Vision for the Future! - Luke 4:18

Vision for the future

February 9, 2014

Luke 4:18

INTRODUCTION

• Story about need for vision
• "It started like so many evenings. Mom and Dad at home and Jimmy playing after dinner. Mom and Dad were absorbed with jobs and did not notice the time. It was a full moon and some of the light seeped through the windows. Then Mom glanced at the clock. "Jimmy, it's time to go to bed. Go up now and I'll come and settle you later." Unlike usual, Jimmy went straight upstairs to his room.
• "An hour or so later his mother came up to check if all was well, and to her astonishment found that her son was staring quietly out of his window at the moonlit scenery. "What are you doing, Jimmy?" "I'm looking at the moon, Mommy." "Well, it's time to go to bed now."
• "As one reluctant boy settled down, he said, "Mommy, you know one day I'm going to walk on the moon."
• "Who could have known that the boy in whom the dream was planted that night would survive a near fatal motorbike crash which broke almost every bone in his body, and would bring to fruition this dream 32 years later when James Irwin stepped on the moon's surface, just one of the 12 representatives of the human race to have done so?" - Bill Hybels, Who You Are When No One's Looking, IVP, 1987, p. 35.
• Today we are going to talk about vision
• I am not bringing a new vision - this church was given its founding vision 35 years ago
• God brought the laborers together who were to bring this vision to reality
• Today we are going to look at where Grace Fellowship has been, and where it is going

WHAT IS OUR CHURCH VISION?

• 2700 years ago, during the reign of Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah was given a word
• It is recorded for us in Isa 61:1
• This word was not for that time
• Certain things had to happen before the word would start to be fulfilled
• The Assyrian empire would come onto the world scene, and be gone
• The Babylonian empire would rise under Nebuchadnezzar and fall to Darius, the founder of the Medo-Persian Empire
• The Persian empire would come and then be gone, defeated by Alexander the Great
• The Greek empire under Alexander conquered the whole of the known world, but when he died, it was divided to his four bickering generals
• The Roman general Pompey took over Alexander's mantle and conquered most of the territory Alexander had subdued, including Palestine in 63 BC
• Judea was now under Roman rule. Herod the Great was appointed by Rome to keep the Jews in check.
•  It was in this atmosphere of a down-trodden nation under Roman rule, that Jesus grew up in, in Nazareth, a Roman garrison city
• When Jesus turned 30, he was asked to read from the scroll of Isaiah
• Luke 4:18 " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
• This was a popular message at that time.
• Crowds flocked to Jesus. He started to fulfill these words, by preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God, by healing the sick, and setting people free from demonic oppression
• But he did not complete that task
• He passed that task on to his followers
• John 20:21 "as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."
• Matt 28:19-20 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen"
• Mark 16:15-20 "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned
• "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover
• "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."
• The vision Jesus gave the church was to go out, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, and setting the prisoners free
• This is our vision

HOW DO WE FIT INTO THIS VISION?

• Grace Fellowship was planted by Pastor Dom Contreras in 1979, under the name Canaan Rest
• A word given to the church at that time said that this church would be a place for healing and restoration for this city of Susanville
• Under the Clarksons, this church grew, and there was a sense of family as the Lord gave us space to grow and mature and develop
• Healing rooms were established at the old church building on 5th and Cedar Streets
• People were healed, the signs were following
• Under Pastor Allen, the church moved to this building
• The church grew in numbers, but turmoil came and our numbers declined rapidly
• This is the point at which Dianne and I were invited to come to shepherd this church
• The vision God gave me many years ago, was Luke 4:18, that God was calling me to continue in the vision Jesus passed on to the church, to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the sick, and to release the oppressed.
• The repercussions at Grace Fellowship took some time to work their way through. 
•  Attitudes and resentments had to be resolved.
• However, we have now thankfully reached a place of stability
• It is time for us to return to the vision God has for this church, to be "a place for healing and restoration for the city of Susanville"
• This includes healing and deliverance, the signs following to confirm the preaching of the Word.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

• In your bulletin you have a summary of our finances over the last three years, since Dianne and I came to this church
• Our finances and our attendance have stabilized
• Tithing per attender has actually increased over each of the last three years for which we are very grateful
• The church has been faithful in paying its tithes and undesignated missions giving to Foursquare
• What is more important than the finances, is the work God has been doing
• 17 people have been baptized in 2013. 9 people were filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
• Grace Fellowship is represented in the formation committee for Teen Challenge, a Christian residential addiction recovery program
• People have been set free from demonic oppression, often referred to us by other churches.
• We continue to support Crossroads Ministries, our local mission to the homeless and needy of this town, financially, by our serving with bi-monthly Saturday dinners and by our weekly Friday morning Bible study
• Our prayer team received training from our Teen Challenge prayer coordinators in Grass Valley. On the first Tuesday each month I pray with James Rorie the pastor of the Greenville AOG church for Teen Challenge, for our communities, and for our churches
• Last month we started a monthly healing service on the second Sunday of the month, at 6pm
• The very first service, we experienced Jesus' healing touch
• This evening will be the second healing service, come along and be blessed
• We have been moving back into the vision to which Jesus has called us

WHAT ARE OUR PLANS FOR THIS YEAR?

• This year we plan to reach out more into the community
• Part of this plan is to build connection with the community by providing a community dinner each month. This will start next month, on March 30. There are many people in our community who are going hungry, and we want to serve them as we are able.
• After Easter we will initially run an Alpha course at church so we will all know what it is about. It is an exciting course to help us, our friends and family develop in their walk with Jesus.
• In the Fall, we expect to run the course as an evangelism tool, to reach out to the people in our community
• We will continue to have the monthly healing service, and will publicize this in the community
• Bernice has been helping in prison ministry with Frank and Darlene on Main yard. I have just received clearance to CCC prison, and will be restarting the monthly Bible Study on Lassen yard, on Feb 24
• So we are continuing with the vision.

CONCLUSION

• Each of us has a part to play in following this vision.
• We need people first of all, who are praying and supporting those on the front lines
• We need everyone to be obedient to God's call to support the work he is doing, financially, through our tithes and offerings
• But each of us also needs to be an army of one, to reach our friends and neighbors and bring them to church. If each of us encouraged just one friend to come to church, our church could double in size in a year!
• But it is not about the numbers, it is about being a person whom God can use in bringing healing to a hurting community
• That is our vision!