Summary: This is the first sermon in an 8 part sermon series on the vision of our church.

INTRO

Mission- an operation that is assigned by a higher power

Mission Statement:

The Redeeming River Church is a family of believers committed to preaching the cross with conviction, reaching the lost with compassion, and equipping the saints with the Word!

Vision- The formation of a mental image of something that is not present to the senses.

Our Vison:

The Word tells us in Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. Therefore, we know that where there is a God breathed vision the people have life. It is because of God’s specific plan for us that we can clearly see where we are going.

7 We Will Be’s

· We will be a life giving church whose waters flow from the River of God through all cultures and generations!

· We will be a life sustaining church where the heartbeat of God will keep our families spiritually healthy.

· We will be a life birthing church where new ministries are conceived, delivered, nurtured, and sent out.

· We will be a people of faith and expectancy who are not moved by what we see, but stand in the God who we know!

· We will be a people of devotion who are committed to the work of the Lord through the local church!

· We will be a people of worship who honor the Lord for who He is and not what He will do for us!

· We will be a growing church whose walls will not contain us!

I. THE BREATH OF LIFE

A. GOD BREATHED IN THE BEGINNING

1. God spoke everything into existance...

2. God put everything into its place...

3. I think He looked down on the ground and saw the dust

4. He thought it was time to play in the mud!

5. He formed man out of the dust of the ground

6. Genesis 2:7

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

7. The word breath comes from the Hebrew word Neshewmah - it means breath of God, spirit!

8. God made a big mud pie

9. He patted it together to have 5 fingers and....

10. Then He put a spirit into the man, he made man into a living soul!

11. When God breathed into man it was to make spiritual what was just a carnal ball of mud!

B. BREATHING IS AN INVOLUNTARY ACT

1. Last time I checked I could breath without having to give it a lot of thought

2. Can you imagine if you had to think about every breath you took?

3. Breath in, Breath out, Breath in, Breath out...

4. I am so glad that I can breath without having to think about it

5. I am so glad that God breaths without thinking about it

6. He loves me automatically

7. He cares for me automatically

8. I don’t have to get up tommorow morning and ask whether God loves me or not

9. He breathed into me because He loved me

10. Since He loves me He wants me to be where He is

11. I can only get to Him through cross

12. The cross is a spiritual place...It is only by the Spirit that we can see Him

13. John 12:32

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

C. SPIRIT IS LIFE

1. As Christians we should automatically walk in the Spirit.

2. John 6:63

63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

3. God is automatically spiritual

4. Luke 4:24

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

5. If you want to get in touch with God you have to step into a spiritual place..

6. The Breath of God is the Spirit of God and it is LIFE!

II. THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF VISION

A. SOME FOLKS DON’T HAVE NIGHT VISION

1. I know a lot of folks that have a hard time driving at night

2. It’s hard to see when everything is dark

3. It’s even to harder to see when everything is dark and you have "vision" problems

4. 2 Peter 1:19

19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

5. Sometimes you won’t even be able to see your own face in the mirror

6. But you better know who you are

7. Sometimes you won’t be able to see the road you are travelling

8. But you know where you are are

9. Sometimes you won’t be able to see the light around you

10. But you better remember who the Day star is

11. I came in here this morning to talk to someone who is in a dark place..

B. THE ART OF DIVISION

1. I remember disecting a frog in High school

2. Some people did not like it at all

3. My wife opted to fail that part of science

4. But friends I perfected the art of disection

5. I was doctor Pastor Will

6. Some folks have perfected the art of disecting the church

7. But when you disect something in the church you are seperating it

8. Where there are 2 or more visions there is DIVISION!

9. You would be better to have no vision than division

10. Imagine if one eye could see something different than the other eye

11. Now your mind has to facilitate both visions

12. You would not make it long before you go crazy

13. Division in church brings confusion and makes folks feel and act crazy!

14. I Corinthians 14:33

33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

C. BLIND LEADING THE BLIND

1. If your car broke down you would have a better chance of kicking it and it running then for me to try to fix it

2. Why? Because I don’t know how to

3. I am not a mechanic

4. If I wanted to start my own business, I think an auto repair place would not be my best choice

5. Better yet if I opened one up and then hired a bunch of folks that did not know how to fix a vehicle

6. I would now have an auto repair shop owned and operated by someone who knows nothing about cars

7. Surrounded by a bunch of folks who know nothing about cars

8. Matthew 15:14

14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

9. Sometimes we have some want-a-be mechanics working on cars in the church

10. Its about time God sets up the repair shop

11. Its time that the people in the church know who they are

12. Its time that the poeple in the church know where they are

13. Its time that the people in the church know where they are going!

III. WHEN GOD BREATHES THE VISION

A. DESTINED TO LIVE

1. How many of you know that when God breaths stuff lives?

2. If God breathed it then it is going to live

3. He will not give a vision without life and if He gives it life it will live

4. God is speaking to this church right now

5. God has breathed a vision in this church right now

6. He will not breath that which will not live!

7. 7 we will be’s

· We will be a life giving church whose waters flow from the River of God through all cultures and generations!

· We will be a life sustaining church where the heartbeat of God will keep our families spiritually healthy.

· We will be a life birthing church where new ministries are conceived, delivered, nurtured, and sent out.

· We will be a people of faith and expectancy who are not moved by what we see, but stand in the God who we know!

· We will be a people of devotion who are committed to the work of the Lord through the local church!

· We will be a people of worship who honor the Lord for who He is and not what He will do for us!

· We will be a growing church whose walls will not contain us!

B. FORMED FOR A PURPOSE

1. If God breathed it, not only will it live

2. It is breathed for a purpose

3. God formed mankind for a purpose

4. God formed woman to keep man strait...lo!

5. Somebody in here has been doubting your purpose

6. God did not give you life without purpose

7. There is a purpose for every single person in here

8. God formed this church for apurpose

9. If He breathed it, it will live

10. If He breathed it, it has a purpose

11. If it has a purpose, we to know that purpose

12. That knowing of our purpose is OUR VISION!

13. Proverbs 29:18

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

C. EQUIPPED TO PERFORM

1. If God has breathed life for us to live

2. If He has breathed life for us to have a purpose and a VISON

3. He will equip us to perform what He has called us to do

4. The devil has lied to so many

5. You know you are appointed

6. You know you are called

7. You are waiting on the annointing

8. Some spiritual nugget to fly out of the sky and hit you in the head

9. If God has called you He has also provided the annointing fulfill that calling

10. The calling is up to God

11. The annointing is up to you!