Devotional Guide for week of March 19, 2007
Day One Vision-Personal Acts
1.
A Vision
statement is a type of goal. Think of it
as a road map with the vision being the point at which you want to end up. The only difference is that the point in the
vision is not a geographical location but a character location. This means that a vision is who and what we
desire to be when we land at our final destination. For the follower of Christ the ultimate
vision landing point is to be like Christ.
Most churches have felt that God has called them to develop a “Vision
Statement.” This is a statement that has
the landing character point for the church.
What are the members of the church heading to and aiming for as they
follow the path to Christlikeness? Years
ago God lead Grace Fellowship to develop the following Vision Statement:
We are
learning to become liaisons of God’s grace,
Through
developing believers into a relational community,
Building
healthy relationships,
And reaching
out to the
Disillusioned
and unchurched skeptic.
Look
back and replace the “We” with “I”.
How would you rate yourself on your own accomplishment of heading toward
this vision?
2.
Look back at
Acts
What
do you think were the motivations of their actions?
What
do you think were the results of their actions?
3.
With our vision
statement in mind and the experience of the early church as seen in this
passage in Acts, how do you rate your own direction right now?
What
mapping (life) corrections do you need to make?
Day Two Vision-Church Acts
1.
Look back at our
Vision Statement from yesterday’s devotional.
As we looked at this we thought about how we, personally, were on the
proper path to arrive at this Vision Destination. Today we look at how our church is lining up,
how Grace Fellowship is doing on the road to being this Vision. What would you list as being the three key
elements of this Vision Statement for our Church?
a.
b.
c.
2.
Now look at
these three elements you have listed and evaluate how we, as a Church, are
doing on the road to this Vision.
3.
Look back at Acts
What
are reasons for these similarities and differences?
Are
differences problematic? Do they need to
be corrected? If so, what correction
needs to be made?
How
can you be a positive, proactive, encouraging, part of moving Grace Fellowship
on track and in line with our Vision (our goal)?
Day Three A
Unique
1.
Just as the
Vision Statement is our goal or destination, a Mission Statement is our road
map of how to get there. A Church
Mission Statement is particularly unique to each Church as God leads each
Church to minister in a peculiar way and fashion so as to do the work God has
laid out for each individual Church. Did
you ever wonder how Churches can be so different and unique while still having
the same goal of Christlikeness? It is
because God has laid out a unique
To Live in
and enjoy a growing
Gracebased
relationship with God,
Each other,
And the
World,
While
inviting others to
Experience
the grace of Jesus Christ
And to
become a part of our fellowship.
What
is the opening statement of this Mission Statement? What is the first thing that it says we are
doing as we head toward our Vision?
Who
or what does it take for this first part of the
2.
In Matthew
19:16-22 Christ encountered a young man who was wanting Christ to tell him how
to get to where he wanted to go. The
young man wanted eternity. What did
Christ first tell him he had to do?
How
did the young man respond?
When
the young man replied that he had indeed done everything that Christ initially
said what did Christ then say was necessary?
How
did the young man respond when Christ informed him of what was ultimately
necessary to reach his goal of eternity?
Why
do you think this was impossibility for the man?
3.
This young man
was seeking something he could do in order to see eternity and Christ informed
him that it all begins with who we are.
Christ told the man that he would have to give everything. We can’t do enough but the truth is that all
we actually have to do is give our all.
This is why our Mission Statement begins with the call to “Live in, and
Enjoy a Growing Gracebased relationship with God”, with Churches it is no
different than it was with this young man, it all begins with us giving
everything to Christ and then allowing Him to direct our “Doing”. Spend some time today thinking on this truth
and evaluating your own situation….are you a “giver” or are you attempting to
make do by being only a “doer”?
Day Four The Do of our
Each other,
And the
World,
While
inviting others to
Experience
the grace of Jesus Christ…
With
whom does the responsibility lie in this middle section of our
How
are you doing on this section of the road map?
Day Five
1.
We are finally
to the end of our Mission Statement and finally to the section that
specifically addresses bringing people to Church. The Mission Statement carries on with the
instruction to “invite others to
experience the Grace of Jesus Christ” and then says:
And to
become a part of our fellowship.
Why
do you think, with this being a “Church”
Mission Statement, so little is said about growing our Church?
2.
What does it
mean “to invite others to become a part
of our fellowship”? Is it merely
something we do or does it have to come from who we are individually and
corporately?
How
would your answer impact how you relate to your church family and to the world?
3.
If we were to
truly take the Vision and