Fillmore Free Methodist Church Vision / Goals for 2011-2012
(Pastor Mike Hopper – September 4, 2011 – Hebrews 13:20-21)
What does the future hold for the Fillmore Church? Faith and vision are commended in the scriptures. "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18, KJV) The New International Version puts it this way: "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint." I would like to share with you a vision for the Fillmore Church—one that I believe is God-honoring and that will stretch our faith—and that comes from the various ministry leaders in this church whom I have visited with over the past several weeks.
Our Mission: “To plant spiritual seeds through evangelism, cultivate spiritual growth, and harvest dedicated workers and leaders for Christ.”
Theme Verses: "When He (Jesus) saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 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.'" (Matthew 9:36-38)
Our Vision: “To consistently send out workers (healthy, dedicated, equipped servants of Christ) into the harvest fields (for fruitful witness and service).”
The writer to the Hebrews declared: “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21) What does God want to do in and through us as a church and as individuals? My hope is that we will hear this vision from our ministry leaders, and that some of these dreams will reach out and grab our hearts, and we will respond by saying: “I want to be a part of that. I want to help that to happen.”
(1) Planting Spiritual Seeds through Evangelism: Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14) In a time when many believe that there are a variety of pathways to God, and as false religions grow, marriages crumble, addictions bind, and as there seems to be an increasing indifference to Christianity, evangelism needs to be a high priority.
Your pastor loves to hear stories from those in our church witnessing at school, at work, at stores, in their neighborhoods, and other places. I look forward to the time when WEEKLY someone will testify in our church: "I invited Jesus Christ into my life last week, and what a change He has made!" And so, we envision evangelism being promoted and encouraged by all staff, leaders, and teachers who will faithfully encourage all believers to be active in witnessing and leading others to salvation through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ.
We envision believers receiving training on how to share their faith in Christ and then doing it. (As you may have heard, training is being offered at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday evenings beginning on September 11th. You can register today.) We envision expanding the outreach of this church this year to significantly impact 200 additional families in this area and envision outreach being expanded through some new and creative means (such as technology and brochures). As we allow God’s Spirit to work through us, we envision persons accepting Christ and new families choosing the Fillmore Church as where they will grow in their faith and serve God.
We dream of a church that will eagerly develop ministries that will have an impact on the unchurched and on unbelievers, and that will help point them toward Jesus Christ. We believe that God would have us put ourselves in the shoes of unbelievers, and develop need-meeting ministries to meet those needs and to point individuals toward a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the past few weeks I have met with administrators in education and in the county to become more aware of the current needs of our county.
We envision additional persons becoming involved in world missions through traveling to Honduras, and also making contact with Free Methodists in that country. We also envision raising $2,000 to help put a roof on a church in Kenya to assist with their ministry and with their worship of God.
(2) Cultivating Spiritual Growth: When declaring what the greatest command was, Jesus told His disciples: "The most important one...is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'" (Mark 12:29-30) An important priority of the Fillmore Church is and will be to encourage spiritual growth in individuals.
We envision that each church attender will participate in a Bible study or Sunday School class or group taught by trained teachers where the Bible (God’s inspired word and the sole authority for life and faith) is explained and applied. We desire to see every believer grow and mature into a fully functioning follower of Christ. We envision that personal and group prayer will also be a priority.
We envision children coming to know Jesus Christ as their PERSONAL Savior and excited about growing in their faith through Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, worship, and other events. We envision youth becoming dedicated followers of Christ through participation in one of at least three small groups that will meet regularly, and through two teen Sunday School classes that are well-attended. We want to see children, youth, and adults so eagerly seeking God's will that they daily read and study the Bible, and seek to live their lives according to it.
We envision women growing in their relationship with their heavenly Father through the word, prayer, small group participation, and serving. We envision the development of a mentoring system where men are discipled for one year and then in turn are able to disciple others – beginning with five men the first year and then doubling that the following year. We envision our new fellowship hall being completed and used frequently through the week for activities that build relationships with unbelievers, with other believers, and with God.
We envision our worship times becoming even more meaningful as we encounter God in deeper and more life-impacting ways. We dream of worship services in which our hearts eagerly yearn to draw near to God as we encounter the living Christ in a personal and closer way.
We envision a church that brings healing to the pains of our community—that couples who are going through rough times in their marriages would find help even before going to their divorce lawyers, that relationships would be healed, and that marriages would be enriched by our the ministries of our church. (Marriage and Family will be the focus of one of our adult Sunday School classes beginning next week.) We envision developing ministries that will help adults effectively parent their children and so enable their children to make healthy decisions based on godly values as the parents model healthy relationships, choices, and boundaries.
As we would see new believers coming to the Lord, our church needs to be prepared to help these individuals get established in their faith. The most challenging time for new Christians can be in their first few days or weeks of their new life in Christ. We envision our church expanding a network of small groups where individuals can be encouraged in their faith, learn God's word, openly share their needs, and be involved in ministering to others.
(3) Harvesting Dedicated Workers and Leaders for Christ: Jesus told 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." (Matthew 9:37-38) Our Church is to have an important role in identifying, training, and sending out dedicated workers and leaders for Christ. While recognizing that there are times of crisis or burn-out when a believer may need a break from doing ministry, we envision a church where everyone serves—each attender is encouraged to discover his / her spiritual gift(s) and joyfully serve in meaningful ministry. We envision 15 persons who complete the spiritual gift questionnaire and get involved in ministry for the first time this year, and at least 140 attenders involved in doing some kind of ministry.
We dream of our church providing training for persons who are becoming teachers for Sunday School or serving in other ministries of the church. We envision our leaders bringing someone along side them for training--so that when a leader or worker moves on to something else, another individual is trained and ready to go. I have appreciated talking with two of our Bible study leaders recently—one who envisions his group praying for and reaching out to unbelievers, and the other who dreams of training up individuals who will be able to leader other Bible studies. We dream of teens serving the Lord while in high school, and after graduation continuing to serve in regular ministry for the Lord. We envision the expanding of the worship tech team through the training of additional workers.
The writer to the Hebrews declared: “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21) God desires to work in and through us to bring honor and glory to Him and to make an impact on this world for Christ. What would God have you do to help accomplish our mission "to plant spiritual seeds through evangelism, cultivate spiritual growth, and harvest dedicated workers and leaders for Christ"? Perhaps one or two of the parts of this vision have touched your heart. Let's talk about how we (together with the Lord) can see this come to pass.
May God help us to have a tremendous impact on our county and on this world through Jesus Christ as we are fully surrendered to Jesus and fully committed to His mission. May we refuse to merely watch others serve in the harvest fields, but rather join with others in bringing in the harvest God has placed before us as together we respond to Jesus’ call to the harvest fields. Jesus Christ said, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.’” (John 4:35)