MANOR PARK CHRISTIAN CENTRE

CARE CELL GROUPS

“God’s Way Of Leadership”
Welcome: Did you ever play the game “follow the leader?” If so, where did you end up
going?

Worshipping God: Read Psalm 23:1-4. What specific ways can you praise the Lord for
being your Shepherd during this past week?

Walking with God: SCRIPTURE: Mark 10:35-45

Choose and discuss three or four of the questions below for the next 25 minutes (maximum).
Encourage cell members to examine the other questions during their own quite time during the week.
When we come to understand what Jesus had to say about leadership, then as believers in
Jesus Christ we realise that we all need to take a Christ-like leadership role in our world around
us. We are called to be God’s kind of leader whether it is in the home, in the workplace or
community, or in the church. So what is God’s way of leadership?

1. The world’s way of leadership is all about “self”—“my desire” for position or title, power or
authority, and prestige or recognition. This was illustrated by the desires of James and John
and the “rulers of the Gentiles” in Mark 10:35-37 and 41-42. How, or in what ways, have
you been tempted by the world’s way of leadership—whether it is in reference to your
relationship at home, in the workplace or community, or in the church?

Notes: God’s way of leadership is all about the crucifixion or death of “self” with its
selfish desires for position or title, power or authority, and prestige or recognition.
God’s way of leadership is all about gaining Christ’s authority through having
the heart of a servant that others recognise and who want to follow you as a
leader (position).

2. God’s way of leadership and greatness is all about servanthood. What does it mean for us to
have the heart of a servant? How can we tell if someone has the heart of a servant? Why
can’t someone’s actions always be proof that they have the heart of a servant?

Notes: Jesus said that “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (NIV, Mark 10:43-44).
In John 13:1-17, Jesus specifically demonstrated what He meant by our need for a
servant’s heart. When guests arrived, it was the job for a household servant to wash
their feet. But no one had done this when Jesus and the disciples had arrived for the
evening meal. So Jesus wrapped a towel around His waist, as a servant would do,
and washed and dried His disciples’ feet. Not only did Jesus have in mind their need
for a servant’s heart towards one another but also towards all people to whom they
would take the message of salvation.

3. Having the heart of a servant is about having the desire to serve others instead of selfishly
wanting others to serve us. How, or in what ways, can we be tempted to want or to expect
 others to serve us in some way? For example:
~ a husband expecting his wife to serve him in some way
~ a teenager expecting her parents to serve her in some way
~ an employee expecting their employer to serve them in some way

Notes: Jesus said: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve . . .”
(NIV, Mark 10:45).

4. What should “drive” us, or what should be our underlying motive in serving others—
whether it is in the home, in the workplace or community, or in the church?

Notes: For example, what motivated Jesus when He saw the crowds or when He saw a
needy individual to whom He was sent to serve? For instance, see Jesus’ response to
the leper in Mark 1:41 or His response in Matthew 9:36 to the crowds that would
soon cry “Crucify Him!”

5. Jesus’ ultimate example of servant leadership was when He said that “the Son of Man” came
“to give his life as a ransom for many” (NIV, Mark 10:45). How, or in what way, should
we serve those who sin against God and against us, who do things that we don’t like or don’t
approve of, or who don’t measure up to our expectations?

Notes: Jesus Christ “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made
in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—even death on a cross” (NIV, Philippians 2:7-8)!
Jesus Christ paid the ransom price of His own life’s blood in order to free us from
the bondage of sin and death. The underlying motive for Christ doing this for us was
this: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into
the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but
that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins”
(1 John 4:9-10).

6. How can we continually have the heart of a servant that is motivated by Christ’s love and
compassion for others and that has died to the selfish desire for position or title, power or
authority, and prestige or recognition?

Notes: See Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:24-27; John 15:5

Oneness with the family of God: Spend some time praying for one another in your cell
group that you would know the Lord’s enabling in having
the heart of a servant.

Working for God: In what ways can you demonstrate a servant’s heart towards others in
your cell group?

Witnessing for God: Spend some time praying for opportunities this next week to show
Christ’s love and compassion to someone who needs to know about
Jesus Christ.