Series: Positive Influence

Jesus is one of the most influential leaders in history! The secret to his lasting influence was something he called “abiding.” It involves remaining in an intimate spiritual connection with God. In our last message of this series, we’ll explore one of Jesus’ stories that shows what it takes to find and nurture this abiding relationship with God and how we can invite others to experience it too!

Power is not meant to be held; it’s meant to be given away. It’s a natural urge to want to acquire and retain power, but real influence is a dynamic process of “catch and release.” Rather than holding onto our power, God invites us to share who we are and what we have with others. This week, we’ll see how Jesus believed that we are better together and teaches us to intentionally invest in others.

Sometimes good leadership means treating everyone the same. But great leadership that bring true justice and transformation is often more nuanced than that. This week we’ll explore the underutilized power of candor and connection, learning to treat people as individuals and adapting our influence to be the most helpful in each unique situation.

Accomplishing good things requires effort. It’s easy to get discouraged when we face obstacles, challenges, and roadblocks. Rather than negatively reacting to our circumstances, we can be a positive influence by finding resilience with God! This week, we’ll see how Jesus pursued God’s good plan for his life by expecting challenges and wisely bringing people along with him in his goals.

What you do matters, but who you are matters more. It’s easy to get keep our eyes on the best results, largest profits, and the most followers and miss the foundation of true influence and leadership – character. Instead of focusing on the right kind of outcomes, we should be attentive to being the right kind of people! This week, we begin our series by seeing how Jesus viewed God’s good gift of power and how we can follow his lead by practicing humble influence!