Leadership | Productivity

317 – Set My Pastors Free

The message you’re getting ready to hear, has the power to transform your life and the future of your ministry!  Listen up!

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.  When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.  After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

Acts 12:1-4

  • Our battle is not against flesh and blood
  • The enemy’s strategy is to snuff out the gospel by putting the leaders in prison.

In an attempt to shut down the impact of the Church, the enemy has imprisoned many of its leaders.

In this episode I’m speaking to pastors who have been imprisoned, not by metal bars, but by:

Model

      • Our current model of what we call church is broken and it’s time we fixed it!
        • Professional church leaders
        • Unbiblical structures
        • Inaccurate approaches
          • The Church is a place
          • The Church is an event
          • The Church is an organization
            • Instead it’s a LIVING ORGANISM!  It’s a BODY!  It’s a FAMILY!

Mindset

      • We have accepted so many assumptions and limiting beliefs that have been handed down to us from previous generations.
      • In many cases we have come to take these on as our own to the point that most of the unbiblical and unrealistic expectations and less-than-ideal working conditions are SELF-IMPOSED!!!!!

Money

 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

Acts 12:5

Somewhere there’s a church praying for her leaders to be set free.

  • Even if they might not know exactly what they’re praying for, the Spirit of God is interceding on their behalf.
  • Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.  Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him.  Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.  They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.  Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

Acts 12:6-11

God is still in the business of setting leaders free!

I have a vision to see 10,000 churches in North America radically transformed by empowering their leaders to dream big dreams, overcome limiting beliefs, and step boldly into a future of impact and abundance.

Links from This Episode

Jon Sanders

Jon Sanders seeks to encourage pastors with the message that God delights in doing BIG things in small places. For many years, Jon served as the Lead Pastor of The RESCUE Church, a South Dakota based multi-site church with a huge vision to reach rural communities with the gospel. As a leading voice in the rural church arena, Jon spends his days coaching leaders and hosting both the Small Town Big Church Podcast and Courageous Living Podcast. In addition to his passion for the rural church, Jon also works full-time as a professional firefighter/EMT. He is married to his wife Jessica, and they have three children: Justin, Jenni, and James.