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Sunday, May 21, 2017

1 + 1 = 3 : The Power of Synergy

When we are serving together, we are actually working in a team.
But you and I should know, they are many types of team: normal team, good team, and really excellent team.
Excellent team wins championship.
Excellent team achieve things what ordinary team cannot.

One of the recipe that makes a team an excellent team is synergy.

Nehemiah 2:17-18
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”

What is synergy?
In the greek - synergos or sunergeo – means :
  • a co-laborer , labourer together with
  • to put forth power together with and thereby to assist
  • to work together, help in work, be partner in labour
  • companion in work, fellow worker


Synergy is about serving together. Laboring in the Lord together.

It’s about partnering with your brother and sister to advance the Kingdom of God together.
When we serve God together, when we synergies, more can be done for the glory of God.
It’s about achieving more in a team what one individual cannot.

Why synergy is so important?

1.     It’s everywhere in the Bible.
Because it’s biblical. Teaamwork is biblical. Working together is biblical.
Almost everywhere in the Bible from the OT to NT is about people working/serving together.
You see it during Moses’ time, during Nehemiah’s time, during Solomon time, during Jesus time, during Paul’s time.

Examples:

Moses – he was a great leader, but because of some of his limitations, God gives him a team: Aaron, Joshua and Caleb. It’s not a very big team to start with, but it’s enough to bring about 2 million people to cross the red sea and to eventually conquer the promise land.  

King Solomon – the wisest person ever lived understand it:
Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 speaks of the value of teamwork: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Nehemiah – he has a big vision to rebuild the broken wall of Jerusalem, but he achieved it because all the Jews with different gifting decided to come together to build the wall wholeheartedly.

Jesus – while we understand that Jesus is all powerful, he can do sign and wonders, but interestingly, he did not do it all by himself.
Even Jesus have a team. He chose people that is uneducated and unknown to carry His big vision, to saturate the world with the gospel. But note that Jesus did not just choose one person to replace him after he ascended to heaven. He prepared 12 disciples prayerfully and intentionally. He build up this team over the course of 3.5 years, every day.

The early church – There was a time Paul was actually in prison because he preached the gospel. We see that the church comes together, praying for Paul to be released from the prison.

And Apostle Paul – he demonstrate the importance of teamwork and synergy in his ministry. He partnered with Timothy, Barnabas, Silas and many more in building the churches and discipling the believers. We see Paul encourage the Corinth church about the spirit of coming together and encourage them not to be divided. Paul understand, he cannot do it alone.

Synergy is all over the Bible. It’s the best way to serve God.

2.
Secondly, synergy is important because we can achieve more.
Ecc 4:9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
-        Better here actually means: happy , joy, cheerful, more favour, wealthy, pleasant, beautiful
-        When servants of the Lord come together, they are happier, more joyful, cheerful. Beautiful things and creativity will be produced even more.
-        I just given to you the secret of happiness – serving God together - synergise

Smart leaders understand this.
No matter how gifted and talented is a leader, they understand that synergy makes good team to become great team.
Wise LG leader understand, one person can convert some non-believers, a team can change a nation.
When we synergize, the results are multiplied – The group always outperform the individual. The sum is greater than its part.

How Do We Have Synergy in the Church?

1. Be a team player – be who you are and use what you have and participate
-        To be a team player means every one of us need to participate in building the Kingdom of God together
-        There is no superstar and no solo effort

Nehemiah 2:18 – Let us start rebuilding
All people participate.
Reading from Nehemiah 3: we can see that everyone participated and contributed in building the wall.

Even the high priest do the hard work:
Nehe 3:1
Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate.

Even the high priest go to lay bricks.
The leader also sweat together to build the wall.

To accomplish God’s purpose, we need a common vision, dedicated leaders, and willing workers who do their part.

-        Whether they are a civil engineer / builder or not, everyone contribute
-        Everyone can contribute, whether it’s big or small
-        To do this, we must have an ownership spirit
-        To have synergy, we cannot let one person do all the work
-        Everyone can offer something cause we all have different gifting
o   Eph 4:11-13 ‘And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.’
o   1 Peter 4:10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
-        In church, we cannot let the pastor do all the chairing, preaching, worship leading, clean the toilet, arrange the chair, prepare the communion, mop the floor and even throw the rubbish.
-        In your lg, don’t let your LL do all the work, even if they want. Don’t ever allow that to happen.
-        Share the load and burden with your LL.
-        Together we can go further for the Lord.
-        Get involve. Synergize mean laboring together. Don’t just let your leader labor.
-        Sometimes we look at another person that is serving is the church, and say, ah, he is so talented, they don’t need me.
-        Oh, that brother can play the guitar so well, the team do not need me.
-        Oh maybe, hey, the usher team seems to be working well, they do not need me.
-        Nothing could be further than the truth – as tough and strong as they may look outwardly, they need you to start serving and helping as well.
-        Be team player and start contributing today.

2. Stand Together No Matter What – internal and external issue

-        We must understand that when we decide to do something for the Lord together, opposition will start to come.
-        It’s never going to be an easy task to accomplish great things for the Lord.
-        There will be 2 types of opposition:
o   External opposition, and Internal opposition

-        In the midst of building the wall, the enemies of Nehemiah start to ridicule them:
o   Nehemiah 2:18 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked.

o   Nehemiah 3: 1- 3 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

-        This is the external opposition.
-        The enemy will says that project is futile. It will never succeed.

-        "If you start building, you will soon be battling; so, be prepared!"

-        The devil will start to shoot arrow of discouragement to you. They will try mock and put you down.
-        But you and I cannot give up so easily.
o   Gal 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
-        We must stand together. When things are not doing well in your team, do you contribute more to strengthen team and provide comfort and encouragement, or do you run away or disappear?
-        As a team, we need to come together to improve and grow and move forward.
-        Many times we fall into the trap of the devil.
-        When things doesn’t happen the way we want it to be, we say, I want to quit.
-        Remember that when there is opposition, it doesn’t mean that you are doing the wrong things.
-        It could possibly means you are the doing the exact things that God want you to do.
-        Always remember that when you want to serve in church, and when you encounter opposition from others, many times it could not be from God.
-        You must be aware that there is always critics.
-        You need to discern whether they are using human point of view to criticize you.
-        When you are facing opposition, do not make hasty decision and run away.
-        You need to calm down and seek the Lord.
o   Nehemiah 3:4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised.
-        When Nehemiah and the people was ridiculed, he did not just get angry.
-        He bring the people together to pray.
-        That is the correct respond.
-        Every opposition is an opportunity for you to see the power of God.
-        The opposition focus is always to distract you and to make you lose focus and to look your weaknesses.
o   The enemy says: Nehemiah 4:2 What are those feeble Jews doing?
-        Feeble means weak.
-        The enemy start to attack their identity – and says they are weak.
-        Now, the devil will whisper that you are weak.
-        The devil will attempt to shoot another arrow to you – arrow of doubt.
-        Because when you are in doubt, you will be confuse.
-        Do not believe that lie that the devil want to confuse you.
-        Be very clear of your identity in Christ.
o   1 John 4:4 (NIV)
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
o   1 John 4:4 (NLT)
But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
-        Sometimes we can be easily deceived and intimidated.
-        In fact, some of the people was affected
o   Nehemiah 4
-        But Nehemiah is a good captain with good memory
o   Nehemiah 4:13-14 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
-        Whenever you face opposition, remember the Lord.
-        He will help you out.
-        He has called you as a team – stand together no matter what.
-        When Daniel was being thrown into the furnace of fire, his friends do not leave him alone.
-        They stand together with Daniel, because they know that God will deliver them.


3. To Have The Right Attitude
-        Your availability is most crucial
-        You can have all the skills, experience, training and riches, but if your commitment is low, nothing can be achieved for the glory of God

Do a quick survey - call up 5 people to give a few recipes for a good teamwork

Suppose we want to build a good basketball team. What do we need to be a good team.

-        The Recipe of a good team
o   Accountability
o   Humility
o   Communication
o   Leadership
o   Practice

So what we will do is, we will be accountable, we will be training, and practice every 7 years.
Every 5 years?
Every 1 year?
Every 6 month?

Isn’t the answer is as frequent as possible?

o   Consistency / Frequency is the key

-        The Key to any success is Consistency, because consistency brings
o   Unity
o   Intimacy
o   Victory
-        Anything that is great is done intentionally regularly
o   Do you want to have great teamwork in your lg?
o   Do you want to have great relationship?
o   Do you want to have great understanding among one another?
o   Do you want to have great growth?
-        Consistency is the answer.
-        The frequency of your discipline brings quality.
-        Anything that are not repeated will be can be defeated, easily.
-        Teamwork is not a part time activity.
-        Do you know why many ministry fail so soon?
-        Because we give up after a few disappointment in failures.
-        Because we have no decided in our mind to go all the way.
-        A team is not really a great team if the team members treat the team casually.
-        We must understand that when we are in a team, we are in a covenant.
-        This is not an organization or a club membership.
-        Sometimes we do not take this seriously, but you and I need to be clear of this.
-        When we decide to commit to each other, then we are now in a covenantal relationship.
-        When you enter into a covenant, you have a binding relationship.
-        If you are working for an organization, if you think that the organization is not suitable for you, you can choose to jump to another company.
-        Since there is an accountability what you will do, you will write a resignation letter to the boss and says, I want to quit.
-        But in a covenantal relationship – we do not just quit.
-        We do not simply say: I want to quit our relationship.
-        If you and I are not consistency, then it makes other people to trust in us.
-        Consistent people are dependable people.
-        When you are consistent, people can be assured that you will be there for them when they need you.
-        In any team sport, the best teams have consistency and chemistry.


Conclusion 

The purpose of synergy is to bring glory to God.

Why we do not work together sometimes?
It’s because we do not see the big vision that God has given to us.
God’s vision is a big vision.
If you have a small vision, then you might think that one person can do the work.
But if you have captured the big vision from God, then you will start to work together.
If you have realized that God is using his church to fulfill the Great Commission and Great Commandment, each one of us will start to participate as a team.

Let start to work and serve together.

Let’s capture and fulfill the vision of God together.


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Bible Verse Reference:

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

1 Peter 4:10
10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Ephesians 4:11
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers."

Ephesians 4:32
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

1 Corinthians 12:20-25 ESV
As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ...

Ephesians 4:16 ESV
From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

3 John 1:8
"We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellow helpers to the truth."

Romans 15:5
"Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus."

Hebrews 10:24
"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works."

1 Corinthians 1:10
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."

1 Corinthians 12:14
"For the body is not one member, but many."
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