Stebbing 8th Feb 09 - Our Vision

This sermon accompanies our current home group work of discussing and working towards a statement of Our Vision for the church. At one point I mention a video was shown ; the one I have posted here from Youtube is the same text but an inferior visual experience. The original, produced by Worship House Media, I first saw at New Wine in a seminar by Nick Cuthbert

The readings were Exodus 3, 1-12 and Matthew 14, 22-33

After 700 years of doing what he was built for, he’ll discover what he was meant for.

Well this church is not quite 700 years old, but unlike Wall-E the robot, we have known for a while what we are meant for. The question before us today is, how do we put that knowledge into action, to bring the gospel to this community, and to build up God’s church in this place, at this time??

Today, as I outline in a bit more detail the process that we are going through at the moment, as we prepare for the vision away day at the end of March, there are a number of things I need to make sure we all understand.

First, I want to make absolutely clear that we are not developing this Vision because the church has been ineffective in the past; rather, following a period of reflection and consolidation among the Leadership Team, we are seeking to lay out clearly what our core values and core purpose are, so that we all know what we are aiming for, and also so that we can see whether a proposed event or action fits into that purpose, and is consistent with those values.


Second, we feel that a greater involvement in the process of discernment will lead to a higher degree of ownership across the church, once we arrive at the end of the process and have our Vision. We have been getting homegroups to think carefully about a number of aspects of the Christian life, and of the life of this Church, and the leadership team will be reflecting on those discussions both in the run up to the away day and on the day itself. However, Vision is not developed by consensus, it should produce consensus.

By that I mean it is to God ultimately we are looking for a Vision together, so this process is no guarantee that everyone will get their idea included in the end product. Having said that I believe that the process of discernment is enhanced by the inclusion of as many people as possible. With that in mind we are holding a half night of prayer in Church on Friday 13th March, to under gird this process with prayer and to ensure we are listening intently to the Holy Spirit. Please come along, even for only a few minutes. Everyone is welcome.

Thirdly, I want to let you know exactly what we are aiming at. I know many of you will have been involved in the formulation of vision or mission statements in the past, at work or school or other churches, so you might be familiar with what I am talking about, or you might have done it differently. If you know other churches’ vision statements, they might help us, they might not, but it’s always worth looking out for them. Of course, the Army has already nicked my favourite – “Be the best”.

You may have noticed that this year we don’t have a motto verse on the monitor. Can anyone tell me what the motto verse was for last year? And the year before?
The statement of our vision is intended to give us as a church a clear direction, not going from pillar to post, on the crest of the latest wave of trendy schemes and ideas, but staying a course God has set for us and being clear about our aims. Our motto verses changed every year at the whim of the vicar and the leadership team, but this is OUR VISION. It will be a statement that says who we are, what we do and what our aims are. It will be renewable and revisable – say every 5 years, since I think it’s about 5 years since you were last engaged in anything like this.

Our Vision will have a set of concise core statements behind it – rather as we have used the New Wine values in the past. There’s nothing wrong with them but can you remember them all? The most important thing about our vision is that we will all be able to see it, understand it and put it into action. As Bill Hybels of Willow creek Community Church said, “Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion in people”, and alongside that goes a saying of Walter Wright, “Vision is seeing tomorrow so powerfully it shapes today”.

The Bible says in Proverbs 29 that where there is no vision, no revelation, the people run wild; in developing our vision, we want to set a course that will keep us focused today, keep us in tune with God’s will for this community, and above all, keep us growing and moving faithfully forwards to the coming of the Kingdom.

If you are thinking we don’t need a vision, have a look at this, a parable of what happens when a church loses direction. (SHOW LIFEBOAT VIDEO).


Now, when Moses encountered God at the Burning Bush, he had a vision of God, who gave him a vision for his people – “to bring my people out of Egypt”. God also give Moses a promise that he would be with him, and a hope for the future – “you will worship me on this mountain”. I believe God is with us on this journey, and that he has given us a hope for the future in Christ.

On Wednesday at prayers, Mary had a picture of a coil of rope all neatly placed. She saw a contrast between the size of the rope all neatly coiled, and how far-reaching it would be, how much more able to do what it was meant for it would be, if the rope were uncoiled. It would get wet and dirty, but it would be doing what it was meant for. I do believe this church is like that coil of rope.

I want to acknowledge that this kind of strategic exercise can make a church feel a little insecure, a little wobbly. As I have said we have been consolidating in the leadership team, and it may be that as a result of the development of our vision, things might change, but as with the Israelites leaving Egypt, the changes that came along were all made in order to achieve God’s purposes. It is also worth repeating two things I have said before from out here; first, just because you change something doesn’t mean what was there before was wrong, it’s just different now, and the second thing is “do it afraid”.

When Jesus walked on the water out to the boat his disciples were in, they were terrified. They were without their leader and they were at a loss to understand or explain what they saw. Peter though, showed signs of visionary leadership, signs of great faith, when he said “if it is you Lord, tell me to come to you on the water”, although maybe he didn’t think it really was Jesus and didn’t think he was going to have to get out of the boat! In that sense, then his challenge was to handle the surprise he got when Jesus said, “Come”. Of course, he might have done well to take the advice on this poster but unfortunately for him it didn’t come out until 1906 years after his water walk.

Because of course he faltered, and Jesus saved him. I am fascinated by the lack of response to Jesus’ question “why did you doubt?” Peter didn’t doubt Jesus, he doubted himself. I don’t believe for a second he doubted that Jesus would save him. What was most amazing then was not that Jesus walked on the water but that Peter did; but as John Ortberg famously said, “if you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat!

But actually if we just keep calm and carry on, we’ll end up like the life saving club. Getting out of the boat means trusting God to save us and guide us, but also believing in ourselves, that with his help, we can do it.

So please pray, and please listen to what God says in response. This is so much more than just a marketing exercise.
Remember, what we are after is a core ideology, our core values and our purpose. This will be something that defines the enduring character of a church like us, and which will give us guidance and inspiration for the future, today. If it is short and snappy and easy to remember that’s great, but we are not advertising executives.

Francis Drake, in 1577 at the beginning of the exploration of the Western Hemisphere, reputedly prayed this prayer, which I think sums up well what our attitude should be as we set sail on the next stage of our journey.

Disturb us, Lord, whenWe are too well pleased with ourselves,When our dreams have come trueBecause we have dreamed too little,When we arrived safelyBecause we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when

With the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirstF

or the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.
To push back the horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.