• Isaiah 54:2 NIV
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.
• Isaiah 54:2 MsgB
Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep.
INTRODUCTION:
The clock is ticking. Steadily and without fail it continues to move. At this moment less than 37 hours remain until we begin a New Year—2008 is upon us.
This year we established a five year plan for Praise A/G—VISION 2012. 2008 will be the first full year of working together with God to see this vision become a reality. Since the launch of Vision 2012 we have already made great progress. For instance our goal was to end this year averaging 85 in Sunday morning attendance. Through the last month we have averaged 102; over the last three months our average has been 88. Praise the Lord we will start 2008 ahead of where we wanted to be.
Why are these attendance numbers important? Each one represents PEOPLE! Vision 2012 is not about programs, purpose statements or pie charts. Vision 2012 is about people. God wants us to reach more and more people throughout our community so they might be saved and added to the Church—not just to be a part of our local church, but that they might belong to His Church, which is the body of Christ.
We’re off to a good start, but where do we go from here? God has a word for us found here in His message given to the prophet Isaiah. As we enter 2008 we need to THINK BIG, GET MORE ROPE and DRIVE THE STAKES DEEP.
I. THINK BIG!
• Isaiah 54:2 NIV
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back. . .
• Isaiah 54:2 MsgB
Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!
1. If we are ever going to accomplish anything for God, WE MUST CHANGE OUR WAY OF THINKING.
a) Ultimately EVERYTHING we say and do begins within our thoughts.
• Luke 6:45 MsgB
It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.
b) Someone described insanity as “continuing to do the same things but expecting different results.” That’s insane! I can think of another way to describe insanity. When you do things differently without knowing the reasons why, that’s insane too. Personally I’m not sure which is more insane.
2. Get ready for some changes—Why? Changed thinking brings about a new way of doing things.
a) God wants us to think differently—to think big. In turn we will begin to act and talk differently too. Being the church God wants us to be begins with thinking the way God wants us to think. As a church we are going to begin to do some things differently in the New Year.
b) How will you respond to change? You will basically make one of five responses:
1. EMBRACE CHANGE—You will embrace the change because your thinking has been transformed. You understand the reasons that God wants us to do new things and therefore support the change.
2. QUESTION CHANGE—You will seek to understand the change. Your thinking has not changed yet, but you want to be a part of what God is doing. Therefore you participate in the change with an open heart to know the reasons why.
3. GO WITH THE FLOW—You just go along with the flow and simply go along for the ride. (Perhaps you even think to yourself, “Oh this is just another of pastor’s great ideas. It won’t be long before things are back to normal.”) You don’t resist the change, but you are also not involved in the change process to accomplish what God has called us as a church to do.
4. CRITICAL OF CHANGE—You will long for the good old days because you don’t understand the reasons why change is needed. Your lack of understanding makes you hesitant to accept the changes; some may even be critical of the change. Now it may surprise you but I don’t have a problem with people like this provided they deal with their criticism in the right way. If they come to the pastoral staff, the church board and other leadership to share their thoughts and engage in a dialog then they can actually help us make needed adjustments along the way and over time they too will have their thinking changed to embrace the changes that have been made.
5. REBELL AGAINST CHANGE—Unfortunately some of these who don’t understand will be like a pressure cooker building up steam. Their resistance grows into rebellion. Such people will ultimately fight against the changes all the while believing that they are right. They start gossiping and talking negatively within their circles of influence, but are unwilling to engage in a dialog with church leadership. This brings division to the church. The climax of such conflict may result in groups of individuals leaving the church. This is not God’s plan. If through the process of change God directs some people to leave the local church it should be done with a blessing through which unity in the church is maintained.
c) The 80/20 principal which says that 80% of the people let the other 20% do all the work would indicate that most likely 80% will go along with the flow and the other 20% will be those involved one way or another on either side of the passive folks in the middle. My prayer is that we see that flip to be 20/80. Just imagine how much greater our potential will be if only 20% of the church is just going along with the flow and 80% in involved one way or another with the process of change! God is making us into a great church, so come and be a part of the 80 percent working for change!
d) Again change for change’s sake is just as insane as making no changes but expecting different results. However every living organism grows and experiences change. Such is the case with the church.
3. What are some of the reasons for changes within the church?
a) First, we are following Christ the head of the church. As the body of Christ the church does what Jesus wants it to do.
• Ephesians 4:15-19 NIV
15 . . . We will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
b) Second our thinking has been changed. We have the mind of Christ and are obedient to the leading of His Spirit.
• Romans 12:2 NIV
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
c) Third, we are ready and willing to obey God regardless of the cost.
• 1 Peter 1:13 NIV
Therefore, prepare your minds for action. . .
d) So far the reasons for change sound pretty spiritual don’t they? As a church we should have a sense that everything we are doing is directed by the Lord. However not every thing we do is the result of a “Thus saith the Lord. . .” Some of these things just seem like the right thing to do.
ILLUSTRATION: In Acts 15 the early church experienced some difficulties with Gentile believers and conflict was beginning to become more and more intense. Some well meaning Jewish Christians apparently were going among the Gentile believers with a “Thus saith the Lord” message that they claimed had the human authority of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. Their good intentions to make the Gentile church more Jewish in flavor were causing more problems than they were solving. So the leaders of the church in Jerusalem sent out a letter in which they said, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” They did not claim to have a special revelation from God only that what they agreed upon as a group seemed to also have the agreement of God upon it.
e) Some (if not most) of the changes we will be making are like that—they are practical changes—even cultural changes that we believe will improve the ministry of the church. It seems good to the pastoral staff and other leadership of the church to do these things and no one has felt God saying, “No don’t do that.” Thus we believe it seems good to the Lord as well. The important thing is that we accomplish God’s purposes and we have some liberty in how we do it.
f) Change is in the wind because we are thinking big. God has renewed our minds and transformed our way of thinking. Therefore we need to:
II. GET MORE ROPE!
• Isaiah 54:2 NIV
. . . Lengthen your cords. . .
• Isaiah 54:2 MsgB
. . . Use plenty of rope. . .
1. Put simply we need to be prepared for growth!
a) We are thinking big—God sized thoughts, and therefore we are going to start acting upon the thoughts that God has given to us
ILLUSTRATION: The nation of Israel was beaten down and defeated when Isaiah spoke this prophetic word to them. God was proclaiming His judgment upon the nation for the sin of the people. 70 years of exile in Babylon awaited them. Was there any reason to have hope? YES! God would not forget His people, so the Lord spoke through Isaiah and said, “ENLARGE YOUR TENTS!”
The tent is a simple and primitive form of shelter. Find a stick, or a pole with a little bit of canvas and some rope and you’ve got a place to sleep at night or a way to come in from the rain. But what happens when a family out grows their tent? Get a little more rope, some more canvas and maybe another pole and you can easily make your dwelling larger. God called upon His people to act in faith and enlarge their tents, to get some more rope because His blessing was upon them.
b) Vision 2012 is not just about making us more comfortable. Vision 2012 is about reaching our community—our neighbors, our families and friends with the message of God’s love! We’ve got a lot of people that God wants us to include so let’s be ready to include them in our church family.
2. Jesus has made it clear—the church need more rope!
• Matt 28:19 NIV
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
• Mark 16:15 NIV
"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
• Luke 24:47 NIV
Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations.
• John 20:21 NIV
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.
• Acts 1:8 NIV
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
a) These scriptures are not just for missionaries who take the gospel to the ends of the world. It is for the local church as well. You and I are to take the gospel to our neighbors and lead them to Jesus. The mission field is not somewhere over there. THE MISSION FIELD STARTS RIGHT OUTSIDE THE FRONT DOORS OF THE CHURCH.
b) As a church we need more rope, we need to think big and see what God sees. Our church will be a beacon of hope, a lighthouse guiding people into God’s safe harbor of salvation.
c) If we are going to let God transform our thinking so we begin to think big and in turn we start lengthening the ropes of the church, then we also must:
III. DRIVE THE STAKES DEEP!
• Isaiah 54:2 NIV
. . . Strengthen your stakes.
• Isaiah 54:2 MsgB
. . . Drive the tent pegs deep.
1. How will we drive the stakes deep?
a) BY FAITH. We must remember that the work of the church is not a work that any man can do. We are participants in the work of God! Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). God has chosen to build His church through us. Let’s believe that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE with God and by faith build Praise A/G into the church that God wants it to be.
b) BY PRAYER. The church advances best on its knees! “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16 NIV). Jesus said, “The Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” (John 15:16-17 NIV).
c) BY GOD’S WORD. The Word of God is powerful and effective and it will accomplish the purposes for which God sends it forth (See Hebrews 4:12 and Isaiah 55:11).
d) BY OBEDIENCE. If we really love Jesus then we will do what He says. “This is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands” (2 John 6 NIV). Paul said, “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else (2 Corinthians 9:13 NIV).
2. Driving the stakes deep means that we must look to our foundations.
a) The main thing is that we need to remember to keep the main thing the main thing. We want to keep the purpose of our church simple—so simple that anyone can communicate it. Everything we do as a church can be summed up in three words. Do you know what they are? CONNECT—GROW—SERVE!
b) CONNECT—connect with God and with others.
• Acts 2:46-47 NIV
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
c) GROW—grow in God’s word, and grow in faith and obedience.
• Romans 10:17 NKJV
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
d) SERVE—serve within our church and community so others can make their life connection.
• Ephesians 2:10 NIV
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
