Blue Prints

Blue Prints
Our Vision 2 Timothy 1:1-1:10 We have a set of Blue Prints. It is our vision and scope of what we are right now, what we want to become and how we are going to do that.

The word vision means – sight, dream, revelation or enlightenment.

Vision is that elusive thing that dares to dream big dreams about the future. Vision has been called hope with a blueprint.

Vision is what an inventor has when he or she thinks outside the box to create something new.

Vision is what a mother has as she looks at her newborn baby and imagines all that child could grow up to become.Vision has a way of ignoring its critics and chasing its dream regardless of how many people say it can’t be done. Consider these famous predictions that underestimated the incredible power of vision.

***Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM in 1943 said, "I think there is a market for maybe five computers in the world."
***Ken Olson, president and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation said in 1977, "There is no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home."
***Consider this Western Union memo from 1876: "The Telephone is has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication."
***Or consider the words of Decca Recording company, when why they turned down signing the Beatles in 1962: "We don’t like their sound and guitar music is on the way out."
***Charles Duell, commissioner of the U.S. Office of Patents said in 1899, "Everything that can be invented has been invented."

Vision has a way of ignoring those who say it can’t be done and doing it anyway.

Yet we go through times when our vision fades. The flame of our vision begins to dim, it’s passion begins to ease, and it’s heat begins to cool. That’s what was happening to young Timothy, the apostle Paul’s young protégé. You see, the apostle Paul had sent Timothy to try to salvage a mess in the church in Ephesus. Yet when Timothy got there, he found himself in way over his head. The entire leadership team in the Ephesian church was older than he was, and didn’t respect his leadership.

To make matters worse, Timothy was shy and timid, so he had a tendency to avoid confrontation. The stress of his ministry assignment was effecting Timothy’s health, as he found himself sick with constant stomach ailments. In the meantime, his beloved mentor the apostle Paul had been arrested by the Roman government.Timothy’s vision had dissipated.

The excitement and enthusiasm he’d once felt when he joined Paul’s ministry team some years earlier was gone. Somewhere between his bad health, his discouragement about the church in Ephesus, and his fear for Paul’s life, Timothy’s vision had slipped away. Timothy needed his vision renewed, and that’s a big reason why Paul wrote him a second letter.

1 . Our Vision For Worship (2 Timothy 1:1-3)
OUR VISION FOR WORSHIP IS EMBRACING A LIFESTYLE OF DEVOTION TO GOD.

This is what we see in vv. 1-3. We find an emphasis on worship in the word "serve" in v. 3. If you underline in your Bible, underline that word, because it’s a very important word. This is not the usual New Testament Greek word for "serve," but this is the Greek word latreuo. This word latreuo is used 20 other times in the New Testament, and it always refers to service offered to God as an act of worship. This kind of service is never directed toward other people, but it’s always directed toward God. This Greek word latreuo is where we get our English word liturgy from, which refers to the order and structure of a Christian worship service. In fact, we call our corporate worship a "worship service" because of this word.

As Paul looks back on his own life, he views his entire life since coming to faith in Christ as an act of worship directed to God. For Paul worship was a lifestyle of devotion to God, not just a Sunday morning church activity.Now let me share with you our church vision statement about worship. As a church, for us worship is first and foremost about celebrating Jesus Christ. It’s about celebrating Christ’s presence among us, realizing that he is here with us when we gather as a congregation for worship. We celebrate this reality each week.

"We dream of our church having the facilities to house multitudes who gather each week to praise, honor and celebrate Jesus Christ."

Our facilities are significant to our worship only because they give us a place to gather. This is why we meet in a movie theater. I couldn’t in good faith go borrow a million plus dollars to buy land and build a building, so we could worship together for a few hours on Sunday. I have plans for a building, but it isn’t about the building, it is about Jesus.

"We also dream of worship services that are culturally relevant to the unchurched but that does not compromise our commitment to the Bible."

We believe worship and outreach belong together. Because of this conviction, in our worship services we seek to speak the language of our culture. Our aim is to translate the timeless truths of the Christian faith into language and concepts that make sense to secularized people in our culture today. However, we do this with a uncompromising commitment to the absolute authority of the Bible. You see, we seek to be culturally relevant because we believe this is what the Bible commands us to do. Cultural relevance is a biblical imperative. And we find that when worship and outreach are joined together in a relevant way, that unchurched people discover a relationship with Jesus Christ in the midst of a worshipping church.

"We also dream of being a church that uses relevant Bible exposition, modern music, and the creative arts to connect both Christians and non-Christians with God and give them hope for their lives."

Bible exposition is simply systematic teaching from the Bible, explaining what the Bible means and how it applies to our lives. The creative arts refers to the use of drama, multimedia, and other artistic expressions to draw us closer to God in worship. My goal is for seekers to encounter God in our worship services long before they respond to Christ.

2. Our Vision For Prayer (2 Timothy 1:4-5)

OUR VISION FOR PRAYER IS EXPRESSING OUR HEARTS TO GOD.

Look at how Paul expresses his heart in vv. 4-5. In v. 3 Paul reported how he prayed day and night for Timothy. Here in vv. 4 and 5 we find the content of Paul’s prayer, that as he prayed he remembered Timothy’s tears and his longing to be reunited with his apprentice. As he prayed for Timothy he was reminded of how Timothy came to faith in Christ. It all started with Timothy’s grandmother Lois, and then his mother Eunice. Timothy was a third generation Christian, someone raised in a Christian home.What Paul does here is simply pour out his heart to God. We see lots of gimmicks about prayer these days.

But for Paul, renewing his vision for prayer simply came from pouring out his heart to God. Paul’s life was so directed that whatever was of concern in his heart automatically bubbled up in prayer to God. No technique, no seven easy steps, but simply expressing his heart to God.We sum up the prayer part of our vision statement as "pursuing God’s heart.""

We believe God wants our church to be a church were our passion for God and God’s purposes inspire us to believe him for the impossible."Ephesians 3:20. That verse says, "By his mighty power at work within us, God is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope" (NLT).

I believe that with all my heart, and that type of thinking has been part of this congregation’s vision from the very beginning. But it starts with pursuing his heart in prayer.

"We believe God wants our church to be filled each week with a constantly expanding multitude of growing Christians who are learning how to walk in daily intimacy with God."

That’s really the heart of prayer, daily intimacy with God where we share our heart with him and he shares his heart with us. This is what the Bible means by abiding in Christ, remaining in his love, being constantly aware of his presence.

"Finally, we dream of our church being a house of prayer, a place where prayer provides the foundation for every ministry we are involved in."

As it’s been said, "Prayer doesn’t prepare us for the battle; prayer is the battle." Our ministry needs to flow from our knees.

3. Our Vision for Service (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

OUR VISION FOR SERVICE IS USING THE GIFTS GOD HAS GIVEN TO US.

Look at vv. 6-7. God had given Timothy all the equipment he needed to be effective as God’s servant. But the fire of God’s gift in Timothy’s life was going out. It had become like a fire in the fireplace when no new wood has been added for a while. The flame wasn’t burning anymore, but instead there was a glowing ember that’s gradually losing its heat.Paul encourages Timothy to "fan the flame" of his gift, so it would once again burns brightly and with intensity.

The way we fan the flame of our spiritual gifts is by using them. The flame loses its blaze through lack of use, and gradually our gifts become glowing embers. We fuel the fire when we use our gifts.We learn here that fear was holding Timothy back from using his gifts. The word "timidity" here means "a state of fear because of cowardice or lack of moral strength" (Louw and Nida Lexicon).

Paul tells Timothy that this timid fear doesn’t come from God. What comes from God is an attitude of power, love and self-discipline. Power is the capacity to face our fears and use our gifts, even when we’re shaking like a leaf. Love is the capacity to express God’s love through our gift when we do use it. Self-discipline is the courage to go forward even when we’re timid and fearful.

Do you need your vision for service renewed? Stepping out of our comfort zone and using your gifts will help you renew your vision for service. There’s no substitute for actually using our gifts, drawing on the Spirit of power, love and self-discipline God has given us to face our fear.

Our church vision about service is summed up in the phrase: Every member a minister.

We truly believe that every single follower of Jesus Christ is called and ordained by God as a minister of Jesus Christ. Ministry is not the exclusive property of pastors or elders, but it belongs to the people. Jordan Creek Family Church is a congregation with over 60 ministers, because over 60 people consider this their church home. Adult and children, men and women, new Christians and mature Christians…every single one is a minister of God.

"We dream of a church where our members truly see themselves as God’s ministers and are sacrificially investing their gifts, talents and resources to make God’s vision become a reality."

This is a huge paradigm shift for most Christians, to see themselves as ministers.

"We dream of our church becoming an incubator for fresh ministry ideas, continually launching new volunteer led ministries that make a real difference in the lives of both Christians and non-Christians."

I have a standing joke around the church here, that whenever a person comes up and says, "We really need to have a ministry to…." My response is usually, "You’re right and you’re it." We believe when God gives ministry vision to a person our job isn’t to get in the way, but it’s to help it happen. It may or may not succeed, but why not try to make it happen?

4. Our Vision for Outreach (2 Timothy 1:8a)

OUR VISION FOR OUTREACH IS TESTIFYING ABOUT JESUS.

Look at the first half of v. 8. Christians are often tempted to be ashamed of Jesus Christ. We’re tempted to hide our witness about Jesus, to keep our faith in Christ hidden inside our hearts and our churches, rather than letting it flow into our words and our actions.Do you need your vision for outreach renewed? Notice again that this doesn’t come through a special evangelism seminar or a book.

It comes through facing our fears and testifying about Jesus. This means putting into words how Jesus has changed our lives. It means sharing with those around us the good news of Christ, about his life, death and resurrection. It means building relationships with unchurched people so we can shine as lights in their lives.The outreach part of our vision statement focuses on reaching out through relationships.

The longer you’re a Christian, the less non-Christians you’re likely to have as friends.

So we need to be reminded that relationships are the primary mechanism for sharing our faith in Jesus."We dream of our church being attended by hundreds of unchurched people each week who are in the process of discovering a dynamic relationship with Jesus." Did you know that half of all people who are in church on any given weekend in our nation don’t yet have a relationship with Jesus? I find that to be extremely exciting. Most people who discover a relationship with Jesus Christ start by attending one of our worship services. They attend for anywhere from a month to a year as seekers, investigating the faith, asking questions, building relationships, observing. Somewhere along the way, the good news of Christ starts making sense and they make a commitment to Jesus Christ, either on their own, with a friend.

"Our passion is to be a church that strives to remove every barrier that keeps unchurched people from understanding and responding to the good news of Christ."

We realize that there’s a huge culture gap between most Christians and most non-Christians. We live in different worlds even though we live in the same neighborhoods. So we think it’s our job to try to bridge that gap, to remove the barriers that might keep a person from truly understanding what it means to become a follower of Jesus.

"Our dream is to be a church that works in partnership with members: each member reaching out with Christ’s love to unchurched friends and neighbors and our church providing worship services to bring these people to that are culturally relevant."

It really is a partnership, and it only works if both sides of the partnership are working. I believe we really need our vision renewed in this area, because I fear that many of us are becoming so busy and distracted by life that we’re no longer living out this partnership.

"We also dream of being a church that sends a tithe of our members and money cross-culturally to bring Christ to the nations."

Taking a missions trip to Bolivia in February, we are now supporting 11 or so missionaries around the globe, from Bolivia to Siberia to the Philippines.

5. Our Vision for Care (1 Timothy 1:8b-10)

OUR VISION FOR CARING IS RESPONDING TO GOD’S INVITATION TO A HOLY LIFE.

Look at vv. 8-10. The good news of Christ--the gospel--is the means by which we are brought into a relationship with God. This change by grace, because there’s nothing we can do to contribute to our salvation.

All we contribute to our salvation is our sin; everything else comes as a free gift, by grace.

But with the gospel also comes a call to live a holy life, a life of spiritual depth and growth. This is what we mean by nurture, being nurtured in the life God calls us to. Although we do not contribute anything to our salvation, once God saves us, he calls us to live differently. He calls us to a life of transformation, a life where we grow and mature. He calls us to put down deep spiritual roots that are nourished by the truth of God. He calls us to nurture a holy life.The nurture part of our vision statement focuses on growing into spiritual maturity.

"We dream of our church providing a constantly expanding network of care groups, where Christians are growing into wholeness and non-Christians are discovering Christ."

It’s our experience that most accelerated spiritual growth occurs in small groups, clusters of Christians who meet together to pray together, study the Bible together, serve together and so forth. Our congregation will only be as healthy as our care groups are expanding. We believe this is a vitally important part of being nurtured into spiritual maturity.

"We dream of equipping hundreds of volunteer care pastors whose love and concern for people makes us feel smaller as we grow larger."

There is always tension between our vision and the way things are. This is because if vision only described the status quo, it wouldn’t be vision. So the disparity between vision and the status quo creates tension, like a rubber band that’s been stretched. Often we’re tempted to let this tension pull the vision down to the status quo, to soften the vision and make it more palatable to the way things are. Instead, we should let the tension pull the way things are closer to the vision, creating the necessary changes in our lives needed to pull us toward what God has for us.

About 350 years ago a shipload of travelers landed on the northeast coast of America. The first year they established a town site. The next year they elected a town government. The third year the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness. In the fourth year the people tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road five miles westward into a wilderness. Who needed to go there anyway? Here were people who had the vision to see three thousand miles across an ocean and overcome great hardships to get there. But in just a few years they were not able to see even five miles out of town. They had lost their pioneering vision. With a clear vision of what we can become in Christ, no ocean of difficulty is too great. Without it, we rarely move beyond our current boundaries.

God calls us to let the tension between this vision and the way things are to stretch us, to pull us, to excite us, to fan the flame so we once again burn bright. Notice we learned today that vision isn’t renewed by just hearing a sermon or reading a book. Our vision for worship is renewed by actually worshipping; our vision for prayer is renewed by actually praying; our vision for service is renewed by actually using our gifts to serve; our vision for outreach is renewed by actually testifying about Jesus; and our vision for care is renewed by actually responding to God’s call to a holy life.

There is no substituted for action, for doing what God has called us to do.