Vision For Ministry

Where there is no vision, 

the people are unrestrained,

but happy is he who keeps the law.

 

Two tracks of Church Vision

For a church to have successful long term ministry it must have a two track approach. Much like the rails that a train runs on this approach is vital to the vision of any church. This vision has two parts. The one is internal and centers on how the church ministers to ONE ANOTHER. The other track is the outward reaching mission of the church or how they reach out to the world with the message of Jesus. The proverb says that without a vision people are unrestrained. That makes it sound like they are free, but it is exactly the opposite. A train is free and moves the best on the two tracks it is made to run on. When it is unrestrained it is off the tracks and it will CRASH. The same is also true of a church. If the church is not on track it cannot accomplish its goal of reaching the community with the message of Jesus and using the train analogy it will CRASH.

But who is a vision so important? A Train that is taken off the tracks is a museum, a nice place to visit but it will not take you anywhere. That is also true of a church that is off the tracks of the vision and goals that God has set for it. It is a great place to visit, but it will not take you anywhere. Such a church is full of memories of the past but it has no long term future.

The first track we will look at this week is the internal track that is labeled MINISTRY. It is how the church members relate and care for ONE ANOTHER.  In fact there are seven (7) key ONE ANOTHER'S that make for a healthy church family. 

1. We Are to BEAR one another's burdens Galatians 6.2 This was evident in the early church as they took care of each other in difficult times. Seeing that no one was lacking any of the basic needs.
2. We are with HUMILITY of mind to regard one another as more important than yourself Philippians 2.3 This is why we have been given gifts. They allow us to minister to one another. We are to take on the same attitude as Christ did. He came to serve and to show us how to serve one another. It is one of the reasons he set the example of washing the disciples feet.
3. We are to LOVE one another John 15.12 Many today see love as an emotional feeling that comes and goes. Love is not an emotion! It may include emotional times but it is not an emotion. Love is commitment. When a couple gets married it is for sickness or health, poverty or wealth, till death. Now that is making a commitment to the unseen. They may have emotional times because of these events but love says, I am committed to you no matter what. This is the commitment Jesus wants his followers in the local church to share with each other.
4. We are to be of the same MIND toward one another Romans 12.15 This means we share common goals and visions. That we are looking at the church as others would and are not demanding that the church "make us happy or we are out of there."
5. We are MEMBERS of one another Ephesians 4.25 Members means we are joined together as one. The concept of individual over the community is not a Christian concept. Christ is about community about joining the family of God. It is about belonging.
6. We are to ENCOURAGE one another Hebrews 3.13 This is one of the key reasons we assemble together. We are here to encourage and support each other. "If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1.7
7. We are to CONFESS or sins and PRAY for one another James 5.16 People who are growing and maturing in the Lord are there to help each other spiritually as well as physically. Public confession should be no more public than the sin, but sin that is not confessed and dealt with before God is a barrier to the individual's growth and physical health as well as the growth and the spiritual health of the local church.

The one another's are one track of the Vision of the local church. Without this one track of MINISTRY the church is removed or damaged. This means that the church is unrestrained and it will CRASH.  It is vital for every church to work to make sure that they are practicing the ONE ANOTHER'S as ministry to the members of the local church.