Sermon Notes - Things Churches Need... Vision - Littleby Baptist Church - June 9, 2024

 1.        Last weeks Things Churches Need… Membership was a reminder…

a.        That we are a member of the Church through our faith in Jesus Christ.

b.       That through our faith we are to be united, in fellowship with fellow believers.

c.        Which is how we grow.

2.        That membership is important for us as individuals as well as the local church body.

a.        We benefit by learning from each other.

b.       By having the community of fellow Christ followers to lean on.

c.        The church benefits through our ability to do more together.

d.       The greater impact our ministry can have as a whole.

e.        Our ability to be a witness.

f.          To reach the lost.

g.        To provide for those in need.

h.        Including those in this room.

3.        Things Churches Need… Membership is built off of our fellowship.

4.        For someone to be interested in being a member of a group or church family, there has to be something that catches their interest.

a.        If this were a club, we would likely all have the same interest such as enjoying underwater basket weaving or something like that.

b.       Some organizations have vision and mission statements that are carefully scripted to inspire people.

5.        Today we are going to discuss Things Churches Need… Vision.

6.        Vision statements have certain elements that are needed for them to be effective.

7.        They need to be clear.

a.        We should be able to read them and understand what the goal of the organization is.

8.        It should be challenging.

a.        A vision statement about practicing our underwater basket weaving might not be good enough, although that might be pretty challenging for some of us.

b.       A vision statement is to set a target that will take more than us simply stepping outside to accomplish it.

c.        It needs to challenge us to go beyond where we are today.

9.        It needs to be visual in nature.

a.        The statement needs to paint a picture of what we are trying to achieve or who we are trying to reach.

10.   It needs to be future focused.

a.        Where are we trying to get to.

b.       Who are we trying to be.

c.        Who are we trying to reach.

11.   Realistic.

a.        It needs to challenge us, but it needs to be attainable.

b.       Maybe not solely on our ability or how we see things playing out today.

c.        But their has to be a path to get there or people will give up.

12.   The vision is meant to inspire others to join in the adventure.

a.        To join in the journey of striving to fulfill the vision.

13.   It has to be relevant.

a.        It needs to fit with the intent of the group or organization.

b.       For a business, achieving a sales goal or breaking into a new market makes sense.

c.        A sports team may have a vision to win the championship.

d.       How should one read for a church?

14.   When I think about Things Churches Need… Vision, my first thought is what does God want us to do?

a.        That is the question we need to answer.

b.       Where do we go to get that answer, the Word of God.

15.   Proverbs 29:18

a.        Without God’s Word people fall into sinful ways, but by following God’s Word they will be happy.

b.       If we apply this Proverb to Things Churches Need… Vision.

c.        We might think that it would be best to depend on God’s Word for His vision for His Church and for our local body of believers.

d.       That has traditionally been my stance.

e.        We can carefully craft a statement.

f.          We may come up with something clever.

g.        It may be catchy.

h.        But ultimately, we will use Scripture to explain it.

16.   Why use a middleman?

a.        Why not just use scripture?

b.       Maybe trim it down to a couple of bite sized chunks but use the Word of God.

17.   We should be using Scripture to answer the question of:

a.        What does God want us to do?

18.   Matthew 22:34-40

a.        In these verses we find two things that Jesus is telling people that we are to do.

b.       They are absolutely critical.

c.        The greatest of all the commandments.

d.       Loved the Lord your God….

e.        Love God with all that you are… with every bit of yourself.

f.          God is to be first in our lives.

g.        We are to hold nothing back.

h.        As we think about our vision for the church, our God needs to be front and center of everything we do.

i.          He is to be before our personal preferences, our traditions, or anything else.

j.          Love our God with all that we are.

19.   Then we are to Love your neighbor as yourself…

a.        Love others.

b.       John 13:34-35

c.        Jesus’ love for us drove Him to come down to earth to reach out to us.

d.       Our Love for others will drive us to reach out to them.

e.        It will drive us to do the other aspects of the Vision that God has spelled out for us in Scripture.

f.          It will inspire us to do the Ministry of the church.

g.        It is the Love for God and the Love for Others that I believe compels us to be the sheep who care for the least of these.

h.        Those who were hungry, thirsty, were strangers, naked, sick, and in prison.

20.   Love God… Love Others

21.   The next piece in the Word of God that answers the questions about what God wants us to do is…

22.   Matthew 28:18-20

a.        If I had to pick a single piece of Scripture as the Mission of the church, this would be it.

b.       But the others we are looking at today are important to.

c.        Here we see that we are to make disciples.

d.       The Things Churches Need… Discipleship we talked about earlier in the series.

e.        We are to help fellow believers grow in their faith.

f.          Walk along side of them.

g.        Teach them the Word of God.

h.        Help each other grow in our faith.

i.          And help them do the same for another.

j.          A self-replicating process.  

23.   So far we have Love God… Love Others… Make Disciples…

24.   The last bit of what I believe God has as a vision for the church and an answer to the question of what we are to do will likely not be a surprise.

25.   Acts 1:8

a.        We are to be witnesses to those closest to us.

b.       To those out in our community.

c.        To the neighboring areas.

d.       And all the way to the end of the earth.

26.   As we grow in our Love for God, we are going to want to share Him with as many people as possible.

27.   As we grow in our Love for others our desire to share with them the amazing gift that Jesus is offering will grow.

a.        We will want to share with them before it is too late.

b.       Our hope will be that they will follow Jesus before they stand before Him.

c.        For them to hear the message of Hope that Jesus is offering.

d.       For them to know the most amazing saving grace that we have felt.

e.        For that to happen… someone needs to tell them.

f.          We need to be witnesses to the people God has called us to love.

g.        We need to be witnesses to the people of the world.

28.   I believe God has given us His revelation so that we will not fall into our own sinful ways.

a.        Like it was talking about is Proverbs.

b.       We don’t need to recreate the wheel.

29.   To see the Things Churches Need… Vision we simply need to open His Word.

30.   When we think of those 7 elements of an effective vision.

a.        Clear, challenging, visual, focused on the future, realistic, inspiring, and relevant.

b.       I would say yes to each of those.

c.        If we as a church come together with our King He will carry out His vision through us.

31.   We are to Love God… Love Others… Make Disciples… and Be a Witness.

a.        The challenge for us today is to pray about how we can ensure we are carrying out His vision.

b.       How are we going to implement it.

c.        That is the gist of this sermon series, how do we make sure we are following our Lord’s leading as a church and as individuals.

d.       Where do we need to grow?

e.        What do we need to do more?

f.          Who are we to reach?

32.   If you don’t know God’s love.

a.        If you have yet to repent of your sins and feel the amazing love of Jesus.

b.       I want you to know that Jesus loves you more than you know.

c.        He loves you so much that He died for your sins.

d.       He paid a debt that you may not even realize you owe.

e.        If you would like to know more, I would love to talk to you.