A pastor thought God gave Him an idea, and he presented it in the monthly deacons meeting. After giving a passionate plea that would bring tears to a Broadway audience and really “selling” the idea to the deacon board, they voted down the pastors proposed changes 12-1. The chairman of deacons looked at the pastor and said, “Well pastor, the vote is 12 to 1. Looks like you’ve been out voted.
It also looks like time is up for this meeting, so will you please close in prayer.”
The pastor, not wanting to give up yet on what he felt God was leading him to do jumped at the opportunity to close in prayer.
As he prayed, he lifted his hands up to heaven and prayed, “Loooorrrdddd - I know my brothers here do not have the same vision You have given me. Please help them to see that this is not MY vision, but YOOOOUUUUURRRR vision!”
At that exact moment, a lightning bolt followed by a loud clap of thunder burst through the window in the meeting room, striking the table, splitting it in two and knocking all the deacons to the floor.
When the dust settled, the pastor looked at the chairman of deacons and said – so brother, what do you think about that?
The chairman of deacons got up, dusted himself off, sighed and said, “Well, I guess that’s 12 votes to 2, then...” (Mondaymorninginsight.com)
Verse 18 teaches the need for a ministry based on the revelation of God. "Where there is no vision..." no divine guidance… no revelation.
The Bible makes it clear that each of us, as individuals as well as a local body has a reason to exist.
As a follower of Jesus Christ your life mission is this:
You are to know, to love and to serve God with all your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul and all of your strength, according to:
Deu 6:5 NIV - 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Mat 22:37-39 NIV - 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
The mission of the local church is to enable as many people as possible to know, to love, and to serve God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are not to be a social club or a hangout, when it’s convenient or there’s nothing better to do.
According to our Constitution: "EBC exists to bring glory and honor to God by developing devoted followers of Christ who truly love God, love each other and love people who are lost. Here at EBC we are to give ourselves to making and growing followers of Christ who share Jesus’ love and sacrifice with our community and world.
Where does the vision come from?
The vision MUST first come out of the written Word or revelation of God. God’s vision for how to fulfill His revelation must be based on His Word or it is NOT from Him. True vision is not something your pastor or any other person just dreams up… It’s not like “Hey I have a great idea! Let’s start having monthly fellowships!” I’m not talking about the fellowships or things we do for the children/adults…
We also need to understand that the vision for a local church is much more focused and detailed than the revealed mission of “the church” (Global).
The mission of the church is general. The vision for EBC should be a more specific and personalized way of fulfilling the global mission of the church. (Global mission vs local vision)
God will communicate His vision to EBC based on our gifts, our abilities, our desires, etc. God customizes the vision to fit who and where we are.
Psalm 138:8a NLT - 8 The LORD will work out his plans for my life…”
God will work out His plan for my life… for your life.
God's vision for us will be strategic, inspiring, exciting, and challenging.
Exodus 3:11 NIV - 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" Moses didn’t see himself as a leader or someone capable of such a tremendous responsibility as freeing the Israelites from Egyptian slavery but God saw different… Moses forgot that he had been brought up in the finest Egyptian schools and had been taught the ways of the Egyptians… There was no one more qualified for the job than Moses. God used who Moses was and where he was to accomplish a great work. God was fulfilling the very words of Psalm 138: 8a…
Maybe you’re like Moses or like me and you don’t think you’re all that big of a deal. But let me tell you that God sees what you and I don’t see.
Maybe God is just waiting for us to say, like Isaiah
Isa 6:8 NIV “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" EBC, whom shall He send? Who is willing to go for His cause… to share His love? Whom shall I send? Isaiah responded… And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"” Will you go? Can He send you?
Moses had ONE major responsibility. He was responsible for being totally surrendered to God.
If we are to see God’s vision, if we are to be His people, we must totally surrender to His will. (Illustration of the paper for INFT class and the advice I got) I had to surrender and it worked out.
Many are asking God for miracle after miracle, yet they refuse to honor Him with their lives…
It has to be His way or we’ll never see His vision.
The church that is surrendered to God has the responsibility to take up the vision and follow God's leaders and leadership to accomplish God's vision for that local church.
I am challenging our deacons/teachers to seek God’s vision and I challenge each of you, here today, to be in prayer about God’s direction for your life and for EBC and what part you’ll play. “Here am I send me.”
When a business stagnates, declines and dies they can claim a number of excuses:
Recession, interest rates, foreign competition, or unfavorable government legislation.
But ultimately, the REAL problem can be traced back to one of two symptoms.
1. Lack of vision or
2. Lack of commitment to the vision.
A business needs vision or the ability to see the demand for future products and services. Without vision, a business loses focus. But at the same time, if there is no commitment to the vision it becomes nothing more than wishful thinking.
People are always talking about New Spring Church, good and bad. New Spring didn’t pop up overnight. New Spring, whether or not you agree with their tactics, is the product of a vision as well as the commitment to the vision. They started in this area with a handful of people who were committed to the vision.
Vision is so important for church growth. When a pastor and his people can't see beyond the horizon, when they can’t see how they are going to reach their community and the world with the love of Christ they become stagnate. We make all kinds of excuses but it ultimately comes down to two things. 1. Lack of vision and or 2. Lack of commitment to the vision.
Scripture loudly warns us that, where there is no revelation, the people spiritually die.
Now people generally fall into one of two categories.
First there is the reactionary. This individual reacts to the situations and circumstances AS they happen… These are the “Crossing the bridge when we get to it” people. Reactionary people wait until something happens and react. An example: The other day I pulled out the driveway to go home and noticed a car way down the road. That car quickly ran up behind me and I noticed the driver was all over the road. It turns out she was texting and driving. Up the road was a deer lying in the road and as I went around it I checked my mirror and watched the young lady barely avoid a terrible accident. There was no way to miss seeing the deer but the preoccupied driver saw the deer too late and had to quickly react. When you are a reactionary there is no control over the situation and all you can do is react and hope for the best.
Then there is the visionary. The visionary relies on revelation. This is the driver who sees down the road, always watching always focused. They see the intersection ahead and notice a speeding car. They think to themselves “this guy is not going to stop” and they are able to control the situation instead of the situation controlling them. They can see the other driver is not going to stop and avoid disaster before it happens, by slowing down.
You will need to decide, today, whether you're going to be a reactionary or a visionary—whether you're going to catch the vision as well as become committed to the vision.
Where there is no vision… may I say, also, where there is no commitment to the vision there is no hope and people/churches just fade away.
When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. Where there is no vision the people perish.
