Vision Sunday

Kingdom Focused Church

This morning as I have announced multiple times, we will be looking at God’s vision for Hammock First Baptist Church.

Before we get to that thou, there are some things that we need to see and understand.

First we must understand what a church is, and what it is meant to be.

The Greek word for Church in Scripture is Ekklesia - the basic meaning is assembly.

The emphasis in Scripture is on the concrete act of assembly.

1 Corinthians 11:18 NASB95

18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it.

Church, as described here, is the coming together of Christians to be an assembly

A church is an intentional assembly or gathering of Christians

Acts 2:46 NASB95

46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,

The Greek word Ekklesia, is sometimes used to describe the people who assemble or gather.

1 Corinthians 1:2 NASB95

2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

Less frequently, Ekklesia is used in a universal sense for all believers.

Matthew 24:31 NASB95

31 “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

With all that, we can say that a church is an intentional, relational gathering of disciples who meet regularly to help each other trust and follow Jesus.

The church does not gather for its own sake, but for the sake of others, or better yet, for the sake of God’s mission.

It is the church (the believers) who are the called, sent, missionary people of God, which means we must go to where people are.

If we fail to go to the people, the only way they will encounter the gospel meaningfully is by coming to us, which is not the biblical way.

Acts 2:42 NASB95

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Pray

I. Why We Exists as a Church

This first part we are going to look at is straight from Hammock First Baptist new members class.

The purpose of Hammock First Baptist Church is summarized in a single sentence based on two Scriptures:

“We believe a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will grow a great Church.”

The Great Commandment is found in Matthew 22:36-40

Matthew 22:36–40 NASB95

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

The Great Commission is found in Matthew 28:19-20

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

From those two text we see five things.

To love God with all your heart is worship

To love your neighbor as yourself is ministry

To go and make disciples is evangelism

To baptize is to bring people into fellowship

To teach them all things is discipleship

Hammock First Baptist Church Exists:

To celebrate God’s Presence - which is worship

To demonstrate God’s love - which is ministry

To communicate God’s Word - which is evangelism

To incorporate God’s family - which is fellowship

To educate God’s people - which is discipleship

HFBC Exists to celebrate God’s presence

We do that through worship, which we express our love to God.

John 4:23–24 NASB95

23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

There are eight different ways of expressing our worship

Singing

Praying

Giving

Meditating on Scripture

Commitment

Hearing the Word

Baptism

Lord’s Supper

The church expresses worship through different styles, such as:

Celebration

Inspiration

Preparation

HFBC Exists to Communicate God’s Word

We do that through Evangelism: which is sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ

In that there are three reasons why HFBC should never stop growing:

Because God loves people - 2 Peter 3:9

2 Peter 3:9 NASB95

9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

2. Because God commands us to reach out - Luke 14:23

Luke 14:23 NASB95

23 “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

3. Because growth is God’s will

Colossians 2:19 NASB95

19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

HFBC exists to Educate God’s people

We do this through Discipleship: which is helping believers grow spiritually - 2 Peter 3:18

2 Peter 3:18 NASB95

18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

HFBC exists to Demonstrate God’s love

We do this through ministry which is meeting the needs of the community with love - John 13:35

John 13:35 NASB95

35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

At HFBC

Every member is a missionary

Every task is important

Every member is a 10 in some area

Because of all this HFBC has declared our purpose statement as:

To Exalt the Savior, to Equip the Saints, and to Evangelize the Sinner.

This purpose statement includes the five-fold purpose of the church

Exalting the Savior = Worship

Equipping the Saints = Ministry, Discipleship, and Fellowship

Evangelizing the Sinners = Evangelism.

II. A Biblical Church Mission

Acts 2:42 NASB95

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

From this verse we can see that the core mission of a church is to be Disciple Making

This can be expressed in two ways:

By helping people to place their faith in Jesus Christ

By helping people with faith learn to form their lives around Jesus and mature by becoming more and more like Him.

A text that I want us to look at and understand and which God has laid on my heart for us to take to heart is found in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

1 Corinthians 9:19–23 NASB95

19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

As a Christian, you can eat what you want to eat, read what you want to read, marry whom you want to marry, and be what you want to be as long as it has not been forbidden by the Lord and as long as it does not go against your conscience.

However there are still times when it might be wrong to do what you are free to do.

There are times when the exercising of your liberty might hurt another person.

It is with this in mind that Paul decided to limit his own liberty.

What do you call one who has no liberty?

A prisoner.

A slave.

Paul points this out when he says,

1 Corinthians 9:19 NASB95

19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.

Notice Paul’s reasoning.

Why did he give up his liberty.

Was it because it is more spiritual to be under the Law?

Was it because he enjoyed being a slave to others?

No. It was so that he could win more to Christ.

Paul gives three examples of how he has sacrificed his freedom for the benefit of others:

· To the Jew he became as a Jew (9:20).

· To the Gentile he became as a Gentile (9:21).

· To the weak he became as weak (9:22).

In each case, Paul ends the example by giving the reason that he sacrificed his freedom.

In each case, it is “that I might win the more”

The Law is God’s perfect standard of righteousness.

But love fulfills the Law.

If you love your neighbor, then you do not need the Law to tell you not to murder him.

If you love your neighbor, then you do not need the Law to tell you not to commit adultery with his wife.

If you love your neighbor, then you do not need the Law to tell you not to steal from him or to bear false witness against him or to covet his possessions.

When there is love, there is no need for the Law because love fulfills the Law.

When Paul was with Gentiles, he did not live according to the ceremonies of the Mosaic Law.

He did live in accordance with the Law of Christ.

That Law will penetrate any culture.

Love has never gone out of style.

Weak to the Weak: To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak (9:22).

This takes us back to the concept of those who had an incomplete knowledge of their liberty in Christ.

When Paul was with those who, in their weakness, did not realize that a Christian can eat any type of food, he limited his liberty for their sakes.

When Paul was with those who were uneducated, he knew how to make his message simple so that they could understand it.

All Things to All Men: I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some (9:22).

Paul was willing to go to any lengths short of compromising the truth of the gospel to win men to Christ.

Notice that his goal was to “save some.”

He knew full well that he could not bring salvation to all men.

He could reach out to all men, but only some would respond.

Paul would BE anything to bring men to the gospel, but he would not SAY anything that would compromise the truth of that message.

In verse 23, we see the purpose of this.

1 Corinthians 9:23 NASB95

23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

Everything that Paul did was to bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

He said he did all things for the sake of the gospel.

To be all things to all men, we as a church must do four things.

1. Everything is about Outreach

How will we as a Church engage and evangelize our community.

Everything we do must be about reaching out to our community in the hope to make a connecting with them.

This means being intentional about providing a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere for visitors and members to feel at home within the church.

With this perspective we must change the way we worship, how we gather and plan programs and activities.

That is that our focus must be on engaging the community.

The simplest of changes can have the greatest impact on how those in the community feel welcomed in our church.

2. Emphasis on Prayer

As we seen in Acts 2:42, the early church was devoted to prayer.

Acts 2:42 NASB95

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

We must also put an emphasis on prayer.

Pray changes things, it changes peoples hearts, it changes peoples mindsets, and helps us to hear and be led by God.

Pray is powerful.

We must be devoted to prayer.

3. We must be Relevant

Many times we look for revival to change the church.

And revival will and can do that, but what we must understand is that revival can cause a church to focus inward to think about what to do to increase membership, increase tithes, and build the church back up to where it used to be.

Now do not hear me wrong, I am not saying those things are not good.

But as we are called to make disciples of all nations, we must see the need to be relevant.

See Relevance is about figuring out the current identity and gifts of the church now and matching that with the needs of the community.

Relevance is not about survival, but about recognizing no matter the size of our church Jesus is calling us to use our gifts in a particular way for a particular season.

4. Mission of HFBC

With all that we have seen, we need to see three things that lead to the mission.

Welcome, Nurture, and Commitment

Everything we do must first be from the perspective of hospitality, we must be welcoming.

Then we must nurture spiritual growth.

Finally we must be willing to commit to what God leads us to do.

III. The Vision for HFBC

I have been praying about the Vision God would have HFBC to have since I came here as Pastor in July.

At the beginning of this month I preached on fasting, and asked you as the body of believers to be praying that God would give us a vision.

As I have prayed about this, God has shown me seven things that we must do.

1. We must be Kingdom focused.

That is all that we do must be for the purpose of reaching the community for the Kingdom of God.

This means there are times that we need to partner with other ministries for to purpose of doing Kingdom work.

In the book of Acts we have seen on Wednesday nights and in Sunday School how Paul goes to the churches that he planted and collects an offering for the church in Jerusalem.

I have been approached by the Pastor of Horizon Bible Church about using our facilities to hold their services on Sunday evenings.

This is something that I ask you to pray about, as we will discuss it in more detail Wednesday night at church council and bring before the church for a vote on October 13 at our business meeting.

2. We must reach out into the community.

As we are Kingdom focused, we must strive to reach all of the Hammock community and surrounding areas for the glory of God.

3. We must strive to reach families.

If the church is going to grow and continue to be a light in this community, then we must reach families.

As we strive to impact the Community, we must focus on family.

Not just as a church family, but reaching families.

If we are going to reach this community and families, there are some things we must do, and things we must change.

4. We must be relevant.

That is we must be relevant in the way we approach things, relevant in the way we do things, relevant in our outreach.

There are changes that need to take place for us to be relevant.

As I shared earlier, from 1 Corinthians 9 we see in verses 22-23

1 Corinthians 9:22–23 NASB95

22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

In 1 Corinthians 9, we see that Paul is relevant to those he is trying to reach, but he does not change the message that he is sharing.

Therefore, we do not change the message, it has to be about Christ, but we must change the way we reach people and conduct things.

We cannot make everyone happy, but we can chose to please the One who matters the most.

It is to be all about God, bringing Him glory and honor and striving to please Him.

5. We must prepare for new families.

If we are going to reach families, we need to prepare our nursery, and pray for Childcare workers.

We cannot wait and see if there is a need.

I see children all over this community.

We must anticipate the need, so that when families do come they will feel welcomed.

6. We must be a church family.

Here is what I mean by that.

We must share responsibilities, and allow others to help.

That means we may need to step back or down from a position that we are currently holding.

Not that we are not capable but that God is leading someone else to lead in that position.

We must encourage all members to have a position that they serve in.

7. We must equip people to do the work of the ministry.

As the body of believers we must show up to services so that we can be equipped.

We must be equipped to make disciples, as that is what the Great Commission calls us to do.

We must be equipped to meet the needs of our community.

IV. The Three R’s of our Vision

Here are three R’s that summarize the vision God gave me.

Reach people with the love of God.

Raise them up to be like Jesus.

Release them to change the Hammock and beyond.

If we will follow through with this vision, if we will commit to doing the seven things.

Kingdom Focused

Reach out into the Community

Reach Families

Be Relevant

Prepare for new Families

Be a Family

Equip people for Ministry

I believe if we will do these things, God will bless, provide, and prosper this Church all for His glory.

I believe that as we are obedient to these things, and God blesses, we will have to start looking for more property, to grow on.

Now this does not happen over night, but I believe God will use this church in a mighty way if we are obedient to Him.