#reachUkiah with Vision

I have been so, so very anxious to share this next month with you because I believe that with anything foundation is everything.

We have been working diligently for this amazing church family and especially for the cause of  Christ. I believe it's now time to begin yet again in the vision God has given to us.

He said in His word in Hebrews 12:12 to NLT "[12] So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees."

So we must regain our grip on the Gospel of Christ and the strength of God regaining our footing and take the land God has given unto us.

I.       We are going to #reachUkiah with a vision.

A.     Vision can be defined as a picture of the future that produces passion in the present.

1.      A picture of the future that produces change in the present.

2.      A picture of the future that produces results in the present.

Philippians 1:5-6 NLT "[5] for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. [6] And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

Vision of CWC: Our vision is to see people saved, healed, set free, discipled, equipped, empowered and serving.

1.     Vision has a standard.

1.     A level, a quality, a principle about it.

2.     If you don't get chills and shutter in fear then your vision isn't big enough.

1.     I don't want to operate in flesh I want to operate in faith!

2.     That's why we are launching a church-wide fast so that God may instruct us, so His Spirit may engage us, and that the blood that Jesus shed will heal us.

1.     Heal our emotions, heal our bodies, heal our minds, and heal our city!

3.     Vision doesn't push you it pulls you.

1.     Vision calls into the depths of you, deep calls out to deep.

2.     I envision a full church!

1.     2 services every Sunday morning.

2.     I envision ministering to thousands.

3.     I believe we can build a church of 1500!

3.     I envision a church that trains leaders and those leaders train leaders who train leaders.

4.     I envision a church that makes disciples who make disciples who go and make disciples!

5.     I envision a missions giving mission accomplishing church.

6.     I envision a church where healing is the norm.

1.     I can see hundreds worshipping in Spirit and in truth!

2.     I can see us having 2 and 3 worship teams lined up ready for action, ready for service, ready to give their gift as the minister to their generation.

7.     I can see hundreds passionate about God.

1.     Passionate about serving.

1.     People everywhere.

2.     Ushers everywhere.

3.     Prayer people everywhere.

4.     Soul winners everywhere.

5.     Parking in the field.

6.     Nursery workers everywhere.

7.     707Kidz kids and leaders everywhere.

8.     707Students and leaders everywhere!

2.     Passionate about giving.u

3.     And Passionate about changing lives!

8.     Hundreds beings baptized!

1.     Can you envision CWC launching a water shortage, a drought if you will, in Ukiah because of all the water we're using for baptizing new believers?!

4.     Vision is not just a statement but it must become a lifestyle.

1.     How can we expect God to move in our lives, in our families, in our church, in this city if we don't put our faith to something?

5.     As we Value God, Value Others, and Value the Mission we will be fulfilling the very assignment of Jesus Christ which is to seek and to save that which was lost.

1.     The global church has a voice, this church has a voice, I have a voice and I'm called, separated unto that calling.

6.     When prayer, fasting, worship and the word become our weapon of choice nothing is impossible with God.

1.     Nothing becomes impossible!

2.     When prayer, fasting, worship and the Word become our priority all of heaven hears the bible declares and God will come to heal our land.

2.     Vision has an outcome.

1.     Our vision is to make a difference, make the difference.

2.     Vision calls out to you, it accelerates you heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit. 

1.     I believe with every ounce of my being that we are going to make THE difference in this community.

2.     We are the change.

1.     We have the answer and we must demonstrate that starting within ourselves.

2.     Then we must demonstrate that to a lost and dying world in and around us.

3.     I believe we can so become the difference that this church has a dramatic effect on this community, on this county, and on our families.

1.     Start there, start with your self speak life, and watch God do miracles.

2.     Then move to your families, keep speaking life and He will use you to do miracles just like he did with Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37, just like He used the disciples in the book of Acts.

3.     Next move to your neighbors, friends, coworkers, acquaintances and even your enemies.

1.     Challenge yourself this year.

2.     Show the Devil I am a walking, talking, life giving, man of God!

3.     I am to be used of His Spirit, mightily, powerfully, and miraculously.

4.     You have no hold on me or direction over my life and I will accomplish all that I was born for.

1.     ALL.

3.     Let's reach out like never before, let's pray like never before, let's trust in His Word like never before, let's change the world like never before.

1.     My God will make the difference and it will be resounding, it will be miraculous, it will be eternal.

2.     This church will make a difference and it will be noticeable, it's people will be life changing machines under the power of an Almighty God.

3.     This man will make a difference and it will be apparent.

1.     It will be a life change that alters a city just like Jonah and Nineveh.

3.     Vision has a cause.

1.     Risking everything for a dream no one else can see but you.

1.     The reason we serve, the reason we minister, the reason we sacrifice, the reason we give is so that someone else will come to know Jesus.

2.     Not just know the bible but to know the author of it!

Isaiah 42:5 God, the LORD, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. And it is He who says, 6 "I, the LORD, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations. 7 You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.

2.     Seven is the number of completeness and perfection, both physical and spiritual.

1.     He says it 7 times to denote the righteous task He has given to us, set out before us, and envisioned us performing.

1.     See God move in your life!

1.     Perspective and vision, it's everything.

Romans 1:5 NLT "Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey Him, bringing glory to His name."

3.     The difference between a dream and a vision is the audacity to act.

1.     We must act upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ...

2.     We must act as the disciples did, full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, and full of the vision that Jesus gave long, long ago.

1.     If not now, then when?

2.     When is a better time?

3.     When is the mission of Jesus Christ good enough to share?

1.     When is the gospel to be shared instead of selfishly, silently and neatly tucked away?

2.     This mission lives undone and we should live to do it.

4.     Vision has a man.

1.     A man without a vision for his future, always returns to his past.

2.     I bring you good news that no matter what state we are in, we can grow from where we are.

1.     We must know what growth is and what it is not.

2.     Growth is life that comes from within and flows out. 

3.     We don’t grow from the outside in but the inside out.

1.     Growth is not improving the wrapping but rather improving the product.

2.     We think we have grown when we do something to the exterior. 

1.     Church attendance, demonstrative in worship, clap our hands more, give more, praise more makes it obvious we have changed but what have we changed? 

1.     The product or the package?

3.     When challenged are we still inclined to say we can’t do? 

1.     Do we still panic whenever a crisis arises?

2.     Are we still negative and expect the worst? 

3.     Do we still get our feelings hurt at the drop of a hat. 

4.     Do we quit when things don’t go our way?

5.     Do we fly of the handle when someone rubs us the wrong way?

1.     The packaging looks good but what about the content?

1.     You can’t progress by looking backward, “used to” can be a good reference point, but it cannot move us forward. 

2.     Used to may be a good anchor but an anchor is for sitting still, not sailing.

4.     God created man to have a desire to serve Him, love Him, worship Him, and honor Him.

1.     Not to just punch our spiritual punch card.

2.     Vision is a God word for sure.

3.     Once God pours out vision His people must flesh it out.

1.     Don’t be surprised when you face adversity in the birthing of dreams, adversity acts as the contractions that push your dreams into reality.

1.     Jesus is the who vision is the how.

2.     Love is the what vision is the how.

3.     The church is the why vision is the means.

4.     Christ's sacrifice on the cross is the cause we are it's visionaries, ambassadors, representatives.

Altar Call

Romans 3:25-28 "For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He himself is fair and just, and He declares sinners to be right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

In 1519, Captain Hernán Cortés landed in Veracruz to begin his great conquest.

Out of all the blazingly inspiring speeches to his men, ironically, it would only be 3 words which Cortes’ spoke, that would change the history of the New World. 

As they marched inland to face their enemies, Cortes ordered, “Burn the ships.”

Cortes forced himself and his men to embrace their mission and either succeed or die. Retreat was not an option and failures off the table.

The question we have to ask ourselves is this: What are my ships? What am I afraid to let go of?

A decision that should have backfired.  With no exit strategy in place to save their lives, the command to burn the ships had a dramatic effect on his men, left with only 2 choices, die, or ensure victory. 

If we are going to #reachUkiah and have an eternity altering affect on this community we have to burn every ship that would try to keep us from doing so.

We must eradicate any notion of retreat from our minds and commit ourselves unwaveringly to the cause.