Life Ministries

A Look at the Church - 2

    John Maxwell defines vision in a three-fold manner; "The ability to see---which he describes as “awareness”…The ability to believe---described as “attitude”... And, the ability to do---which is of course, “action or application.” Vision is the ability to see beyond the surface of human potential. It is not what we are but what God desires we become. Vision is a mental picture of a desired future.

    However, there are many “Vision Killers” - some of which are Complacency; Criticism; Laziness; Lack of Commitment; and, Traditionalism…“If you always do, what you have always done, you will always get what you always got!”
    God has a dream for His Church.—a dream that will surprise us and delight us. God’s dream, God’s vision, will be so compelling that we will be drawn to it and we will want to sacrifice for it. It will be a contagious dream; not only will we be drawn to it, but people in our community will be drawn to it as well.
    God wants to accomplish something through us that will help build His kingdom. Imagine that: God wants to accomplish something through us! Have you ever held tightly to that truth? You are not here by accident. Years ago some Christians didn’t take a wrong turn and end up ( here ) when they really wanted to go ( there ).  No, God wanted your congregation there in your community because God wants to accomplish something through you! You are there because God wants you there! More than that, God has a dream - a purpose for your particular church…a dream and a purpose that has not yet been fulfilled! It is a contagious dream, and if you catch that dream, and do your best to live that dream, God will do more through you and your church than you could ever imagine! There’s only one problem! You have to find out what that dream is!
    Rick Warren says, “A great commitment to the great commission will build a great church.” Listen; Great-ness in a church has nothing to do with size of congregation, but everything to do with the people having a great commitment to it’s vision… (repeat that)
    Very few churches ever ask themselves why they exist in a particular time and place. Very few congregations ever seek after God’s will for their church. That’s why there are so few contagious congregations. You and I both know that there are hundreds of status quo congregations, but very few contagious congregations. In my experience the characteristic that distinguishes the two has to do with vision. Churches that latch onto God’s unique vision or dream for them, and then really give themselves to accomplishing that dream are contagious!
    But someone might say, “Why do we need to know God’s dream for our future? What’s wrong with the way things are now?” Lovett Weems  President of St. Paul School of Theology says, “We must always be about the business of the discernment of God’s vision for the future and can never become content with the status quo.”     
    Let me remind you of what happened when Paul and company arrived at Troas - which is the background for the church and for the Book of Philippians; - found in Acts 16:6…“Paul and his companions traveled through-out the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the prov-ince of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”
    This scripture lays out four characteristics of what I call contagious visions. To help us remember these characteristics, I’ve fashioned them to begin with the letter ‘C,’ …I’m just going bullet point these four characteristics and move very quickly through them… First –
* The vision was clear—there was no question about what God wanted them to do. “Come over to Macedonia…” (vs 9)
* The vision was compelling –it was a call to meet specific, compelling needs and opportunities…“and help us.” (vs 9).
* The vision was consistent with Paul’s prior calling to make disciples—( the mission of the church )…and ( preach to the Gentiles.) He says, “being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them…” (vs 10) Note: If the vision is to change the carpet, it’s not a vision…it’s a maintenance issue.
* The vision will require change—they had to cross the sea. You cannot stay where you are and do God’s will.

    Receiving a vision—a contagious dream—from God is the first step to a harvest of blessing. God gave him a vision—a contagious dream—about taking the good news of Jesus Christ to Macedonia. No one had taken the good news of Jesus to Macedonia. Paul and his friends would be the first. It was CORRIE TEN BOOM who once said; “When we are obedient, God guides our steps and our stops.”

    When David Livingston was a missionary in Africa, a missionary society sent him this message: “Are there passable roads where you are? We have three young men who will come if there are?” Livingston replied: “I do not want men who will come only if there are passable roads; I want men who will come if there are no roads at all.”  He wanted those who were willing to get out of their comfort zone and allow God to work through them to fulfill His vision for them!
    Vision will take you to God. Vision sets the course. Without vision we spin our wheels. A good quote says “We must be on the way to somewhere or we will go nowhere.”