I read a story recently about a little league coach who reminisced about his childhood years playing baseball in little league. He remember back how during his first year, his coach had called together the entire baseball team for a picnic, and he asked the team, "Who here wants to eventually play major league baseball." Every single hand went up, as every child there dreamed about playing in a major league stadium and hitting the game winning hit. That boy grew up to become a little league coach himself, and the week before opening day his first year of coaching he did the same thing. He had a team picnic, and he asked the team, "Who here wants to grow up and play in the major leagues?" Not one hand went up on a team of twelve kids. He said he could see in their eyes that not one kid on his team believed that he had what it took to become a major league baseball player.
What a contrast between people who have vision and people who lack vision. Vision is that elusive thing that dares to dream big dreams about the future. Vision has been called hope with a blueprint. Vision is what an inventor has when he or she thinks outside the box to create something new. Vision is what a mother has as she looks at her newborn baby and imagines all that child could grow up to become.
Vision has a way of ignoring its critics and chasing its dream regardless of how many people say it can’t be done. Consider these famous predictions that underestimated the incredible power of vision. Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM in 1943 said, "I think there is a market for maybe five computers in the world." Ken Olson, president and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation said in 1977, "There is no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home." Consider this Western Union memo from 1876: "The Telephone is has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication." Or consider the words of Decca Recording company, when why they turned down signing the Beatles in 1962: "We don’t like their sound and guitar music is on the way out." Charles Duell, commissioner of the U.S. Office of Patents said in 1899, "Everything that can be invented has been invented."
You get the idea. Vision has a way of ignoring those who say it can’t be done and doing it anyway.
Yet we go through times when our vision fades. The flame of our vision begins to dim, it’s passion begins to ease, and it’s heat begins to cool. That’s what was happening to young Timothy, the apostle Paul’s young protégé. You see, the apostle Paul had sent Timothy to try to salvage a mess in the church in Ephesus. Yet when Timothy got there, he found himself in way over his head. The entire leadership team in the Ephesian church was older than he was, and didn’t respect his leadership. To make matters worse, Timothy was shy and timid, so he had a tendency to avoid confrontation. The stress of his ministry assignment was effecting Timothy’s health, as he found himself sick with constant stomach ailments. In the meantime, his beloved mentor the apostle Paul had been arrested by the Roman government.
Timothy’s vision had dissipated. The excitement and enthusiasm he’d once felt when he joined Paul’s ministry team some years earlier was gone. Somewhere between his bad health, his discouragement about the church in Ephesus, and his fear for Paul’s life, Timothy’s vision had slipped away. Timothy needed his vision renewed, and that’s a big reason why Paul wrote him a second letter.
We’ve been in a series through the New Testament books of 1 and 2 Timothy called Deepening Your Life With God. Last week we finished Paul’s first letter to Timothy. Today we look at his second letter to Timothy.
This second letter is the last letter we have from Paul’s pen before his execution. It’s kind of like a last will and testament as Paul reflects back on the vision that fueled his life and ministry. It also serves to renew Timothy’s vision as Paul’s student and apprentice. It also serves to renew our vision as readers who eavesdrop on Paul’s words almost 2000 years later.
As I studied the portion of 2 Timothy that we’re going to look at today, I was struck with the fact that it touches all five areas of our church vision statement. As I prayed about the message this week, God led me to not only talk about this text, but also to use this opportunity to talk about our own church vision statement. So today we’re going to see five specific areas where our vision needs to be reviewed. So turn to 2 Timothy 1:1 and take out your outline.
1 . Renewing Our Vision For Worship (2 Timothy 1:1-3)
The first area relates to our vision for worship: WE RENEW OUR VISION FOR WORSHIP BY EMBRACING A LIFESTYLE OF DEVOTION TO GOD.
This is what we see in vv. 1-3. We find an emphasis on worship in the word "serve" in v. 3. If you underline in your Bible, underline that word, because it’s a very important word. This is not the usual New Testament Greek word for "serve," but this is the Greek word latreuo. This word latreuo is used 20 other times in the New Testament, and it always refers to service offered to God as an act of worship. This kind of service is never directed toward other people, but it’s always directed toward God. This Greek word latreuo is where we get our English word liturgy from, which refers to the order and structure of a Christian worship service. In fact, we call our corporate worship a "worship service" because of this word.
As Paul looks back on his own life, he views his entire life since coming to faith in Christ as an act of worship directed to God. For Paul worship was a lifestyle of devotion to God, not just a Sunday morning church activity.
Now let me share with you our church vision statement about worship. As a church, for us worship is first and foremost about celebrating Jesus Christ. It’s about celebrating Christ’s presence among us, realizing that he is here with us when we gather as a congregation for worship. We celebrate this reality each week.
"We dream of our church having the facilities to house multitudes who gather each week to praise, honor and celebrate Jesus Christ."
Our facilities are significant to our worship only because they give us a place to gather. This is why we have four different worship services now, because we’re a growing church. In fact, since 1990 our attendance has tripled. Just during the year 2001 we experienced an over 10% attendance increase.
"We also dream of worship services that are culturally relevant to the unchurched but that does not compromise our commitment to the Bible."
We believe worship and outreach belong together. Because of this conviction, in our worship services we seek to speak the language of our culture. Our aim is to translate the timeless truths of the Christian faith into language and concepts that make sense to secularized people in our culture today. However, we do this with a uncompromising commitment to the absolute authority of the Bible. You see, we seek to be culturally relevant because we believe this is what the Bible commands us to do. Cultural relevance is a biblical imperative. And we find that when worship and outreach are joined together in a relevant way, that unchurched people discover a relationship with Jesus Christ in the midst of a worshipping church. But more about that a little later.
"We also dream of being a church that uses relevant Bible exposition, contemporary music, and the creative arts to connect both Christians and non-Christians with God and give them hope for their lives."
Bible exposition is simply systematic teaching from the Bible, explaining what the Bible means and how it applies to our lives. The creative arts refers to the use of drama, multimedia, dance and other artistic expressions to draw us closer to God in worship. Seekers who discover a relationship with Christ through our church tell me again and again that long before they respond to Christ they experienced the presence of God here in our worship. May 2002 be a time for us to renew our vision for worship as a church.
2. Renewing Our Vision For Prayer (2 Timothy 1:4-5)
Next we’re going to talk about renewing our vision for prayer: WE RENEW OUR VISION FOR PRAYER BY EXPRESSING OUR HEARTS TO GOD.
Look at how Paul expresses his heart in vv. 4-5. In v. 3 Paul reported how he prayed day and night for Timothy. Here in vv. 4 and 5 we find the content of Paul’s prayer, that as he prayed he remembered Timothy’s tears and his longing to be reunited with his apprentice. As he prayed for Timothy he was reminded of how Timothy came to faith in Christ. It all started with Timothy’s grandmother Lois, and then his mother Eunice. Timothy was a third generation Christian, someone raised in a Christian home.
What Paul does here is simply pour out his heart to God. We see lots of gimmicks about prayer these days. But for Paul, renewing his vision for prayer simply came from pouring out his heart to God. Paul’s life was so directed that whatever was of concern in his heart automatically bubbled up in prayer to God. No technique, no seven easy steps, but simply expressing his heart to God.
We sum up the prayer part of our vision statement as "pursuing God’s heart."
"We believe God wants our church to be a church were our passion for God and God’s purposes inspire us to believe him for the impossible."
In 30 years of existence we’ve never been a play it safe kind of church. In each chapter of our congregation’s history God has called us out of our comfort zone to new steps of faith. When the builders started to frame this worship center, several of us wrote our favorite verse of Scripture with a felt pen on the framing. I wrote my verse close to where this pulpit would be, and it was from Ephesians 3:20. That verse says, "By his mighty power at work within us, God is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope" (NLT). I believe that with all my heart, and that type of thinking has been part of this congregation’s vision from the very beginning. But it starts with pursuing his heart in prayer.
"We believe God wants our church to be filled each week with a constantly expanding multitude of growing Christians who are learning how to walk in daily intimacy with God."
That’s really the heart of prayer, daily intimacy with God where we share our heart with him and he shares his heart with us. This is what the Bible means by abiding in Christ, remaining in his love, being constantly aware of his presence.
"Finally, we dream of our church being a house of prayer, a place where prayer provides the foundation for every ministry we are involved in."
As it’s been said, "Prayer doesn’t prepare us for the battle; prayer is the battle." Our ministry needs to flow from our knees. May this year be a time of renewal of our vision for prayer.
3. Renewing Our Vision for Service (2 Timothy 1:6-7)
That brings us to renewing our vision for service: WE RENEW OUR VISION FOR SERVICE BY USING THE GIFTS GOD HAS GIVEN TO US.
Look at vv. 6-7. God had given Timothy all the equipment he needed to be effective as God’s servant. But the fire of God’s gift in Timothy’s life was going out. It had become like a fire in the fireplace when no new wood has been added for a while. The flame wasn’t burning anymore, but instead there was a glowing ember that’s gradually losing its heat.
Paul encourages Timothy to "fan the flame" of his gift, so it would once again burns brightly and with intensity. The way we fan the flame of our spiritual gifts is by using them. The flame loses its blaze through lack of use, and gradually our gifts become glowing embers. We fuel the fire when we use our gifts.
We learn here that fear was holding Timothy back from using his gifts. The word "timidity" here means "a state of fear because of cowardice or lack of moral strength" (Louw and Nida Lexicon). Paul tells Timothy that this timid fear doesn’t come from God. What comes from God is an attitude of power, love and self-discipline. Power is the capacity to face our fears and use our gifts, even when we’re shaking like a leaf. Love is the capacity to express God’s love through our gift when we do use it. Self-discipline is the courage to go forward even when we’re timid and fearful.
When I was in my first year of college at some of my friends gave me the nickname Timid Tim. That make surprise you. But the reality is that I was often intimidated by people, and in groups I tended to become quiet and self conscious. The first time I preached a sermon I was terrified. This verse has helped give me the courage to face my fears and use my gifts, even when I’m timid and afraid.
Do you need your vision for service renewed? Stepping out of our comfort zone and using your gifts will help you renew your vision for service. There’s no substitute for actually using our gifts, drawing on the Spirit of power, love and self-discipline God has given us to face our fear.
Our church vision about service is summed up in the phrase: Every member a minister. We truly believe that every single follower of Jesus Christ is called and ordained by God as a minister of Jesus Christ. Ministry is not the exclusive property of pastors or elders, but it belongs to the people. Life Bible Fellowship Church is a congregation with over 1000 ministers, because over 1000 people consider this their church home. Adult and children, men and women, new Christians and mature Christians…every single one is a minister of God.
"We dream of a church where our members truly see themselves as God’s ministers and are sacrificially investing their gifts, talents and resources to make God’s vision become a reality."
This is a huge paradigm shift for most Christians, to see themselves as ministers. Several years ago I was at a one day conference on the spiritual life. At the end of the conference the speaker asked any pastors or ministers present to come forward, so they could be available to pray for other people who responded to the speaker’s invitation. A small group leader in our church happened to be at that conference, and without a moment’s hesitation he went forward as a minister. He’d never been to seminary and he wasn’t ordained by any church, but because of his involvement here at LBF Church, he truly saw himself as a minister of God. When I saw him go forward, I thought, "May his attitude spread throughout our entire congregation."
"We dream of our church becoming an incubator for fresh ministry ideas, continually launching new volunteer led ministries that make a real difference in the lives of both Christians and non-Christians."
A number of years ago a woman approached our congregation and wanted to start a crisis pregnancy hotline. So she started a hotline, which was simply an answering service with a few volunteers. But that crisis hotline ministry kept growing and growing, and as it did, more and more volunteers came forward. Eventually that ministry incorporated as a non-profit ministry on their own, and today they have several people on staff. Today that ministry is the primary source for Christian hope and encouragement for people in crisis pregnancies in our Inland Valley. God used Life Bible Fellowship Church as an incubator for starting that ministry.
We have a standing joke around the church here, that whenever a person comes up to one of our staff and says, "We really need to have a ministry to…." Our response is usually, "You’re right and you’re it." We believe when God gives ministry vision to a person our job isn’t to get in the way, but it’s to help it happen. It may or may not succeed, but why not try to make it happen?
May God renew our vision for service this year.
4. Renewing Our Vision for Outreach (2 Timothy 1:8a)
This brings us to outreach: WE RENEW OUR VISION FOR OUTREACH BY TESTIFYING ABOUT JESUS.
Look at the first half of v. 8. Christians are often tempted to be ashamed of Jesus Christ. We’re tempted to hide our witness about Jesus, to keep our faith in Christ hidden inside our hearts and our churches, rather than letting it flow into our words and our actions.
Do you need your vision for outreach renewed? Notice again that this doesn’t come through a special evangelism seminar or a book. It comes through facing our fears and testifying about Jesus. This means putting into words how Jesus has changed our lives. It means sharing with those around us the good news of Christ, about his life, death and resurrection. It means building relationships with unchurched people so we can shine as lights in their lives.
The outreach part of our vision statement focuses on reaching out through relationships. The longer you’re a Christian, the less non-Christians you’re likely to have as friends. So we need to be reminded that relationships are the primary mechanism for sharing our faith in Jesus.
"We dream of our church being attended by hundreds of unchurched people each week who are in the process of discovering a dynamic relationship with Jesus."
Did you know that half of all people who are in church on a any given weekend in our nation don’t yet have a relationship with Jesus? I find that to be extremely exciting. Most people who discover a relationship with Jesus Christ start by attending one of our worship services. They attend for anywhere from a month to a year as seekers, investigating the faith, asking questions, building relationships, observing. Somewhere along the way, the good news of Christ starts making sense and they make a commitment to Jesus Christ, either on their own, with a friend, or in our Meet LBF Church seminar. I’d estimate that about one out of four people who’ve joined our church in the last year have come to faith in Jesus through our church this way.
"Our passion is to be a church that strives to remove every barrier that keeps unchurched people from understanding and responding to the good news of Christ."
We realize that there’s a huge culture gap between most Christians and most non-Christians. We live in different worlds even though we live in the same neighborhoods. So we think it’s our job to try to bridge that gap, to remove the barriers that might keep a person from truly understanding what it means to become a follower of Jesus.
"Our dream is to be a church that works in partnership with members: each member reaching out with Christ’s love to unchurched friends and neighbors and our church providing worship services to bring these people to that are culturally relevant."
It really is a partnership, and it only works if both sides of the partnership are working. I believe we really need our vision renewed in this area, because I fear that many of us are becoming so busy and distracted by life that we’re no longer living out this partnership.
"We also dream of being a church that sends a tithe of our members and money cross-culturally to bring Christ to the nations."
If I had more time today I’d tell you about the ten missionaries we support each month as a church. It’s not at ten percent yet, but currently about 7% of our general fund goes to share Christ cross culturally.
5. Renewing Our Vision for Nurture (1 Timothy 1:8b-10)
This brings us to nurture: WE RENEW OUR VISION FOR NURTURE BY RESPONDING TO GOD’S INVITATION TO A HOLY LIFE.
Look at vv. 8-10. The good news of Christ--the gospel--is the means by which we are brought into a relationship with God. This change by grace, because there’s nothing we can do to contribute to our salvation. All we contribute to our salvation is our sin; everything else comes as a free gift, by grace.
But with the gospel also comes a call to live a holy life, a life of spiritual depth and growth. This is what we mean by nurture, being nurtured in the life God calls us to. Although we do not contribute anything to our salvation, once God saves us, he calls us to live differently. He calls us to a life of transformation, a life where we grow and mature. He calls us to put down deep spiritual roots that are nourished by the truth of God. He calls us to nurture a holy life.
The nurture part of our vision statement focuses on growing into spiritual maturity.
"We dream of our church providing a constantly expanding network of care groups, where Christians are growing into wholeness and non-Christians are discovering Christ."
It’s our experience that most accelerated spiritual growth occurs in small groups, clusters of Christians who meet together to pray together, study the Bible together, serve together and so forth. Our congregation will only be as healthy as our care groups are expanding. At last count, we had about 35 different groups here at the church and about half of our adults involved in one these groups. We believe this is a vitally important part of being nurtured into spiritual maturity.
"We dream of equipping hundreds of volunteer care pastors whose love and concern for people makes us feel smaller as we grow larger."
One of the problems being part of a congregation that’s tripled in eleven years is that you don’t know everyone anymore. The more people there are, the less connected we feel to each other. Our care pastors are the people who facilitate our small groups, whether it’s a home Bible study or an adult Bible fellowship group. We believe these people are absolutely essential for helping us stay connected to each other.
"We are also committed to becoming a place where people are developing a biblical worldview through various care groups, seminars, and retreats."
We want our congregation to be people who think deeply and biblically about the great issues facing our generation. We want to help you love God with your mind by helping you think through these things.
May God help us renew our vision in nurture this next year.
Conclusion
There is always tension between our vision and the way things are. This is because if vision only described the status quo, it wouldn’t be vision. So the disparity between vision and the status quo creates tension, like a rubber band that’s been stretched. Often we’re tempted to let this tension pull the vision down to the status quo, to soften the vision and make it more palatable to the way things are. Instead, we should let the tension pull the way things are closer to the vision, creating the necessary changes in our lives needed to pull us toward what God has for us.
I believe God wants to pull us closer to our vision this year. God wants a congregation of renewed vision for worship, prayer, service, outreach, and nurture. We calls us to let the tension between this vision and the way things are to stretch us, to pull us, to excite us, to fan the flame so we once again burn bright. Notice we learned today that vision isn’t renewed by just hearing a sermon or reading a book. Our vision for worship is renewed by actually worshipping; our vision for prayer is renewed by actually praying; our vision for service is renewed by actually using our gifts to serve; our vision for outreach is renewed by actually testifying about Jesus; and our vision for nurture is renewed by actually responding to God’s call to a holy life. There is no substituted for action, for doing what God has called us to do.
