293: David Edwards- Exhortation: The Value of a Vision

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:13

   Welcome to Good Chris Selfie and Talks. I’m Levi. And I’m Chris. And I’m Brian. Thank you for joining us this week on this podcast. We select One Talk a Week. To help us get the Bible. In our Daily News feed, we post a new episode at the start of each week with the short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you’re about to listen to. And now, let’s talk more about this week’s talk. Hi everyone.

2. 0:51

   This is Jason Hensley and in this episode we are going to be listening to an exhortation by Brother David Edwards. Brother David is from Trinidad and Tobago and I believe he’s part of the Arima Ecclesia if I’m not mistaken. I’m really excited for you to listen to this talk. I got to say, it’s called the value of a vision.

3. 1:12

   And the reason that I’m really looking forward to sharing this is because I think Brother David really brings out a key piece that we often forget about. One of the things I really loved when I was in Trinidad and Tobago years ago was the emphasis on preaching and on the need to share the good news that we have. And that’s one of the beautiful things that really comes out in this talk that Brother David gives. He really emphasizes that if we are not preaching, we are not fulfilling the vision that we are to be a light and that that’s a key thing.

4. 1:53

   Now, he he doesn’t come down heavy on it, but that’s a really big message here that we need to look inside, do a little bit of introspection and consider how do we and how does our ecclesia as a whole, how do we preach, how do we open up those doors and those opportunities to share.

5. 2:11

   So he calls this exhortation, the value of a vision, because what he’s going to do is he’s going to break down the difference between a mission and a vision. So you’ll hear him do that. And as he does that, he then explains what his Ecclesia’s vision is, and then ultimately what the vision is that the Lord Jesus Christ gives of his ecclesia. And we’ll see how those all fit together. So I hope that you find this motivating. I think you will.

6. 2:41

   And I hope that that motivation then encourages you to go out and to share that light. Because we are surrounded in a World of Darkness and people need the light. We have something really special that we can give. And I think this exhortation reminds us of that. So thanks for listening. And here comes the value of a Vision by Brother David Edwards. And good morning to everyone who who is gathered here on this platform.

7. 3:13

   It is a pleasure to be able to bring to you this morning’s words of exhortation. Now, the title for this exhortation is called The Value of a Vision. And if I was to ask a question, what is the mission statement for your church? How would you answer? In fact, I would have done a pool that I will actually launch now which will ask that question.

8. 3:55

   And I just wanted to answer honestly, it’s, I think it’s anonymous and see if you know, we actually know what this mission statement is for our church now while you, while you do that pool. Some years ago someone asked me that same question and I I didn’t know the answer to that question. You know, I was like, well, I know. I think I think we have one, but I really can’t remember what it is.

9. 4:36

   And it was embarrassing, Yes. And I realized that something was was wrong. All organizations, what is churches or companies, should have a mission and a vision and that would require something called a mission statement and a vision statement. What a mission statement is, it’s an explanation of and organizations reason for existence. It describes the purpose and intention and the overall objectives.

10. 5:20

    A visual statement is all different. It looks into the future of the organization and it asks questions like what problems are we seeking to solve? Where are we headed? If we achieve all all strategic goals, what will we look like 10 years from now?

11. 5:42

    So the mission and the vision statement is to help to direct the efforts in the organization towards a common goal. So in other words, it binds the organization together as one.

12. 5:58

    Now I am seeing the results of the the pool Alan. It’s fine. I was in the same, I was in the same you know category where I did not know that it even had a vision, a mission statement, but we do have one and I will just read it out for you. And as I read it, I would like us to ask ourselves the questions.

13. 6:28

    You know, how am I contributing towards or am I contributing towards fulfilling our mission and our vision? So it reads. We aspire to live up to the name Christadelphian, which means brothers and sisters in Christ. By God’s grace, we strive to be the House of God and the body of Christ in our area. We are a Bible based group who share a common belief in God. We seek to support and encourage each other in our faith and be a light to those in the community around us. And it gives 5 different points in matters of worship. As a first point it says we acknowledge our love of God and His Son and of all God praise and worship. Second point.

14. 7:22

    In matters of growth, it says, we seek the spiritual development and nourishment of all members and encourage and guide our children and visitors toward conviction and baptism. In matters of witness, we share the hope of the return of Jesus Christ and the coming Kingdom with our local community and testify to those with whom we come in contact.

15. 7:49

    In matters of community, we provide our godly social environment involving every member, visitor, young person and child to build a people for God’s name. In matters of compassion, we reflect the love of God by showing care and compassion to one another and to those in the community around us. So that is our mission vision statement. So our vision statement is to be a light to the community around us and the mission with the five different things that I would have mentioned that would get us there towards the vision. The visual animation is supposed to bind us together as a community.

16. 8:38

    It’s supposed to give us direction, which means any activity or event that we plan, it should be in alignment with the mission and division statement.

17. 8:53

    So even when we look in scripture, we see that God has a vision statement. Yes He does, and we may be familiar with it. It is in number chapter 14, verse 21. We don’t have to look this up. It says as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. And he says it again in Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 14. The Earth for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. So that is the idea.

18. 9:37

    That is what God wants. That is his end goal. That is his vision statement. It’s something futuristic. He’s trying to fill this world, this wicked world, with his goodness. But how would he fill the earth with his glory? That would be his mission statement as to how would he accomplish something like that.

19. 10:01

    So I want us to turn to Isaiah chapter 49 and verse 6, Isaiah chapter 49 and verse six in one hand. And in the other hand I would like you to also have Acts chapter 13 and verse 47. Sorry about those who are electronic devices, but you’ll need to have a Bible to have two passages in front of you. So Isaiah chapter 49 verse six in one hand and the other hand Acts chapter 13 verse 47 and it reads in Isaiah chapter 49 verse 6.

20. 10:51

    I am cheating a little bit because I have it in front of my screen here. So in verse six it says. In the second part of verse six it says I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles or to the nations, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the eighth.

21. 11:16

    Sorry that again. In order for God to fill the earth with his glory, he needed a mission statement. And when we look at Isaiah 49 verse six, it says, I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles or nations, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

22. 11:37

    So let’s fill the earth with his glory and save the world. What God needed to do was to send a light into this Dark World, and Jesus was that light. As we know, Jesus said I am the light of the will. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

23. 12:00

    That is John 812. And if we look at God’s meshah and vision, it is filled with a lot of love, because he sees the will in darkness and wickedness and he sends light into it so that we will not stumble, so that we will not fall and eventually perish. But when he when he sends the light into the will, we will be able to see and not stumble and live. So it’s a situation where God gives hope to those who are hopeless.

24. 12:39

    He gives healing to those who are broken hearted, who are sad. So God’s vision is to affiliate with his glory and his mission. That is how he was to fulfill That was to create a light which was Jesus for the will to follow to be saved. So now Jesus has the vision statement of being a light to the will, but it doesn’t end there.

25. 13:08

    I hope we have our other hand in Acts chapter 13 verse 49, because you will notice that Paul and Barnabas quote that same passage we looked at in Isaiah 49, verse six, a passage that seemed to only speak about Jesus Christ. They applied it to themselves, they said in Acts 13, verse 47.

26. 13:35

    For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, We have said thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that’s the nations that thou shouldst be for salvation until the ends of the Eve. And then it said in 48, when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and the glorified word of the Lord.

27. 13:58

    So Paul is telling us that we need to be a light to the Gentiles. We need to be a light to the nations around us. And not only Paul, but Jesus himself points to us and says that we’ll just sit into Matthew chapter 5, verse 14 to 16. So Matthew chapter 5 verse 14 to 16. So Paul is telling us that we need to be a light for the Gentiles.

28. 14:33

    We are the light for the Gentiles and poor. And Jesus points to us and says in Matthew chapter 5, verse 14, Ye are the light of the womb. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men. Light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a Candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

29. 15:01

    Let your lights will shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. So Jesus is saying my vision statement is your vision statement. So my vision is your vision. That’s what Jesus is telling us now. In order to fulfill his vision as Jesus, he needed a mission and he found his mission by reading and studying the scriptures. It says in Luke chapter 4, verse 17. We don’t have to turn this up, but when Jesus was in the synagogue in Nazareth, it says that we’re probably familiar with the verse.

30. 15:49

    There was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and when he had opened the book he found a place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set out liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

31. 16:26

    And then he closed the book, gave it to the minister, and said to the congregation, This day, is scripture fulfilled in your ears? So that was Jesus’s mission. He had a clear vision of how he was to be a light of the world, and he went about doing just that.

32. 16:52

    So Jesus is telling us we need to be a light of this world. What does that mean for us? Well, if Jesus’s vision is our vision, then Jesus’s mission has to be our mission, because his mission as to how he wanted to accomplish being allied to the world. If our vision is the same thing as it says in the the Christopher statement, if we were to do that, we need a mission to accomplish that.

33. 17:25

    And Jesus’s mission, as we just read, is to preach the gospel to the poor. Healy broken hearted preach deliverance to the captives, recovering our sight to the blind, set out Liberty Denver to brews, preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And we should still be in Matthew chapter 5, But I want us to check off with Siri.

34. 17:49

    We will see that these different points, these different missions that we need in order to be alighted will is part of the gospel message. So verse 3. To preach the gospel to the poor. It says blessed are the poor in spirit for days is the Kingdom of heaven. To heal the broken hearted it says in verse four blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted to preach deliverance to the captives.

35. 18:19

    We know that the light sorry we are made free from sin in Christ. That’s what the the gospel messengers system to make us free from sin because we know that we have captured by sin and Jesus made us free from sin. So that is part of the gospel message. Recovering of sight to the blind that is the light of the gospel.

36. 18:42

    Jesus is saying they’ll be blind leaders of the blind but he was the light of the world to give them sight the gospel message to set at liberty. Them that are bruised in verse 10 we see blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness. See, for there is the Kingdom of heaven and we know that is what the gospel message is about.

37. 19:04

    And then finally to preach the acceptable year of the Lord is the gospel message. So we see that all those different points has to do with the gospel message. And Jesus packaged all of that into a statement that he makes in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 18. And we could look at this Matthew chapter 28 still in Matthew but just chapter 28 verses 18 to 20 Jesus before his ascension he tells us exactly what our mission is.

38. 19:48

    He says in verse 18. And Jesus came and speak unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in youth and verse. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, and with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen.

39. 20:17

    This should be our #1 mission statement and by the wider Christian community. They know it as the Great Commission. So the Great Commission, which is a commandment given to us by Jesus Christ to go out into the world and preach it, is the sole purpose of any Christian Church. If nothing else, and many times we forget or ignore this command, but it will be detrimental to the health of your church. Now there’s a book called The The Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thomas Rayna and I recommend everybody gets a copy of that book.

40. 21:10

    It’s a book where Thomas, well, Thomas Rayna, the author, he does research on dead churches and does an autopsy on them and he’s trying to find out how what was the cause of death for the church and what an autopsy is. It’s where you’re trying to find out how the person dies, but he does not in relation to churches. And there’s a chapter that is entitled The Great Commission Becomes The Great Omission.

41. 21:49

    He explains that that is where the church stopped preaching in the communities and those that he interviewed from the dead. Church said that they remember the good old days when the church was packed and they had multiple baptisms every year. A lot of members in the church vibrant preaching efforts in the community and they longed for similar results for today and wondered how come they couldn’t replicate the same results today. And they mostly played the blame game, but they were not willing to extend the effort to go out and teach. So Jesus commanded us saying, go make disciples. There’s another chapter in the book, and I will read an excerpt from the book itself, And that subheading is entitled The Church Becomes a Fortress.

42. 22:57

    And it reads What imagery comes to your mind when you hear the word fortress. A medieval castle, Fort Knox, Huge buildings with gates and locks and moats, something that is almost impossible for the outside world to enter. Any of these with pictures will work. The key is to keep people and possessions on the inside safe and to keep people on the other side out.

43. 23:29

    If you talk to members in a dying church, most will deny that their church is a fortress. But in our autopsy we found that is exactly what was taking place. People in the community did not feel welcome in the church. Those in the church were more concerned about protecting the way they did church rather than reaching the residents of the community. You see, these churches really were fortresses. The very thought of making significant changes to reach and impact the community is frightening. It is our fortress, they say.

44. 24:08

    Outsiders are not welcome. We will fight to keep the church just as it did until we die. And that day is not very far away. Now. There’s another chapter entitled The Budget Moved Inwardly, and I will read this passage as well. Now, as I read it, we have to, you know, think about it, think about where we are as an Ecclesia and these different things and see how we could best, you know, help our ecclesia, see if we fall into any of these categories. So this chart, this title, this chapter title, was the budget moved inwardly.

45. 24:47

    And I’ll just read a short exhume from it. It says it is fascinating to look at 20 consecutive annual budgets of churches that closed. In the few churches where we were able to get budgets, we had a clearer understanding of why the churches eventually died. Follow the money. Look at the line items in the budget.

46. 25:16

    See where the cuts are made. Our autopsy revealed in most cases, cuts were made to ministries and programs with outward focus, so a particular ministry to the community is no longer essential. Funds to reach beyond the church are no longer available. The decision is justified by declining receipts. Fair enough. But notice that the outreach and the community ministries are the 1st to go, not those ministries for church members.

47. 25:53

    Not at first anyway. And the chapter concludes with the closing statement. In all the churches we autopsied, a financial pattern developed over time. The pattern was one where funds were used more to keep the machinery of the church moving and to keep the members happy than funding the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. The money, though, was symptomatic of a heart problem. The church cared more for its own needs than the community and the world, and no church can sustain such an inward focus indefinitely.

48. 26:32

    It will eventually die of heart failure and coot. No, I’m not reading these things to have us point fingers at anybody and say, hey, you know, it’s your fault. But it is for us to ask ourselves, is this the trajectory of my closure? What can I do to be of service? How can I help my closure to obeyed Great Commission?

49. 27:01

    Am IA burden to my closure? There’s an example that Paul gives to Timothy in First Timothy chapter 5, verse 16, where he makes the statement and says if any woman who’s a believer has widows in her care, she should continue to help them and not let the church be burdened with them so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.

50. 27:30

    So while the church is tasked with taking care of its members, we must be aware that that should not be the only task that the church does. It must have an outward focus on the community and on outreach. So while this is individual inspection introspection, it should be a joint effort for us all to help steer our eclesia towards its vision.

51. 28:04

    And we must remember that we are not alone in this. We should recall in that same passage in Matthew 28 where it says go ye therefore enter the world and teach all nations. In verse 20 it actually says I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. So we might feel that it might be too much to fix or too hard to fix.

52. 28:34

    I have nobody to help me fix this. But we should always remember that Jesus will be with us, he says, not us. And if it is, we actually want to help our churches. Do you think God will allow us to fail that? Definitely not, because what we saw is that our vision aligns with what God wants.

53. 28:58

    Once our vision is to be a light for the community to around us, we know that is exactly what Jesus commanded. That is what God wants, and we will be one with him if our purpose is the same. And this was actually a prayer that Jesus offered for us. That’s in John 17, where Jesus’s prayer he was praying for his disciples.

54. 29:30

    He says in verse 18 of John chapter 17. As thou hast sent me into the world, Even so have I also sent them into the world. That’s verse 18. That is the same vision. God sent Jesus into the world to be our light. So Jesus is sending us into the world to be our light, the same vision.

55. 29:57

    And he says neither pray I for these alone as his disciples, but for them also which shall believe on me through their will. So that’s talking about us because we believe their will. And he see goes on in verse 21, that they all may be warned, as thou father art in me, and I indeed, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou has sent me. And verse 22 and the glory which thou give us me, I have given them that they may be one, even as we are one. So Jesus prayed for us 2000 years ago that we may be one, and that is one in purpose, one in mission, one in vision. And there were results of Jesus’s prayer in the 1st century church in Acts chapter 2, verse 41. We may recall they were of one mind and one heart and singleness of mind.

56. 31:03

    It says of the church in Acts chapter 2, verse 41. Then they that gladly received His word were baptized, and the same day they were added on to them about 3000 souls, 3000 people in one day, verse 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles, doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers, and all that believed were together.

57. 31:34

    They had all things in common. Verse 46. They continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house did they lead their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.

58. 31:49

    And they were praising God, having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the Church daily as such should be saved. And of the same Church, Chapter 4, verse 32. It said the multitude of them not believed, were of one heart and of one soul.

59. 32:10

    So this was the result of Jesus’s prayer. The 1st century church was blessed significantly because they obeyed the Great Commission to be a light for the world around them. They obeyed the commandment to go out into the world to preach, and we must do the same as well. And as we turn our minds to our Lord Jesus Christ, we know that our Lord fulfill His mission and His vision on earth.

60. 32:44

    We see at the end of His life in John chapter 19, when he was crucified, it says in verse 13. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the Spirit. It is finished. That marks the end of Jesus’s mission. His life was wholly dedicated to fulfilling his mission from God, and we also need to see our lives like that.

61. 33:19

    We need to see our lives as not belonging to us. We were bought with our price. Our life is not our own, but we are the Lords. We have a mission to accomplish in being the light to the community around us. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel as our Lord says. Thank you very much.

62. 34:03

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63. 34:32

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64. 34:48

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