A Bigger Vision Part II: Looking Ahead
A Bigger Vision Part II: Looking Ahead
Last week, in part one of this topic, I expounded on having A Bigger Vision. I looked back at the past year and what we, as a church, learned about ourselves. We celebrated the areas where God has given us a strong foundation while also recognizing where we need to become more intentional, such as forming people, connecting people, developing leaders, and measuring our impact.
But looking back is only valuable if it inspires us to look forward. We looked at: What do we do with what we’ve learned, and where is God leading us next? But the bigger vision requires us to answer a fundamental question: Why are we doing this?
In his book, Start with the Why, Simon Sinek believes that long-term success and loyalty stem from having a clear purpose, not just products or tactics. You begin with the “Why” (purpose), then explain the “How” (process), and conclude with the “What” (product). Sinek explains that inspiring leaders communicate from the inside out. We might have really good reasons to do something, either as individuals or collectively as a church. Why are we doing what we are doing? For the church, our “why” isn’t something we try to invent. It’s something we believe we receive from God.
This past summer, I taught a sermon that more or less explained the answer in broad terms. The title was as simple as: Why We Go, and centered on the scripture found in Matthew 28:18-20: Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (NLT)
Why do we go? Well, first off, because we were told to by the founder of our faith, Jesus. But even more than that, it’s important to refocus our thinking around the idea that the church doesn’t actually have a mission. God has a mission that has a church. In other words, we don’t have any mission apart from the plan and purpose that God already has. It’s the church’s job to seek the mind of God for that plan.
Vision isn’t simply about coming up with a catchy phrase or creating a list of things we would like to accomplish. Vision is about looking at where we are, paying attention to where God is already at work, and asking what faithfulness looks like in the season ahead.
Over the past year, as we have prayed, talked, studied, listened, and looked honestly at who we are as a church, three simple ideas have continued to rise to the surface:
Make God Bigger.
Make Church Smaller.
Make a Greater Impact.
MAKE GOD BIGGER
The first is perhaps the most important because everything else flows from it. We want to MAKE GOD BIGGER.
Of course, we don't actually make God bigger. God is already bigger than anything we could imagine. What we mean is that we want God to occupy a larger place in our lives. We want to make Him “bigger” in our worship, our prayer, our everyday decisions, and the way we see the world around us.
We want people to know God, not simply know about God. And that means becoming more intentional about spiritual formation. It means learning how to pray, how to read Scripture, how to listen to God, how to recognize His presence, and how to become more like Jesus.
This is why we’ve begun creating opportunities for spiritual formation and discipleship. Practicing the Way, Experiencing God, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, and One at a Time are not simply classes to put on a calendar. They are opportunities to help us become people who follow Jesus more deeply.
We want worship to continue to be one of our greatest strengths. We want to create more opportunities for prayer. We want to make room for God to speak, move, challenge, comfort, and transform us.
Because the goal isn’t simply to have a church that gathers on Sunday.
The goal is to become a people whose lives are increasingly shaped by God.
MAKE CHURCH SMALLER
The second idea might equally sound strange at first: Make Church Smaller.
We aren’t talking about shrinking LakePoint. We aren’t trying to have fewer people. In fact, we believe God has more people for us to reach. We’re talking about something different. A large church can make it easy to be present without being known. We can sit in the same room every week, worship together, listen to the same message, and still go home without ever really knowing the people sitting around us.
Rows gather us. Circles connect us. That’s why we want to become more intentional about belonging, especially through Life Groups, Bible studies, discipleship opportunities, intergenerational relationships, serving teams, and other smaller gatherings. These give us opportunities to move beyond simply attending church to actually being the church together.
We want LakePoint to be a place where people are known by name, where friendships are formed, where people can ask difficult questions, where faith can be shared honestly, and where no one has to walk alone.
A smaller church doesn't necessarily mean a smaller congregation. It means a larger church made up of smaller communities where people actually belong.
MAKE A GREATER IMPACT
And finally, we want to make a greater impact.
Jesus didn’t call the church to simply gather together. He called us to go. We've already seen evidence of this in the life of LakePoint. We serve our community. We share our faith. We send people on mission. We care for our neighbors. We open our food pantry. We participate in Oxford Gives Back. We send people to Belize. We baptize people who have placed their faith in Jesus. These things matter, but we believe there is more.
Making a greater impact means becoming more intentional about the people God has placed around us. It means asking not only, Who comes to LakePoint? but also, Who has God sent us to? It means becoming better equipped to share our faith. It also means developing leaders who can serve both inside and outside the walls of the church, and use our resources wisely and generously.
And it means remembering that our church exists for something bigger than ourselves. In other words, we don’t want to simply have a healthy church. We want to have a healthy church that makes a difference. Ultimately, this is what we mean when we say that our vision is, “to have an intergenerational church that together worships Jesus and works in unity to impact the community around us.”
FINAL THOUGHT
So as we begin this new ministry season, we aren’t starting over. We are building on what God has already been doing among us. We want to Make God Bigger, Make Church Smaller, and Make a Greater Impact. This is more than a slogan or strategy. It is our invitation to become the church God has called us to be. We’re grateful for where we’ve been. We’re excited about where we’re going. And we’re trusting God to lead us there.
Last week, in part one of this topic, I expounded on having A Bigger Vision. I looked back at the past year and what we, as a church, learned about ourselves. We celebrated the areas where God has given us a strong foundation while also recognizing where we need to become more intentional, such as forming people, connecting people, developing leaders, and measuring our impact.
But looking back is only valuable if it inspires us to look forward. We looked at: What do we do with what we’ve learned, and where is God leading us next? But the bigger vision requires us to answer a fundamental question: Why are we doing this?
In his book, Start with the Why, Simon Sinek believes that long-term success and loyalty stem from having a clear purpose, not just products or tactics. You begin with the “Why” (purpose), then explain the “How” (process), and conclude with the “What” (product). Sinek explains that inspiring leaders communicate from the inside out. We might have really good reasons to do something, either as individuals or collectively as a church. Why are we doing what we are doing? For the church, our “why” isn’t something we try to invent. It’s something we believe we receive from God.
This past summer, I taught a sermon that more or less explained the answer in broad terms. The title was as simple as: Why We Go, and centered on the scripture found in Matthew 28:18-20: Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (NLT)
Why do we go? Well, first off, because we were told to by the founder of our faith, Jesus. But even more than that, it’s important to refocus our thinking around the idea that the church doesn’t actually have a mission. God has a mission that has a church. In other words, we don’t have any mission apart from the plan and purpose that God already has. It’s the church’s job to seek the mind of God for that plan.
Vision isn’t simply about coming up with a catchy phrase or creating a list of things we would like to accomplish. Vision is about looking at where we are, paying attention to where God is already at work, and asking what faithfulness looks like in the season ahead.
Over the past year, as we have prayed, talked, studied, listened, and looked honestly at who we are as a church, three simple ideas have continued to rise to the surface:
Make God Bigger.
Make Church Smaller.
Make a Greater Impact.
MAKE GOD BIGGER
The first is perhaps the most important because everything else flows from it. We want to MAKE GOD BIGGER.
Of course, we don't actually make God bigger. God is already bigger than anything we could imagine. What we mean is that we want God to occupy a larger place in our lives. We want to make Him “bigger” in our worship, our prayer, our everyday decisions, and the way we see the world around us.
We want people to know God, not simply know about God. And that means becoming more intentional about spiritual formation. It means learning how to pray, how to read Scripture, how to listen to God, how to recognize His presence, and how to become more like Jesus.
This is why we’ve begun creating opportunities for spiritual formation and discipleship. Practicing the Way, Experiencing God, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, and One at a Time are not simply classes to put on a calendar. They are opportunities to help us become people who follow Jesus more deeply.
We want worship to continue to be one of our greatest strengths. We want to create more opportunities for prayer. We want to make room for God to speak, move, challenge, comfort, and transform us.
Because the goal isn’t simply to have a church that gathers on Sunday.
The goal is to become a people whose lives are increasingly shaped by God.
MAKE CHURCH SMALLER
The second idea might equally sound strange at first: Make Church Smaller.
We aren’t talking about shrinking LakePoint. We aren’t trying to have fewer people. In fact, we believe God has more people for us to reach. We’re talking about something different. A large church can make it easy to be present without being known. We can sit in the same room every week, worship together, listen to the same message, and still go home without ever really knowing the people sitting around us.
Rows gather us. Circles connect us. That’s why we want to become more intentional about belonging, especially through Life Groups, Bible studies, discipleship opportunities, intergenerational relationships, serving teams, and other smaller gatherings. These give us opportunities to move beyond simply attending church to actually being the church together.
We want LakePoint to be a place where people are known by name, where friendships are formed, where people can ask difficult questions, where faith can be shared honestly, and where no one has to walk alone.
A smaller church doesn't necessarily mean a smaller congregation. It means a larger church made up of smaller communities where people actually belong.
MAKE A GREATER IMPACT
And finally, we want to make a greater impact.
Jesus didn’t call the church to simply gather together. He called us to go. We've already seen evidence of this in the life of LakePoint. We serve our community. We share our faith. We send people on mission. We care for our neighbors. We open our food pantry. We participate in Oxford Gives Back. We send people to Belize. We baptize people who have placed their faith in Jesus. These things matter, but we believe there is more.
Making a greater impact means becoming more intentional about the people God has placed around us. It means asking not only, Who comes to LakePoint? but also, Who has God sent us to? It means becoming better equipped to share our faith. It also means developing leaders who can serve both inside and outside the walls of the church, and use our resources wisely and generously.
And it means remembering that our church exists for something bigger than ourselves. In other words, we don’t want to simply have a healthy church. We want to have a healthy church that makes a difference. Ultimately, this is what we mean when we say that our vision is, “to have an intergenerational church that together worships Jesus and works in unity to impact the community around us.”
FINAL THOUGHT
So as we begin this new ministry season, we aren’t starting over. We are building on what God has already been doing among us. We want to Make God Bigger, Make Church Smaller, and Make a Greater Impact. This is more than a slogan or strategy. It is our invitation to become the church God has called us to be. We’re grateful for where we’ve been. We’re excited about where we’re going. And we’re trusting God to lead us there.
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