Vision

"It is easier to serve or work for God without a vision and without a call, because then you are not bothered by what He requires. Common sense, covered with a layer of Christian emotion, becomes your guide. You may be more prosperous and successful from the world’s perspective, and will have more leisure time, if you never acknowledge the call of God. But once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God asks of you will always be there to prod you on to do His will. You will no longer be able to work for Him on the basis of common sense."

- from My Utmost for His Highest, March 4.

For the last few weeks, a few of us have been discussing about vision --- seeking God's vision for us now, and in the future. I would like to use this blog post to talk about this challenge.

You may ask why. For one thing, this is necessary. Whether you like it or not, the world is changing at an exponential rate. Our politics, technology, communication, culture, and way of thinking are all changing at a very rapid rate. This has an impact on many things: For example, you might have noticed that for our friends, an evangelistic altar call isn't as effective as other ways of evangelism. Their careers are different too -- you all heard Edward's talk -- it's full of new tools and ways of thinking/working... and so on, there's a lot more.

So in the face of these changes, how do you think God will respond? How does he want His people to respond? In the face of these changes, do we dare to "practice a faith in a world that no longer exists"? (to quote Stevens)

Another aspect is that you are growing. Your mind is growing more mature and you have new responsibilities. Also, your service in the church is increasing. Some day you might find yourself as a core member in the church, in a leadership position... If that happens, how will you perform your service for Christ? How will you approach each project? How do you respond to God's call to participate in solving this world's hunger?

So it is within this context that we need to start dreaming. We need to have a prayerful pursuit of God's vision --- not only for us, but for this church.

And when you have a vision, your focus and your energies will be different. (I mean... A Black Gospel Choir isn't going to practice Anglican hymns, right. They are focused on what God has asked them to do.)

So here are a couple of points to get us thinking, feel free to add to this list.
1.) What is our (RGAC) identity today? (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats?)
2.) What sort of "need" is emerging, over the next 5 to 10 years?
3.) In what areas God's gifts for us help to work on these?
4.) How do you envision this church will be like in 5 years? 10 years?

Cheers :)