Vision – the way ahead
Matthew 9:35 – 10:8
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The churches in Britain have been reluctant to make plans and develop strategies to meet the needs of lost people. Traditionally we have felt it is enough to do the right things (like, preaching, worshipping, praying and so on) and leave the results to God. But I am not sure that God himself approves of this way of doing things.
You may have heard of the farmer who was resting on a gate and looking with satisfaction at a beautiful field of ripening corn waving in the breeze. A passing clergyman saw this and leaned on the gate alongside him. After a pause he said to the farmer, “Isn’t it wonderful what God can do? Look at that beautiful field of corn!” The farmer looked at the vicar and said, “Aye, you should have seen it when the Lord had it to himself!”
The bible tells us that God does give us the responsibility to use what he has given to produce a return for his investment (read the parable of the talents – Matthew 25:14-30). He has given us time, money, unique abilities and friendships; he has even given us the Holy Spirit and the gospel itself. We are responsible to give God a return on this investment in our lives.
The strategy of Jesus
Jesus knew this and had developed a strategy to achieve his goal. Let’s look at this in detail:
First, he had a clear focus for his mission (10:5-6), it was to Israel. Gentiles like us are often shocked when they realize that Jesus hardly ever ministered to non-Jews! He had a very clear goal.
Second, he trained a team to achieve that goal. When Jesus says his disciples ought to pray for workers, he immediately calls them to be the answer to their own prayers. Actually, he had already trained them enough to send them out immediately to start the job! Jesus was a man with a plan, he believed in prayer, but he also believed in planning to bring about answers to our prayers.
When Jesus told his disciples to pray, called twelve of them to be workers, then told them exactly what he wanted them to do, his friends must have looked at one another and said, “He’s already thought about this!” They were right; he was working to a strategy.
Third, he empowered that team and told them to get on with the job (10:8). They had a lot to learn, but they knew enough to be let loose in the real world. One of the first times I ever preached was in a church in St Albans. I didn’t know my bible very well and I had only been a Christian for a couple of years… I asked, “What do I do”. My pastor said, “Stick to what you know; tell us what God has been telling you recently”. He was taking a risk, but it was good advice. My pastor knew something; we are ‘ready’ long before we think we are ‘ready’!
Fourth, he told his team to find others and train them to do the job too (see Matthew 28:19-20)
As we think about our vision and strategy today, all we are doing is following the pattern that Jesus left us to achieve the goal that he sets us.
Imitating Jesus – the man with the plan!
First, we have a clear focus. Let’s put it like this:
We are building a community whose aim is to live and love like Jesus and get the people of Sunderland into heaven
How does that sound to you? Can you sign up to this? I mean, can you adopt this goal wholeheartedly as your own aim in life? I believe that is what we are here for! But how do we do it? We have identified seven main issues:
Find a secure location
Develop refreshing ministry
Help people to belong
Encourage people to pray
Tell Sunderland about Jesus
Produce dynamic leaders
Train and resource volunteers
While we have been discussing and praying about this, a challenge has stuck in my own heart that will not go away:
To see at least fifty people come to faith in Christ during the course of each year for the next three years.
Secondly, we are the team to achieve that goal. That is not to say that other churches are not important, in fact they are essential… we cannot do it ourselves and we need our partners in mission elsewhere in Sunderland. But God has called us and given us a vision is for the whole city, not just part of it.
We believe that our mission is to the whole City of Sunderland.
So I ask you, do you want to be part of this team? You may have helped to plant this congregation two years ago, you may have joined us last week; do you want to be part of this team now, a team with this vision and this passion?
If you do I want to put two challenges before you:
The first is, will you make the step from attending to belonging? It is important that you make the transition from ‘just visiting’ to actually belonging to the fellowship.
Cell groups are easily the best way to do this, we all need to relate to a smaller group of people and it is they who will support us when we need it. Can I ask you to join a cell group?
Second challenge; will you to use the training and spiritual development opportunities that are available?
We already run Bodybuilding (a course of four evenings that helps you find your spiritual gifts) we will continue to do this. For those who cannot spare an evening, we are going to run it as a one-day course from time to time.
We are going to be organizing a programme of spiritual retreats, probably twice a year; the aim is to provide spiritual refreshment and time to think for everyone in the fellowship.
Leadership Academy is a programme of leadership development we have been running for two years. If you have leadership responsibilities, why not become part of this ongoing training?
Thirdly, just as Jesus empowered people for his mission, we need to be equipped for ours. This involves a number of things.
One we are empowered by a secure location .
We think the current configuration of the church; meeting at the Stadium of Light and having a base of operations in the city centre for young people’s and International outreach, is the right one for the short term. Using this base we need to grow our congregation numerically and in spiritual knowledge and maturity. It is clear that having to change locations is irritating, and it prevents our steady growth, so we need to find ways of securing our present accommodation in the Banqueting Suite and at Sunderland Free Church.
But this may not last indefinitely, so we will continue to seek a suitable location or building as our permanent home, preferably one with congregational space.
Looking ahead, we want to combine stability with flexibility. In this way we can be a safe and secure spiritual environment for those who need stability and, at the same time, a flexible operation giving opportunities for the more adventurous.
Can I ask you to help us with this? We need to pray for and keep our eyes open for possible locations to build of convert into a more permanent home.
Beyond the next three years , we hope that we will be able to plant further churches as our numbers allow.
The final configuration of the church in the longer term we see as a wheel. The city centre location is the hub and the other locations being the spokes where a whole variety of activities (Sunday worship, youth worship, international outreach, etc) can take place.
Two, we are empowered by refreshing ministry .
We want to make Sunday mornings both varied and interesting and not be afraid of experimenting to maintain their freshness.
Involve young people frequently and regularly in the Sunday morning programme.
We need to give people opportunities to extend their knowledge and skills, so we are going to experiment with short course units on specific subjects and deliver them on Sunday mornings from 9 ‘till 10 before the service.
Three, and this is most important, we are empowered when we pray .
Prayer should be moved to the centre of our life as a church.
Every decision, every activity and every person in the church should be prayed for
We have begun a monthly ‘Prayer room’ where a Sunderland home is opened on Saturday mornings between 9.00 and 12.00 for an open prayer time. This will continue.
We are going to produce a regular (four times per year) magazine to encourage prayer and greater awareness of the church’s activities.
Can I encourage you to use the prayer time before the Sunday morning service?
Fourth and final thing, Just as Jesus told his people to train others, training others needs to be central to whatever we do.
We recently secured funding from the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund to employ someone to help us increase our capacity to do youth work, children’s work, International student work and the toddlers group. I am happy to announce that Kay Dixon is going to fulfill that role.
One of her jobs will be to identify further sources of funding that will enable us to take the work forward. I think this will be very exciting!
Looking to the future, hopefully next autumn, we want to appoint two ‘apprentices’ to join us for one year’s experience of church life as part of their training to go on to full time Christian ministry.
Writing the story
How does this sound to you? Let me remind you that we are not just pulling goals out of the air, you and I have prayed about this, talked it over, and worked our way this point very carefully. We have all had the chance to make our feelings known and this is the result.
This is not rocket science – but rocket science is certainly my inspiration to be bold in our planning. In 1962 John F. Kennedy made a speech on a football field in Huston, Texas. Here is a segment of that speech:
But if I were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun--almost as hot as it is here today--and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out, then we must be bold.
John F. Kennedy – September 12th 1962
I want to invite you to be part of the team that brings this vision into reality. Part of the team that will one day tell this story to your grandchildren!
I am not inviting you to watch the story from the comfort of your own sofa (like a couch potato). I am not even inviting you to play a part on the story (like an actor in a movie). I am inviting you to write the story with us.
In a moment you will leave this place, the page is blank. What will you write?