Introduction:
I would like to thank everyone here tonight for the
opportunity to preach the word of God to you. It is an awesome responsibility
to stand behind the pulpit of an apostolic church, one that is surely anointed
of God. It is never something to be taken lightly, or taken for granted. It is
an honor and a privilege which only the minority of the church will ever
participate in.
What I would like to talk to you about, Lord willing,
is your vision for this church, and for your life in Christ. This church will
live or die by the vision the Pastor has for this church. If he has no vision,
the church will die. If his vision is small, the church will be small. If his
vision is large, the church will be large. Our vision for the ministry God has
called each one of us to; will determine the life, or death of that portion of
ministry which we as individuals are involved in.
You may say to me that you’re not a minister; I would
say that you’re wrong. But that’s something we’ll discuss that later in this
message. If we would all stand in honor of the reading of the word.
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: ……..
You may be seated.
1.
Leadership
Romans 13:1-5 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For
there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever
therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that
resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to
good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that
which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister
of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he
beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to
execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not
only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
God has dictated throughout the scriptures that we are
to have authorities over us. These authorities are in place for good reasons. Without
leaders and authorities in our lives, there would be chaos in the church. God
does not want confusion in the church as he has proclaimed in:
1Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace,
as in all churches of the saints.
There are reasons why God has placed leaders and
authorities in our lives. God has placed these people in our lives for the
purpose of spiritual guidance and discipline. We don't like the "D"
word. But it's important that we have it. Without it we will cease to be a Holy
church before God.
You may say what does discipline have to do with a
vision for the church? It has very much to do with the vision of a church.
Churches that have no discipline lose their vision, their true reason for
being.
·
They become
social gatherings instead of soul filling stations.
·
They become way
stations to hell instead of boarding stations to heaven.
·
They quit
preaching the truth and start preaching social activism for perversion.
·
They lose all
value as a church.
·
They bring
condemnation on the true church as those outside the church see their
hypocrisy.
Prove to me that I'm wrong, I dare you! Look at the major
denominations that have turned away from God. Not only are they ordaining
homosexuals in defiance of God's word. They are consecrating them as Bishops, high-level
leaders in their denominations. They are outraged that anyone would dare tell
them they are wrong to do so. The General Superintendent of one has said that
if his choices were heresy or schism, he would always prefer heresy.
I ask you in the Holy Ghost. What kind of a church is
that? I'll tell you what it’s not, it's not a true church, it's a false church,
it's a church that makes people think they're saved and yet leads them straight
to hell.
In the Apostolic church we have pastors in order to
help us stick to the doctrine of the full gospel of Jesus Christ. Of burial in
baptism by full immersion in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as preached all
through the book of Acts. Baptism in the Holy Ghost with the initial sign of
speaking in other tongues as the spirit gives the utterance, the doctrine of
separation from the world in thoughts, dress, words and actions.
We have men who have consecrated themselves to God in
order to find the will of God, study the word of God and preach the word of God
to a lost generation, a generation upon whom the ends of the world have come.
Men who will deny the flesh and the lusts thereof in
order to hear God when He speaks to them. Men of prayer and fasting. Men of
great moral character. Men who are not afraid to be men, and especially men of
God. Men who know how great their God is! How great is your God tonight?????
Discipline in the church is much more than a spiritual
spanking for wrongdoing. Discipline is also known as discipleship. We need to
disciple those who are new to Original Christianity, AKA Apostolic Doctrine, in
the word of God and we need to do it by example, not just through bible study.
·
Discipline is
making yourself get up early enough in the morning to pray when you would much
rather be sleeping.
·
Discipline is
going to service even when you are dog tired from working all day or taking
care of children that work you to death.
·
Discipline is
reading the word of God before you go to bed even though you have to fight to
keep your eyes open. Even though your body desperately needs those few extra
minutes of sleep.
·
Discipline is
preparing for a family altar so that your children get the word of God more
than just at church.
·
Discipline is
holding yourself and your children accountable to spend time in prayer together
at some point during the day so that your children understand that it’s a
priority in your lives, and should be in theirs.
·
Discipline is
turning off and tuning out the world when it comes to your entertainment
choices.
·
These things are
the personal disciplines that will help grow a greater church, and a better
family life.
Vision:
We who are in leadership have a great responsibility
before God and man. For it says in:
James
3:1 My brethren, be not many masters,
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
As a pastor, I have a great responsibility before God as to
how I lead the flock of God A pastor must have a vision for the church. He must
have a vision from God and not just his own decision as to what the church
should do. Too many men have their own idea about what the church should look
like, how big it should grow, and they never take the time to ask God what His
opinion is on the matter. They never ask God to give them a vision of what the
church should look like, what it should be like.
Just as bad is when the pastor gets a vision from God
as to what the church is to look like, a timetable to reach those goals and he
never vocalizes that vision to the congregation. The man of God must have a
vision from God as to how he wants the church to grow, the methods to getting
there, and he must tell the church about the vision that God has given him for
the church if he expects them to get on board.
A congregation needs to get on board with the program
once the pastor gives them the vision which God has given him. Just as Moses
told the children of
We don’t want this church to die; we don’t want any
church to die! We want all true churches of the Lord Jesus Christ to have a
vision from God and to grow to meet that vision.
·
We need to ask our
Pastor what his vision is for the church
·
We need to be
faithful to pray for the man of God that leads the church.
·
We need to seek
the Lord in fasting and prayer for a vision of our part in the growth of the
church.
·
We need to be
faithful to fulfill the vision that God has given us.
·
We need to be
faithful to pray for the congregation to get the big picture of what God has in
store for this church.
·
We need to have
faith that God knows what he’s doing.
·
We need to have
faith that God will fulfill what his vision calls for if we’ll just believe and
trust in him.
2.
Drive
Another thing a church and its Pastor must have is
drive!
Philippians
3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to
have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14: I
press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
·
Regardless of
past life experiences.
·
Regardless of
past failures.
·
Regardless of
what people say or do.
·
You must believe
what God has given the church!
We may not have had success in other endeavors in life.
God may be the only one to know why they didn’t prosper. It may have been
because it wasn’t what God wanted us to do. It may have been because God wanted
to work on our character, something that happens a lot when you are failing at
something. You either grow from it or you turn into a quitter. God doesn’t like
quitters, he calls them cowards, and they have their place in the lake of fire.
Failure in a previous endeavor can make us smarter on
how to do it the next time. It can make us more determined to be successful. It
can give us wisdom in how to prepare for the next time. It can make us realize
that we can do nothing without God, but all things through God! It says in:
Philippians
4:13 I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me.
Another
thing that we need is:
3.
Determination
We refuse to yield to a spirit of futility
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
We refuse to listen to the devil tell us what we can
and cannot do! God is in control and not the devil. God will perform what He
has planned for this assembly if we will only seek His will for the assembly.
We are the bride of Christ! I don’t think that God has
brought us to the altar just to dump us. He’s prepared a place for us and I
don’t think it’s called Motel 6! God is preparing a mansion for us. He’s
preparing a place for us that we will be most pleased with. If God is doing
that for us eternally, don’t you think He’s capable of doing it for us in this
present world?
I don’t believe for a minute that God built his church
in order to let it fail. I believe that God built His church on a rock so that
the foundation would be sure and strong! God is building this church so that it
may produce strong Christians, anchored to the rock of ages!
As the old song says, “I have decided to follow Jesus,
no turning back, no turning back”. It says in:
Luke
9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
When God shows us the way, we don’t look back at what
the world had to offer, we press toward the mark of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus! If the world were that great, why did we come to church in the
first place?
Isaiah 50:7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not
be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I
shall not be ashamed.
Isaiah set his face like a flint. A flint is a hard
stone that works well for starting fires, igniting cigarette lighters, or the
flash pan of a flintlock rifle in the revolutionary war era. Isaiah wasn’t
moving from his position in God. He was setting his face so that he would not
be moved, and if the enemy came against him, he would start a fire through God
that would destroy any enemy! We need to be like Isaiah this morning.
4.
Humility
Humility is giving God the glory when the goal has
been reached.
Luke
14:11 For whosoever exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The vision that God has given me for this church is
His vision. I want to fulfill what God has called me to do as the Pastor of
this church. I would hope that everyone in here this morning would get a vision
of what God can do; through you to fulfill His vision for this church.
In a few moments, I will share with you what God wants
for this church. I would hope that what God wants is what we as a church want
to accomplish as well. I don’t want to be using the word “I” from this point on.
I want to use the word “Our” from this point forward.
If you will direct your attention to the wall behind
the platform, I will bring up our mission vision statements so that you can see
what God wants us to do as a church! (Bring them up and explain them.)