Recalibrating The Vision

verb mechanically alter, especially to

balance correct fine tune fix improve overhaul readjust regulate align focus

Jeremiah 29:10–13 ESV

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Good Things Come in Small Groups: The Dynamics of Good Group Life Developing and Communicating Vision

Vision: Sight, ability to see what needs exist and what can be accomplished to meet these needs.

Learning To Lead: Bringing Out the Best in People Maintain the Vision

Like the hub of a wheel, everything else grows out of this. Until the vision is established, you have all kinds of trouble. Scripture says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The New American Standard Version focuses on the way they perish—“Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.” To be restrained, to be concentrated in purpose, is essential to accomplishment, and that is why the leader must define why this organization exists. What’s its purpose?

Growing toward Spiritual Maturity Vision Building

All the great leaders mentioned in Scripture had a vision: Noah—to save his people from the flood; Abraham—to settle the Promised Land; Moses—to set his people free; Joshua—to recapture the Promised Land; Solomon—to build a great temple for God; Jeremiah—to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem; and Paul—to see Gentiles come to the Lord. Leaders initiate and carry out a vision.

Human Vision Is Flawed.

We see dimly.

Psalm 94:11 ESV

the Lord—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

We see incompletely.

God’s Vision Is Perfect.

God blesses HIS vision.

God’s vision is unlimited.

God’s vision will glorify Himself.

God’s vision will allow us to say “no” to the good, while saying “yes” to the best.

Church Communications Handbook Vision Brings Motivation and Dedication

Characteristics of a God-Given Vision

1. The vision won’t go away.

2. The vision does not change, even when circumstances do.

3. The vison is confirmed and directed by God through people.

4. The vision brings confidence and endurance.

5. The vision brings motivation and dedication.

Church Communications Handbook Vision Brings Motivation and Dedication

Characteristics of a God-Given Vision

1. The vision won’t go away.

2. The vision does not change, even when circumstances do.

3. The vison is confirmed and directed by God through people.

4. The vision brings confidence and endurance.

5. The vision brings motivation and dedication.

Church Communications Handbook Vision Brings Motivation and Dedication

Characteristics of a God-Given Vision

1. The vision won’t go away.

2. The vision does not change, even when circumstances do.

3. The vison is confirmed and directed by God through people.

4. The vision brings confidence and endurance.

5. The vision brings motivation and dedication.

Mark 1:36–39 ESV

And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Mark 1:36-

"They have caught the vision. It is now important to them, too. It's not just my deal. It's their deal now. That's what makes all the difference."

"We start in our own backyard, but we can't stay there. We've got to go all the way around the world."-Steve Swofford, FBC Rockwall, TX

"We start in our own backyard, but we can't stay there," Swofford, a recent member of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, said of supporting missions at every level. "We've got to go all the way around the world."

Church Communications Handbook Vision Does Not Change, but Circumstances Do

When God planted Hopedale Baptist Church (eight miles south of Springfield, Missouri) in 1886 amid eighteen or twenty farms, I believe He planted it for today where it now is in the midst of more than 14,000 lost people.” That is the firm belief of Pastor Terry Kendrick, who is convinced that the long-term vision that God has for a church probably will not change. “He has a special purpose for your church in your community,” Kendrick states with conviction. He believes that the secret of building an effective ministry lies in finding the vision that God has for your ministry and your church or parachurch organization.

Four non-Christian farmers started Hopedale Baptist Church when they concluded that their area needed some religion. They found a traveling preacher who converted them and made them the first four deacons of the congregation.

In 1983 when Kendrick decided to return to Hopedale, where he had pastored as a student, the membership totaled eighteen people. He says, “The church had just gotten old and tired.” They were thirty years behind the culture in which they lived. But the main problem, he believes, was that the church had lost its vision. “We did some research and discovered the church’s original vision—to reach everyone in the Hopedale community with the Gospel.”

So what does this mean for Cornerstone? Let me remind us of our mission:

Connect

Grow

Serve

Serve

Go!