulder and watch them resolve a serious issue that threatened to divide a huge church—a thriving, spiritually strong church. Thank You for the lessons in leadership. Father, help us who lead in this church to embrace that same wisdom. Help us, first of all, Father as we saw in Matthew 23 to be the right kind of leaders—be the right kind of people. Then Father help us to exercise the wise leadership that the apostles did in Acts 6. Thank You for what we have learned tonight or have been reminded of. Father, I pray that these truths would weave their way through each of our ministry lives as we serve You here, and, Lord, through this entire church. May we be a church of really spiritually minded, effective leaders because we have embraced these great truths. Lord, I pray that for myself, I pray that for each one of these. Thank You for these who so faithfully serve week in and week out. Lord, who in many cases demonstrate all of these things, or some of these things, and yet Lord we can all grow. We can all make progress and I pray from what we have learned tonight, You would help us to do so. Thank You for Your grace that is always evident in our lives; that overcomes our weaknesses that makes even our feeble efforts to succeed and, in the end, causes the growth of the body in love. We thank You in Jesus’ name. Amen.