a place for us to share ideas, talk about life, and learn together.
So, is there life after death? The Bible is clear in that the soul is eternal, and that it will spend eternity in one of two places. One is to have eternal life, or heaven. The other is to be eternally separated from God in hell. What does the Bible say about ghosts, angels, demons, witches, and spirits? Listen and find out.
This message was part 4 in a series. Presented Sunday November 21, 2010 at Daybreak Community Church
Boy Scouts of America and the military are the only people allowed by law to dispose or retire a flag after its service. While the flags are burned it is done with a reverent and quiet attitude, and a ceremony is performed. The ceremony includes retiring the flags by fire, reciting quotes from famous Americans, cutting the flags into stripes, and stars and reflecting upon what each piece of the flag means. I am thankful to be an American and for the men and woman before me who gave so much for my freedom.
So, is there life after death? The Bible is clear in that the soul is eternal, and that it will spend eternity in one of two places. One is to have eternal life, or heaven. The other is to be eternally separated from God in hell. What does the Bible say about ghosts, angels, demons, witches, and spirits? Listen and find out.
IV.        Vision Annihilators
“Vision annihilators†are beliefs, assumptions, practices and emotions that arise to prevent the vision from emerging or from being widely accepted. These are the people who say “But we’ve never done it this way before.â€Â They tend to come from one of four ways of thinking:
A.           Tradition
God uses tradition to give people a sense of stability and it provides a sense of consistency. But God does reshape tradition in order to go forward into the future. Maturity means growing beyond your past. No one would say that a child was healthy if it remained exactly the same for years at a time.
Tradition is the “stepping stone†of where God is directing ministry to go. It should not become a millstone that pulls the ministry down to legalistic depths. Rick Warren also uses the example of a shoe that is outgrown. As the foot grows, if you don’t change into a larger shoe, it then becomes very uncomfortable and may even damage the foot and the development of the rest of the body.
B.           Fear
Change means stepping out of one’s comfort zone, doing new things. Change can be scary and un-nerving. There are several reasons why fear keeps us from seeing God’s vision. One is that we have failed in the past. We should define defeat as making the same mistakes more than once. Instead of fearing future failures we should learn from past mistakes. Fear is a sin. It is a lack of faith in God to do what He says He will do.
Another reason for fear is that one may be concerned that the may mess up or ruin what they already have. So instead of moving forward, they are content to keep things in their current condition. Sometimes the only cure for this fear is the pain that comes from decline and deterioration as the organization crumbles. Eventually one will feel so much discomfort they are willing to change and move forward (if it’s not too late to do so).
C.           Complacency
This is the concept that “It really doesn’t matter what we do, God will bless it.â€Â (James 2:14-17; Luke 14:28-32; Rev. 3:15-18) Vision stirs up passion within the leader and it comes across as he tells the story. Complacency extinguishes this passion within the leader. So the leader just chooses whatever is in front of him at the moment. There is no thought as to how this lines up with the vision and direction of the church, they simply say yes to every suggestion given.
Another form of complacency is apathy. This is where a person says, “It really doesn’t matter what we do; it won’t work anyway.†Perhaps past mistakes or failures have caused this person to be disillusioned and discouraged. But you can’t move forward until this attitude is dealt with.
D.           Short-Term Thinking
God’s vision for ministry is long-term in nature. It may even outlast the person who it was originally given to. Soon after the completion of Disney World someone said, “Isn’t it too bad that Walt Disney didn’t live to see this!†Mike Vance, creative director of Disney Studios replied, “He did see it – that’s why it’s here.â€Â If you limit your decisions and planning to only the immediate present, then you can never move past today.
V.           Exercising Vision
The following are some examples that you can think through as a team of leaders or volunteers in a ministry. Divide up or stay together and work through them and discuss what you find.
Example #1
From the following passages of the Old Testament, what can be learned from these people about how the vision God gave them affected their lives?
Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, 15:1-7; 17:1-15. Why did God state and restate three times the vision He gave Abraham? What circumstances and plans in Abraham’s life were affected and changed by God’s vision on each occasion?
Example #2
From the following passages of the Old Testament, what can be learned from these people about how the vision God gave them affected their lives?
Moses in Exodus 3:1-10. How much strategic detail did God add to the vision He gave Moses (Ex. 3:11-22; 4:1-17)?
Example #3
From the following passages of the Old Testament, what can be learned from these people about how the vision God gave them affected their lives?
Joshua in Joshua 1:1-5. How much detail is included in God’s vision for Joshua about the direction and goals of God’s plan to lead Israel into the Promised Land? How is the additional direction from the Lord in Joshua 1:6-9 related to the vision in 1:1-5? How important to the vision was identifying and marshalling resources (Josh. 1:10-15), information gathering (Josh. 2:1, 22-24), and strategic planning (Josh. 3:1-4; 6:1-7)?
Example #4
From the following passages of the Old Testament, what can be learned from these people about how the vision God gave them affected their lives?
Nehemiah in Nehemiah 2:12. How did Nehemiah receive a vision form the Lord to rebuild the city of Jerusalem (Neh. 1:3,4; 2:4,5)?
Example #5
From the following passages of the Old Testament, what can be learned from these people about how the vision God gave them affected their lives?
David in 1 Samuel 17:34-37, 45-48. What attitudes and qualities did David’s vision of God’s plan for Israel inspire in him (1 Sam. 23:15-18)? What attitudes should the vision for ministry God gives you and your church inspire you?
Example #6
How did God’s vision for each of the following prophets cause the prophet to change the way he lived and ministered?
Example #7
Read Proverbs 29:18. What does this verse say about why you and your church need God’s vision for your ministry?
Read Paul’s vision for ministry in Acts 9:15; 26:15-23. How did the vision God gave Paul affect the way he lived and ministered (2 Cor. 11:23-28)?
*this is part three of three articles on vision.
Click here to read part one.
Click here to read part two.
III.           Characteristics of a Vision
A.           It is Clear
People cannot respond to a vision if they do not understand it. The language that we use and the picture that we portray must be clear and capable of being understood. When Nehemiah had a vision he communicated it in a clear fashion. When he told it to his followers they could see walls being built in their heads. Nehemiah 2:18 says “They replied, ‘Let us start building.’ So they began this good work.â€
How do you know if it is clear? The vision is clear when other people other than the leader can explain and actually do explain the vision to others in their own words.
B.           It is Challenging
When a vision is presented and it does not challenge people, the leader will not see God’s power working. A challenging vision pulls people from where they are and pushes them to places they never imagined they could go. It is not daydreaming or reaching for impossible tasks. Vision requires great depth of understanding, a detailed knowledge of facts and an eye for potential.
C.           It is a Picture
A vision is a mental picture that you give the congregation that they carry around in the wallet of their mind. Then from time to time the leader encourages them to look at the picture. And just like the picture that you carry around of your kids, when they see it, it brings to their mind certain emotions, feelings, and word pictures that have been presented.
In Deuteronomy 32:48 it says, “On that same day the Lord told Moses, “Go up into the Abrim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. “ In God’s mercy he allowed Moses to see the real thing, the fulfillment of the picture that he had carried around in his mind all those years. His dream was about to become a reality. So the question that leaders must ask is “do the people see the picture that I see?â€
The picture that we portray is the desired future and direction that the ministry will go. God is working through us to create the future.
D.           It is Motivational
The vision from God has the potential in a ministry to turn a maintenance mentality into a ministry mentality. In Nehemiah’s life, God gave him the vision to rebuild the walls. It so affected his life that when Nehemiah communicated the vision to others, God used his intensity to motivate others. Vision gives the organization energy to move in a new direction, or to move at all.
George Barna says “Vision becomes a bold reason for living. It is a badge of purpose that the bearer wears proudly and courageously.â€Â There is an excitement about the potential of what God is going to do through those who are apart of this vision.
E.           It Means Change
Vision deals with what is preferable, which always means change. Why do you need a vision to maintain the stats quo? So vision is required even if the church is vibrant and healthy because we must constantly seek improvement. Vision is a means of describing the activity and development of the ministry, the way in which the ministry will become more significant in the lives of people.
F.           It is Imparted by God
Vision for ministry is a reflection of what God wants to accomplish through the leader to build His Kingdom. God conveys His view of a future to the leader. If you as a leader do not know or have a vision for your organization, then you are operating on a maintenance level, where eventually there will be decline. When people’s hearts are not engaged, their level of dedication will wane as other life concerns begin to crowd into their lives.
G.           It is Imparted to a Specific Person (The Leader)
It is the responsibility of the leader to learn from God the direction in which He desires to take the church. God does not give out more than one vision to multiple people in the church.
H.           It Reveals a Promising Future
Visions are people centered and oriented. Because of this, research reveals that people in America want to make a difference in the world. We want our lives to count for something. We want to leave something of lasting value. A vision tells a story of people who are reaching their community and the world for Christ; which is the most lasting and precious thing a person can do with their life. The vision paints a very specific picture of how your church is going to do this.
* This is part two of a three part series.
Click here to read part one.
Click here to read part three.