Developing the Church’s Vision

Questions to Ask to Develop Church Vision  Why does the church exist?  What are we to be as a church?  What are we to do as a church?  How does what we are manifest itself in and out of the church?

Five Tasks of the Church in Mission  Love the Lord with all your heart  Love your neighbor as yourself Spiritual ministry Physical ministry  Going – outward focus  Make disciples  Assist disciples in forming churches  Teaching them to follow Christ

Defining the Purpose of the Church The church represents God's purpose on earth by honoring God and making the way of reconciliation through his son known to all people through spiritual and physical service in his name. Mt. 28:18 Mk. 16:15-16 Jn. 17:18, 21; 20:21 Acts 1:8

Goal of Missional Church in Community  Reaching the unchurched Becoming disciples Participating in the body of believers  Regular attenders (adherents) Become disciples  Members Spiritual growth  Maturing members Finding areas to serve  Develop serving members Sending out or releasing to ministry

Missional Church as Missionary Source  The church matures members for greater missions  The church is God’s instrument for missions  The church develops missionaries and ministers for service  The church is the best training ground for missionaries  The church is the place for maturing workers  The church is the sender of missionaries

Purpose for Developing Missional Vision  It’s biblical  It gives the church direction  It helps define the areas of ministry  It guides the activities and programs  It builds morale  Reduces frustration  Allows concentration of efforts  Attracts cooperation  Assists in evaluation of the church’s work

Articulating the Church’s Vision  It should be biblical  It should point to God’s mission  It should be specific  It should be memorable  It should be measurable

Stating the Envisioned Mission To bring people to Jesus and membership in his family, develop them to Christlike maturity, and equip them for their ministry in the church and life mission in the world, in order to magnify God’s name. Saddleback – Purpose Driven Church Reaching out to the World...Preaching to the Unsaved...Teaching the Saved to Serve To connect people to Jesus Christ and to each other.

Ways of Engaging the Church in the Vision  Design church programs around the vision  Educate members on the vision and purpose  Teach new members the vision & purpose of the church  Start small groups for implementing the vision  Develop leadership in pursuing the vision (not necessarily hired)  Structure ministries around the vision  Preach on the elements of the vision  Budget based on the missions to reach the vision  Plan times to emphasize elements of the vision  Evaluate meeting the goals of the church’s mission

False Assumptions of the Church’s Mission  Only concerned with number of members  You must choose between quality & quantity  You must compromise the message & mission of the church in order to grow  If your dedicate enough your church will grow  There is one key to church growth  All God expects of us is faithfulness  Growth is dependent on us