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Kindle Notes & Highlights
A critical question that every church and parachurch ministry must ask and revisit at least once a year is the directional question, Where are we going? Or better, Where does God want us to go? Where is he leading us?
The answer is both the ministry’s mission and vision. The mission determines what the direction is, while the vision, in particular, concerns what that direction looks like.
A question that every ministry must regularly ask and revisit is the functional question, What are we supposed to be doing? Your vision, as well as the mission, answers this question. What the vision does uniquely for the ministry is to paint a portrait of what God intends for the ministry to accomplish so that all can see it.
Something must excite and motivate people to want to realize the mission, and that something is the vision.
A fifth term that is confused with vision is mission, but the terms are different in many ways. A ministry’s mission is a statement of where it is going, whereas its vision is a picture or snapshot of the same.
The mission involves the activity of doing or accomplishing the organization’s future, whereas the vision involves seeing in one’s head that future.
Difference between mission and vision.m
If you get anything from this book on vision, you must get this. It is the reason a church must have both a mission and a vision. The mission tells the congregation where they are headed, and the vision serves to excite them and motivate them to want to go there. If there is no vision, then the mission will likely not be accomplished.
Churhes need both a Vision and a Mission.
According to Matthew 28:19, the biblical mission for the church is to make disciples. And no matter how you say it, the mission will grow old and stale without a fresh, exciting vision that builds a fire beneath it.
The Definition of a Vision A vision is a clear, exciting picture of the future of a ministry, such as a church, that God uses to motivate that ministry to accomplish its mission.
The Development of Your Vision During the development stage, the dream moves closer to becoming a vision. There are several methods and combinations thereof for developing your vision and your statement of it: employing the general method, expanding the mission statement, studying other vision statements, and dreaming big dreams.
Vision statements for churches may include such important values as commitment to the Scriptures as God’s depository of truth, excellence in leadership and ministry, relevant evangelism, an emphasis on prayer, authentic and contemporary worship, lay assessment and ministry, world missions, strong families, God’s grace, social justice, full devotion to Christ, and so on. As you read through the vision statements in the appendix, you will spot some of these and many others.
Long Vision Statements
DEVELOPING A VISION WITH THE GENERAL METHOD Step 1: Envisioning prayer Step 2: Thinking big Step 3: Written brainstorming Step 4: Determining the contents Step 5: Determining the length Step 6: Questioning the dream
A vision process
Here’s a test for a good vision: Is it clear? Is it exciting? Can people see it (picture it)? Is it future focused? Does it motivate people to accomplish the mission?
Once the vision is born, it must now be communicated, implemented, and preserved if the ministry is to grow and prosper. Otherwise you are simply a church with a vision but not a truly visionary church.
