Proverbs 29:18 (King James)
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
The word "vision" is translated in different ways in varying translations of God's Word, but the Hebrew word means, "vision, oracle, or divine communication."
Proverbs 29:18 (New Living Translation)
When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
Three Brief considerations about this Bible verse
1. Vision or Divine Guidance comes from anointed leadership
If you are not submitted or if you don’t accept Spiritual leadership you will eventually die spiritually
When the anointing is not present we can have all kinds of Church programs but we will never get anywhere.
Guidance implies listening and obeying
2. Walking in God’s Vision requires Obedience
3. A consequence of having vision and walking in obedience is the Joy of the Lord.
When you see people of vision they are smiling and they are always very positive because they have joy in their hearts
2. People with no vision complain all the time they see the worst result in all the circumstances, criticize, accuse other, backbite, they are troublemakers.
3. If you want to know if you are walking in God’s Vision check the level of Joy in your life.
Helen Keller, probably the most recognized blind person who has ever lived, once said, "What would be worse than being born blind? To have sight without vision." I am convinced that the vast majority of our population today has no vision for their lives, their families, or their church.
A. IN ORDER TO HAVE VISION WE NEED VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
Automobile genius Henry Ford once came up with a revolutionary plan for a new kind of engine. We know it today as the V-8. Ford was eager to get his new idea into production. He had some of his men draw up plans and presented them to the engineers.
As the engineers studied the drawings, one by one they came to the same conclusion. Their visionary boss just didn't know much about the fundamental principles of engineering. He'd have to be told gently -- his dream was impossible. When told, Henry Ford said, "Produce it anyway." They said, "But it is impossible." Ford said, "Go ahead, and stay on the job until you succeed, no matter how much time is required."
For six months they struggled with drawing after drawing, design after design. Nothing. Another six months. Nothing. At the end of the year Ford checked with his engineers, and once again they told him that what he wanted was impossible. Ford told them to keep going. They did. And they discovered how to build a V-8 engine!
In order to accomplish a plan or to follow God’s vision the Lord placed Pastors in local Churches that will get the plan and build teams to put it into practice in the right time and the right season.
Some people come to the services here and have their own plans and vision for this Church but it’s the role of the pastor to make sure that God’s plan and vision is put into practice. As Ford gathered his team to build the first engine of the modern era and was persistent even when the experts told him that it was impossible our Lord has placed leaders among us that have a plan to build a Church of Multitudes in our City. You either join the team or seat down and wait for others to do the work. At the end of your life you will be accountable to God according to your faithfulness.
The Bible says that Jesus was the stone that the builders rejected but became the capstone (1 Peter 1:27)
1 Corinthians 3:10
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
We are building a great church. Let me now ask you to join the team and learn how to build. This ministry has been here for almost 80 years and by now we should be thousands and not hundreds. It’s time to reorganize our priorities and get some JOY.
B. PEOPLE WITH LITTLE FAITH WILL ALWAYS TRY TO DISCOURAGE US FROM FOLLOWING GOD’S GIVEN VISION
There is a second element that is vitally important for us as we seek to pursue the vision God has given us. Once God has given us a vision we must never let people detract or discourage us, but we must also continue to listen to the Lord for His guidance and direction as we move forward.
Are you familiar with Murphy’s Law? The original “Murphy” was an engineer who conducted an experiment to test human acceleration tolerances. Unfortunately for him, he installed 16 motion sensors the wrong way, leading to the now famous quotation, “If anything can go wrong, it will.” I guess the corollary is also true: “If anything can’t go wrong, it will anyway.”
Did you know that there is a plague sweeping the country today? It’s not the Avian flu, or cancer, or even the common cold. This outbreak, however, can be just as deadly as the most dreaded disease known to man – it’s called the epidemic of discouragement.
Nehemiah 4:6-12 – 6 “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. 7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. 10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.” 11 Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.” 12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
Where God is at work, the enemy is also at work. Rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem was certainly no exception to this. When people take kingdom priorities seriously, Satan stirs up agitators to block the work of God.
One of the main causes for discouragement was fatigue negativity. Verse 10 reads, “Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, ‘The strength of the laborers is giving out…” Simply put, the workers were tired. They were hitting it hard and needed some rest. The phrase “giving out” carries with it the idea of “staggering, tottering, and stumbling. However there where people that instead of encouraging the builders discouraged everyone around them, instead of following the Vision they started to focus on the enemy and tried to paralyze the construction.
Satan is the father of lies. If you get focused in what Satan says you will end up defeated like the famous Mr Murphy. You need to choose your friends and who will you listen to.
In our Church we have visionary leadership and we want to make God’s plan and purpose clear to everyone. Unfortunately Mr Murphy’s followers also like to come to our services and try to discourage people around them. Let me very clear that as your pastor I will not allow “Samballat”, “Tobiah”, Murphy or others to destroy or attack the work that is being done for the Lord.
I have good news for your. Nehemiah finished the wall and God’s vision was accomplished in spite of all the opposition and seeds of discouragement that were planted. Nehemiah faced the threats and did three practical things;
1. He prayed to the Lord and asked for Divine intervention (v.9)
2. He Placed a a guard day and night to meet the threat (v.9)
3. He Reorganized the priorities (v.13 - “Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest point of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.”)
4. He asked the people to get focused in the Lord and to praise Him (verse 14“…Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome…”)
As it was with Nehemiah and so many others, it is with us as well. Once God gives us a burning vision within us to be a blessing to the Kingdom and to the King's people then we must take time, make time, to quietly listen to the Lord as He guides us into His glorious future.
C. WHAT IS GOD’S VISION FOR YOUR LIFE?
I want to ask you a question now that we have addressed those important questions and given all of us a foundation for how we can receive a vision from God for our lives, families, and our function in this church. What is the vision God has given to you? What is it that Almighty God has ignited inside of you for the Kingdom of God, for your life, for your family, or for your function in the church? I am talking about your own plans but about God’s plan for you...
I can't even begin to name the possibilities there are so many. What is God's vision for you?
When we talk about God’s plan there are two different areas involved
1. Your purpose in life - Your family, your children, your job, your career, your house, your dreams.
2. Your Purpose in His Kingdom - Is it for you and your wife to lead other husband and wife teams in growing in their walk with the Lord? Is it to open your house to the lonely among us? Could it be to start a ministry to new mothers? Is it to point your children to the Cross? Is it to have the Lord use your family to reach other families in the church for Christ? Is it to start a new ministry? To visit prisoners, shut-ins, write letters to those who are hurting, disciple young people, work in the clinic, fix cars for single women, make home repairs for the elderly? What is the vision God has given you?
If you lack vision then I want to invite you to come and spend time with me or any of our pastors. If you have committed your life to Jesus Christ and you still lack vision then you are missing out on God's best for you. I would love to meet with you and help you pursue God's vision for your life.
D. WHAT IS THE VISION OF OUR CHURCH?
Obviously we have God’s Great Commission as our number one priority, we want to win souls and make disciples.
When Abraham was told that God was going to lead him into a new land, Abraham was curious about where he would be going. God said, "Come on and I'll show you." In order for Abraham to one day see that land he had to follow obediently and listen intently everyday. So we have a big plan but how are we going to do it?
Today I want to tell you briefly how the Lord wants us to achieve this. One day the prophet Habakkuk 2:2 (And then God answered: "Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. - The Message)
I want to do the same thing this morning and tell you what are the big block letters of God’s Vision in this Church. I want to summarize it in three Words
1. Connect
2. Grow
3. Serve
1. Connect
So you came to Church...it’s Ok to go to a Church and check it out. Then you need to pray and ask God “Is this the place you chose for me?” Of course that you might have a choice but in every season of our spiritual walk we have to understand that God placed us in a local Church because he wants to bless us and give us Joy.
We think living life in community is the best way to live a Christian life. Doing life with others helps us to connect in community and establish meaningful relationships.
Jesus had a team He "did life" with. He ate with them, walked with them, and ministered with them. He developed meaningful relationships with them and developed a strategy through which all humankind could be reconciled.
The early church connected in very natural, organic ways: "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" (Acts 2:46 NIV). They loved to eat a good meal together, laugh together, and pray together in one another's homes as well as in their large temple gatherings.
2. Grow
Jesus "grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52 NIV). Once you have connected in relationship within the church, it is time for you to grow!
I read this story about a father talking with his daughter and her five-year-old friend, Elizabeth, about birthdays. Elizabeth’s was March 30 and the father’s was March 27. "Our birthdays are three days apart," he said to her. She looked up at him and remarked, "Yeah, but you grew much faster than I did."
Well that brings us to a question…How fast are you growing?
I know some of us are growing in places that we don’t want to. We seem to be expanding at the wrong places.
And it is going so fast that it seems to be out of control. But there is a kind of growing that we are considering this morning that we do want to be a part of our lives.
Attend the Community Life classes faithfully for all FIVE weeks. This beginning, elementary study of God's Word will teach you the basics of what it means to be a believer, to be baptized, and even to share your faith. At the end of this course, you and your new friends in the class will participate in a Freedom Weekend retreat together. It will be one of the greatest spiritual experiences of your entire life! The final class will be our partnership class, where you will have an opportunity to officially commit yourself to being part of our congregation, and our pastoral team will pray over you and your family for your next level of growth in the Lord!
Begin the Discovery classes, our advanced Bible training for those who want more! (We recommend you complete the Community Life classes prior to starting the Discovery course). We hope you will join us for these powerful classes!
We will also provide advanced Bible training for those who want to be ordained in ministry with an acreditation in Theology.
Information about both the Community Life classes and Discovery classes is available at the Community Kiosk or by calling any of the pastors.
3. Serve
Serving enables us to use our gifts in the body of Christ and in the world so we can become all God has created us to be. We are poised as weapons in God's hand to do great exploits and accomplishments for His kingdom: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph. 2:10 NIV).
The Bible tells us the most powerful cleansing agent in the world is blood. In fact, God created blood to be a cleansing agent. In your body blood takes oxygen and other supplies to cells and removes waste and impurities from those cells. Blood literally cleans out the filth from your body. That is one of it’s major responsibilities. There is no other cleansing agent known to man that can purify our bodily system as well as the blood that courses thru our veins. So also there is no other cleansing agent known to man that can rid your soul of its filth and shame than the Blood of Jesus. Blood was designed by God to be used to forgive you and I of our sin. In our salvation, we had to take part in Jesus’ death - we had to come in contact with His blood.
Then, having been touched by His blood by being buried with Jesus through baptism, we can be share in His resurrection. It’s at the cross that our sins are removed, cleansed, purified. Because that is where we come into contact with Jesus’ blood. God called us to share the power of the blood of Jesus with those that are lost and stained by their own sins.
According to God’s word we will be judged less on what we said or what we did in this life and more on what we failed to do when we had the opportunity to serve others! Eccl. 9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”
Make the decision to be Committed to Serve. Begin to seek the Lord and identify your gifts. Begin to look for opportunities to use them. Don’t worry about your inabilities. Be faithful with your abilities. Develop and polish up the things that need it. He will add to what you already have. You can do all things through Christ.
Concerning our gifts and abilities we can begin to identify them by asking ourselves these questions:
1. In what ways am I especially blessed by the Lord?
2. What advantages do I have which others may not enjoy?
3. What is there about my particular situation that can be turned to good advantage in the local congregation? In the community? In my family?
4. What do I possess that can be used in the work of the congregation--time, money, a phone, a car, an education?
5. What things do I get special satisfaction or fulfillment from doing?
6. What things just come “naturally” for me?
7. If I had THE OPPORTUNITY to learn, what would I like to learn?
God has brought you to SSCC to be a vital part of changing lives and shaping the destinies of those around you. From our food distribution (SHARE) at the Community Center to our small groups, and outreach ministries, there is a place for everyone to serve.
We believe in on-the-job training. Your ministry may involve very little orientation or require something more extensive, but we don't want to stop you from getting started. When you are ready to begin, stop by the Community Kiosk and let our leaders help you get started.
Here is a list of some of the more prominent ministry opportunities where you can serve:
Ushers
Greeters
Worship Community
Creative Arts
Children's Ministries
Media
Special Events
Prayer
Outreach
Food Bank
Missions
Conclusion
I hope this helped you to make the vision clear. Let me remind you of our Bible verse for this morning.
Proverbs 29:18 (New Living Translation)
When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
We really want you to have the Joy of the Lord in your life and succeed in everything you do. Remember that when you gave your life to the Lord you are now God’s property. As long as you remain in His hands he will bless you guide you and prosper you. He will lift you up when you fall and he will forgive your darkest sins.
When you start doing things on your own and refuse to follow God’s Vision he will not punish you but he will let you go and suffer the consequences. As a loving father God will be right there waiting for your to return to His arms of love. Just accept Divine guidance and leave this Church today with the attitude of a conqueror. You are victorious, you are blessed, you are God’s chosen child and even if people try to discourage you you can always lift up your chin and and tell who you are in Christ.
