Vision Sunday 2023

Good Morning!

Man, I am excited for today.

God has been speaking all week about today’s message and His desire for us this year.

As I stated last week, God’s desire and His plan for us has not changed.

Our only priority is to know God.

In knowing Him more fully, we won’t be able to help but share Him with others.

Remember that our job as disciples of Jesus is to bring The Kingdom of God into the world with us.

This week I have prayed for you and prayed that God would speak to where we are now.

God has been working in our body and we have all come so far.

The beauty is that we are not even close to being done.

I call that beauty because we are discovering more every day about the majesty of God.

That is changing us into His likeness and we aren’t done yet.

If I were to ask you, do you want to know God more than you do right now? You would say yes.

Not only would you say yes, but it would be true.

I absolutely believe that all of us want to know God better than we do right now.

What hangs us up, though, is our flesh.

It’s still there and it is working against us every day.

Each morning we find ourselves in the midst of a never-ending battle for our attention.

Our world has so much to offer and it is so easy to get distracted.

The dilemma that all of us face every day is to decide whether we are going to listen to God or go our own way.

All of us face this decision multiple times throughout our day.

I had a situation pop up at work this week that is devastating to many in my circle.

You may have heard that the City of Ruston announced that there is going to be a Buc-cee’s built there on I-20.

I have a customer that I have been working with for over two years to build a truck stop in Grambling.

That is one exit or two miles down from this new Buc-cee’s build.

As you can imagine, the owner of this TS called and was panicking.

I would have been worried if he didn't.

To keep the story short, I’ll just tell you a few details and I can more fully tell you later.

1. The owner is not a believer He is a Sikh and in his own words their religion is basically karma. Do good in the world and good will return to you.

2. I was praying for him and for guidance on how to handle his situation.

God gave me a clear word through Ps 3:6 “6 I will not be afraid of thousands of people who have taken their stand against me on every side.” and Ps 5:12 “12 For you, Lord, bless the righteous one; you surround him with favor like a shield.”

3. During a meeting that day I got to share this word from God with Vic and his brother and what I believe God was saying.

4. From that moment forward, the dynamic of our relationship has changed.

God is working and I only got to see it because I asked God to reveal what He was doing.

All of us have had similar situations where we get to be in on God’s work.

The difficulty is staying in that course and seeing God’s work to completion.

Our goal for 2023 is to know God and to make Him known.

So how do we stay the course?

How do we go through an entire year plugged into God’s activity?

This is the million-dollar question.

If our only Goal this year is to know God and to make Him known, how do we go about it?

This week a familiar story came up in my devotional reading and God used it to speak to me about our church.

Look with me at Joshua 6 at the conquest of Jericho.

Joshua 6:1–2 CSB

1 Now Jericho was strongly fortified because of the Israelites—no one leaving or entering. 2 The Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its best soldiers over to you.

I want to stop right here.

Take a close look at what God is saying.

The city is fortified so that no one was entering or leaving.

This place was locked down and the citizens were secure behind the walls designed to protect them and the city.

They were locked down because they had heard about Israel and their previous victories over their neighbors.

The enemy knows we are coming!

He is aware of what God has done and wants to do in us.

But don’t be afraid because look at what God tells Joshua.

God said, “Look, I have handed Jericho, its King, and its best soldiers over to you.

They haven’t even begun the battle and God is telling Joshua that He has given him the city, king, and best soldiers.

The victory is already ours and our battle hasn’t even started yet!

The city is locked down in a fortified position and God says that He has already handed them over.

Anything that God is asking us to do, He has already had victory over.

We are going to talk through some things today that God has spoken for us to do.

He has some action steps for us but we can’t join God and ignore his battle plan.

We need to realize that if we obey what God tells us, He will accomplish His goals.

The results are not up to us, only obedience.

Joshua 6:3–5 CSB

3 March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry seven ram’s-horn trumpets in front of the ark. But on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the rams’ horns. 5 When there is a prolonged blast of the horn and you hear its sound, have all the troops give a mighty shout. Then the city wall will collapse, and the troops will advance, each man straight ahead.”

Next time God tells you to do something that seems a little crazy, remember this story.

God’s ways are not the world’s ways and that is intentional.

If Israel had built machines, and put together a battle plan, and won this victory, the surrounding areas would have heard of Israel.

But the stories would have been about Israel alone and their military/strategic abilities.

When you just march around, blow horns, and yell, and a city crumbles, God gets credit for that.

That didn’t happen because Joshua was a good military leader.

Our goal is not to make a name for ourselves but for others to see God.

Mat 5:16 “16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

God wants to work in your life for your benefit and the benefit of others.

He is going to ask you to do things that may seem odd, but that is so that God can get the glory.

Joshua 6:6–16 CSB

6 So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” 7 He said to the troops, “Move forward, march around the city, and have the armed men go ahead of the ark of the Lord.” 8 After Joshua had spoken to the troops, seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns before the Lord moved forward and blew the rams’ horns; the ark of the Lord’s covenant followed them. 9 While the rams’ horns were blowing, the armed men went in front of the priests who blew the rams’ horns, and the rear guard went behind the ark. 10 But Joshua had commanded the troops, “Do not shout or let your voice be heard. Don’t let one word come out of your mouth until the time I say, ‘Shout!’ Then you are to shout.” 11 So the ark of the Lord was carried around the city, circling it once. They returned to the camp and spent the night there. 12 Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests took the ark of the Lord, 13 and the seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns marched in front of the ark of the Lord. While the rams’ horns were blowing, the armed men went in front of them, and the rear guard went behind the ark of the Lord. 14 On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. 15 Early on the seventh day, they started at dawn and marched around the city seven times in the same way. That was the only day they marched around the city seven times. 16 After the seventh time, the priests blew the rams’ horns, and Joshua said to the troops, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.

This is the weirdest battle plan of all time.

You aren’t going to find this in any books on strategy.

Joshua and Israel did what God asked them to do and God did what He said He would do.

Joshua 6:20 CSB

20 So the troops shouted, and the rams’ horns sounded. When they heard the blast of the ram’s horns, the troops gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. The troops advanced into the city, each man straight ahead, and they captured the city.

We have some particular tasks that God has asked us to do.

Each of us has to individually decide if we are going to obey.

If we don’t, we know what happens… nothing.

What happens if we obey?

We receive the victory that God has already secured.

When God does through you, what He said He would do, people see your good works and He gets glorified.

Joshua 6:27 CSB

27 And the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

Whose fame spread?

Joshua’s fame, but what about Joshua’s fame was spread?

He was known like so many before and after him.

“The Lord was with him.” Joshua becomes a type. Gen 39.2, Judg 1.19, 1 Sam 3.19, 1 Kings 1.37.

gen 39:2 “2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master.”

judg 1.19 “19 The Lord was with Judah and enabled them to take possession of the hill country…

1sm 3.19 “19 Samuel grew. The Lord was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied.”

1kg 1.37 “37 Just as the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.”

God wants us to be known the same way.

God wants us to become a type as well.

When people talk about you at work, the gym, the ballpark, etc., they can say, “the lord is with ______.”

God has work for us to do, and He is going to do it in His way.

Our only goal is what? To know God and make Him known.

We know Him by experience through obedience.

If we want to follow God and share Him with others, we do that by obeying and telling others what God is doing.

I don’t know the end of the story with the truck stop in Grambling, but I do know that God is involved and Vic and his family are going to see God working.

The only way that happens, because they don’t know God, is if I stay the course with God.

Over the next few minutes, I’m going to share with you the things that God has spoken for us to do.

Some of it is similar or the same as in the past, and some are new.

Regardless, God has a plan and He wants to use us to accomplish it.

“Our lack of words exposes something missing from our hearts.” - David Platt, Praying the Word 1.15.23

Church Growth - I don’t know that I need to say much more than I’ve already said this morning. God wants His name known in our communities and He is going to do that through us.

All we have to do is abide.

Don’t be fake fruit.

Actually, spend time with God and pray for those in your life. God will speak and give you things to do.

As you obey, you will learn more about God, and so will those people.

Luke Study - God’s desire is for us to know Him. This is our goal in studying the book of Luke. We are going to encounter the person of Jesus and know Him as we meditate on His life.

Life Groups - Grow and multiply our communities. God put this verse in front of me this week when I was praying about our Life groups.

Matthew 9:12–13 CSB

12 Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Who are we spending time with? Those who are well or those who are sick.

Life groups are designed to make and grow disciples, we are growing disciples, but we aren’t making any.

We need to be intentional about making space for visitors and inviting visitors.

I don’t know if you have noticed, but we have had a few people visit over the last few years, but they never got plugged into a life group.

Do you know what happened? They stopped coming.

Research shows that it takes up to 50 hours for a person to feel connected with someone new.

1. Hall, J. A. (2019). How many hours does it take to make a friend? Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(4), 1278–1296.

If your life group is 2 hours long, that is half a year before they are fully connected.

We need to do a better job of facilitating and encouraging others to be a part of our LGs.

If our church is going to grow, our life groups will have to grow with it.

Bible Literacy - teaching others how to use and study their Bibles.

Specifically our kids.

There is nothing wrong with using technology, but there is also great value in holding a physical copy and knowing how to use it.

Instead of printing the scripture on the outlines, we can look them up. They will be listed at the top of the outline.

This will also foster our desire to dig into God’s word.

Church Maintenance Projects - workdays are going to be scheduled and the first one is 2/4/23.

Finish the kitchen.

Repair back wall

repair rotten fascia boards

Unclog the culvert and fix drainage issues.

Church connections - a few months ago, when we had the pastor appreciation lunch, several people commented to me on how nice it was to get to interact and spend time with people that aren’t in their life groups.

I agree and so I’ve been praying about how to best go about ensuring that those connections get to happen.

I think we should do a supper club at regular intervals.

If you are interested, you sign up and you are sorted by the organizer.

This will allow us to have regular times to spend with people that we don’t normally get to spend time with.

These would be hosted in homes and everyone brings a dish to share, similar to a life group.

Those nights' purpose would be about fellowship and community building.

I’ve done similar things in the past with other groups and they are so much fun.

If you are interested in helping to organize something like this, let me know.

NexGen Ministry -

Worship Ministry

Thanks, Bethany and Leah, for all that you do in leading our church.

As you guys can see, most of what God has us focusing on is not new.

There are few things sprinkled here and there, but for the most part, our focus is the same.

We are going to experience God and share that with the people God places in our lives.

I am excited about this year and the growth that we are all going to experience.

Let’s pray together over this year and the things God has called us to do.

Announcements:

TGP/PDC Calendar

Church workday 2/4/23

Rachel and Paul’s wedding

I’ll be going on my first writing retreat this weekend. Please pray that God will speak as I prepare sermons for the next two months.

Carey will kick off our Luke study next week. I’m super excited about that!

Offering