A Shared Vision for God’s Church

If you have ever driven in a thick fog, you know how unsettling it feels.

You can see just a few feet ahead — the lines on the road fade, landmarks disappear, and you begin to slow down because you are not sure where you are going.

Now imagine a church in that same kind of fog.

The people love the Lord. They gather faithfully. They sing, give, and serve.

But there is a cloud of uncertainty about where God is leading.

No clear sense of direction. No shared sense of purpose.

Everyone’s moving — but not necessarily together.

That is what happens when a church lacks vision.

But here is the good news:

When God gives His people a vision — a shared, Spirit-led understanding of what He is calling them to be and do — everything changes.

Direction replaces drift.

Unity replaces uncertainty.

Purpose replaces passivity.

And here is what I want us to understand this morning: God’s vision for His church does not come from a pastor’s imagination, but from a congregation’s submission — together — to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The pastor’s role is to guide, shape, and guard that vision, but the source of the vision must come from within the body.

Because when the vision is born in the congregation and not just from the pulpit, the whole church takes ownership of it.

So today, we are going to look at what it means to be a church that listens for God’s direction together.

We will begin with why vision matters, then see how God brings His people together around a shared purpose,

and finally look at how leadership and congregation work hand-in-hand to bring that vision to life.

The Necessity of Vision (Proverbs 29:18)

Every church needs to know why it exists and where it is going.

Because when we lose sight of why we’re here, we begin to drift.

We keep doing church activities, but we can lose the sense of divine direction.

And without direction, even good things can become distractions.

That is why the Bible talks about vision.

Not human dreams.

Not leadership slogans.

But God-given vision — His revealed direction for His people.

A. God’s Vision, Not Ours

Proverbs 29:18 LSB

18 Where there is no vision, the people are out of control, But how blessed is he who keeps the law.

That word vision in Hebrew — does not mean “a clever plan” or “a good idea.”

It means a revelation from God.

That’s why the ESV

Proverbs 29:18 ESV

18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

It refers to when God makes His will known to His people through His Word and His Spirit.

So, when Proverbs says “where there is no vision,” it is saying, “Where God’s voice is not guiding His people, they wander.”

When we lose the sense that God Himself is leading, we start doing what seems right in our own eyes.

We may stay busy — even religiously busy — but we stop being fruitful.

Let me put it this way:

A church without God’s vision is active but not advancing.

Busy but not bearing fruit.

B. Vision Brings Focus and Unity

God’s vision brings clarity to His people.

It unites us around His purpose and guards us from drifting into preferences and programs.

When a church has no clear, shared vision from God, everyone starts pulling in different directions.

One person wants more programs.

Another wants more tradition.

Someone else wants more outreach.

And none of those things are wrong!

But without a shared understanding of what God is calling this church to do in this season, we end up scattering energy instead of focusing it.

But when God gives His vision — when His people discern together what He is calling them to be and do — unity forms.

Prayer deepens.

Purpose sharpens.

People move together.

You see, vision gives direction, and direction gives unity.

C. Vision Comes Through Revelation, Not Invention

Here is an important truth for us as a church:

Vision is not invented by the pastor; it is revealed by the Spirit to the people of God.

My role as a pastor is not to walk off to a mountaintop, ask God for a 5-year plan, and then come down with stone tablets that say, “Here’s what we’re doing.”

That is not how biblical vision works.

When you look at the story of God’s people — from Moses to the prophets to the church in Acts — God speaks to His people.

Sometimes through leaders, yes.

But the purpose of those leaders is to help the people hear and follow together.

That is what we need.

Not just a pastor’s plan, but a people’s discernment — a shared sense that, “This is what God is calling us to do.”

Because if the vision only comes from me, you might hear it.

But if the vision comes through us, you will own it.

If the vision does not come through the congregation, the congregation will never carry it.

D. Vision Keeps Us Grounded in God’s Word

Notice the second half of Proverbs 29:18:

“…but blessed is he who keeps the law.”

In other words, true vision is never detached from Scripture.

God’s revelation always leads His people back to obedience — to walk in His Word.

That is the difference between spiritual vision and human ambition.

Human ambition says, “Here’s what we can do if we work hard enough.”

Spiritual vision says, “Here’s what God wants to do if we trust and obey Him.”

That is what we are after — His direction, His timing, His glory.

E. Application: Our Need for Vision as a Church

So what does this mean for us today?

It means that our church needs to hear from God together.

The purpose is not to to create a slogan or a strategy.

But to ask -

Lord, what are You calling us to be and to do right here in this community?

We want a vision that grows out of prayer, out of listening, out of Scripture, and out of the hearts of God’s people — all generations together.

Without that shared vision, we risk becoming a church that meets faithfully but moves nowhere.

But with that shared vision, even a small church can make a big difference.

Because when a church aligns around God’s vision, there is no limit to what He can do through it.

So the question is not “Do we need a vision?”

The question is, “How does God give it?”

And that is where we turn next —

Take for example Nehemiah.

We went through the book of Nehemiah not too long ago.

If you remember, or know the story, God gave Nehemiah a burden for the city of Jerusalem.

This was not a vision, this was a burden.

The temple had been rebuilt, but the city was vulnerable, it had no walls.

Nehemiah received permission to go to Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 2:11–18 ESV

11 So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13 I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15 Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. 17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” 18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

There are two important moves in this passage that we must not collapse into one:

The leader’s discernment (Nehemiah walking the walls at night; vv. 11–16).

The people’s ownership (Nehemiah inviting the people; vv. 17–18 and their response).

I have seen churches speed from “leader senses a need” directly into “leader prescribes a program,” skipping the vital middle step: the church must be invited to see and to own God’s work.

Nehemiah models that middle step.

In this passage we find five verbs that mark the movement from private burden to public mission.

First Nehemiah wen to see the situation first hand.

a. Nehemiah went to see — Nehemiah looked (vv. 11–13).

Nehemiah did not rush.

He arrived and spent time observing.

He walked the city at night and took in the brokenness with his own eyes.

Vision begins with honest seeing — not with optimistic projection.

If we take an honest look at our church, there are many good things happening, but there also some broken areas.

b. Nehemiah arose and examined, he told no one yet what God had put upon his heart. (v. 12).

He did not want to come in a bulldoze whatever was already taking place.

But observe what the current situation was.

c. Speak — Nehemiah told the people (v. 17).

After seeing and sensing, he spoke plainly and invitationally: “You see the trouble we are in… Come, let us build.”

Notice the language: he did not say “you have a problem” or “I have a plan.”

He said, “We are in this together.”

d. Summon — Nehemiah invited participation (v. 17).

Invitation is crucial.

Nehemiah offers a summons and invites ownership.

Nehemiah models the principle that when a leader commands, people may comply; when a leader summons, people may join.

The tone changes everything.

e. Strengthen — The people responded and acted (v. 18).

Their response — “Let us rise up and build” — is the moment the vision becomes theirs.

They literally “strengthened their hands.”

That language pictures muscles braced for work: shared commitment.

The Vision Is God’s, But It Is to Be Owned by God’s People

Theologically, two truths stand together here:

Vision originates with God.

Nehemiah consistently points to God’s hand — “what my God had put into my heart,” “the hand of my God that had been upon me.”

Vision is not human cleverness.

It is God’s calling.

Vision becomes effective only when the people embrace it.

God gives the burden; people bring the hands.

God raises leaders to steward revelation; the church provides the body to carry it out.

Scripture repeatedly balances divine initiative with communal response.

This balance protects us from two errors:

Assuming the pastor or a committee alone supplies the church’s future.

Assuming the congregation is only an audience rather than co-workers.

Nehemiah teaches a robust ecclesiology: God calls, leaders clarify, the people confirm and act.

True vision always moves from revelation to participation.

Nehemiah heard from God, but God’s work would not move forward until the people embraced it together.

The Spirit still works this way in the church. God plants seeds of burden, conviction, and calling among His people — and through prayerful conversation, unity, and obedience, a shared vision emerges.

My burden - Godly families building and leaving legacies for Jesus.

Individuals growing in their relationships with Jesus, turning more and more away from self towards Jesus each day.

The pastor’s role is like Nehemiah’s: to help the people see what God is doing and to invite them into it.

For our church, this means that discovering God’s direction cannot happen in a single meeting or sermon.

It begins with prayer, grows through discussion, and takes root when hearts unite around a shared sense of calling.

When a congregation says together, “Let us rise up and build,” that is when God begins to move in power.

We must discern together how God is calling us to build His Kingdom right here.

A conductor shapes and cues; the orchestra must play.

Vision is not the conductor playing all the instruments alone.

Leaders guide the tempo and tone; the congregation must pick up their instruments and play their part.

Nehemiah did not rebuild Jerusalem by himself.

He saw the need, he named God’s work, he invited the people, and they strengthened their hands.

If God is calling us to be a praying, growing, outward church, then the next faithful step is not a plan from the pastor’s office.

It is a people who will watch, pray, and say together, ‘Let us rise up and build.’

Will you join in that work?

If shared ownership is the starting posture, what then is the pastor’s work in shaping and sustaining that vision?

Ephesians 4 shows us the pastoral pattern of equipping the saints so the body grows into maturity.

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Paul paints a picture of how the church grows and moves in God’s purpose.

He begins by describing the gifts Christ gives to the church — apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers.

Notice what these leaders are for:

“to equip the saints for the work of ministry.”

That is the heartbeat of biblical leadership.

Are you allowing yourself to be equipped?

Are you placing yourself in a position to be equipped?

The leaders are not the church’s hired hands; they are the church’s equippers.

They are not called to do the ministry for the people, but to prepare the people for the ministry.

Paul’s language is deeply relational.

The body grows as every joint, every part, every member works together.

Vision, then, is not the product of one head and many followers; it is the movement of one body under one Head — Jesus Christ Himself.

So when the church seeks vision, it must always remember that Christ is the Head,

the source of direction, the One to whom all parts must listen.

The pastor’s job is to help the body hear and respond to the Head.

This passage gives us a theology of shared leadership and communal maturity:

Christ is the Giver of Vision.

The church’s vision is not the product of strategy meetings or surveys; it comes from Christ who directs His body through His Word and Spirit.

Maturity is the Goal.

Vision is not simply about accomplishing goals or running programs;

it is about helping the whole body grow into the likeness of Christ — united in faith, full of love, and equipped for service.

In this model, the pastor does not “own” the vision — Christ does.

The pastor’s task is to help the people recognize and live out the vision Christ is already birthing among them.

Let us bring this closer to home.

In church, it is easy to look at the pastor and say, “Pastor, what is our vision?”

But according to Ephesians 4, the better question is, “How is Christ equipping us to serve and grow together?”

If the pastor alone holds the vision, then the people become consumers.

But if the people are equipped to hear, to serve, and to act, then the whole church becomes a living, breathing movement of grace.

That means my role — and the role of elders — is not to hand you a list of plans, but to help you discern your place in God’s plan.

My task is to teach and guide, to help us stay rooted in Scripture,

to remind us who we are and where we are going, and to help each of you find your part in that mission.

If we were to put it simply:

The pastor’s job is to shape the process; the congregation’s job is to share the purpose.

And when both happen — when shepherds equip and the saints engage — something beautiful occurs: the church builds itself up in love.

Paul’s phrase “builds itself up” is key — it is a church that grows not because of one person’s charisma, but because of many people’s contribution.

Think of a coach on a team.

The coach cannot score the touchdowns or sink the baskets;

the coach’s job is to prepare the players, to give them the plays, to encourage and correct, and to help them work together toward the goal.

If the players sit back and say, “Coach, win the game for us,” they miss the point entirely.

But when everyone learns their role and plays it well, the team wins — not because of one person’s effort, but because of shared purpose and coordination.

That is the picture Paul gives of the church.

Every believer has a position.

Every member matters.

Every hand and heart is needed.

So if leadership’s purpose is to equip and guide, and if the body’s role is to serve and share in that vision, what does that mean for us right now?

How do we begin to seek God’s direction as one body?

That brings us to our final point — the call to listen and participate together in what God is doing.”

So now comes the question: What do we do next?

If God calls His people to discern His vision together, then every one of us has a part to play in that process.

The call to vision is not a call to a meeting.

It is a call to participation — to seek, to listen, to engage, and to obey.

1. Commit to Prayer

There are many who pray in our church and that is wonderful.

Every great movement of God begins with prayer.

Commit to praying for God’s direction for our church as well.

When the early church in Acts 13 was worshiping and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke.

When Nehemiah prayed over the broken walls of Jerusalem, God gave him courage and clarity.

If we want to hear God’s direction for our church, it will come the same way — through prayerful dependence.

That means we must pray both individually and corporately:

Individually, we ask, “Lord, what are You calling me to do?”

Corporately, we ask, “Lord, what are You calling us to do together?”

We cannot expect to receive divine direction if we are not devoting ourselves to divine conversation.

“Before we can build anything for God, we must first be still before God.”

2. Participate in Listening

Hearing from God is not a one-way street where the pastor speaks and the people nod.

It is the body of Christ listening together — discerning through prayer, Scripture, and conversation what the Spirit is saying to the church.

That means when we gather — for meetings, prayer times, or ministry discussions — each of us should come prepared not just to talk, but to listen.

Listen to the Word.

Listen to the Spirit.

Listen to one another.

Vision grows when God’s people share what He is stirring in their hearts.

It might be a burden for a certain group in the community.

It might be a sense that God is opening a new opportunity or reviving an old one.

When we listen humbly together, the Spirit begins to weave those threads into a clear direction for the whole body.

“The voice of the Spirit is most clearly heard through the harmony of a praying people.”

3. Engage in Unity

God will not reveal His vision to a divided church.

Unity is not just a nice idea — it is the environment where the Spirit works.

Ephesians 4:3 calls us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

That means we must be intentional about guarding unity.

We do that by:

Resisting gossip.

Gossip divides where the Spirit seeks to unite.

Rejecting apathy.

Apathy keeps us from engaging in God’s mission.

Encouraging honesty.

We can disagree and still love one another when our goal is truth and unity.

The enemy delights in division because division destroys direction.

If we want to see God’s hand guide our church, we must walk hand in hand with one another.

“The Holy Spirit speaks clearest in the atmosphere of unity and humility.”

4. Own the Vision

Once God’s direction becomes clear, it is not enough to admire it from a distance.

We must own it — make it ours — and take part in bringing it to life.

When Nehemiah said, “Come, let us build the wall,” the people replied, “Let us rise up and build.”

They did not say, “Nehemiah, you go ahead.”

They said, “Let us rise up.”

They put their hands to the work because they saw that it was God’s work.

That is ownership — not waiting for someone else to do it, but believing that God has called you to it.

Owning the vision may mean serving in new ways, giving more generously, or simply showing up faithfully and encouraging others to do the same.

It means each person moving from spectator to participant — from “their church” to “our church.”

“Vision without participation is just a dream; vision with ownership becomes movement.”

So here is the challenge before us:

Will we be a church of people that simply attend, or a church of people that truly listen?

Will we wait for someone else to define the future, or will we seek the Lord together for His direction?

The next chapter of this church’s story will not be written by one person’s ideas or preferences.

It will be written by a people who seek God’s heart together — praying, listening, uniting, and responding.

If we will do that, then the same God who rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls will shape our vision, too.

And when He does, it will not just be a vision.

It will be our vision — Spirit-born, prayer-fueled, and people-owned.

Communion

As we close this message about listening and participating together in God’s vision, it is fitting that we come now to the Lord’s Table.

Because Communion is, in itself, a picture of everything we have talked about this morning.

At this table, we are reminded that the Church’s vision does not begin with us — it begins with Jesus Christ.

His broken body and shed blood are the foundation of everything we are and everything we do.

This meal is a visible reminder that we are not just a collection of individuals — we are one body, united under one Lord, sharing in one purpose.

As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:16–17:

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 ESV

16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

So today, as we prepare to share the bread and the cup, let us do what we have been talking about —

let us listen to the Lord,

examine our hearts,

and participate together in remembering what Christ has done for us.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took bread.

After giving thanks, He broke it and said,

“This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

As the bread is passed, I invite you to take and hold it.

Use this time to pray — thank Him for His sacrifice, and ask Him to unite our church in His love and purpose.

Pray

Eat

In the same way, after supper, Jesus took the cup and said,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

As the cup is passed, take it and hold it.

Use this moment to thank the Lord that through His blood, our sins are forgiven and our hearts are made clean.

Pray that our church would walk together in the same grace and forgiveness He has shown us.

Pray

Drink

We have remembered Christ’s sacrifice —

but we have also remembered our shared calling as His people.

This bread and cup remind us that the One who gave Himself for us now calls us to give ourselves for Him —

to live for His glory, to serve in His body, and to seek His will together.

Prayer:

“Lord Jesus, thank You for giving Your body and shedding Your blood for us.

Thank You for calling us together as one church under Your lordship.

As we leave this table, help us to walk in unity, to listen to Your Spirit, and to live out the vision You place on our hearts.

May our lives proclaim Your death and resurrection until the day You return.

In Your name we pray, Amen.”