The church needs to be prayerfully engaged in renewing and living out the message of Christ by executing God’s vision in today’s ever-changing culture.
Wherever we go today, everyone is talking about vision. Vision is the current buzzword. It's the discussion in boardrooms, in executive offices and in management-consulting firms. It's the leading topic of discussion in denominations, and in leadership board meetings. Any good list of books about successful organizations, leadership practices, or management strategies focus on the essential need for vision and vision-casting.
And rightfully so! Vision has correctly been identified as the central guiding motivation for any organization. Likewise, a God-given vision to the church of Jesus Christ is essential for fear that we perish (Proverbs 29:18), or as the TNIV translates it, we “cast off restraint” and all go in our individual directions. Vision is crucial to the church.
In fact, as prayer is our very first vital sign as a church as a means for renewal, we are going to be taking a look at prayer over the next four weeks. And this morning, I would like to ask you, “If God would answer ‘one prayer’ for the church, what would you pray?” “Lord, Make Us”… I would offer that it would be, “Lord, grant us vision!”
Why is vision so important? What is it that vision gives and does that nothing else can accomplish?
- Vision motivates
- Vision stretches
- Vision gives unified direction
- Vision initiates and validates change
- Vision brings commitment
Walt Disney, the visionary of the Magic Kingdom, said, “Around here, however, we don’t look backward for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
Vision in the church is the heart and soul of bringing together hundreds of individual people, with individual lives, with different thoughts and uniting them under a God-given directive to accomplish God-given goals through a God-empowered process.
George Barna's popular definition says, "Vision is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to his chosen servant, based on an accurate understanding of God, self, and circumstances."
Vision describes a place we need to get to, a thing we still need to do, a significant advance that God still wants us to accomplish or become…tomorrow. But a vision without an implementation strategy is merely a dream—a vision that gets blurry and dim, and too distant to compel passionate commitment.
Prayer is God’s tool that becomes a catalyst for any implementation strategy of change. In fact, at the heart of prayer is the ability to bring about change and any vision that truly comes from God is going to require significant change. When it comes to change, there are three seasons of timing. People change: (1) when they hurt enough that they have to, (2) when they learn enough that they want to, and (3) when they receive enough that they are able to.
Prayer offers the spiritual empowering necessary to see our dreams become our destiny in Christ. All who desire God to work for the benefit of Christ’s church must place a high priority on prayer. Vision works in harmony with a blend of prayer and action.
Paul’s prayer for spiritual empowering in the church is recorded in Ephesians 3:14-21…
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
The Ephesian believers lived with a lot of pressure. Their faith was born in a crucible of riots, courtroom conflict, and economic change. So Paul prayed that the Ephesian believers would be aware of, comprehend and experience the realities of God’s power. He also prayed that their identity would be rooted in eternal truths and in God’s present power in them.
Benefits of Prayer
Why is prayer so important to the vision process? Here are four reasons from Paul’s words for God’s spiritual empowering of the Ephesian believers:
1. Prayer makes us wait
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
We cannot pray and work at the same time. So we kneel before the Father and we wait to act until we finish praying. Prayer forces us to leave the situation with God. It makes us wait.
2. Prayer clears our vision
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being…
Prayer gives us the spiritual empowering to see clearly. Southern California often has an overhanging weather problem in the mornings because of its coastal location until the sun “burns through” the morning fog. Later in the day if it’s not the marine layer that clouds our vision, it most likely will be the smog that sits in the valley. So prayer is like the sun—it burns through all the fog and smog that blocks our spiritual vision. When we first face a situation, is it foggy or smoggy? Prayer will give us the spiritual empowering we need. Our vision will clear so we can see through God’s eyes.
3. Prayer quiets our hearts
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love…
We cannot worry and pray at the same time. We are doing one or the other. Prayer makes us quiet. It enables us to allow Christ to dwell in our hearts through faith. It enables us to be rooted and established in love. It replaces anxiety with a calm spirit. Our knees don’t knock when we kneel with them!
4. Prayer activates our faith
18 may have power, together with all the Lord's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
After praying we are more prone to trust God. We have the power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. We know this love that surpasses knowledge and enables us to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now this power activates our faith. How petty and negative and critical we are when we don’t pray. Prayer sets faith on fire.
Paul closes his prayer with this incomparable benediction…
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
We don’t just fill the margins in our Bibles or our message notes outlines with words and thoughts about ways a person prays. We do it. We don’t stop with just a sterile theology of prayer. We pray! Prayer is the first major step in seeing clearly God’s vision.
Now David is going to help us answer some very important questions regarding three connections that captivate and compel all generations in the church today.
The Connection
Jesus said in John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Think about that for a minute, Jesus said – the reason that he came to earth was so that you and I could have a full life. Who doesn’t want that? Isn’t that what we are all looking for? Isn’t that what our friends and colleagues and family members are all looking for?
Well, if we are talking about vision – and a prayer for the church… what was Christ’s vision for you and I? What was his prayer for the church? And if we looked at Christ’s prayer for the church… what kind of a church would we become? Would we become a church that draws lost people? Would we become a church that is relevant to all generations?
Well, people today are mostly interested in three crucial areas concerning their lives and they all center on a word our church is very familiar with, “Connecting.” In your bulletins right now you have a ‘prayer connection’ – every month or so our church publishes a ‘Connection newsletter.’ So what are 3 major connections that everyone needs? Not just Christians, or church-members, but everyone….
1. CONNECTING WITH GOD. The church needs to help people today know the truth of Jesus Christ, and in worshiping the Creator of all things. And this happens in forming ways in which people can engage with God through the bible and through worship.
On his last night before his arrest, Jesus prays for this for his church.
John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Jesus says that eternal life comes from having a connection with God. This connection offers life. We must create a culture of life in our churches and ministries. We must teach, model, and create environments that breathe life into a broken world. Connecting with God brings life to the world, and it answers Christ’s prayer for the church and it fulfills God’s vision for his creation.
2. CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE. The church needs to help people develop lasting relationships in a community of people who are on the same path. I think the West has had the wrong idea about church for a long time. It’s true that church is one avenue where we connect with God, but in all truth, it’s mainly about where we connect with people. If you decide to sleep in or watch the game, or go to Disneyland – guess what? It’s not God that missed you in service. No, it was me. I missed you. I need you. And the way this happens is through Sunday School classes and small group relationships. As the church we worship God in here through our songs and the discerning of his word, but it is in the times when we meet together in homes, or over coffee and laughter where we share our pains, unburden our souls, and affirm one another and I just gotta say if that is missing from your life right now – go and get it.
Christ’s prayer in John 17:21-23 continues…
That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Being a person of faith in the world can be confusing, and lonely and messy - So Christ offers an environment of relationships, of love, and of support where God’s people mature in him. This connection brings love.
And don’t miss what Jesus is saying here. What is the vision and the purpose behind a unified church? Why does Christ want us to be “one” in each other?
So that …the world will know that you sent me. That’s the church, that’s the bride of Christ! How does a broken world experience God’s love? A church that loves people. How does healing take place in the church? A church that connects with people.
The writer of Hebrews writes, Hebrews 10:24-25
“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another”
A church that shares Christ’s vision connects with God and it connects with people and lastly it
3. CONNECTING WITH THE WORLD. The church needs to help people fulfill their God-given purpose by serving others with their gifts, personal styles, and passions. And the way this happens is through service and ministry.
Jesus prays in John 17:15-18
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
This connection offers us a purpose. Christ’s prayer is not that we separate ourselves from the world is it? He doesn’t pray, ‘Father take them out of this world so that they don’t have to experience temptation or heartbreak or debt or hunger’ does he? No, in fact he says to his Father – as you sent me into the world… in that same way….I send them.
We have a responsibility to the world; we have the same mission and vision Christ had when he was here. Let me ask you, and let’s be serious here for a minute – let’s pretend like all of this is true and that it matters in our lives ok? Did Christ die on the cross for your life? The promotion at work? Did Christ die on the cross so that you could make more money? Did Christ die on the cross so that you could spend 12 hours a week watching tv? How are we spending the life that Christ died for? Because Christ’s prayer is that we are sent out into the world – to be his hands and feet in the world to continue his vision and to answer his prayer. Is God going to answer Jesus’ prayer? Is the Father going to listen to the prayer of His son? You bet he is. So I have to wonder, well am I going to be a part of it?
You and I can serve God and connect with the world through our spiritual gifts, personal styles and our passions. Every Jesus-follower has a God-given design—a spiritual DNA to change their world for Christ.
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”
When God’s message of purpose is stamped upon every believer, each generation of new disciples - who understand the context of their culture - are born.
The deeper the roots; the higher the reach. These three connections with God, others, and the world provide the starting place for believers to grow in Jesus Christ. Paul in Colossians also affirms the importance of being rooted and built up in Christ Jesus as Lord…
Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
God’s kingdom spreads, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like….” a mustard plant, hidden treasure, a net cast into the ocean, a wedding, a huge party, like hidden talents, …like a tiny seed that multiplies out many branches that give shelter to many birds and then produces new seeds that produce new trees.
Our prayers, as a church, should be that we have vision. Vision that aligns us with God and vision that makes us aware of his people and his world.
We should be praying, “Lord, grant us vision!”
Bob is going to now share an experience of vision.
I remember when I was a kid, some 50 years ago, playing on a Little League Baseball team. One of the things our coach did was host a picnic for the team at the beginning of the season. After we ate hot dogs and hamburgers, he passed out the team uniforms. Then he sat us down for a pep talk. He asked, “How many of you have a dream to one day play in the Major Leagues?” Almost every hand shot up. Every kid with his hand up believed he could do it. You could see it in their eyes. He then told us, “if that is to happen—that dream begins now!” I was so inspired by that challenge—all of us were—that we practiced and played hard and we had winning seasons for the next few years. All-Star teams from other leagues would play us and lose! In fact we were just one out away from going to the Little League World Series in Cooperstown’s one year before we lost in the bottom of the seventh inning.
15 years later I coached kid’s teams. I brought all the kids together at the beginning of the season to give them a pep talk—the same one my coach had given me. I asked my team the same question, “How many of you have a dream to one day play in the Major Leagues?” Not one hand was raised. Not one kid believed he could do it. You could see it in their eyes. I was speechless. So the rest of my talk was meaningless, so I said, “Really? Nobody? Well, go get your gloves and let’s throw.” I thought about that day for a long time. What had happened in the 15 years since I was a kid? What had come into their lives to steal their dreams? What had convinced them they would never be more than what they were?
We need to ask ourselves at Christ First Baptist a similar question.
“How many of us have a vision from God that affirms that our best days as a church are ahead of us?”
Anybody? Well, it’s been about 17 years since I was called to be Senior Pastor of this church. My vision is still the same. That we will become the kinds of attractive Jesus-followers who draw lost people into the family of God like Jesus did. For some of us today that dream begins now. It’s the vision that we will become the kind of church that captivates and compels emerging generations to follow Jesus. It takes a spiritual partnership of pastors and people to do the work of God together so that the kingdom of God is developed and deployed into God’s world.
It is a known fact that fewer churches numbering fifty to a hundred people are thriving, much less surviving in today’s post-Christian context. So as God's Spirit moves across the face of this land, it would seem that congregations numbering in the hundreds are increasingly extraordinary. Churches like this, that have a vision to see beyond the horizon of their present obstacles, know that revised vision strategies that are spiritually empowered through prayer are required to meet new challenges.
Alfred B. Smith writes the words to an old gospel hymn…
Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things though timpossible, He does the things others cannot do.
The Lord is the Specialist we need for these uncrossable and impossible experiences. God delights in accomplishing what we cannot pull off. But God awaits our cry. God listens for our request. Are we quick to call for help? Are we willing to pray, “Lord, grant us vision!” A prayer for our church must always begin in the kneeling position! Amen.
