This class is for future Vision Owners of East Valley Bible Church.
Please read each week's notes before the next class.
This encourages engagement and discussion.
Week 3 | Vision
Ground Rules
Week 3 - Vision
Ice Breaker Questions
What brand has the best logo and tag phrase?
Where do you want to see your family in 5 years?
What do you think God wants you to be doing with your life?
Why do you think many people are uninterested in church?
What do you expect in a church?
East Valley Bible Church’s Vision
This week’s reading is centered on East Valley’s vision. Mission, purpose, vision, target and value statements are easy to find and sometimes cheap and hollow to recite. The vision of East Valley is the filter through which we do everything else. Our desire is for you to understand our vision and what we are doing to make it a reality.
Fulfilling Jesus’ Mission
The 4 big questions of life are: Where did we come from? Why are we here? How do I know what is right and wrong? Where are we going? The Bible, and more specifically Jesus answers all 4 of these questions. To discuss our vision, we have to attempt to answer the second question briefly here. What is our purpose/mission in life?
As Jesus followers, our mission is found when we understand Jesus’ mission. Jesus’ mission can be summarized into 3 words in 3 quotes from Jesus. The quotes come from John 6:38, Luke 19:10, Luke 4:18-19. The 3 words are surrender, save, and share.
Jesus’ mission was to surrender to the Father, to save sinners by dying in their place, and to share the gospel or good news. The good news is Jesus accomplished his mission of dying and resurrecting, and we can be justified by faith in Jesus.
Jesus passes his mission on to his followers. Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus’ mission was direct: surrender, save, and share. Our mission is much more simple: surrender and share. Notice the difference in missions. We are not told to die on a cross to save anyone. A sinner can’t pay for anyone’s sin but their own.
Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is simply to open our mouths and tell others. Every church that is healthy has this exact same mission.
What does this have to do with vision?
If you walked into a mall you would find countless retailers selling shoes. If you looked at their mission statement it would say something like, “To sell the best shoes one can buy.” That’s nice, but if you are going to a black-tie affair you wouldn’t walk into a Finish Line sports shoes store. And if you wanted to get track shoes, you wouldn’t walk into a Journey’s casual shoe store. Despite the similarities in mission, there are distinct differences in vision.
The truth is every single one of us is attempting to live out Jesus’ mission in a different culture, context, and circumstance. Our mission, to share Jesus, should never change, but how we go about doing this should be as vast as the individual lives we are living. Here are a couple of examples of how this is not only true, but necessary.
Imagine you wanted to share the good news of Jesus with a tribe in the bush of Vanuatu. In order to do so, you would have to learn the language. You would also realize that many of the people cannot read, don’t have their language written down, and they don’t even have an alphabet. How would you go about accomplishing the mission with these people?
Imagine you wanted to share the good news of Jesus with the homeless people living underneath Las Vegas. You would realize the extreme poverty, addictions, mental sickness, and apathy. Many of them have a good understanding of the Bible and already know they need to be justified by faith. How would you go about accomplishing the mission with these people?
The point is this: East Valley Bible Church wants to engage our culture, context, and circumstance, and accomplish Jesus’ mission.
Understanding East Valley’s Vision
Here is our “Vision Statement”
“Our vision at East Valley Bible Church is to experience life-transformation that makes us more like Jesus, which in turn, will transform how we engage with others.
Jesus created the church as the primary means by which He shows His grace and truth to the world. The church is not a stagnant organization but a thriving movement.
Our vision is articulated by the elders in different ways at different times depending on East Valley’s circumstances, context, culture and community.
To be committed to Jesus is to be committed to a local community living out His purpose. We strive for unity with one another for the benefit of all people to the glory of God. We meet people where they are and love them as Jesus would love them. We truly believe His grace can transform lives and therefore we boldly walk into darkness as His light. God’s people are not called to be spectators, but participators. We don’t measure our church success by our seating capacity, but by our sending capacity. We each have a part in God’s greater plan and purpose. God’s grace invites the brokenness of this world into His healing presence through the ministry of His people.”
We have simplified this statement into one phrase.
"We want to share uncensored truth and show unconditional love just like Jesus."
Jesus modeled perfect truth and perfect love in every situation, conversation and circumstance he was in. Read the gospels and there isn't a hint of deceit, lie, compromise or watering down of the truth. Jesus told the truth boldly and clearly.
Read the biographies of Jesus and there wasn't a person he looked past or down on. He didn't reject someone because they were too poor or rich. He engaged with hostile and humble people. He spent time with socially and culturally disgusting people and he intentionally sought out people who were in the hierarchy of "deep state." Jesus loved genuinely and selflessly each person who came across his path.
In John's account of Jesus' life he writes, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
Jesus' love/grace and truth proves his deity. And it also is the path we are told to walk as Jesus followers. John later writes in his letter to a group of believers, "Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth." (1 John 3:18)
Whatever the context, culture, circumstance or community we find ourselves in, our vision is to follow Jesus' example. Share uncensored truth and show unconditional love like our Lord and Savior.
Strategic Vision
Having words on paper is only part of the battle. How does an idea become reality? Through a strategic approach. Here are the 3 strategies we continue to pursue to be more effective in our vision and mission.
Encourage to Know
Overused perhaps in Christian circles is “it’s not a religion, it’s a relationship.” But the phrase is accurate. Jesus told us the two most important laws in the whole world are love God and love others. (Matthew 22:37-40) Love is at the heart of a good relationship; hate is at the heart of a bad relationship. Our responsibility is to break down barriers and open doors for everyone at East Valley to know God. This is NOT limited to Bible knowledge. The best relationships are not built off of facts about but time with. Just ask the teenager who knows everything about Taylor Swift if they have a relationship with her.
Sunday morning gatherings are all about encouraging you to know Jesus. But we want to give tools for you to grow and develop your relationship with him throughout the week and ultimately every single day.
Connect to Grow
This is the part where we will use a lot of uncomfortable words: accountability, challenge, tolerance, confession, comfort, humility, serve, wait, devotion, surrender, forgiving. All of these are what the New Testament prescribes the church to be doing together.
We need a relationship with God. We need relationships that contain the actions listed above with other Christians. Please take time to consider your hesitation to connect with other people in church on this kind of level.
We need to live the life of a Jesus follower together.
Equip to Go
The common philosophy in church is bigger is better. If left to drift, our tendency would be to believe that lie. Instead, we believe our sending capacity should be more valuable than our seating capacity. To accomplish Jesus’ mission in our context, we cannot sit by and allow anyone who attends East Valley Bible Church to merely be a spectator. The heart behind “Equipped to Go” is pushed to go. This is uncomfortable for an entry level class to tell you the goal is for you to go, but our conviction is, we will never be successful in our vision unless we divide to multiply and subtract to add.
Delegation and opportunities matched with gifting and passion is the equation for us to give everyone the “push” for you to experience the huge, amazing journey God has for you.
Some of the most amazing stories of missionaries throughout history have been individuals sitting in a small local church being challenged to take a step out and serve God. We think that may be you!
Conclusion
Our vision is bigger than where we are now and greater than what we are doing today. Every single day, we know why we are here. Our vision also reminds us, we cannot do this on our own. We need Jesus, because without Him we can do nothing. We know the Lord is calling you to participate in his mission to share the gospel. Our prayer is He makes it crystal clear if East Valley Bible Church is the place for you to invest into sharing uncensored truth and showing unconditional love like Jesus.
Here are a few questions to start the conversation when we meet.
What makes the mission of the church difficult?
What is the distinction between mission and vision?
What is important in discipleship relationships?
What is your vision for accomplishing Jesus’ mission in your life?
