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Phaven A team that works well together most likely has a good leader, and a poor leader can hinder or destroy even the most talented team.

This is true in the church as well, and today on Truth for Life we'll learn what it takes

to be an effective spiritual leader.

Alistair Begg is teaching from the Book of Acts, Chapter 20.

In the middle of the last century, which is quite a long time ago now, I recognize, the Church of England

commissioned a report which I think was entitled on the conversion of the church in England.

They had set out to discover what was really taking place within the parishes of the Anglican

communion of churches. And in that report, very, very quickly, they got to one issue, which is actually the issue

before us in this passage, namely the issue of leadership.

And I quote from the report, they wrote, conditions vary from parish to perish, the determining

factor being apparently the personality of the incumbent.

More particularly, is this the case in villages where a spiritual leader can often make an

astonishing difference. I want you just to hold on to that phrase for just a moment. That thought,

a spiritual leader, and the adjective is of course crucial, a spiritual leader can make an astonishing

difference. Because although we are distanced from that report by many years and by a considerable

amount of geography, and although a lot has changed

since then, the strategic necessity of leadership hasn't changed. And the Church of Jesus Christ

doesn't progress beyond the spiritual progress of its leaders. Now, every team has its captain or its equivalent,

and although each member of the team is equally valuable, nevertheless, someone has to be the

leader. Well, that is obviously true in every area of life, and it is with God's people. Jesus was the leader of a group

of 12 individuals. There were others beside him. When he ascended to heaven, Peter became the leader of the

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