“Back to the Future” movie clip!
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Proverbs 29:18
That was of course the trailer to the 1985 “Back to the Future” movie featuring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson. It captures the focus for today.
Summertime is, for many, a time of getting away from work, school, and whatever else has become a norm, so we can cocoon, withdraw and for a while, escape demands. We can grow facial hair and forget about the razor! Or sleep in a little later, buy take-out or simply put off cleaning and other chores.
Of course, we have to come back to reality or if you will, come back to the future; back to looking ahead to kids back to school, older children signing up for post-secondary programs, getting ready for busy schedules and on and on the list goes.
On the eve of our B2C (Back to Church) theme and focus, which is next Sunday, I felt God directing that today would be a fitting time to talk about “Back to the Future” of KCC’s vision and plans.
Let’s back up for a moment as our first step needs to be
1. DEFINING THE VISION
Text - KJV: Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
NLT: When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is happy.
NAS: Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law.
MSG: If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.
Definitions as taken from the dictionary (Congregation to read aloud as needed):
- (Congregation read #1): “Vision is Sensing with the eyes; sight.” Simple enough. We look at something, we see it and we quickly formulate a vision, an image, in our minds.
- (Congregation, #2): “Vision is the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: prophetic vision; the vision of an entrepreneur.” Some people have a tremendous sense of where things are headed and how to prepare for what is will come. Tim Horton knew what he was doing when he opened his first coffee shop in Hamilton! He could see this future of Tim Horton’s on nearly every corner!
- (Congregation read #3): “Vision is a personage, thing, or event that appears vividly or credibly to the mind, although not actually present, often under the influence of a divine (being)”. It is the experience Mary had when an angel appeared to her, Elijah hearing God’s whisper in the cave or possibly more recent accounts in a book called “Heaven is for Real”. It’s the story of four year old Coltin Burpo of Imperial, Nebraska. A near-death experience resulted in him sitting on Jesus’ lap in heaven and meeting his Great Grandfather and his sister that his mom miscarried.
- 77 references to vision in Bible are this type
- (Congregation read #4): “Vision is something seen or otherwise perceived during such an experience: The vision revealed its message.” When we listen to a Bible message or engage in worship God shows us things, usually through impressions on us as we’re engaged in faith community.
As you look at these definitions you can decide for yourself which vision types you think represent KCC’s vision that I’m going to share with you. Whichever it is or is not, of this I’m sure – God gave KCC’s leadership team a VISION for our future!
This takes us to the next point which is
2. DESCRIBING THE VISION (KCC’S)
I feel absolutely convinced our four thrusts that constitute our vision are God-given, Holy Spirit-inspired ideas! I am convinced these are the pillars needed for us if KCC is to have a strong and vibrate future
- Two Retreat Days (Saturday, April 10 2010 – all day … four sheets of flipchart with four key words. We were to stand next to the one we valued most. Four words – Celebration, Discipleship (CY), Small Groups and Stewardship. The first reaction in my spirit was a team completely divided about what our focus should be! We were all over the place!
- 2nd Retreat time was April 21, 11 days later - KCC’S PRIORITY ONE: DISCIPLESHIP. Authority: Matthew 28:19, “Go (IN YOUR GOING)…MAKE DISCIPLES” Discovery – the four focuses are the vision! They moved from four individual flip chart sheets to one vision!
- A few weeks earlier, March 15’10, my personal time of prayer, seeking, searching, exploring…
- What do you think was the main verse at the bottom of the paper that was on the top of the Board’s paper? Matthew 28:19! The Leadership team knew nothing of this process until after all these events!
That moment of revelation became a defining moment, a kiros experience for me. It was a confirmed vision from God. God showed us what He wants to do! He’s given us a VISION!!
The four thrusts for KCC in order of priority
a. Celebration!
Celebration is Biblical behaviour! What do we celebrate?
• God’s abundant goodness – Ps 145:7
• Celebrate the good news of God with humanity – Nahum 1:15
• Celebrate past victories and blessings – Matt 26:18, Jesus said he would celebrate the Passover with his disciples (deliverance from Egyptian slavery – our spiritual deliverance from bondage!)
• A broken family celebrated when they were reunited –Luke 15:23
We are celebrating now that we have things to celebrate! Our potlucks and Christmas dinners and such are celebrations! We joke that whenever Salvation Army folk get together there’s food. Yes because it’s celebration and communion community! We should eat!
We need to continue doing that and recognize that we’re doing that!
b. Discipleship (Children and Youth)
Surveys and statistics demonstrate the overwhelming burden on youth and children. They are the loneliest generation (even lonelier than seniors); they have the highest suicide rates in their late teens/early twenties. The religious options available to them range from none to a hybrid of mixed theologies. Sadly, Jesus followers tend to be apologetic and ‘quiet’ in our message and faith priorities. We’re saying we’ll let our children choose what they should do when they’re seven while communism said, ‘Give us your children and by the time they’re six they’ll be communists forever”.
How far are we willing to go, how much are we willing to invest to save our children? This three minute video says more than I can ever paint for you (play video, “Youth – The Difference”)…
c. Small Groups
The basis for small groups can be supported with Mark 6:31, “Because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Fact is, our lives are lives of coming and going; of little chance to eat or at least we eat on the go. Family time is a dinosaur. The invitation to small groups is an invitation to dine; to come to a quiet place and get some rest.
- Passover meal, Luke 22. Jesus and his company of twelve men. Though Passover moved from being locally celebrated on a family basis to a pilgrimage festival involving travel to Jerusalem, it is most likely that the celebration of the meal still involved close family and friends.
- In the NT, followers of Jesus met from house to house, small groups all over the country and the then-known world met in homes.
Small groups are not a new concept but it’s proven to be the most effective concept of ministering to the church and for church growth. Case in point is the Assemblies of God Church in Seoul, Korea. It started in 1958 when Paul Yonggi Cho (later David) held a service in his friend’s home with her three children. Passionate desire to share Christ by inviting other people to their home church soon resulted in exponential growth. This process resulted in a church of 3,000 members by 1964. Because it became too large for him to manage, Cho later divided the city of Seoul into twenty zones, or "cells," as he called them, and began training leaders for each cell, who would hold services for worship and Bible study in their homes during the week. Cell leaders were encouraged to invite non-Christian neighbours to attend, to learn about Christianity (this was their Alpha approach Jeff). Each cell leader was required to train an assistant, and when cell membership reached a certain number, the assistant leader would form a new cell, taking about half of the old cell with him or her. As of 2007 Cho’s Full Gospel Church registered 1,000,000 members.
- Small groups will be the lifeblood of healthy church in years to come. Institutionalized gathers may struggle to maintain and grow. We’re already struggling with that reality.
d. Stewardship
- 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. (NIV)
- 1 Corinthians 12 speaks of the body of Christ, using the physical body as an analogy of how all parts should work together. If one part hurts the whole body hurts. A key verse here is verse 7 that says, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” In 1 Peter 4:10 the phrase is “to serve others”. Not only about money; a lot bigger than that! But it includes money; we can’t ignore that either. God doesn’t bless us to horde our blessings so we can make our nest bigger and better, to the exclusion of the needs of our brothers and sisters.
- God gave me an insight for these days: a b c are health elements – celebration brings healing, hope, and encouragement; Discipling (especially Children and Youth) leads to healthy people; Small Groups are communities that build one another up and help each other toward whole living and spiritual health; d – the outcome. A healthy fellowship will result in healthy practices and Steward living!
Defined the Vision; Described the Vision; now we all have the responsibility of:
3. DELIVERING THE VISION
This vision goes nowhere without you. Will you take ownership?
Rick Warren (Saddleback Church in California):
“People give to vision, not to need. If “need” motivated people to give, every church would have plenty of money. It is not the neediest institutions that attract contributions but those with the greatest vision. Churches that are making the most of what they’ve got attract more gifts. That’s why Jesus said, “It is always true that those who have, get more, and those who have little, soon lose even that” (Luke 19:26 TLB).” Warren then made a comment that hurts. “If you have money problems it’s because you have vision problems. Check your vision.”
This may not mean we have vision problems as in, we don’t have a vision. We have a vision. I’d like to think we’ve presented the vision well. I looked through my files and discovered I have seven documents on my computer that represent seven times when this vision was put before our members in print or presentation.
Some things are critical as we get “Back to the Future”:
- The leadership team must be sure to keep the vision in front of you so we don’t look sight of the objectives
- We must not become anxious or discouraged when timelines shift. This will happen in God’s good time. He’s never late or out of sync with what He wants to accomplish. Be encouraged! The vision will become reality! IF, and this leads to the third critical point:
- Are you open to receive the vision and own it?
If the vision has captured our hearts, it will reach generously into our wallets because vision requires cash. Not only that but the vision will capture our hearts toward stewardship of all our gifts, talents and abilities. It will lead us to use all our gifts “for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7).
WRAP
- We’re going “Back to the Future”!
- We have vision from God to take us there!
- Join us in the quest that will make this year like nothing we could have imagined!
