Casting Vision

Much is being written these days about why churches should have mission and vision statements. It seems that everyone has their own idea on what these terms actually mean, and how they should apply to a local church. To me, mission and vision are quite simple to understand, at least biblically. In fact, I think churches should waste little time on mission statements. The reason is simple, Jesus gave us (the church) our mission in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.” (Holman) It seems pretty clear: Our mission is to go worldwide and make disciples.

According to our Lord, the New Testament church is in the “disciple making” business. There is no other “mission” for the church than that one; and, if we deviate from it, we cease to be a New Testament church. Another way to say it is this: The mission statement of the church states clearly the business of the church. If you put it that way, then the logical question for all churches to ask is simply, “How’s business?” In other words, if “disciple making” is the business of the church, how are we doing in making disciples? See how simple it becomes to evaluate the progress of your church if you understand clearly what you’re supposed to be doing? That’s what a mission statement does; it gives a church a baseline to measure progress.

A good example of how a clear mission statement works is to look at the mission of the Allied forces in World War II. The mission was simple, clear, and concise…win the war by defeating Germany, Italy and Japan. The generals and admirals who were charged with leading our armed forces clearly understood the mission; and, because of that, they knew they could easily measure progress against the mission. I didn’t say they could easily make progress; winning wars (like making disciples) can be a very difficult task. I said they could easily measure progress. I am continually amazed at how little thought and effort goes into measuring the progress of our churches today. Sometimes, it appears that the only mission we have is to meet again next Sunday. If we can do that, we tend to think all is well. However, measured against the mission that Jesus gave us in the Great Commission, just “meeting again next Sunday” doesn’t get it done! Management guru Peter Drucker once said, “What gets measured gets done.” When it comes to the actual accomplishment of the mission, truer words were never spoken. The proper measurement tool of the New Testament church is the mission given to us by Jesus Himself.

Vision, simply put, is about a preferred future. It’s about taking the mission, personalizing it, putting it into the proper context, and then looking ahead and seeing things the way you would like them to be. That’s why vision is so critical to a local church. If your city has several churches, and every church has the same mission (to make disciples), then what sets each church apart from the others? It is its vision, because it is in the vision (not the mission) that a church will find its uniqueness and, out of that, its marching orders for the future.

Let’s look to the Apostle Paul for help in better understanding mission and vision. Notice his words in Romans 1:13-15, “Now I want you to know, brothers, that I have often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as among the rest of the Gentiles. For I am obligated both to the Greeks and Barbarians, both wise and the foolish. So I am eager to preach the good news to you who are in Rome.” (Holman) Here we see that Paul’s mission was to preach the gospel (disciple making); but we also see that his vision (preferred future) was to go to Rome and have a fruitful ministry among the Romans. Look at it this way, every apostle was charged with preaching the gospel and making disciples, but they didn’t all have the vision to do it in Rome. Said simply, vision gives the “who, what, where, when and how” to the mission.
 
The mission of Hillcrest Baptist Church is to make disciples. The vision of the Women's Ministry is to reach today's woman with the all-sufficient message of the life-changing Word of God. Using Bible studies, retreats, conferences, and special events, we seek to reach all women inside and outside the church. Let's make sure that everyting we do leads us to fulfill the mission we have been given.

Discerning the Voice of God

It's been a while since I have posted anything on the blog.  We have been busy the past few months with Bible studies, activities, and outreach.  I hope you have found a place to plug into our Women's Ministry.

I received this poem from someone in the Discerning the Voice of God Bible study and I wanted to share it with you.  Praying you hear God's voice and find peace in your circumstance.

Dear restless hear, be still: don't fret and worry so;

God has a thousand ways His love and help to show;

Just trust, and trust, and trust, until His will you know.

Dear restless heart, be still, for peace is God's own smile,

His love can every wrong and sorrow reconcile:

Just love, and love , and love, and calmly wait awhile.

Dear restless heart, be brave; don't moan and sorrow so,

He hath a meaning kind in chilly winds that blow;

Just hope, and hope, and hope, until you braver grow.

Dear restless heart, repose upon His breast this hour,

His grace is strength and life, His love is bloom and flower;

Just rest and rest and rest, within His tender power.

Dear restless heart, be still! Don't struggle to be free;

God's life is in your life, from Him you may not flee;

Just pray, and pray and pray, till you have faith to see.

                                                              Edith Willis Linn

Remember we have our annual Global Impact Celebration (GIC) this week.  We have a special prayer time planned for our women on Saturday following the brunch. Look forward to seeing you there!

- Barbara Parker

Hospitality Ministry

The Power of the Home

 There is no way to overstate the importance of a Christ-honoring home.  Your home can become the most powerful place on earth. 

If you want to build healthy relationships, a strong marriage, and a God-honoring home that will have a positive and spiritual impact on your friends and family for generations, this is a ministry for you.

The Hospitality Ministry will guide you in making your home a place to

·         Connect with God and others

·         Grow in wisdom

·         Serve your community

·         Share your faith with the world around you

       Activities will include

·         Bible Study

·         Kitchen Skills

·         Sewing Essentials

·         Parenting Support

·         Single Living

·         Marriage Management

·         And More

For more information or to serve on the planning team please contact Barbara Parker at women@hillcrestbc.com or 214-235-6827

“Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.” 1 Peter 4:9-10 ESV

New Hospitality Ministry

So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.

Psalm 71:18

I was shocked to read not long ago that only 49 percent of college freshmen in America have a thought-out philosophy of life. That means over half of the young people entering college today don’t have a direction they’re heading, nor principles to guide them.

The same is true of young Christians, so many of whom don’t know what they believe. And then we wonder why, when the world’s pressure is turned on, they collapse.

Too many young Christians have never studied the Bible. They’ve never had someone mentor them in their faith. They've simply just come to church when it’s convenient, rather than build their lives upon the bedrock truths of the Word of God. That, to me, says it all. That's why so many leave the faith once they get into the world.

Older Christians must build into the next generation. If they don't, we risk an entire generation being lost to the ways of the world. So whether you're older or younger, find one person whom you can build into or who can build into you!

- Jack Graham

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WE ARE STARTING A NEW HOSPITALITY MINISTRY to share life skills with women of all ages. We will learn about homemaking, parenting, and survival skills for single, single again, and married women! If you would like to help with this ministry contact Barbara Parker at women@hillcrestbc.com.

POUR INTO THE NEXT GENERATION AND UNDER GIRD THEIR FAITH BY GROUNDING THEM IN THE WORD OF GOD

Gen Xers

In a recent Breakpoint devotional, John Stonestreet writes about a disturbing trend that church leaders must face: "The latest numbers from Trinity College's latest American Religious Identification Survey finds that Gen Xers—those born between 1965 and 1972—who walked away from the church aren't coming back.

"Sociologists have long taken for granted that teenagers question and rebel against their parents' religion, then ultimately return when they grow up and have their own kids. But Gen Xers —now in their 40s and raising high-schoolers—aren't following that trend. Hundreds of thousands of them just aren't coming back, and they're not involving their kids in organized religion, either.

"But that doesn't mean our country is filling up with atheistic secularists. These Gen Xers and their kids aren't leaving spirituality behind; instead many are becoming what Philip Clayton of The Los Angeles Times dubbed 'the nones': those who don't identify with any organized faith, but who still consider spirituality, prayer, and transcendent morality important. They haven't abandoned the whole Christian worldview—just the parts that require commitment.

"You might say, or at least Ross Douthat of the The New York Times says, they're not atheists. They're heretics. In fact, Douthat's new book Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, suggests this de-stabilization of Christian belief might be the most significant cultural trend that no one has talked about over the last few decades.

We've always had American heretics—there were the deists, the Shakers—but the center of Christian belief was coherent, and it provided a stable source of moral norms and fundamental beliefs about human nature and value for the America project. But not so now, Douthat says. Heretics are mainstream—and what he means by heretics are those who no longer look outward for spiritual authority, but inward. The only spiritual authority is one's own self—something Douthat sees not only outside of Christianity but expressed clearly in some of the most popular forms of Christianity itself in our culture.

But self-made religion isn't stable, and won't provide the social cohesion that America has been used to for so long...We need to help students realize that truth is found in God Himself. And it's something fixed, unchanging, but also accessible. We are not the source of our own truth."

Change Is In The Air

The Women's Ministry is changing .. we are adding more structure as more women have answered the call to leadership.  Over the next few weeks we will be meeting to outline the changes and how the ministry will grow in better defined directions.

The following was written by Ron Edmonson on adding structure to organizations.  If you have any suggestions we would like to hear them too!


The change should make sense with the organizational make-up and DNA - We have to be careful altering something in a way that disrupts the fiber, core, or root foundation of the organization.

The structure added should not impede progress - Structure should further enable the completion of the vision, not detract from it.

It should accommodate or encourage continued growth – Structure should not curtail growth. It’s purpose should be to help the organization continue to grow.

Hit the center of acceptance – Not everyone will agree with any change, but if the structure is universally opposed then it may need to be considered more closely before being implemented.

Make sure everyone understands the why - People are more likely to accept structure when they can identify the value to them and their area of responsibility, but at least the value to the overall organization.

Prayer - By Jack Graham

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; 

 knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Years ago I read about a lady down in Miami, Florida who wrote the editor of the Miami Herald, who had just published a study on how prayer helped heal sickness. In her letter, she talked about a hurricane that hit Miami recently. She had gotten word that the hurricane was coming and so, though she wasn’t a praying person, she tried prayer, asking God to keep the storm from hitting her home.
The clouds rolled in and the storm raged. And when it was over, it destroyed her house despite her prayers. So she asked the editor, “What do you think about that? What about this God who Christians say answers prayer? I prayed and He did nothing!”

The editor responded in his editorial, “Madam, I don’t know much about prayer either. And to tell you the truth, I’m not much of a praying man so I don’t know why God didn’t answer your prayer. But I’m wondering… could it be that He was spending time with some of His regular customers?!”
Many times, I find out that when people say, “I’ve been praying about this,” what they really mean is “I prayed once about this.” But God wants more than simply our lip service. He wants our trust and our lives. So pray often, talking to God about your needs on a regular basis and most importantly, giving Him control by submitting to His will.

GOD WANTS MORE THAN LIP SERVICE WHEN IT COMES TO PRAYER. 

 SO PRAY FAITHFULLY AND SUBMIT YOUR WILL TO HIS.