VISION FOR GRACE 2008

This is my annual "State of the Church" address. It is meant to give a vision for what God is calling us to do in this new ministry year. I normally preach a series of messages that have to do with our purpose statement or core values and then do the vision message, where I lay out goals for the year. Before this series, we looked at a four stage discipleship process, laying out some simple steps to evaluate how we are growing spiritually - individually and as a church. This message followed that series.

The I WAS HERE video can be viewed at bluefishtv.com and the THIS HAND video near the end can be viewed at sermonspice.com

VISION FOR GRACE 2008

Please turn in your Bible to Ephesians 4. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 1014 or 1040.

Every year, about this time, I give a message entitled: VISION FOR GRACE. It is intended to share with you my heart for this year of ministry for our church. God has been so good to us. This afternoon, we are going to celebrate all those who serve here at Grace. You are all crucial to having an effective ministry. We have celebrated births and mourned deaths in 2007. We have seen some people leave and some new people come and make a commitment to this church body. We have put aside some ministries and started others.

However, our attention this morning cannot be on what has taken place in the past. I want us to focus this morning on what God has called us to do, and how we can pursue that anew here in 2008. Let me begin by reminding you of the discipleship series that we just finished. It was meant to remind us that we are here for a purpose: to make disciples. Out of all the other things that we can be remembered for; and in the midst of all the other things that we do that quickly fade, investing in people’s lives has an eternal impact. Let’s watch this together:

VIDEO: I WAS HERE

This is what drives me: that I as an individual and we as a church would make a lasting, spiritual impact on the lives of others, which will then be passed down generation to generation. And all we can focus on is what we can do today, and tomorrow and next week and month and this year, in order to make that type of lasting impact. How will we pursue that in 2008?

At the end of 2007, I shared with you my personal vision (plan) that I believe God has given me. I share it again with you, because it definitely affects how I lead here at Grace and the direction I believe we should go. My dream is to help people take the next step in their spiritual journey. More than anything else that comes with life and church ministry, I want to help people evaluate where they are in their spiritual walk and point them to taking another step of growth in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

This is my passion. Recently, a pastor of a large ministry in Southern California has received quite a bit of attention. His name is Rick Warren, and he is the pastor of Saddleback Church and author of the best-selling books: Purpose Driven Church and more recently: Purpose Driven Life. Being a pastor of a large ministry and making that kind of money can certainly challenge what is most important to invest your life and resources in. He was recently interviewed, and I want to share some of his comments with you. I believe this is an illustration of someone who has matured as a follower of Christ and is now abounding in many ways:

Rick Warren said: “People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven… I may live 60-100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal…Life is a series of problems: either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in our character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy…

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer…You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, ‘which is: my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others…

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease…

We made no major purchases…I stopped taking a salary from the church…we set up foundations…to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation…I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back…

We need to ask ourselves: am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes for my life?”

This is a good example of a person that could have been put aside God’s priorities and become bitter about his wife’s cancer; or put aside God’s priorities because he was now rich and famous. Instead, it seems he has focused on what lasts for eternity and continued to become a more fully devoted follower of Christ.

This is why the stated purpose of our church is this. Please say it out loud with me [it is on the screen]: “Growing together in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are walking with God, pursuing relationships with His people, and reaching out to those who do not know Him.”

This is based on our theme verse:
II Peter 3:18- “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

We are to glorify God, growing in His grace and knowledge, as we pursue: Him; closer relationships with other believers that we worship with; and finding ways to share our faith with others. We are to glorify God by making disciples, which is the final command Jesus left His followers with, before He went back to Heaven.

But, every person and every church must then ask this question: How, specifically, are we going to pursue Christ’s command for His glory? What is our plan, our process, by which we will pursue this? In times past, people looked to their pastors, their spiritual leaders, to preach, teach, serve, reach people for Christ. But, the Bible clearly explains how all of us in the church are responsible for the disciple-making process. Please look at:

Ephesians 4:11-16 – “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ, 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, 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. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 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.”

Did you see the progression of this text? God gave the pastors, spiritual leaders, to the church, not for them to do the work of the ministry, but to help all of you do the work of the ministry. And did you notice: this is to lead us to be unified based on the truth of God’s Word, by which we are all built up in spiritual growth. That we are to go from spiritual children, who are fully dependent on others and immature, to those who are growing in their spiritual maturity and established in their faith.

And as they speak the truth of God’s Word to one another and serve with the gifts God has given, the body of Christ becomes spiritually strong, bound in love.
This is what we are after. But, once again, the question of how arises. How are we going to grow in spiritual maturity? What is the plan of the church for growing in discipleship? As you know, we have all kinds of ministries and services and programs. What is our plan to help everyone who attends here at Grace to grow as more fully devoted followers of Christ?

Please turn in your Bible to the first book of the New Testament: Matthew, and chapter 22. In the Bible in front of you, it is on page 856 or 873.

I have asked the guys to hand out a gift to you, that is yours to keep. It is a summary of everything we have talked about over the past 4 weeks. As you will see, it walks through the phrases in:

Colossians 2:6,7 – “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding…”

We used 4 key phrases here to describe a discipleship process, a way to evaluate where each of us are in spiritual development, and to see how the church can help.
Please know that this is not the perfect picture of spiritual growth or detailed explanation of discipleship. This is simply a tool to help us stay focused on what we are to be all about: glorifying God by making disciples of Jesus Christ.

There are 2 ways in which we want to utilize this pamphlet. First, it is for every person who attends Grace, so that he can do some self-evaluation. If there is something in one of these stages that he feels is lacking, he can focus on growing in that area. He can pray. He can pursue growth. He can ask for help. The second way we would like to use this is for a more focused church discipleship process. We can use these goals and steps to focus our ministries on a discipleship process; rather than just trying to have a ton of good ministries, services and programs, without real purpose. Please take this with you and use it for your own spiritual reflection.

We want to use our resources for something that will last eternally. I read recently that a Swedish University has received nearly $600,000 in funds to measure the methane gases released when cows belch, which may contribute to global warming. I could think of a few better ways to use $600,000 to reach people with the gospel and help them become devoted followers of Christ. That makes an eternal impact for God’s glory!

In the process of discipleship, our motivations are key. This is not just about marking off a list of good things to do, but doing them because we love Jesus Christ and are committed to giving Him our lives. I also read about a doughnut-shop worker in New Jersey who bashed a thief over the head with a mug, saying later he did it because he didn’t want to look like a coward if tape of the robbery ended up on YouTube. That was his motivation for stopping the theif!

Another issue of discipleship that Phil Dawson helped us consider last week is that we cannot control our circumstances and sometimes our best efforts will not be enough. I was reminded this past week of how anything can happen, unexpectedly, that could certainly change our lives. In Washington State, a 600 pound cow fell off a cliff and landed on a minivan. The couple inside were unharmed, but neither the cow nor the van survived. When life happens, you can either respond according to selfishness, as Rick Warren explained; or you can look at it to see how God might use it for good – might use it to help you grow in Him.

One of the resources we used with our leadership in preparing for this ministry year is: Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. In the book, the authors argue that every church must decide what their discipleship process is going to look like, and then simplify it the best way they can. Using the greatest example, they said:

“Jesus has the ability to take the complex and make it simple.” One example he used was this text you are turned to now:

Matthew 22:37-40 – “And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

He was asked about what the greatest commandment was. The Jewish people had 613 commandments they tried to obey. And Jesus summed it all up in 2: Love God and love your neighbor. Jesus didn’t try to complex things but make them simple enough for us, finite human beings, to focus on and pursue.

Please turn over just one book to the book of Mark, and chapter 2.
It is our desire to make a discipleship process as simple and doable as we possibly can, to follow the example of our Lord. We do not need to make it complicated. As you see on your pamphlet, we have chosen just four words or phrases to sum up a stage of spiritual development, and then have given you a few things to concentrate on in each area.

The authors of Simple Church made this piercing statement:
“Jesus is adamantly opposed to anything that gets in the way of people encountering Him…So cluttered (with multiple programs are churches) that many people are busy doing church instead of being the church.” He said: “Many people are busy doing church instead of being the church.” We do not want that to describe us – that we just get so busy doing too many things, thinking we are accomplishing something, when really we are just busy and not having a lasting, focused impact.

This morning, I want to share with you 4 simple goals that we have for our ministry here in 2008. Steve and I have already been working on these, we have shared them with many of the leaders here at Grace, and today we want to share them with you. Our prayer is that these goals will help us take steps toward honoring God as more fully devoted followers of Christ.

GOALS FOR 2008

Goal #1: Equip the members of Grace to articulate our purpose and plan with clarity.

When I say, this morning, “according to the authors”, I am referring to the resource: Simple Church. According to the authors: “Clarity is the ability of the process to be communicated and understood by the people.” Then they noted: “A lack of clarity ultimately leads to confusion and complexity because there is no coherent direction. When there is no direction, people assume a direction or invent one. The church then moves aimlessly and off course. And there is no course in which to return.”

Our desire is to be clear about what we are after. It is why we have our purpose statement; it is why we have our core values. It is why, at our leader’s meetings during the year, we talk about and re-emphasize this vision. It is why at the beginning of each ministry year, I preach to you, not only a vision message for the year, but also a series of messages that surround these key commitments. It is why you are holding this pamphlet. We want it to be clear as to what we are after. We know every detail cannot be spelled out when you are talking about discipling people; but we do believe we can unify around a clear plan, a process.

One of the services we offer for those who are new to Grace, so that they can learn of what we are all about is our: Discovering Grace class. In that class, you learn about our purpose, core values and the core commitments those who join Grace make. It takes only 3 hours, but gives you all the information you need to know about our ministry, what is important to us, and where we are headed. It is vitally important that those who may join us in the future have all of their questions answered and get a clear idea of who we are. Our next Discovering Grace class is Sunday, March 2nd. You can even use the tab on your bulletin today to sign up for this class. There is no cost or obligation, and no expectation that you have to join us after the class. But, if you are interested in finding out more about us and whether or not God is leading you here in the future, this class is your next step.

Goal #2: Create movement toward our purpose and plan.

According to the authors: “Movement is the sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment. Movement is about flow. It is about assimilation. Movement is what causes a person to go to the next step…

“To implement the movement element, church leaders must take a fresh look at the weekly church calendar and the regularly scheduled programs. All programs must be placed in sequential order along the ministry process. This is what creates movement in a ministry process.”

This makes sense, but is not easy. We want to take one step at a time, and as much as possible, lay out what those steps need to be; in order to be a church that has a plan for helping people come to Christ and grow in Christ. In order to make movement in our ministry, we have to do decide who is in control. Are we as a church, with its leadership, in control of making movement decisions in ministry; or are our programs in control. Who serves whom? One biblical illustration of this is where you are now in the book of Mark:

Mark 2:23,24 – “One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, Look why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

Mark 2:27 – “And he said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

The religious leaders were all about the rules – we need to obey all the rules, even if it doesn’t make sense. However, Jesus was all about doing what is right, what is best, even if it breaks a man made rule. In other words, although observing the Sabbath day was important, the Sabbath Day was to benefit people by giving them some rest. People were not made to obey strict standards on the Sabbath just so a list of religious rules could be kept. The followers of Christ were not to be controlled by the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was to be used by them for their benefit. Jesus didn’t let any man made traditions or programs or services get in the way of what He was here to do. The program of the Sabbath was to serve them, not the other way around.

In order to have movement in our ministry, we must approach all of our policies and programs this way. They are there for our benefit not the other way around. Even with our constitution, we are revising it so that it will serve us, rather than being hindered from doing ministry in a more effective way. This is not necessarily easy, because many of us have gotten used to certain rules, policies, programs or services. But, our number one priority in this must be to have the best process we can to see people growing in Christ.

Your pamphlet shows the movement of our ministry emphasis for each stage of our discipleship process. Going from: Rooted in Christ, where our ministry emphasis is the large group setting of our Sunday morning worship service – to – Being Built up in Him, where our ministry emphasis is the mid-size group setting of Sunday school. Our desire to use our ministries to move along in discipleship is why we want to keep growing in this particular ministry. One way we are doing that is to offer electives every other quarter. This allows all of our adults to experience different people in their class, different teachers, and choices that hopefully lead to growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. We offer a book of the Bible study, a doctrinal study, a Christian living study and a specific women’s study.

The next stage is: Being Established in the Faith, where our ministry emphasis is the life Groups. Here, in 2008, we are looking to expand this ministry even more; and continue to use it as a key ministry in connecting people to one another and helping each other grow in Christ. We will be sharing more about our plans for this ministry over the next several months.

The final stage we have looked at in this process is: Abounding, where our ministry emphasis is Discipleship Training. We don’t, as of yet, have a particular program or service that deals with this; but we want to consider the idea of training people to follow Christ and serve Him in everything that we are doing.

It doesn’t mean that you have to go in this order, in terms of your involvement; but it means that we have purpose and movement for the programs and services we are focusing on. And we are certainly not at the end of what we need to do. There is more work to be done. We will keep taking steps forward to make our programs and processes serve us rather than just doing what we have always done because we’ve always done it.

Please turn in your Bible to II Kings, chapter 18. In the Bible in front of you, it is page 340 or 348.

This connects also with our 3rd goal for 2008:

Goal #3: Align our ministries to our purpose and plan.

According to the authors: “Alignment is the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process…

Without alignment, the church can be a multitude of sub-ministries. In this case each ministry has its own leaders who are only passionate about their specific ministry. They rarely identify with the entire church but are deeply committed to their own philosophy of ministry. In a church that lacks alignment, everyone is competing for the same space, resources, volunteers, and time on the calendar.”

This is a process (alignment) that does not happen quickly, but one we want to concentrate on this year. Obviously, according to your pamphlet, you see how a few of our ministries fit the overall process. But, what about all of the other programs and services that we currently have? Do those leading and helping in those ministries understand how it fits into the overall purpose and plan of discipleship? It is something we will have to work very hard on this year.

We hold meetings with life group leaders, ministry team leaders and others in order to make sure that they know how their ministry fits into the overall purpose and plan. That has to be a continual goal, so that eventually, everyone can know how they as individuals and how their particular ministry fits here at Grace. It also means making whatever changes are necessary, and seeing those changes as the best move for our overall goal of discipleship. And our final goal for 2008:
Goal #4: Focus our ministries on our purpose and plan.

According to the authors: “Focus is the commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process. Focus most often means saying ‘no’. Focus requires saying ‘yes’ to the best and ‘no’ to everything else…It takes deep conviction and guts. Focus does not make church leaders popular… Simple churches abandon all that is outside of the simple process because it threatens to steal attention and energy from what has been determined as necessary. Events, activities, and programs outside the process cause people to move in multiple directions. A lack of focus leads to scattering.”

This is a very tough part of trying to live according to a discipleship process. Because it means, at some point, that changes have to be made; and change is very difficult. However, as move ahead, we will have to determine what ministries will help us accomplish most effectively what God has called us to; and what good ministries might need to be set aside before they become obstacles to growth.
Everyone has their favorite service, missionary, ministry and program. And none of us want something changed that we like. That is a major challenge to keep our focus on what will assist us the most in this process.

You are here in II Kings 18.
II Kings 18:1 – “In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign.”

II Kings 18:3,4 – “And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).”

King Hezekiah removed all the altars that had been erected for the worship of false gods. He removed these obstacles so that they could worship the one and only true God. According to the authors: “Eliminating pagan idols is one thing, but what Hezekiah did next was controversial. Many church leaders would struggle to emulate his next move. Surely, people in his day struggle with this next change. He broke the bronze snake that Moses had made – on purpose. He did not just drop it and claim it was an accident. He broke it into pieces…Yes, it was the special and sacred snake. The snake that was crafted and held by Moses. The snake that God has instructed Moses to make. The snake that was the source of salvation for the people from their snakebites (Numbers 21:6-8).”

The authors explained: “He got rid of it because it was clutter. It was clutter because the people worshipped it. It took attention away from the real Savior. Bronze was worshipped. A fake snake was adored. What was once a good thing became an idol. It got in the way of their worship of God. The tool for worship became the object of worship. In many churches the original tools for life change have created too much clutter. Instead of uniting, they divide focus. The programs have become ends in themselves… For Hezekiah, eliminating the bronze snake was most likely not a popular decision, especially with the religious crowd steeped deep in tradition. Most extreme makeovers involving God’s people are difficult.”

Sometimes, we must set aside things that are good, things that were used at one time for discipleship, but are now just hindrances to further discipleship. With our focus on helping people take their next step with Christ, valued and loved parts of our church ministry might have to be put aside. That way, the focus can be on the ministries that will be the most effective in discipleship.

The authors give us their definition of a simple church: “A simple church is a congregation designed around a straight-forward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth…Changed lives are the bottom line, the intended end result. Christ formed in people is the goal.” This is our desire!

As we pursue these goals this year, our leadership can make a promise to you: We will not arbitrarily cast off tradition or beloved programs, ministries and services. We will, however, continue to pray, evaluate and make decisions based on what we believe would best honor God in the process of making disciples here at Grace.
Please stand with me for a moment.

Let’s pray together. I would like you to consider, in silent prayer, the applicational question: SO WHAT? Based on the Word of God this morning, what is God asking you to do? How does He want you to be a part of this discipleship process? Is there an attitude change you need to make? Is there an action you need to take? Are you willing to do whatever God would ask of you? Let’s take a few moments in silent prayer to consider these questions. Let’s pray.

Please remain standing. As we sing about the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I would ask the men to come and prepare for the Lord’s Table.

SONG: #201 – GRACE GREATER THAN OUR SIN – (verse 1)

You may be seated. If you are a follower of Christ here with us today, you are welcome to partake of the elements of the Lord’s Table that will passed in just a few moments. If you are not yet a follower of Christ, please refrain from the elements, but remain here with us and take these opportunities to pray. These elements are the bread and the cup, which represent the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we partake, we are obeying what He asked us to do until He returns: To Remember Him.

It is appropriate that we would celebrate the Lord’s Table at the end of this particular message today. This discipleship process all begins with Jesus Christ. He went to people and said to them: Follow Me. He did not, and still does not emphasize the issue of praying a prayer so that we can go to Heaven. He emphasizes a commitment to follow Him throughout life, not just as a child with a one-time prayer. He is looking for us to follow Him and for us to help others become His followers. This is what the Scriptures teach.

But, we must continually recognize that the only reason we are followers of Christ is because of His Grace. It is nothing we deserved.

Ephesians 2:8– “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

It is by God’s grace that we are saved, and it is by God’s grace that we live today. It is by grace that we can help others grow in faith, and it is by grace that we will be delivered in the end. As we have considered our goals for 2008 and how we want to move ahead as more fully devoted followers of Christ, let’s take some time this morning to focus on the object of our trust: Jesus Christ.

As we pass out the bread, which represents the body of Jesus, please take this time to reflect on what He has done for you. Please hold onto the bread until we all partake together. Let’s pray.

Prayer for the Bread
Passing of the Bread
· Special music: Melanie Strong
Partaking of the Bread

Prayer for the Cup
Passing of the Cup
· SONG: #201 – GRACE GREATER THAN OUR SIN – (verses 2,3)

All the way through our discipleship process, we have been talking about growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. And although we must give maximum effort to grow, it still only happens as He gives us the ability. No matter what circumstance in which we find ourselves, He promises:

II Corinthians 12:9 – “…My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

This is such an important promise, as we find ourselves, like His original disciples, failing often. This morning, as we celebrate the cup, which represents the blood of Jesus Christ, let’s consider the incredible grace that God has demonstrated toward us. Please consider the truth of this video as it relates to all of us in need of His grace; and please hold onto the cup until we all partake. Thank you.

· VIDEO: THIS HAND
· Partaking of the Cup

SONG: GRACE GREATER THAN OUR SIN (verse 4)


PRAYER