Who Are We? Vision and Mission - Series Intro

A young boy had been begging his father for a new watch. His father, getting frustrated, finally demanded, “I don’t want to hear about your wanting a watch again.”

At family devotions that evening, each family member was asked to share a Bible verse. The boy read Mark 13:37: “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”

Last week I showed the rendering of what the sanctuary is going to look like here and today I want to show what the outside is going to look like.

Today we are embarking on a new series in which I hope to answer the question: Who are we? As a church family and as individuals we need to know who we are in Christ.

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Identity is a distinguishing character or personality that makes us unique. In order to understand who we are as a church and what makes us Christians we need to know what makes us unique and different from the world. Are we just a social club that meets once or twice per week or are we the body of Christ that has been given power and authority to carry out God’s will on earth?

Well, I believe this is a very important topic right now. We are on the cusp of something great.

Do you believe that? Or do you believe that the world is just going to win in the end so we should just sit back?

No, I really truly think that we can retake some ground here in our community. We can win souls to the kingdom of God. But first we need to know who we are in Christ.

I want to leave no room for speculation of the type of church we are now, who we want to be, and how we plan to get there over the next few weeks.

The first topic that I want to discuss is what we are committed to.. What drives us as a church? What do we hold onto as truth? What is our foundation? Is there something we just won’t compromise on at our church?

The first scripture I want us to look at this morning is:

Acts 1:1–3 NIV

1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

What I find interesting about this scripture is that Luke is writing about things that took place AFTER the death, burial, and resurrection but before the disciples had the upper room experience that gave them the boldness and authority to carry out the ministry of the gospel.

Jesus had specific thoughts and ideas on how He wanted His followers to work in the Kingdom He created. Luke tells us that Jesus was doing, teaching, and instructing the apostles He had chosen. This took place for 40 days AFTER the resurrection.

Now, the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly all that Jesus taught them during the 40 days before He ascended and the Holy Spirit came, but what we can see are the RESULTS of what He taught them after they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

The question I have is this; what mattered the most to the early church?

Maybe we need to shine the spotlight on for our church today that will help us answer the question of “Who are we?”.

To understand who we are we must have Vision, Mission, and Values that guide us to establish our identity in the Body of Christ. Over the next few weeks my aim to to pull out key points in scripture that can help us on our journey as a church and you as an individual.

The Gospel is our Core Commitment

As a kid I remember my Pastor. Dan Snowbarger was a man who loved God and loved people. I really feel like my life was molded in no small part by his ministry. From my perspective as a child I remember thinking the pulpit in our church was MASSIVE. It was made from wood, it had shelves, it even had these kind of side tables where he could place his bible and other notes. It was really impressive to me.

Well, one day I remember standing up on the stage and noticing right at the top part of the pulpit was a little plaque. It said “Keep the main thing the main thing”. I asked him what that meant and he told me that it was a reminder to focus on Jesus.

For us as a church, we have many things we can focus our ministry on, but nothing will be more important than our Savior and the Good News that He has brought to the world. It’s the MAIN THING!

As a church and devoted followers of Christ we must keep our vision and focus on the good news. We have work to do in this whole thing called the gospel. It’s alive and active. We must be committed to the cause.

What is the good news? Well, let’s here what Jesus told everyone at the beginning of His ministry:

Luke 4:18–19 NLT

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

Jesus was standing in the synagogue reading this portion of scripture written by Isaiah who was writing about the Messiah that would come to take away the sins of the world. Jesus was letting everyone in on the fact that HE was the Messiah.

To us today in this church this may not seem like a big deal because we know all about Jesus, but at the time this was a mic drop moment.

No one claimed to be the Messiah! Unless you could back up that claim, you were in for a world of trouble.

Ultimately, we know that it was absolutely true because the prophecies were fulfilled. Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected on the third day. He bridged the gap between us and God.

Folks, this is the GOOD NEWS! The world no longer must stay in the darkness of sin. We can be set free to live in the grace of God that was paid for by the blood of a perfect sacrifice. If we call on the name of Jesus in faith we will be saved.

As a church, this must remain our focus. Our vision is to proclaim this good news to the poor, the broken, the captives, the blind, so that all can be set free because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life!

Keeping the main thing the main thing comes with belief and action. If we are going to be committed to the cause of the Gospel then we should remember the commission that Jesus gave to us:

Mark 16:14–15 NLT

14 Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead. 15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.

So here’s a picture of us! Have you even dug your heals in on an issue?

Maybe instead of being full of faith you just wanted to see how things pan out before you do what God is leading you to do?

These eleven disciples must have been SHOCKED to see Jesus after He was brought back to life.

They saw Him die on the cross and they didn’t believe the report that He was alive. They certainly weren’t focused on the Messiah!

Can you imagine the “spit takes” when Jesus walked into the room?!

Rebuke means He got after them! He told them they were wrong and obviously they needed to get their act together. He told them that they needed to focus on the main thing. They needed to adjust their vision.

To Go into all the world and let everyone know that Jesus was alive!

As a church, we have this same mandate from Christ. Let’s make it personal, if Jesus came into this room today, would He rebuke us? or would He say, wow, you are a people of faith in action?

Jesus said we are to continue His work in setting people free, healing the hurting, helping the oppressed.

Our vision for the future is rooting and committed to the Gospel!

Why? Why is it so important? Because we want to fill this building with people to hear me preach? Or so that we can have the worlds best church programs? No way!

It’s because PEOPLE matter to God. Our main purpose is to reach people with the saving knowledge of who Jesus is, what He did, and what He is doing now.

Our vision is to reach people with the gospel, not to reach people with our amazing church programs.

I like what Paul said:

1 Corinthians 9:22–23 NLT

22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

We can have programs and all the “stuff” of the modern church, but we do it all so we can reach EVERYONE. I love that phrase “common ground” or “become all things to all people” because it tells us that we can’t just focus on what works for believers, we must focus on what works to get the good news to those who have never heard it before.

This is our purpose. This is our vision for the future. To be a church committed to keeping the main thing the main thing.

Who are we? We are committed to the Gospel.

If our vision, where we are going is fulfilling the Gospel, then our mission, how we are going to get there is going to be found in our commitment to God’s Word.

God’s Word is our Rock

We are committed to the Gospel, but not just any Gospel. We must be a church committed to God’s word. Its’ where we find the truth.

It’s our cornerstone that produces faith. It’s not just something we hold in our hands, it’s the living Word from God and we will NEVER turn from what it says. It’s our guide.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NLT

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

We didn’t get to spend those 40 days with Jesus when He was doing, teaching, and training the disciples.

How do we get equipped to do what they did? We use the Bible. We must believe that it is God’s word to us. That it will teach us, correct us, inspire us, and equip us to do His great work.

I can’t help but to think about the nation of Israel marching to the promised land. They had dreams in there heart of what it would be like.

They were told it was a land of milk and honey. Doesn’t that seem good?

They were PROMISED this land by the same God who delivered them from slavery. Slavery that had lasted for 400 years!

They had been delivered from an impossible situation by impossible means. Seas were parted, armies were destroyed. It was only by the power of God that they were marching on to receive this promised land.

We all know what happened though, right? They saw that the land was occupied and they got afraid. They didn’t take the promise. Instead they wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years!

They had a vision or where they wanted to go, but they didn’t have a clear plan on how to get there. When adversity came they fell back because they weren’t grounded in faith…in truth. They forgot who God was and what He promised.

Why didn’t they take the land? Well, there’s a lot of reasons why, but mainly they didn’t trust the word of God. Even though they experienced His provision, they somehow couldn’t trust Him to finish what He said He would do for them.

I bring this up because we are a lot like those people. We have been delivered, set free, we could all tell the story of how God intervened in our lives.

We have been promised a new life in Christ. Now, He is calling us to live a life full of faith.

Only one problem. We are paralyzed. We are full of fear. Why does this happen? Because we neglect the Word of God.

We don’t remember what He has said. Just like the children of Israel we end up walking around in a desert instead of walking in the promised land.

Mission is how you get to accomplish your you vision. Our mission is found in the Word of God. As a church we must be grounded in it’s truth.

For you personally, I implore you to take that Bible up EVERYDAY. It’s the WORD of God for you!

A while back I was part of a discussion that was debating on whether or not God speaks to us today! I couldn’t believe that a good amount of people in our group was convinced that God didn’t speak anymore!

This is LUDICROUS! God speaks! We aren’t listen or looking in the right places. The Bible is literally called Gods WORD!

He will speak to you. Instead of fear, you will have faith. You can take the land that you have been promised. People will come to Christ because you have the Word of God in your heart and on your lips.

It’s our job! The Word is our trainer. We must be committed to the Word.

Think about these words:

Romans 10:14–15 NLT

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

How can we fulfill this scripture if we aren’t committed to the word of God? We need the doctrine, the correction, the instruction. We must be equipped at the right time to reach the lost and the hurting. Our goal is to be an effective witness. We can only get there if we are committed to the Word.

And you know what? The Word is no chore. It’s not something that we place on a checklist each day.

We have this glorious opportunity to commune with God each and every time we read.

I encourage you today to make a new commitment to your study of the Word. Not just for you, but for the sake of those your life touches.

Romans 15:14 NLT

14 I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them.

We can’t just be a church of partakers we need to be a church of givers. I am more and more convinced that we have daily opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus, but we miss them because we are prepared. We don’t have the faith.

Who are we? We have vision...

We are a church committed to reaching the lost with the Good News of Jesus.

Who are we? We have mission...

We are a church committed to the Living Word of God.

Practical Application:

Share your faith this week.

Develop a Bible reading plan.

Over the next few weeks I want to continue this talk about the specifics of our Vision and Mission. We will talk about our core values.