Vision 2012 – Life Connection

• Proverbs 29:18 MsgB

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.

INTRODUCTION:

God has given birds of all kinds eyes so they can see where they are going. Many birds pick and choose their direction as they fly to and fro. Many birds fly by instinct they head where they are directed—south for the winter, north for the summer. Unfortunately many birds are nearsighted and only see what is in front of them. Like me you too have probably had a bird fly out in from of you as you drive down the highway. Some birds will see the speeding vehicle in time and make a quick fight adjustment. Others were not quick enough to see the impending danger crossing its flight path and die with a sudden thud on the front bumper.

Eagles on the other hand are known for their keen vision. An eagle is not a nearsighted bird, but can see things up to five miles away. As the eagle flies it knows where it is going and determines how it is going to get there.

While other birds migrate by instinct the most eagles stays in their territory throughout the year, season after season. I keep looking to see again the American Bald Eagle I saw perched high on a tree along State Route 82 in Trumbull County. They are amazing birds! When a storm approaches, other birds fly away in fear or seek shelter in the trees, but the eagle is energized by the challenge of the storm. The eagle catches the wind and rises above the storm. The eagle glides over its habitat during the storm.

I believe God is looking for men and women like eagles. People of vision “who can see” with their spiritual eyes what God is doing in and through them. People who will catch the wind of the Spirit and soar; not in their own strength, but in the power of the wind that carries them. These men and women like the eagle are dependable, focused and fearless when it comes to their God given purpose, will overcome the storms and adversities of life because they have vision to see and faith to not give up.

God wants us to have spiritual insight to see what He is doing in and through us. God wants us by faith to have vision to see what is unseen, to see what will be in the weeks, months and years to come. Vision 2012—if an eagle can see 5 miles, then by faith the man and woman of God can see 5 years into the future and know what God is going to accomplish in and through them.

This morning we are going to ask God to give us eyes to see. God has given a five year plan to our church—Praise Assembly of God. The board and I aren’t too creative—a five year plan, it’s 2007 so five years from now it will be 2012. That’s it lets call our plan Vision 2012! Now pay attention because I’m going to lay it all out for you in one sentence. This is the key to seeing Vision 2012 become a reality. Are you ready? There will be a test later, so make sure you are listening.

Life Connection—we’re doing life together as we connect, grow and serve.

I. Vision 2012—Life Connection

1. Think for a moment about the necessity of having a vision from God.

• Proverbs 29:18

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.

a) It is time to stop walking aimlessly. Let God give you vision to see!

• Proverbs 29:18 NIV

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint.

• Proverbs 29:18 AMP

Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish.

b) Without a fresh revelation of God and what He is doing in and through us we not only walk aimlessly. Solomon understood with the wisdom God had given him that the lack of a God given vision will also cause us to wander into all kinds of sin and rebellion. Without a vision we actually walk away from Jesus.

• Amos 8:11-12 NIV

11 "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign Lord, "when I will send a famine through the land — not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.

c) Without a God given vision or things only go from bad to worse! Ours is a nation that is desperate for the Word of God, to have a fresh revelation of God but it cannot be found. We live in a day when the things Paul spoke of in Romans 1 are happening all around us. People have rejected God and the Lord has turned them over to a depraved mind. They invent new ways of doing evil and give approval for those who chose to do what is sinful.