Vision Sunday 2025

What does the word vision mean to you? And nobody say “glasses” as a cop-out!

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Thank you! According to the Cambridge Dictionary vision is: “the ability to imagine how a country, society, industry, etc., will develop in the future and to plan in a suitable way.”

My question is this, is vision all about the future?

Today is vision Sunday 2025. Last week we looked at our mission, asking a question: what’s the mission of the church? Jesus gave us a straightforward mission: be disciple-making disciples. So we asked: why does LGT exist? To develop passionate Jesus-followers.

Now to ask: what’s the vision for LGT? How do we carry out that mission? What’s the vision for the future? Vision involves looking at who we are now, and ahead, and asking God: how do you want to grow and shape us? Where’s our focus, Jesus?

As we said last week, charting the future with Jesus is the goal over this entire season. We’re asking Jesus to tell us where He wants us to go! Vision changes so often. God will shift us from one vision to the next. Not that the old one dies necessarily, but that we contiue to grow, and God shows us the “next” in our focus. We’re about to talk about that “next.”

Before I share with you our vision statement, I’d like to share with you the Scripture that rings in my heart as I think about LGT. As I prayed about our vision as a church, two Scripture passages came to mind. So, here’s what I want to do today: Let’s look at these passages from God’s Word and what they tell us about living for Jesus, and from there understand the vision for our church in this new season.

Matthew 5:13-16

In Matthew 5 13-16, Jesus told his disciples:

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

This is one of the better-known passages within Matthew. It comes towards the beginning of Jesus’ first discourse in Matthew - the sermon on the mount. Proceeding this Matthew presents the gospel of the kingdom. Starting in chapter three after the birth narrative in Matthew, we see the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the temptation in the wilderness, the calling of the first disciples, and then Jesus’ ministry to the people. At the start of Matthew 5 we encounter Jesus’ first sermon. In this sermon Jesus starts with the beatitudes: blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, etc. Jesus tells them to rejoice in persecution - so was the lot of those who had come before serving God, and their treasure would be stored up in heaven. Then we reach our text.

I don’t know about you, but the metaphor of salt has always had me a little confused… what does Jesus mean by “salt?” What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?

Salt in ancient times had many uses. A primary one was the preservation of meat. Keep in mind there’s no refrigerators or even ice boxes! So in order to preserve meat they would rub a good amount of salt into their meat. This would prevent the meat from decaying for a while.

Salt then is a cleansing agent. Sometime we think this metaphor refers to making something taste better. That wasn’t really the primary job of salt in the first century. Salt purified. And so must we in this world. How so? I like this insight:

Matthew 2. Paradigmatic Preaching: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29)

Christians must permeate society as agents of redemption.

As agents of redemption. In this world there is much moral decline. Our world is decaying fast. Yet it is the job of the Christian to stand up for the truth, and slow that decay. Herald the truth. We cannot expect this world or even this nation to be totally Christian.

1 John 2:17 ESV

And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

We are called to stand for the truth, to live with kingdom principles and to demonstrate the kingdom of God to the world. We should stand up for the truth, and not tolerate evil. Especially in Canada, we are blessed to have great ability to do this. Through being involved in politics, even going out to vote. Through reminding people of God’s ways and most of all, conforming your life to the standard of Jesus Christ.

Jesus says that if salt looses its taste, how can it be restored? Scientifically, this is impossible. Salt can’t become “unsalty.” But, it can become polluted with other things to the point that you might as well go buy another box from the store! Jesus’ admonishment? Do not become stained by the world and thereby loose your saltiness - so to speak! Don’t compromise with this world, but herald God’s truth in it!

So being salt in this world is about being a moral disinfectant, an agent of redemption. We need to be people who are about kingdom principles and mindset, living our lives for Jesus in full view of the world. We should remind the world of their Creator’s standards and love. Our nation is not Christian. It’s worldly and that is the way of any human institution. But God has placed some of His people here to slow the moral decay. To remind our nation of the God who loves them and His standards.

In vv. 14-16 Jesus says: “You are the light of the world.” Wait, I thought Jesus was the light of the world, as John 8 12 says?

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Yes, and as His people we carry His light to the nations. And the goal of our witness is not to be hidden. Instead we are…

Matthew 5:14–15 ESV

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

What is Jesus saying? The focus shifts from being a purifying agent to being a light in the darkness of this world. Then another image: We’re to be as a city set atop of hill - it cannot be hidden. In ancient times, many cities were made from white limestone (expositors). Pretty hard to miss something like that if you’re walking up to it. Especially if it was set atop a hill. So should we be.

Likewise, no one lights a lamp and then puts it under a bowl. Of course not, what’s the point of having the light on??

So, I have officially slipped into “dad mode” in our home. I come home, and I turn off this light or that while going around grumbling about “why so many lights are on when we don’t even need that many lights on! That costs money you know!” I literally have a little routine set up for opening up our garage that uses the least amount of electricity possible. I guess I get my “dad” card now.

So can you imagine if I walked into the house and saw a light with a bowl overtop? Talk about complaining about redundant electricity use!

It would be perhaps one of the most redundant things someone could do to hide a lamp under a bowl. If you’re going to do that, just turn the light off! It’s not doing anyone any good! Could it be argued the same as Christians who never actually live for Christ? Who hides their faith in the face of the world they live in? I’m not talking about the persecuted church, which must often meet underground. In fact I believe their lights shine bright because of their faithfulness and bravery.

For us, when we say we are Jesus-followers but our lives and speech point to the opposite, is that not akin to lighting the light and then covering it up? Jesus says,

Matthew 5:16 ESV

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

In the same way, let your light shine before others. They should know that there is something different about you! How? Through your good works! That they may see your good works, the difference in the way you live and praise God. It is this verse - Matthew 5:16 - that rings so strongly in my heart as I think about the vision for the future of LGT. Let your light shine before others - let them know whose you are by the way you live. In doing so, may this point them past yourself to God. So that when others ask, “hey, what’s different about you?” You can point to God and in those moments that person can have a tangible moment with Jesus.

Acts 1:6-8

We’ve taken a while to explore Matthew 5:13-16. We are to be salt and light. Jesus-followers who herald the truth in our world, pointing to Jesus. Living boldly for Him.

One last passage to quickly look at is Acts 1:6-8

Acts 1:6 ESV

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

In this passage, Jesus has risen. He appears to His disciples over 40 days. Then as the disciples and Jesus are together directly before Christ ascended. The disciples look at Jesus and say “hey, now are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” In other words, are you going to do the conquering thing now, over throw those Romans and restore? They were thinking too small. Jesus had just conquered sin and death, yet they missed the eternal significance - they will still thinking in small terms.

What Jesus says is so interesting. He doesn’t beat them over the head for their failure to see, nor does He give them the answer. Instead he points them to a mission:

Acts 1:7–8 ESV

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

I reference this passage as well because it tells us the same thing as Matthew 5: We are a light and a witness. Indeed, the disciples would go into all the world. The church would spread to the farthest corners - empowered by the Holy Spirit - to reach the world with the good news.

The Vision for LGT

So, it’s Vision Sunday 2025. Last week we explored our mission: to develop passionate Jesus-followers. That’s the reason for why we exist. Vision asks a different question: Who are we? Vision is about carrying out the mission. Vision is about the future and the present. Who are we now, who is God shaping us into in this season? What’s the focus?

After prayer as a leadership, we believe that God’s vision for our church is:

A body of believers who strive to take Christ with them everywhere they go.

Or “Taking Christ with us everywhere”

Taking Christ with us everywhere means impacting your communities for Jesus. Being His hands and feet. Bringing His presence in a way that makes people want to know more about God. We are carriers of God’s presence in this sense, bringing Jesus to our communities and allowing them a chance to meet Him. When Katie and I came to Leask, I heard a lot of people talking about reaching this community. God laid it upon my heart to be a church that was reaching our communities almost from the moment we came here. This vision is something we’ve already been living out. I still very much believe that this is God’s vision in this season. I believe that God’s vision for us right now is a church that is bent on taking Jesus to these communities. This looks like people who live life different, who embody the love of Christ where they are planted, and are obsessed with touching their community with Jesus’ love.

This is where Matthew 5 and Acts 1 come strikingly into view. Jesus tells us, particularly in Matthew 5:16:

Matthew 5:16 ESV

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus told us to let our lights shine. Let your light shine, that they may see your good works and praise God. We are God’s witnesses, empowered by the Spirit to the world. In this season, I believe this is what God has called us to focus on.

Tangibly, some of this we’ve already been doing this for a while. Every time we work together to put on a bridge event. Every time we have a big dinner and invite. When we hand out candy. When we invite people to ladies’ fellowship of coffee or men’s breakfast. When we put together food boxes and help out a couple families at the school. As we seek to step up our next generation outreach in the coming months, providing great teaching and a fun environment.

But it’s bigger than that. The vision is to see you outside of the church bring the presence of God to our people. Through the way you live and act, through how you talk, through how you love your community. Show them there’s something different! All of these things that we are doing is to just get a chance to touch someone’s life with the knowledge that Jesus loves them, and that He desires relationship with them. Sometimes one of the most effective ways to tell them that is for us to actively seek out that connection, and begin to build a bridge towards letting them know that they are loved. It’s not about us, it’s about Jesus and them.

The vision is to see our communities touched by God through us. We are Christ’s hands and feet. And in this season, our communities need a fresh touch from Jesus.

Conclusion

Every spring I’m usually a little late planting my garden. So the ground may have dried out a bit. If I try to stick my shovel in the ground it’s just about rock solid. It’s dry and cracked and not at all ready for planting. So do you know what I do?

I haul out my garden hose from the back yard, and I douse that garden. I discovered quickly last year that even when I thought the ground was saturated, it wasn’t very far down necessarily. Certainly not where I needed to be putting my plants. So then I’d try again and soak it some more. Until I finally had a ground ready for the planting. I’d even toss in some fertilizer just to make sure the ground had nutrients.

Listen, in the same way we need to douse our communities in the truth and the love of Christ. We live in communities where Jesus is a religion, not a relationship. He’s that guy mom and dad and grandpa and grandma made you go hear about. Being “Christian” was family culture. When you grew up you went because that’s the right thing to do, or maybe it was good for the kids, or whatever. But eventually, “going to church” became too much, so you stopped. Now, why bother?

Sure, why bother if it’s just another organization demanding time, money, and commitment out of you? But if it’s about relationship, all of a sudden things change. We were built for that! You’ll work at relationship, expending time, resources, commitment… and the most important relationship you can have is with Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord in your life.

Our mission: Developing passionate Jesus-followers. Our vision in this season is to go forward growing in being people who demonstrate the transformational power of Jesus Christ to our communities. We take Christ with us everywhere we go! Why? Because people - your friends and neighbours maybe even of 40-50 years need to see that there’s more to this thing than empty religion. There’s life-saving and life-changing relationship.

Let’s take Christ with us everywhere. Let’s do something different, a bit radical maybe, and begin to break down barriers. Begin to challenge assumptions about church and God and religion. Most of all, just love our people and build relationship with them. That vision isn’t necessarily a money-maker, but it is a seed-planter, and a kingdom mindset. I think God has called us to take Christ with us everywhere. To show our communities that something’s different through the way we live and care about them. And in doing so to sow seeds of the gospel which will - I pray - bloom into awesome faith in Jesus.

Let’s be people who are living outside of the four walls of this church in a way that makes others ask, what’s different? Our answer: Jesus!