20/20 VISION

20/20 Vision
Various Passages January 12, 2020

I. Introduction:
A. 20/20 vision is a term we hear used when we go to the eye doctor which refers to
the sharpness and clarity of our vision. Since I do not want to be the only pastor
in the United States in the year 2020 who does not do a message on 2020 vision I
want to get mine done today.
1. Vision is very important to determine the future direction of a business, of a
church, of an individual’s life. The more sharpness and clarity they have to
their vision of where they want to be in 5 to 10 years from now the wiser they
can be to get there in their decisions and organization.
2. As Christians and as a church the first question we must ask is; where does
God want us to be in 5 to 10 years so we can be wiser in our decisions and
organization to get there.
B. Now to get to where you want to go, you need to start by knowing right where
you are at, so you can know which way you need to go to get there! Like being at
an unfamiliar mall with those maps that say, “you are here” then you have a sense
of bearings of how you can get where you need to be.
C. So what I want to do this morning is like the eye doctor look through a few
different lenses to see if you can pinpoint right where you are in your spiritual
journey. Then give you the right prescription for your spiritual walk so you might
know what your next step is to get to where God wants you to be 5-10 years from
now.
• First let’s see
II. Where God wants us to go
A. Turn to Matthew 28 which we know as the Great Commission
1. Read 18-20
2. Structure – One command “make disciples” and three participles tell us how
to do it!
a) Going – going to the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ
b) Baptizing – for those who respond to the gospel by believing are to
publically identifying themselves with Jesus
c) Teaching - that is the lifetime of learning to implement Jesus’ teachings
into the lives of his followers!
B. In Matthew 22, we see the Great Commandment that Jesus gave us was to love
the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our
neighbor as ourselves!
C. At MVC when we put together the Great Commission and Great Commandment
and think of where God wants us to go and the decisions we need make for the
next 5 to 10 years we consider our mission. Our mission is to equip believers to
be passionate followers of Jesus committed to growing in Christ-likeness, to raise
up the next generation of disciples, and to radically impact our communities
through the hope of the gospel, one life at a time, one step at a time.
D. We simply summarize this as following Jesus, impacting others.
1. Repeat
2. God wants you and me to be people who are following Jesus, impacting
others!
• So where are you so you can be wise as to what route you need to take to get there?
III. Where are you?
A. Turn to 1 John 2 where we see that each one of us is at a different place in our
walk. John is stating to the believers why he is writing this letter and as he does
he identifies different levels of spiritual maturity and different things that
characterize each level.
1. Read 2:12-14
2. Note the four different places
3. Where are you? Which of those spiritual things might be your next step to
get to where God wants you?
B. Like the eye doctor let’s look through another lens to make sure we have our
prescription right!
1. Chart that we have further refined for MVC that we learned in a manual
called Real Life Discipleship by Jim Putman
2. Put up power point – see attached
C. One thing we learn from seeing where we are this morning is that one size does
not fit all. Each one of us is at a different place spiritually so each one of us
needs to start at a different place!
• So
IV. What is your next step?
A. Spiritual journey map – consider your own growth and others you may want to
impact as we look at this map! (Hand Out)
1. First two columns are lost people and what they might need depending upon
the degree of understanding and interest God has been working in their
hearts! Various opportunities to grow or be ministered to there.
2. Faith – trust in Jesus – new born in Christ –
a) Their great need is to be introduced to the foundations of the faith
b) This is perfectly normal and natural for a newer believer. But if you
have been a believer for 5-10-20-30 years and this is still where you are
there is a problem. Listen to Hebrews 5
3. Following – various different opportunities to grow – develop your
testimony, learn identity in Christ, be baptized, join the church, join a small
group, and develop spiritual practices like quiet time. But stats at both MVC
and the church in North America in general indicate that a major sticking
point for about 70% of our church is the bottom one – stewardship. If you do
not face this hurdle for many people’s faith, their wallets they will be stuck at
this point for a long time.
a) Both statistics (nationally and similar at MVC) and Scripture say this is a
major issue – 20% give 80% of the income the church receives.
(1) Sound familiar – 20% of people do 80% of the ministry in a
church.
(2) I believe this is the major obstacle that must be faced and
addressed in each believer’s life if they want to move beyond
being people who are characterized by the need to get rather than
give!
b) Tony Evans says, “God does not have a person until He has their
wallets!”
c) Jesus said, “Where your treasure is your heart will also be!”
(1) Simply your heart follows your money.
d) Bottom line our use of money and giving is a reflection of where our
heart is with God.
e) The New Testament says our giving is to be generous and in proportion
to the way God has blessed us. It is motivated by love for Jesus and
others and joy!
f) I believe that most of those who give at a rate of about $5-20 a week are
not in the position of the widow’s mite nor are bad or rebellious
Christians. Rather they are fearful if they give generously, today they
will not have what they need to pay their bills at the end of the month or
in years to come when college, weddings or retirement comes!
(1) I encourage you to face this fear for the sake of your spiritual life
and those you impact and begin to experience the supernatural
provisions of God. Paul said this in 2 Corinthians 9:8 regarding
those who give generously and joyfully:
4. Serving – this is those who need to give to others to keep growing. Many
opportunities for growth here. Read quickly – abiding in Christ, ministry of
Holy Spirit, how study the Bible, how to deal with the Devil, how to share
the gospel, spiritual gifts, engaging in God’s mission
5. Multiply – best way I can describe these people is that they orient their entire
life around Jesus’ mission.
6. You may want to prayerfully look this over this week and see what your next
step of excelling in 2020 may be!
B. Finally, we learned from Jesus that discipleship happens in the context of
relationships, and the smaller the group of people the greater the impact. Your
need is not only a good book or a class on these things but to put your growth on
steroids you may want to
1. Join small group
2. Personal invite or ask