SERMON: THE CHURCH WITH A VISION

Preached by Gregory W. Lee
16 July 2006

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Luke 9

51. As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
52. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him;
53. but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.
54. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them ?"
55. But Jesus turned and rebuked them,
56. and they went to another village.
57. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58. Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59. He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60. Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61. Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
62. Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

-- the key verse in this passage and the one I want you to keep in mind is verse 51 -- "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. "
-- Bruce -- just retired -- came back to see me this week -- asked about his life -- he has a vision for the future -- he has plans, goals, dreams that he is working towards -- getting involved in life in Nebraska -- working on his house -- plans to become a realtor
-- known others who retired -- they didn't seem to have any plans -- just hung around house all day -- for the first few months, they enjoyed life -- like a six-month vacation -- but even vacations can get old -- they had no plans for the future other than to just enjoy themselves -- they had no vision -- no goals -- no dreams -- and without that, their life just dried up -- some of them ended up dying shortly after retirement -- I think one reason was that life had no meaning for them any longer -- they had been so wrapped up in life at work that they had no real vision of the future

-- in Prov 29:18 in the KJV says, "when there is no vision, the people perish" --there is a profound truth in that in two ways -- without a vision of the future to lead them and guide them, people may just quit living, such as the case with people who have just retired or who lose their job -- and without a vision of the future to lead them and guide them, people may get wrapped up in themselves and fail to live up to their potential -- spending so much time and money and effort to please themselves while not moving forward into the plans that God has for them and their life
-- the night before he was assassinated, President John Kennedy gave a speech and used this proverb in that speech -- it was an impassioned appeal for the people of the United States to dream big -- to be big -- to do things that were greater than themselves -- all throughout his short presidency, Kennedy cast a vision for America that propelled us to do great things -- remember his famous words in his inauguration address? -- "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country" -- Kennedy was a visionary leader -- a person who recognized the value in having dreams and plans and goals for our individual lives and for our nation -- and his vision of a brighter and more productive future invigorated our country in a time when a vision of the future was sorely needed
-- to have a vision is to have a future -- it is to be part of something bigger than yourself -- it is to make a difference in the lives of others as you seek to fulfill God's plans for your life
-- last week we talked about heaven as being our vision for the future -- our ultimate goal -- the promise that should drive our lives with passion -- but unchanneled passion cannot guide or direct your path in the here and now -- we need a vision for the future -- both as individuals and as a church -- that will guide us into fulfilling God's plans for our lives and that will lead us to impact this world for His kingdom

II. Scripture Lesson and Application
-- the passage that we read from Luke is a passage of vision -- a passage of calling -- a passage written to direct us and guide us in our life here on earth -- in this passage, we see the steps to catching and fulfilling a vision for our lives and our church:

1. Commitment -- God wants us to have a vision for ministry, but it takes more than just envisioning the future -- we have to be committed to actually move forward to make that vision come true -- we have to be committed to the vision and have faith in God to provide all that is needed
-- look at verse 51

51. As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

-- Jesus had come to earth for a purpose -- He had a vision -- a mission -- a calling from God -- to go to Jerusalem and offer Himself as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world -- and when the time came for that vision to be fulfilled, Luke tells us that Jesus "resolutely" set out for Jerusalem
-- that word, "resolutely" means "determined" -- "unwavering" -- in other words, when the time came for Jesus to fulfill His purpose -- to fulfill His calling -- to live out God's vision for Him -- He set His face towards Jerusalem with determination -- unwilling to detour or to waver from His path -- He knew where He was going -- He knew what He was supposed to do when He got there -- and nothing was going to keep Him from fulfilling that vision -- He was committed to the vision
-- just like Christ, we are called to be committed to the visions that God has for our lives -- we are called to set out resolutely along the path to fulfillment -- when God gives us a vision, we are called to set our face towards it and to move forward with unwavering determination to fulfill what He has called us to do

2. Revelation -- Identify the needs in the community -- see where God wants us to be -- see who God wants us to be working with -- pray for our eyes to be opened to the needs in the community -- go out and ask those around the church what they consider the community's greatest need -- open our eyes to see the suffering and the needs around us
-- Jesus knew what God's vision was for Him -- when it was revealed to Him He turned His eyes towards Jerusalem and set off to fulfill that vision
-- we already know what God's vision for us involves -- in the Garden of Gethsemene, Christ didn't pray for us to be taken up to heaven with Him when He returned to the Father -- instead, He prayed for our protection because He was giving us a mission -- a vision -- in the world -- Jesus was sending us to share the good news of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life
-- God intends for us to walk through this world with a vision for bringing others to Christ -- with a vision for ministering and serving others so that others will be led to the cross -- our ultimate goal may be Heaven, but Christ didn't intend for us to enter heaven alone -- He intended for the vision of heaven to propel us and drive us and guide us in our ministry here in this place
-- George Barna offers us a compelling definition of vision for Christians -- Barna says that vision is a comprehensive sense of personal ministry -- it means knowing where you are with the Lord, where your ministry is going, and how you are going to get there -- vision is the "big picture" of the opportunities open to you -- a divinely inspired insight into what we are called to do and how we can effectively minister in our world today
-- vision should be the driving force behind our actions as servants of God -- vision becomes the energy and assurance that guides us through unforeseen difficulties or that propels us to move when we are threatened with fatigue or discouragement or ambivalence

3. Faith -- once we have confirmed God's vision for our lives, we have to trust in God to empower us to meet this vision -- this may mean strength to step forward and do something that we've never tried before -- or it may mean trusting in God to provide what we are lacking -- we can't let worldly limitations stop us from moving forward into meeting God's vision in our lives
-- anytime we try to fulfill a God-given vision in our lives or in our church, we need to know that we will face opposition -- our flesh and the things of this world will try to distract us from our mission
-- immediately after Jesus set out towards Jerusalem, He was confronted with a group of people who didn't want anything to do with His vision -- look at verse 52

52. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him;
53. but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.
54. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them ?"
55. But Jesus turned and rebuked them,
56. and they went to another village.

-- not everyone wants to be part of the vision that God gives -- there are many churches and many individuals who are living small lives because they refuse to be part of God's vision for their lives -- and, if we let them, they can distract us from our path -- James and John were more concerned with taking revenge on the villagers than they were in helping get Jesus to Jerusalem
-- when God gives us a vision, we need to focus on accomplishing the task at hand and not be distracted by the things of the world
-- seen churches refuse to act because they felt like they didn't have enough money -- I've seen churches with a lot of money refuse to act because they didn't trust that God would provide in the future -- a friend of mine was appointed to the finance committee in a church that sweated in the summertime -- and I literally mean sweated -- they had an air conditioner for the church that was put in in the mid 1950's and they wouldn't replace it -- when he joined the finance committee, he wanted to raise enough money to help them replace the air conditioner -- come to find out, the church had been given stock in Coca-Cola years before and actually had a net worth of several million dollars -- they just refused to cash it in to buy an air conditioner because they were worried about major expenses in the future -- now, how much ministry do you think that church did? -- that air conditioner was just a monument to that church's lack of faith in God's ability to provide
-- I've seen churches that refused to act because they didn't have enough time -- they were so busy with their own plans and projects and fellowship activities that they didn't think they could do anything else -- I've seen churches that refused to act because they didn't think they were talented enough or skilled enough to do what God was calling them to do -- the list goes on and on -- the excuses go on and on
-- "we don't have enough money" -- "we don't have enough talent" --" we don't have enough members" -- we need to remember that when we say, "don't have enough" that that is the point where God steps in and says, "I do" -- but first, you must step forward in faith that God will provide where you fail -- as the Apostle Paul said, it is in our weakness that we are made strong -- this is especially true in setting and meeting visions in our individual spiritual lives and in our churches
-- more than anything else, churches are limited by their vision -- if they think they can't do something, then they are right -- the churches that you read about that are doing great things for God are doing so because they caught a vision of what God wanted them to do and they trusted that He would make it happen through them

4. Action -- finally, when we have a vision -- when God has called us to do something for Him, no matter the size -- then we have to do more than just acknowledge it -- we have to do something about it -- we have to act -- we have to move forward from where we are and start to fulfill the vision that He has given us

-- verse 57

57. As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58. Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59. He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60. Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61. Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
62. Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

-- as Jesus headed towards Jerusalem, many people recognized this vision from God -- they were called to be part of it, but they refused to act -- just like those with a lack of faith, these people came up with excuse after excuse as to why they just couldn't participate -- it wasn't that they lacked knowledge of what God wanted them to do -- it wasn't that they lacked faith that God would work through them to fulfill the vision -- it was failure to act that caused them to miss out of God's vision
-- when God gives us a vision -- when God gives us an assignment -- He expects us to fulfill it

-- if we are to live lives as Christ intended, then we have to apply these four disciplines for vision-casting in our daily spiritual lives: Commitment -- Revelation -- Faith -- and Action

III. Closing
-- one day Jesus and His disciples were walking through a field and Jesus used this as a teaching opportunity -- you know, when you walk in a field, your progress depends on where you put your eyes -- a lot of us walk through a field with our eyes on the ground, watching our feet to make sure we don't stumble or step on a snake -- we worry about the things in life that have the potential to trip us up -- others walk through a field with their gaze focused on the sky, watching the clouds take on different shapes or watching the birds soar overhead or enjoying a beautiful sunset -- we can't worry about the here and now because all we're seeing is the distant horizon -- have you ever heard the saying, "they're so focused on heaven that they're no earthly good?" -- but that's not how Jesus wanted us to walk through life -- He told His disciples to open their eyes and see the field -- to see the harvest all around them -- and to follow Him as He led them through the field
-- you see, if you walk through a field with your eyes focused only on the ground or only focused on heaven, you won't make any progress -- you won't know where you are going -- it's O.K. to glance in these directions, but our focus needs to be on Christ as He leads us through the field -- our focus needs to be on the harvest that Jesus pointed out to His disciples -- our focus needs to be on meeting the vision of Christ as we follow Him to our ultimate goal -- arriving in Heaven with a large entourage of people we have picked up along the way

-- I don't know how many of you saw the Tom Hanks movie, "Forrest Gump" -- but at one point in the movie, Forrest starts running with a goal of running to the ocean -- he starts out alone, but as he goes, people start to follow -- soon, he's got a whole group of people following him, and when he makes it to the pier on the Pacific Ocean, he doesn't arrive alone -- he comes with all those he has gathered along the way
-- Forrest had a vision -- and because he followed his vision, others were led to the finish line as well

-- we are called to have a vision -- to be more than we are -- to do more than we can do -- we are called to serve God by sharing His love and His message to a field full of lost souls -- to open our eyes and see what God wants us to do and then to go out and do it
-- the difference between someone on fire for God and a pew warmer on Sunday morning is vision -- the difference between a thriving church and a dying church is vision -- without a vision, we perish -- without a vision, this church perishes
-- as I close this message this morning, I have an assignment for you -- this week, I want you to get a sheet of paper and a pen -- and I want you to get your Bible -- and I want you to sit before God in a time of prayer and study
-- I want you to ask Him to open your eyes and to give you a vision for what you can do for Him this week -- this month -- this year -- and then I want you to do the same for this church -- what can we do for Him this week -- this month -- this year
-- and I want you to write down what God tells you and I want you to share it with us next Sunday -- vision is the key to ministry -- and we must have a vision if we are to do what God wants us to do -- if we are to be who God wants us to be
-- let us pray