Vision

INTRO

I. Where We’re Going

A. The big WHY

a. Why Gather at church bldg or in in-home groups?

1. Why be apart o the church?

2. Why not continue to sit at hm watching service frm ur couch in ur jammies w/ur cup o coffee

b. What if I told u that Jesus has a vision 4 GMCC

1. b4 we go on, we gotta define vision:

Proverbs 29:18 KJV 1900

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29:18 ESV

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

i. Hebrew: chazown

-spelled in english w/ (c-h: ch sound), but 2 say it right u gotta make a hacking sound @the back o ur throat

*(demonstrate)

-now u try; tray again…u get the idea

ii. def: dream, revelation, purpose regarding God & his plan

-not to be confused w/mission (objectives leading us 2 the vision)

-God given Picture o Himself & a desired future/destination

2. What happens if we don’t have vision?

i. KJV reads “the people perish”

ii. ESV reads “the people cast off restraint”

-W/out vision God’s people have no direction, no purpose, they drift

-King Solomon writes in...

Ecclesiastes 10:18 ESV

18 Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.

*With no vision we become idle (indolence) and lazy (slothful)…eventually, we perish

*the church dies on the vine the doors close, the building gets rundown

iii. That is not God’s Chazown for GMCC!!

-God did not call me 3,000miles to conduct GMCC’s funeral

-Do u believe that??

3. So what if I told u that God has a desired destination 4 GMCC that didn’t include armchair church?

i. What if I told u that God has something big, great, amazing for GMCC & Bennington?

-What is GMCC’s Chazown frm God?

B. The Vision

a. Ea. individual, young & old, would come to encounter, trust & love Jesus with all their heart, mind, soul & strength (say it 2x more)

b. This vision has 2 component visions w/it:

1. River flowing down main st. (revival in the market place)

i. Notice the vision isn’t a lake in the bldg?

2. 5.5.2: 5yrs, 500 people, 2 services

i. Revival is coming 2 Bennington where people powerfully encounter Him in the market place

ii. Then begin 2 gather 2gether in community 500people requiring 2 services just to handle ‘em all!!

II. Prayer

III. Say it Again

A. Our vision

a. Ea. individual, young & old, would come to encounter, trust & love Jesus with all their heart, mind, soul & strength

1. Why young & old?

BODY

I. A place even the young can encounter God

A. How young is too young to encounter God?

a. Jeremiah

b. Samuel

c. Jesus’ perspective on kids coming to him

d. David’s understanding of God’s involvement w/Kids

e. Paul’s advise for Tim

III. How old is too old to encounter God?

A. How old is too old to encounter God

a. Abraham

b. Moses

IV. Encounters have no age limits

A. Joel’s prophecy

a. How the young encounter God at GMCC

1. In the sanctuary (that’s not going away; if temporarily suspended)

2. In the Nursery (encounter through our worker’s love)

3. In Children’s church

4. A whole in the vision: Teens

b. How the Older Gen. encounters God @GMCC

In the sanctuary

home groups

bible studies

A whole in the vision

V. God Encounters Produce

A. Encounters Produce trust

2 Timothy 1:12 ESV

12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

B. Encounters Produce Love

John 3:16–18 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary d. ‘No Night There’ (21:22–22:5)

All that was foreshadowed in such visions John sees fulfilled.

Clear as crystal conveys the idea of sparkling brilliance. Life takes its origin from God, for the river flowed from the throne of God. For the third time in this section John adds and of the lamb to his reference to God. He will not let us miss the supreme significance of the Lamb in the final state of things. But a reference to the Lamb as on the throne is unusual and Swete finds this ‘a startling expression’. Usually the Lamb is ‘in the centre of the throne’ (5:6; 7:17), but he sits with the Father on the throne also in 3:21.