Man, the title of my sermon this morning is keeping the vision alive, keeping the
vision alive. The Bible said there in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7, for we
walk by faith, not by sight. Not by physical sight, but seeing through faith.
You lose your vision right before you die. Okay, let me give you some some
verses on this. You don't have to turn there.
Genesis 27 verse 1, and it came to pass that when Isaac was old and his eyes
were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son and said unto
him, my son. And he said unto him, behold, here am I. Genesis 48 verse 10, now the eyes of
Israel were dim for age so that he could not see. 1 Samuel 4 15, now Eli was 90
and 8 years old and his eyes were dim that he could not see. So we see these
men in the Bible right before they physically died, they lost their
physical ability to get to see. As they got older, their eyes became dim
and they even went completely blind. And the spiritual application there is
that when we lose our vision, we are approaching death. We are getting close
to the end. And a church with no vision is a dead church. Okay, flip over if you
would to Proverbs chapter 21. Proverbs chapter 21, a church that has no vision
is a dead church. A church that loses its sight, loses its vision, is a church that
is about to die. Now what do we mean when we say having a vision? Well, having a
vision means that you can see something that isn't actually physically there but
that you have imagination or you're a visionary or you believe that
something's possible. This has to do with seeing through the eyes of faith.
Okay, having a vision could be called having a purpose or having a plan or
being motivated. You're going somewhere. You know, we have a vision for what we
want our church to accomplish this year and next year and we're going places.
That's what it means to have a vision. There are some churches that don't have
a vision. When it comes to their spiritual eyesight, they don't have the
faith to see what's possible and they're just sort of treading water and
they don't have a vision for moving forward or doing great things for God.
That's interesting. In 1 Samuel 9 verse 9, you don't have to turn there, but it
says, before time in Israel when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake,
come and let us go to the seer for he that is now called a prophet was before
time called a seer. So the Bible is telling us that prophets were also known
as seers. Why? Because a prophet is someone who sees things that other
people don't see and the modern application of this today in 2019 would
be that the pastor of the church needs to have a vision. He needs to be a seer
and have the faith to see things that other people can't see. That's how he's
gonna lead. Now people that are backslidden, they actually want to be in
a dead church, okay? A church that's dead is a church with no vision, no great
purpose for God. They're not excited about doing anything big for God, but
people that are backslidden, they actually want to be in a dead church
because it doesn't challenge them. It doesn't motivate them and look what the
Bible says in Proverbs 21 16. It says, the man that wandereth out of the way of
understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead. The man that
wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the
congregation of the dead. So there are people today that are just wandering
through life without purpose, without vision, without a plan. And when we think
of the word wandering, this means that there's no destination in mind that
they're heading toward. They're certainly not making a beeline toward a certain
goal if they're wandering. Wandering is someone who is aimless, someone who is
lost, someone who's confused. And many people are wandering through life and
the Bible says that if we wander out of the way, then we will remain in the
congregation or assembly or church of the dead. So you have these big dead
churches filled with wandering people who have no vision. They're backslidden,
they don't care about the things of God, they're not excited about anything, and
so they remain in the congregation of the dead. He said, well how dare you call
that church a dead church? Well what did God call the church at Sardis? He said,
you have a name that you live but you're dead. He said, you have a reputation for
being alive but you're dead. And there are many churches today that people
could look at and say, wow that's a really happening church, that's a really
lit up church. But you know what? They're dead. What does it mean to be alive? It
means to have a vision. It means to be doing something for God. It's not how
wild your music is. It's not how wild the preaching is. I don't care if the
preacher is swinging from the chandeliers and screaming and being the
pulpit. I don't care if the music is pounding. That's not what it means to be
alive. To be a living church is the church that is watchful, strengthens the
things that remain, and that has a vision for doing great things for God. It's
going places. You know I remember one time at our church we had this guest
preacher come in and this guy was the biggest bozo ever. And we had this guy
for like three or four days straight and I came to every service just because I
had a thing where if the church was putting on a service I was there. And I
just sat there listening to this guy service after service and just each
service was worse than the first. Okay. But this guy came in and I'll just give
his name because he's such an idiot. Buddy Blomkow. Okay. And this guy came in
and he came and keep in mind I was at a red-hot soul-winning fire-breathing
Baptist Church. I mean this was an exciting church. People were getting
saved. People are getting baptized. Great things were happening. People's lives
were being changed. And he came in and he's like, y'all are dead. And I'm like,
what? And he's like, y'all are dead. Because he's from these camp meeting
circuses in the south or something. And he's telling us about a service he was
at where they grab the flag and they're running laps and stuff. Grab the
American flag, run laps, grab the Christian flag. Woo! Glory! You know one of
these things where everybody's clowning and all wild and he's like, y'all are
dead. Because our church act like normal people. Okay. Because we're from
California. Amen. You know. But anyway, where normal people are from. But anyway,
you know, they're basically think that something great's happening for God
because you're running in circles. Because you're jumping up and down.
Because you're screaming amen. And look, I'm all for saying amen. I'm all for
being excited. But you know what? You ought to be excited about something of
substance. And you know what? It angered me as I sat in the pew listening to him
to tell us that we're dead. Because I'm thinking to myself, well that's funny
because we're getting people saved every week. Because we had 50 people out
soul winning on Saturday. You know, this is back at, we have way more than that
here. Amen. But back at the church I was at, you know, we had 50 people out soul
winning on Saturdays. We had, you know, people getting baptized constantly.
People's lives are being changed. The pulpit was red hot. And I'm just thinking
about it. In what way, shape, or form are we dead? Just because we're not clowning
and being a circus. So don't get a wrong view of what it means to be lively
versus being dead. Hey, when you're alive it's when you have a vision and you're
doing great things for God. And people are being saved. People are being
baptized. Lives are being changed. Not just the wildness of the service. Amen.
Look what it says in chapter 29 verse 18. So Proverbs 21 16 says, the man that
wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the
congregation of the dead. And then in Proverbs 29 verse 18 it says, where there
is no vision, the people perish. So notice again, a lack of sight, a lack of vision
is associated with death. Right? Where there is no vision, the people perish,
but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Go if you would to Habakkuk chapter 2.
Toward the end of the Old Testament is a little small book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk
chapter 2. Habakkuk chapter 2, and I want to point out that the vision needs to be
clear. First of all, I said that you lose your vision right before you die,
physically. And that's a picture of spiritually the fact that where there is
no vision, the people perish. And when you lose your vision, you're dead. When
the church has no vision, that's a dead church. No matter how much they try to
act wild to seem like they're not dead, if they have no vision for soul winning,
if they have no vision for doing great things, then it's a dead church. And then
we talked about how backslidden people, they want to be in a dead church. You
know, they don't want to be challenged. They don't want to be motivated. They
just wander through life with no purpose. But the next point I want to make is
that the vision needs to be clear. Okay? The vision needs to be clear. Look at
Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 1. I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower
and will watch to see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer when I
am reproved. And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision, and watch this, and
make it plain, make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it. Okay? So
what's he saying here? He's saying, look, write the vision. He's talking to the
preacher, the seer, the prophet, the man of God, Habakkuk, and he's telling him,
write the vision and make it plain. Make it plain. Make it clear. Make it
understandable. Let people know what the vision is. Make it plain upon tables that
he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but
at the end it shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, because it
will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold his soul, which is lifted up, is not
upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. And so we need to have a
vision, and we're talking about the vision of faith, of what's possible, of
what God can do, of what God can use us to do, and we need to put forth a clear
vision to the people of God, and that's what Habakkuk is being asked to do. Now
go to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. What do I mean by this? I remember
when I was growing up and we went to a lot of liberal churches, especially in my
teenage years, I remember they used to get up and preach so passionately and so
vehemently and with such vigor they would get up and preach, you got to put
God number one in your life. You got to put God first. You got to seek first the
kingdom of God. You got to do what's right. Do right. And I remember just
sitting there thinking to myself as a teenager, you know, I was moved by that
preaching and, you know, all those Bible verses, and I remember just seeing the
thing like, what do I do? What do I do though? You know, it's like, yeah, you got
to put God first, you got to work for the Lord, work for the night, and I'm just
like, let's go to work. What do I do? And you walked out of these services and
you didn't know what to do. They got you all motivated to do something for God,
do something for God. It's like, what do I do? The vision needs to be clear, not
just a vision that says, we're gonna do big things. We're going places, people.
This church is going places. I don't know where they are, but it's places, all right?
You need to have a clear vision that says, hey, this is what we're gonna do.
This is where we're going. This is the plan. Come with me and see my zeal for
the Lord. We need a clear vision. We need a clear goal. We need a clear purpose or
plan of what we're doing, not just these vague platitudes of just, you know, keep
God number one, because that, you know, all the teenagers around me, in many case, we
even come down the aisle and be crying at the altar with decisions that they
made, how they're gonna love God. But then they would just go back to living
the exact same way that they lived before. And even someone like me, who
really wanted to do what was right, didn't end up doing it because I didn't
really know what to do. You know, nobody gave me a clear
instruction. And that's the problem with preaching that doesn't specifically name
the sin and say, these are the sins we need to stop doing. Or name the good
works and say, this is the work you ought to be doing. Here's the, you know,
here's when you start. One of the things I love about a church like ours is that
anybody who wants to work for the Lord, it's a piece of cake. You just show up at
any one of the soul winning times and there you got a concrete plan of what
you can do for the Lord. I mean, when I was a teenager, I would have just been
thrilled to just clean a toilet for the Lord. I mean, I was just like, what do I
do? I remember just going to the pastor and saying, what can I do? Give me some
work to do. And there was nothing to do. You know, I'd be like, hey, I just want
you to know pastor, if there's anything to do, I want to work for the Lord. I
want to do, okay, great son. You know, and then you just never got any job given to
you. And it reminds me of my sister who had a state job in California at one
point. And at this state job, there was just nothing to do. It was a government
worker, you know. So she literally would just sit there and just goof around on
the computer all day and just fool around. There's just nothing to do. But
eventually she just got tired of fooling around the computer and she said that
she would literally go around the cubicles and say like, hey, does anybody
need help with anything? Is there any work that I can do? And they told her,
nope, we're just bored as you are. And you know, she ended up leaving that job.
Now some people, that's her dream job. Some people's dream job is where they
can just kind of clock in and bide their time for eight hours doing nothing,
kicking back, fooling around on Facebook or solitaire or whatever, mind sweeper,
you know, for the whole day. But you know what, those are called lazy people.
People who actually like to work are miserable in an environment like that,
where there's nothing to do. People who actually like to work, man, they want to
have a job to do. They want to have some kind of a goal or something to work on,
something to do. And so she ended up leaving that job because it was just too
boring. But you see, that's how a lot of churches are. You know, you go to the
pastor and you're like, hey, I need some work to do. It's like, well, I'm just
bored as you are. Because he doesn't have anything going on. The church is where
nothing's going on. Thank God we have a church where, you know, you can always go
soloing, and soloing is for everybody. I mean, you can get out there, you can knock
a door, and boy, you're on the front lines right away serving the Lord. And we also
have plenty of opportunities to clean toilets, amen? So, you know, we have all
of the above for volunteering. You know, we're going to be asking some people to
volunteer when we have the conference coming up in January, the Faith Ward
Missions Conference, January 22nd through 26th, coming up. You know, we're
going to need people to volunteer to help clean the building every single day
because we're going to have to do a lot of extra cleaning and stuff. Because God
willing, we're hoping to bring in, you know, 500 plus people in here, pack this
place out, and have a big event. It's going to take volunteers to help
decorate, help clean, help do stuff. You know, there's always work to do in a
church that's alive, in a church that has a vision. There's always soloing, there
are missions trips, there are evangelistic trips to the Indians. You got all kinds
of things going on in a church that has a vision, okay? Now, if you're there in
Hebrews chapter 11, having a vision is all about having faith. These two things
are very connected in the Bible because it's about believing what is
possible through Christ, okay? That's a good definition of what it means to have
a vision. It's when you believe in what is possible through Christ and you can
see the possibilities of what can be accomplished through Christ and you say,
you know what, that's where we're going. That's what we're going to do. So that's
what it means to have a vision. Look what the Bible says in Hebrews 11, verse 1,
and you'll see how often faith is associated with sight. Remember the Bible
said we walk by faith, not by sight? Look what the Bible says in verse 1, now faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So again,
it's not physically seen, but you see it through the eyes of faith, that's having
a vision. The substance of what is hoped for, the thing that in the future you
hope to do, you hope to accomplish, you have that vision and you believe we can
get there. Here's how we're gonna get there. Let's make it clear, let's make it
plain, and let's work toward that goal. Bible says in verse 3, through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which
are seen were not made of things which do appear. Look at verse 7, by faith Noah
being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an ark
to the saving of his house by the which he condemned the world and became heir
of the righteousness which is by faith. This of course was a negative vision, he
had the vision of the world being flooded, God showed him the potential
there of what he was going to do and so he was able to save his household by
building the ark. Look at verse 13, these all died in faith not having received
the promises but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and
embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
They saw them afar off. Look at verse 23, by faith Moses when he was born was hid
three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child and they were
not afraid of the king's commandment. Verse 27, by faith he forsook Egypt not
fearing the wrath of the king for he endured, watch this, as seeing him who is
invisible. Having a vision and having faith are very similar. Now turn if you
would to Acts chapter 20, Acts chapter number 20 and let me just talk a little
bit about our missions conference that we're gonna do in January and I want you
to get a vision for this conference you know and and where did where did this
conference come from? Like why are we having this conference in January? It's
because I have a vision for this conference okay and what does that mean?
That means that I've sat and imagined in my mind I've seen this conference
already taking place in my mind. I've already seen Wednesday night, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday, Sunday of this conference. Now I'm not talking about
getting a supernatural revelation from God. Obviously there were men in the
Bible who received supernatural revelations from God and and these holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost and they produced the
Word of God. Look we have the finished Bible we got the finished product here
I'm not getting any supernatural revelations from God other than the fact
that the Holy Spirit just opens my eyes to things that are in this book but
that's available to all believers we all understand the Word of God in a
supernatural way through the Holy Spirit our teacher and guide okay but I don't
receive extra biblical revelations from God and so when I say I have a vision
I'm not saying that I went into a trance and all of a sudden you know God grabbed
me by my I don't have enough hair like Ezekiel had for him to grab me by my
hair and you know pick me up and show me the conference and I've already seen the
whole conference I know which of you are gonna be there who isn't gonna be
that's not what I'm saying when I say I have a vision for this conference I'm
saying that this this conference came out of my imagination right it started
with me just thinking to myself hey this would be an amazing conference this
would be something that we could do great things for God and really make a
difference here okay so that's what I mean when I say it start with a vision
all right now one of the cool things about this conference is that it's
taking place in January of 2020 and 2020 is a number that's associated with what
with vision right 2020 vision now let's look at acts 2020 all right so this will
help you remember this acts 2020 here's the vision it says in acts 2020 and how
I've kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have showed you
and have taught you publicly and from house to house there's our vision right
there for the year 2020 and beyond there's so much great stuff packed in
this verse I like how Paul says I've kept back nothing that was profitable
unto you the pause of Paul was a preacher that didn't hold back on his
teaching or preaching because he was afraid of being persecuted or he was
afraid that people were gonna be offended he didn't hold back at all he
said I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you and he said I've
taught you publicly so notice he didn't try to hide what he taught he didn't say
all right you know we're not gonna put the sermons on the internet because of
the fact that you know we could get too much heat if we put it on the internet
no he said no I talked to you publicly and then the other thing we see here is
he said I taught you from house to house so he had a vision for soul-winning
right door-to-door house-to-house preaching the gospel to every creature
is it just me or did my microphone all of a sudden get louder all right so in
the sound room if you could just take the green knob above my particular
challenge just turn that down a little bit all right how are we doing now sound
right okay let's leave it leave it right there all right so 2020 right the year
2020 want to have a great vision and I'll tell you what the vision ought to
be and let me just make the vision clear is to get everyone the gospel in the
whole world that's the vision okay now I believe this is possible in our lifetime
to see the gospel preached clearly to every single person who lives on this
earth right I'm talking Canada United States Mexico South America Europe Asia
everywhere you know in our lifetime we can go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature not obviously that's impossible for me to do that
alone it's impossible for our church to do that alone but I'm saying that we can
do our part and then we can motivate other people to do their part we can see
churches planted we can see other churches get reignited you know their
pilot light has sort of gone out we kind of reignite that pilot light in the
church get them fired up get things cranking and see this world eventually
I'm not saying try to do it I'm saying do it I'm not saying hey you know we
want to try to get the gospel every no no I'm saying we can get the gospel to
everybody succeed I'm saying that when those of us that are my age or younger
when we get to be old men we would look back and say every person in this world
or every country in this world every town in this world has been evangelized
in our lifetime we've seen the gospel go around the globe in our generation now
look other generations have done great work like this and they have gotten the
gospel throughout a whole nation but over time the results of that are gonna
fade away and be gone every generation has to do this again they have to start
over and do it again okay that's the vision and you know a lot of people they
think about soul winning and they like soul winning and they're for Sony but
you know what the same guy who's great at soul winning is the same guy who kept
back nothing that was profitable from you folks the key to getting the gospel
the whole world is not by holding back on the hard preaching and this is what
people think in their human logic what do they think they think like well if
we're gonna evangelize the world if we're gonna get the most people safe we
have backup on the hard preaching because that turns people off isn't that
what they say you know that turns people away that turns people off but you know
what the Apostle Paul had a totally different philosophy his philosophy was
I kept back nothing I'm teaching it all publicly what he heard in the ear he's
gonna preach from the housetops and you know he preached hard he constantly
offended people he's constantly thrown in prison but yet he was able to say
that all in Asia had heard the Word of God he was able to evangelize his area
completely you know his area was Asia Minor Macedonia and Akia or Greece and
he was able to evangelize those areas he succeeded and he didn't succeed by
watering down the preaching censoring it holding it back you know by preaching
hard and and and really being public you actually make more waves you get more
people's attention and you actually build a bigger church and actually build
a bigger army of soul winners and you're actually able to influence more people
you say what happens you offended the queers so what they were already
offended by the Creator they're offended just by looking at the creation that's
what Romans 1 says right they just look at the creation they're just offended
that God even exists they don't want to retain God in their knowledge who cares
about offending them okay look we need to preach everything in the Bible so
look our vision is not just that the gospel would go around the globe it's
that hard preaching would go around the globe because you know what these two
things go hand in hand you cannot have the one without the other if you just
have hard preaching with no soul winning that you've you've you've gutted you
know Christianity of its heart and soul of reaching people with the gospel and
if you just have soul winning with no hard preaching folks that plan that
vision is DOA it's going nowhere it's been tried okay many in the old
I have tried to be the ones who just everything sweetness and light and nice
and just soul winning soul winning soul winning and you know what it's a
non-starter folks we need to preach the whole Bible we need to get on God's
complete program of keeping back nothing and preaching the gospel house to house
and that's how we're gonna get it done now look I have a vision for Arizona I
have a vision for United States I have a vision for the world I'm not gonna lay
out that whole vision right now I'm gonna talk about it a little bit because
I want to make the vision clear amen but I've already done a sermon a few
years ago called the strategy to evangelize the entire world so if you
want a clear layout of the vision listen that sermon the strategy to evangelize
the entire world and let me tell you it's realistic it's possible it could
easily happen in our lifetime easily easily I mean folks it's so easy but we
just have to get God's people fired up and motivated and get them out there
doing it I mean it's just stop and think about this and I realize that not
all Baptists are saved I get that but there are 50 million Baptists in America
we could literally evangelize this whole country in one afternoon if every
Baptist would go out soul winning for one afternoon think about there's 340
million people in America there's 50 million Baptists so we all have to
witness to like what six or seven people is that one afternoon or is it
just me and then let's move on to the rest of our right now I'm not saying
they're all gonna get saved most of them are gonna get saved but we can at least
get a clear presentation see what's the vision the vision is not getting the
whole world saved that's a foolish vision because that will never happen
the vision is evangelize the whole world everybody hears a clear presentation of
the gospel that's the vision and you know what there's a vision also that
everyone would have a great church to go to in their area you know they might
have to drive a little bit might have to drive 45 minutes or something but I mean
just in in every major area that there would be a great church for people to go
to that's a great vision that we should see accomplished in our lifetime in the
US and all over the world now one of the reasons why I want to have this
missions conference is because of the fact that you know I want to get people
fired up good because like I said a minute ago the problem is that people
aren't motivated that's the problem you know we got 50 million Baptists in
America how long would it take to evangelize the whole country one
afternoon if they were actually all saved and actually all did it but the
problem is that even if we just took all the Baptists that are saved there's
still millions and millions of them then there are saved people that aren't
Baptists you go out so what do you run into people that are saved they don't
even go to a Baptist Church and folks the problem is that these tens of
millions of saved Christians in America are not motivated that's the problem
it's a motivation problem it's a heart problem that's it you know what it is
it's no vision no vision I mean if you could actually just take the vision and
just implant it into everyone's mind and say like okay folks this is possible we
can get this whole country evangelized you know a lot of people would get
excited and do it that's what we're trying to do we're trying to pass on
that vision to people but we don't want to just evangelize the United States
because the United States is is one of the countries where the gospel is the
most prevalent thank God we want to evangelize the rest of the world too and
so part of the purpose of this missions conference is to get people excited and
motivated about what is possible in other countries of this world okay so
one of the things we're gonna do is have each day represent a different
continent because we want to make sure that we talk about the whole world and
not just only emphasize one place because we want to have a big vision for
reaching the whole world so one day we're gonna talk about Australia one day
we're gonna talk about Asia then we're gonna talk about Africa the Americas and
Europe because of the fact that there's so much work that could easily be done
if people would just get a vision get excited about it you know think about
the mission strip that we just had in Guyana you know 368 salvations the word
of God thundering forth every single morning on the radio every Sunday
afternoon on the television why you know it because folks that place is white
under harvest and it's not just Guyana it's Belize it's not just Guyana and
Belize it's all these islands in the Caribbean folks there are all these
islands in the Caribbean where the demographic is the same as the
demographic in Guyana same as the demographic in Belize you got people who
are poor they're humble they're ready to listen to gospel they come already from
some kind of a Christian background although most of the time it's an
apostate workspace salvation type thing folks it is so easy to go down there and
get people say you know I mean we it was just like the fish are practically
jumping in the boat when you're down there okay fishing for men going so when
it is easy but we've got to get people a vision and show them what's possible and
get people excited about going down there and doing it you know going into
northern Sonora here just over the border in New Mexico folks people are so
receptive to the gospel there it is one of the best places to go soul winning
that I've ever been in the entire world okay we need to get people that will
have a vision for using their Spanish language proficiency and getting down
there and doing some great soul winning for the Lord and then you've got Europe
and a lot of people think like oh you know put a fork in Europe it's done game
over there's nothing to be done folks that isn't true we can reach Europe with
the gospel because Europe is at that point where yeah they've become totally
liberal and socialists and godless in so many ways but you know what the young
people are starting to wake up a little bit and I think they're ready to hear
the gospel I think there's a young generation growing up in Europe that
could be reached with the gospel and let me tell you something in England today
they are starving for a church like faithful or Baptist Church they're
begging for a church they get together and have scores of people go out so
wanted to get they have so many events with 40 people 70 people show up Paris
France today has a crew of dedicated soul winners that are constantly going
out so any there are soul winners in Germany Poland Romania hungry all over
Europe okay there are people who are going Sony but you know what they need
leadership they need a pastor they need a church they need people to come look
folks we should have missions trips where we're going over there and taking
these people solely now somebody else can have to lead some of these you know
because I'm not allowed in 34 countries but somebody else can have to lead some
of these but man why why not get a vision for getting the gospel to France
get in the gospel to England get in the gospel to Ireland get in the gospel to
Greece get in the gospel to Romania say it's a lost cup no it isn't no it isn't
because he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless
come again with rejoicing bringing his sheep with him and I understand that
there are unreceptive places in this world and we should shake off the dust
of our feet I get that but you know what you can't just write off a billion
people in Europe and say they're unreceptive it isn't true because
there's a demographic of teenagers and people in their 20s a new generation
that is receptive to the gospel and I know because I've been there and I've
won people to Christ and it works some of the people that have been solving in
these places have just shifted their methods and and you know they're not
just going only door-to-door they're doing less door-to-door and they're just
starting to just go to places where young people hang out and just talk to
the young 20s and just give them the gospel just walk right up to them and go
straight for the demographic that wants to hear the gospel and that's what we
did about 80 90 percent of the time when we were in Cyprus we just went straight
to the demographic that wants to hear the gospel you know we figured out what
was the most efficient way of doing it but you know what eventually every door
needs to be knocked in these areas house to house so that no person is left
behind no stone is left unturned you know I could go on and on we could talk
about Asia we could talk about Africa we talked about the Caribbean we could
talk about the Indian reservations not just in Arizona but in New Mexico we
could talk about Mexico we could talk about South America we could talk about
Australia look we could go on and on in fact we are gonna go on and on at the
missions conference and we're gonna get testimonies from people who live in
these countries and they're gonna represent their country and we're gonna
give people a vision for reaching this world with the gospel of Jesus Christ
because you know we need to have the faith to believe that if God commanded
us to do it it could be done we've got the tools to do it we've got the
manpower to do it we just need to get the vision and believe in it and get
other people to believe in it and get people fired up and do something great
for God in this generation you know there's our vision right there for
Phoenix we got our map over there and look how the vision is coming to pass
right before our eyes of getting the gospel to every person in our County
look at that map look how many millions of people have already heard the gospel
that map is like half filled in for a giant task of reaching everyone in
Phoenix with at least a clear presentation of the gospel what about
the vision to reach all the Native Americans in in Arizona well guess what
we only have a couple tribes left you know we're winding down on that we've
already done half the doors on the Navajo Reservation the big dog we've
already finished up with the Apaches the Tohono O'odham Yavapai all these
different smaller tribes we've finished it can be done it can be done now I
don't want to spend the whole time talking about that I just wanted to put
in a little bit of a blurb there for the missions conference I want you to be
excited about it I want you to pitch in if you can maybe help out with some of
the decorating help out with some of the cleaning and stuff like that and and get
excited about it because I think it's gonna make a huge impact if we can get
people from other countries to come here get them excited show them what's
possible take them out soul winning and then send them home to their country to
go start up a soul winning club in their area folks this can have eternal
consequences for thousands of people yay millions of people in these other
countries it's time to get serious it's time for the decade of the 2020s to be a
decade of moving mountains and doing great things for God that the people
have not even thought possible but let's get off that you say well I'm not really
into soul winning well shame on you well I don't really care about reaching the
world for Christ what about me well you know get excited about Christ vision
right but you know what okay how about having a vision for yourself all right
let's talk about you now yeah let's have a vision as a church right we don't want
to be a dead church want to have a vision we want to think about planting
other churches in California and Arizona we want to think about you know reaching
the world with the gospel when I think about having a missions conference want
to think about putting out another documentary film right and and reaching
millions of people that way but you know what you need to have a vision not
just for the church have a vision for yourself are you just going nowhere in
life have a vision for yourself have a vision for your family what does that
mean it means that when you look at your little baby boy or baby girl you don't
just see an inconvenience you don't just see a diaper that needs to be changed
you don't just see a meal that needs to be served but that you have a vision for
raising godly young people did you have a vision for bringing up your children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord have a vision for yourself where
are you going in life are you one of these people is just wandering through
life are you like cane where you're just this wandering vagabond or a fugitive in
this world are you like these people who remain in the congregation of the dead
where they just kind of wander out of the way and they wander in the
wilderness you need to have a vision for your life where are you going in like
look I know where this church is going we've got a vision I know where our
church is going I know where I'm going as a preacher I've got a plan I've got
a vision I've got a purpose you need to get a purpose in your life now obviously
I hope you'll share our church's vision and get excited about being a part of
what our church is doing and and being part of the team making that vision
happen but you need to get a vision in your own life you know get a vision for
what kind of a Christian life you want to live you need to look in the mirror
and decide what you want to change about yourself right and you know what
changing here's another word for changing repentance is something the
Bible talks a little bit about amen you know we need to decide what are we gonna
change in our lives where we get change about ourselves where are we going in
life you need to get a vision for where you want to be six months from now you
need to get a vision for where you want to be 12 months from now you need to get
a vision from where you want your family to be you know you look at your family
and things are a certain way hey get a vision for how you can make things better
and how you can fix things you know for example get a vision for reading the
Bible you know why don't you get motivated and decide you know what one
year from now I'm gonna read my Bible cover to cover well that's a great goal
isn't it something that should motivate you a vision or have a vision that says
you know what I am going to become the godly Christian wife that I've always
wanted to be or that God wants me to be I'm gonna be the godly Christian husband
that God wants me to be that's a vision that you could get and basically say you
know what I'm in a picture and I'm gonna see myself six months from now twelve
months from now eighteen months from now I've got a vision for where God wants me
in my life and I'm gonna get there and look it's not enough to just have some
pie-in-the-sky vision make it plain have a clear vision just like we have a
strategy to evangelize the entire world a step-by-step plan ABCD that's the kind
of vision you need to get for every area of your life that's the vision that you
need for your job it's a vision that you need for yourself it's a vision that you
need for your family where you figure out what it's gonna take to get there
don't just have a vision work toward that vision work toward that vision and
also pray for that vision to take place get on your knees and pray and say you
know what God here's where I want to be here's what I want to do Lord will you
allow me to accomplish this Lord please bring this to pass you know we need to
pray for this missions conference in January that because how do you know
it's not gonna be a complete flop how do you know it's not gonna be a complete
bust how do you know it's not gonna accomplish nothing because Christ said
without me you can do nothing doesn't matter how smart we are or how
excited we are we need the Spirit of God to fill the preachers that preach at
this thing we need the Spirit of God to fill the soul winners that go out
soul-winning during this thing we need God to lead us and direct us we need God
to work in people's lives that need to be at this conference and open doors for
them so that they can afford that plane ticket so that they could get out here
so that they could make the trip possible say get the time off from work
we need to pray that this thing happens get a vision for it pray for it hey in
your own personal life you say hey I want to be a great husband wait are you
praying every day God please make me a better husband please help me to be a
better father to my children are you praying toward that and if you've taken
concrete steps of okay here's what I'm gonna do here's what I'm gonna change
here are the steps I'm gonna take here's a concrete plan how to become the
husband that I need to be how to become the wife that I need to be how to become
the parent that I need to be how to become the pastor that I need to be how
to become the employee I need to be how to become the provider and breadwinner
that I need to be how to get my job path where needs to get a vision for your
life and then believe that you can do all things through Christ which
strengthen of you that's what Paul said I can do all things through Christ with
strengthen of me he was a man with a vision go to Philippians chapter 3
Philippians chapter 3 the Apostle Paul had a great vision for the future he's
constantly talking about what great things he was gonna accomplish by the
grace of God now unfortunately he didn't get to accomplish everything he wanted
and when you have a vision and you have a plan but you might not necessarily
achieve that vision but I'll tell you this the guy who has the vision that
he's working toward and has the faith in it even if he gets 85% of the weight of
that vision even if he gets 90% of the weight of that vision he's still
accomplishing way more than the dead person who has no vision you know if I
shoot for a hundred and I hit 85 that's better than the guy who's just wandering
through life and hits two three or four Paul said this in Philippians 3 13
brethren I count on myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do
forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things
which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus Paul had a mark that he was aiming at he had a vision he
had a mark he had a goal the high calling and he was pushing toward that
he had a vision and he was pressing toward that he constantly talked about
it in the epistle of the Romans in chapter 1 he talks about how man I want
to go to Rome I want to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also then
in chapter 15 he talks about how when he goes to Spain he says when I take my
journey into Spain I want to stop off in Rome on the way and see you folks Spain
is pretty much the furthest he could go you know as the Apostle Paul kept
pushing West with the gospel right he pushed it from Turkey into Macedonia
into Greece into Rome and he wanted to push it all the way to Spain he had a
big vision now he never made it to Spain it's one of the reasons why Spain is a
messed up place when it comes to religion but you know been great to see
the Apostle Paul have gotten there and and and lit that place up with the
gospel but let me tell you something he had a vision for reaching Spain with the
gospel he wanted to go all the way to the uttermost part of the earth you know
other people were going other directions he was pushing it west and he that Spain
was literally the uttermost part of the earth as far as that's where the land
mass stopped that's where the continent stopped that was the edge of the
continent right and he wanted to go all the way to Spain he had a big vision you
need to get a vision you need to get a direction a goal a purpose there's
nothing sadder than having no purpose in your life no plan no purpose no vision
and you're just kind of surviving every day just going through life and you just
you eat you drink you sleep you just drag through like get a vision first of
all get a vision for the things of God you know get you know but join a church
and get excited about it and get on board and get a part of the team and be
part of something big get a vision for your personal life hey I don't win souls
now but I'm gonna become a soul winner I'm gonna learn how to give the gospel
I'm gonna win someone to Christ that's a great vision right hey this year 2019
I'm gonna win someone to Christ before the end of the year I'm gonna get one
person saved before the year that's a great vision hey I'm gonna be a part of
that missions conference I'm gonna be a part of soul winning I'm gonna be a part
of one of these trips to an Indian reservation I'm gonna improve as a
husband I'm gonna improve as a wife I'm gonna be a better son I'm gonna be a
better daughter I'm gonna be who God wants me to be I'm gonna read my Bible
cover to cover I'm gonna become someone who prays I'm gonna do something big
with my life get a vision for your life today don't just wander aimlessly and
you know what I'm not talking about physical sight I'm talking about what
you can see with the eyes of faith where you see what's possible the evidence of
things not seen is your faith the substance of what you hope for is your
faith and the faith is in this I can do all things through Christ which
strengthen of me the faith is this with God all things are possible so don't
tell me that it can't be done because with God all things are possible let's
and I've ordered prayer father we thank you so much for your word Lord and we're
thankful that you've given us so many directions in the Bible to help us have
a vision Lord we get our vision when we read the Bible and we see what you've
done in the past and then Lord we import what we see in the Bible into our
present-day life and say Lord let's live the book of Acts now let's let's
evangelize the world in our lifetime let's have the right marriage now let's
have the right child rearing now let's be the the person that God wants us to
be right now help us to get that vision from your word Lord help us to work
toward it help us to pray about it help us to sit down and and and take pen and
paper and write down a list of goals write down what the vision is make it
plain upon tables Lord help us to get out the tablet the table and let's write
out the vision Lord and let's have a goal and a direction in our life Lord
there's so many teenagers they they don't they have no direction in their
life young people in their 20s just floating through life often even
nihilistic because they just have no purpose Lord help us to give them a
purpose and something to work toward that has eternal value and in Jesus name
we pray amen