September 27, 1998 - LESSON: Ephesians 3:1-2, 7-12, NRSV

SERMON TITLE: A Vision and A Plan

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. Mike Cope, in Living in Two Worlds(1) writes that in one of Bruce Narramore's books, he wrote about a woman he was counseling.
    1. He asked her to write 10 sentences beginning, "I am ..."
    2. Here's the way she began:
      1. "I am a poor mother.
      2. "I am a disappointment to my parents.
      3. "I am overweight.
      4. "I am unhappy.
      5. " I am divorced."
    3. Narramore said, "Ma'am, I didn't ask you to name 10 bad things about yourself. Name 10 good things."
    4. Here are the kinds of things she listed:
      1. "I try to be a good mother.
      2. "I try to keep a clean house.
      3. "I try"
    5. What was she saying?
      1. "I try to, but I don't."
      2. Mike Cope concludes, "Those were just 10 sneaky ways of condemning herself again."
  2. Clyde Narramore sought to help the woman see herself differently.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. This takes vision.
    1. In the beginning God had a vision
      1. The vision contains God's eternal purpose
      2. God has a plan, design, vision was, and is, for all creation
      3. God has goals, aims to be accomplished by all creation
    2. God's vision
      1. Seen in creation was very good, perfect, complete
      2. Seen in the calling of Israel
        1. God's desires for Israel.
        2. To be an object lesson of what cooperation with God could accomplish
      3. Seen in Jesus Christ
        1. In the accomplishments of Jesus.
  1. Jesus is also our source of vision for all of life.
    1. (1 Corinthians 1:30 NRSV) He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us
      1. wisdom from God is knowledge and application of knowledge
      2. and righteousness, doing what is right and good
      3. and sanctification, personal growth in acquiring the image of God
      4. and redemption, the salvation of our souls and lives

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    2. Christ is also our role model, our exemplar
      1. (Hebrews 12:1-3 KJV) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, [2] Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. [3] For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
    3. He is the author, the source of faith.
      1. Faith is the process.
      2. Faith is relationship
    4. He is the finisher, the completer of faith.
      1. He helps us keep faith alive
      2. He helps us keep faith vital and strong.
  2. Vision is a dream of what we can and will be.
    1. We have our own personal vision.
      1. More than likely, it has to do with personal accomplishments.
        1. This is the concern of the woman in Narramore's counseling.
        2. This is right and good in itself.
      2. Our dream can only be fully accomplished in Christ.
      3. Through the Holy Spirit we are provided the resources to accomplish the vision
    2. We have a covenant dream.
      1. It is our promise to one another which keeps us together.
      2. Over the window in the Secretary's office is our vision statement.
        1. It describes our vision for ourselves.
        2. "To be a growing body of Christian believers characterized by a loving, forgiving, accepting community, modeling the teachings of Jesus, in an environment where people can grow to their full spiritual potential."

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      3. This also strongly suggests how we will accomplish our vision, our purpose.
      4. You need a plan.
      5. We look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith
  3. Vision is foundational to the plan.
    1. How will we accomplish what we dream.
    2. What steps need to be taken to achieve the goal of the vision.
    3. We look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith
  4. Planning establishes the process
    1. You do not plan for a single eventuality.
    2. You plan for alternatives.
      1. If one plan does not work another will.
      2. You keep working on it.
      3. God has worked for our salvation many times.
      4. We look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith
  5. Planning leads to action
    1. Develop and action plan
    2. This requires strategies and tactics
    3. We look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith
  6. Action leads to the results.
    1. Vision - mission - goals - strategies - action plan - results.
    2. One of God's deepest desires for each of us to grow up
      1. (Hebrews 5:12-14 NRSV) For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; [13] for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. [14] But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

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      2. A French proverb says, "You not only have to want what you want, but you have to want what your want leads to."
        1. Randy Rowland, in Get a Life!...And a Faith That Works (2) observes:
          1. "This is a thought-provoking idea. It says that to really get the most out of life, we need to take a long-term perspective. As I struggle with chronic overweight, this proverb haunts me at every food table in a social gathering. I want the hors d'oeuvres; they taste great - but do I want what my want leads to? Perhaps you have struggled with a chronic disease. I was recently diagnosed diabetic. I have become acutely aware of the fact that satisfying my immediate wants could bring an early and miserable end to my life here on earth. Most of our self-destructive and ungodly behavior is a result of myopia - the inability to see beyond what is right in front of us."
        2. Think of God as the ophthalmologist who is able to diagnose our myopia and provide the means for corrective lenses.
      3. To be able to see, to visual, to comprehend, a plan that will enable us to realize that vision.
    3. It might help to think of life as a school, for in a very real sense that is what it is.
    4. We are the pupils, the teacher
      1. Though we are also the teachers of those younger than ourselves.
      2. God wants all of us to get the highest grade.

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CONCLUSION:

  1. Best-selling author and management consultant Ken Blanchard, who recently co-authored a book with Miami Dolphins coach Don Schula, gave his students a copy of the final exam on the first day of class.
    1. The faculty made this an issue, but he argued that his job was to spend the semester teaching his students the answers so that they all could get A's.
    2. "Not your normal distribution curve," Blanchard admits. But that is what teaching is supposed to do.
    3. And that's what God wants for each of us to get an A in life.

1. Mike Cope, Living in Two Worlds (Nashville: Christian Communications, 1987), 119.

2. Randy Rowland, Get a Life! ... And a Faith That Works (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1992), 89.

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