Becoming A Carrier Of The Vision

Becoming a Carrier of the Vision – Build God’s House through Servanthood

Leadership = to influence the direction of other people’s lives – we are all called to be leaders. Leadership is not a title, but it’s an action - serving.

Everyone is called into an area of leadership

Aim: Vision is birthed inside congregation, they corporately & individually adopt a spirit of ownership & sense of belonging (feel at home), purpose & ownership. My pray is that people catch the heart beat of the church, get infected

“Where there is no vision the people perish.” Proverbs 29v18 (KJV) ‘cast off restraint’

We all need to have a vision; this is what will keep us on track. We need to have something that we are striving for. Something we can get our teeth into that will bring glory to God.

Q.) How many people want to see this church grow big? To become a leading influence in our city? I believe that God is raising up this fellowship not just be another average church of 100 or even 200 but of 1000s, that not only is influencing Portsmouth, but is influencing the nations! But in order to fulfil this mandate upon us as a church we need to ‘grasp the heart beat of the leadership & become carriers of the vision.’

Every person here this morning holds a unique key to unlocking more successful growth & blessing here at City Church. I believe that God is gonna reveal to a lot of you this morning keys that you possess!

Recently I’ve been studying some of the largest and most influential churches in America ranging from 10-26,000 people & looking to see if I could discover any common trends and find out their keys to success. In an interview when one pastor was asked “Why is your church growing so big & so fast?” His response was “The people own the vision & own the church as ‘theirs!’ As a result of this attitude, serving in the House of God becomes part of their culture. They have a realisation that God has called them to serve in the Body of Christ, that this is one of God’s purposes intended for their life. The church shares the responsibility of growing the church together – not simply relying on the Pastor.”

This in turn frees up the Pastor to do what he needs to do.

When everyone does their contribution, the Pastor is empowered to invest more time in studying the word, seeking God’s direction for the church & tending the flock.

This theme of leadership was recognised in one form or another in almost every one of the churches I looked at. I believe that if we as individuals & as a church implement (apply) these leadership strategies & allow serving in God’s House to become our way of life, to become part of our culture, part of our DNA – who we are; then we too will be able to achieve success above & beyond our wildest dreams.

Word For Today – how many read Word for Today? Recommend reading current series.

Exodus 18v12-26 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God. 13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?" 15 Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws." 17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable men from all the people - men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain - and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. (NKJV says: So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you). 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain (NKJV: able to endure), and all these people will go home satisfied." (MSG: 23 If you handle the work this way, you’ll have the strength to carry out whatever God commands you, and the people in their settings will flourish also.")