A comprehensive vision for the local church

This is published mostly for review by people who are in the process of establishing a church or clarifying their purpose. It is based on a vision statement of a local church where I served as elder.

INTRODUCTION

…Healed up …Built up …Filled up …Turned Loose.

A stream of God's Spirit and Kingdom has been flowing for many years in the Gallatin Valley. Local Christians at various times have been drinking from this stream, perhaps now more than ever before. Prayer has become more intense, both personal and corporate; praise and worship is in our hearts and seeks expression; unity between Christians is sought intentionally. The spiritual gifts are being poured out on people to build up and encourage the Church. It seems God the Father is saying to His children, "See, I am doing a new thing!"

The Spirit of God has given us vision for a local body of Christians as part of the larger Body of Christ that God is raising up. The vision is challenging and exciting! We have the privilege of seeing God build His church as only He can. Built on the proper foundations of the apostles and Jesus Christ as the cornerstone, this church seeks to be a local body of believers who are a People of Intimacy, a Refuge for Healing, a Center for Equipping and Sending, and a Body with Harvest Eyes.

The cornerstone of this church is Jesus Christ. His redemptive acts of love continue to give new life and refreshing to those who come to Him in faith and receive all His provision for fruitful living. Jesus is the source of the springs of water that well up to eternal life (see John 4:14, 7:37-38; Revelation 7:17, 22:17): We will honor the person and work of the Holy Spirit who is the streams of living water flowing from within the believer in Christ (John 7:38).

The promises of God include a covenant give His manifest presence by His Spirit; to fill God's temple (His people) with His glory; to make financial provision for His Church; and make this church a house of peace. As God's people we are called to "be strong … and work" (see Nehemiah 8:10, Zechariah 4:6); and we must trust the leading and provision of our God without fear. The Lord Himself will build this church (Matthew 16:18, Psalm 127:1). 

Thanksgiving, praise and worship in the presence of God will be the essential beginning of any move of God among us. Seeking the Lord; hungering and thirsting for more of Him; fearing Him above all others; obedience to His voice--such must characterize this body of believers. The atmosphere we breathe will be prayer; praise and worship the life we cultivate. The River begins in intimacy with Jesus.

As we allow the Spirit of God to fill us and flow through us, obediently giving away "living water" as servants, the river will flow deeper. If we attempt to dam up the flow in order to maintain our personal comfort zones or preferences, the waters will dry up. Equally dangerous would be the dam caused by spiritual pride and provincial attitudes that treat the outpouring of the Spirit's presence, gifts, and resulting manifestations as a frivolous toy. We must not quench nor grieve the Holy Spirit in this day of a new outpouring.

  

This is to be a safe place for people to discover the redemptive grace and truths of God.

We cannot expect that the entire vision will be fulfilled in a short time, nor that the vision is complete. We must simply listen to the voice of God, be obedient, and uphold the power and integrity of His word. The Lord will assist us in refining and planning as we anticipate the days ahead and listen to His Spirit and read His Word.

CORE VALUES

We will be empowered to be:

A PEOPLE OF INTIMACY

Becoming intimate with God through personal and life-changing praise and worship, through honoring His Word, the Bible, to us, and by knowing and relating to Him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The atmosphere we seek is prayer--conversation with God.

Also being intimate with God's people, believing that unity with each other as Christians declares to the world that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We desire to be a loving, trusting community in Jesus, committed to seeing Christ formed in all who desire to be a part of us:

A REFUGE FOR HEALING

God's plan for the Church is that His people be made whole in spirit, soul, mind, and body. God is in the business of healing and giving life, so the Church is to reflect that. The River of Life is to be a safe place, where our words and actions encourage and assist each other down the River toward the likeness of Jesus Christ.

A CENTER FOR EQUIPPING AND SENDING

We desire to assist each other in the building of godly foundations in our lives, discovering and using the gifts given each Christian to serve God in the building of His Kingdom. We want to be sent wherever God can use each of us the most to love people: home, school, work, the marketplace, or the world!

A BODY WITH HARVEST EYES

We want eyes of faith to see God's Kingdom around us, and to see the needs of Gallatin Valley and the world, meeting those needs which God directs us to serve. We want to see, pray for, and reap the harvest of souls of men, women, and children which we believe God is preparing to transform in the years ahead.

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. " (Isaiah 43:19-20)

In these days of spiritual famine we are discovering a growing thirst for God: a need for intimacy with Him; a desire for real purpose and meaning, truth and freedom; and a glimpse of His life, power and holiness revealed in His people, the Church. God is moving in new and fresh ways. God is inviting us to feast at His table of abundance and to quench our thirst in His springs of living water.

FOUNDATIONS

1. This church belongs to Jesus

"And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. " (Ephesians 1:22-23)

2. This church will be built by Jesus

"Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. " (Ps 127:1)

"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. " (Matt 16:18)

3: The goal of this church goal on earth is to be like Jesus Christ

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. " (Rom 8:29)

"My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…" (Gal 4:19)

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. " (2 Cor 3:18)

4. This church shall function with callings and gifts of the Spirit to equip the church for real ministry.

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. " (Eph 4:11-13)

5. A spiritual harvest is coming that will require a well-equipped body to nurture; ready to move in God's purity and power, ready to answer questions they will ask--not just, "is God real?" but "How real is He?!"

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. " (Matt 9:3 7-38) "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. " (Acts 1:8)

PRINCIPLES

1. FAITH: Knowing Jesus, and who we are in Him: The foundation of knowing God intimately must be solid or the building will not stand! Those who see God can best reveal Him to a world that desperately needs revival.

Too few believers really know who is in them, and who they are in Jesus Christ. This goes beyond "head knowledge," though I believe this is lacking to a great extent as well. So many Christians are hurting, wounded, in bondage, or suffering from "heart failure" to things spiritual, that they cannot identify themselves emotionally, spiritually, or even intellectually as "beloved of God."

The body must be healed if we are to be released to heal. In order to offer hope to this generation of rejection-sensitive people, we must get rid of our insecurity and take hold of who we are in Jesus Christ. Only when we know we are sons and daughters can we speak with authority; only when we know we are bond-servants of Christ can we speak with humility. Our identity in Christ must be known if we are to effectively serve on His behalf.

2. CALLING:  Knowing our callings, ministries, and gifts. God has a calling for each Christian. We must assist fellow believers in taking hold of the calling God has for them. Discovering and developing ministry gifts is necessary. Too many believers in whom God has placed a seed, a dream that He intends for His kingdom's benefit, have not known what to do with the seed. Fruitful ministry will result from the powerful Word of God that is joined with the faith of a Christian who knows the voice of the Lord.

3. TOOLS AND WEAPONS: Knowing the tools for cultivating our faith and the weapons to our warfare. We need equipping in the fundamentals of sound doctrine to nurture our faith and our walk in the Spirit. We must water the seed, give them tools to attend to the soil, and equip them to cultivate the seed into a fruitful plant effective for the purposes of God. We need equipping in the fundamentals of our faith to nurture walking in the Spirit.

We also need training in the use of heavenly weapons. We are engaged in a spiritual battle, and conflict between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness will only intensify in the days ahead of us. Christians will need to have confidence in the use of the weapons God has given them to use. If we do not learn how to use God's weapons against Satan's forces, we will be too occupied fighting extended battles God never intended us to struggle with to actively minister to the new Christians God will be bringing into His Church.

4. THE ANOINTING OF GOD: Perhaps most importantly, though intrinsically tied to the other areas requiring equipping, the people of God need His anointing. God is Holy, and complete surrender of our lives is not only in order, but to be expected. Surrender is death to self. Knowing the purity and power of the Spirit of God in being sent out for ministry. Though intrinsically tied to the other areas requiring equipping, the people of God need His anointing.

Anointing is necessary for the breaking of spiritual bondage to the kingdom of darkness; anointing must be upon the person or church who desires to do His works, to build anything that lasts through the test of His consuming fire. God will release a greater anointing upon a people who have "nothing to lose, nothing to hide; and nothing to prove." With the anointing and the revelation of the Spirit to the Church comes the sending into service, whether within the local body, the community, or to the nations.

Though we do not enjoy hearing it, Christians have been too full of self to contain much of God. In these days, God is confronting us with great kindness and severity in His judgment. He is taking down our idols and calling us to undivided hearts. It is the pure in heart which will see God. Those who see God can best reveal Him to a world that desperately needs revival. God is releasing a greater anointing upon His people as we become a people with "nothing to gain, nothing to lose, nothing to hide, and nothing to prove." Revival is coming! The Elijah's in our generation are saying to the church, "Get Ready! The Spirit is preparing the Bride to be spotless and blameless."

With this direction in equipping the saints, Christians will have the confidence in their God, their identity, their calling, in their use of heavenly tools and weapons, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit necessary to birth ministry (service) with far greater power and effectiveness than the former ways of “doing church.”

Such equipping can serve to multiply ministry exponentially, for the people are unleashed for ministry, the Lord will receive the glory and ministry will happen out of calling and anointing rather than simply out of our natural compassion.

CONCLUSION

The Presence of God will be increasingly upon us as we continue to trust Him and be obedient to Him. We will begin to see with the eyes of our hearts with greater clarity, resulting in an increased knowledge of Jesus Christ. We will move from crawling to finding our legs to walk in the Spirit. While many of us have been infants in the things of God, the Spirit of God will increase the maturity of those with a humble, teachable spirit.

God is preparing His people, the army of God, for the last days. We must take seriously the leadership of the Holy Spirit, discerning His voice in these days. The Spirit of God will train us to hear the voice of Jesus. It is critical in this time that we learn what the Spirit is teaching. I believe Christians have a season to learn this before the intensity of the Kingdom clash rises. 

Without recognizing that voice, confusion and burnout will result in Christians and churches. Wrong focus will steal the energies from churches and individuals as they zealously pursue programs that God has not ordained for them to participate in. Zechariah 4:6 will take on new meaning for the church ("'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord." See also Isaiah 33:20-22).

Preparation for the harvest is necessary. Difficult times have been upon the people of God. We can expect that when God desires to move upon the world, He moves upon the Church first. All that can be shaken will be shaken. We believe this extends to the very fabric of what we have called church.

Some of what we have given much time to will eventually prove to be baggage requiring more of the church's resources than she can afford. If we are clinging to the baggage when the harvest comes, our hands will be full juggling what we cannot handle already, let alone all the people that the Lord will be calling into the folds.

These are times of change by the Holy Spirit, if we are willing. May the God of our salvation bless us through His Son and His Holy Spirit in these days!