Vision Sunday 2021
Our family loves a nerf gun battle, running through the house, the back yard and hiding wherever you can to launch an attack on who might run past next. One thing about these battles is how many nerf bullets you need… way more than you’d think! They go missing so easily, behind couches, over the fence, in the kitchen sink. For days, weeks and probably forever more I’m finding these bullets, but never all of them. It doesn’t really matter though, does it. Some remain lost forever, or thrown out.
I hope this is never our attitude when it comes to people and the Kingdom of God. Some are lost, discarded, forgotten about, but it doesn’t really matter because we have enough - for God it does matter. God is into counting - there is an entire book of the Bible called numbers!
God counts even the hairs of your head (Matthew 10:30), he knows how many stars hang in the sky, he takes note of the sparrows even every day of our life is counted;
Psalm 139:16 (ESV)
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them
Our God doesn’t just count hairs, birds and days. He knows everyone. In a parable in Luke 15, Jesus describes a shepherd who has one hundred sheep and one goes missing, the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to find the one.
I hope you know this; you are known. You aren’t just a number, you don’t blend into a see of faces or a household of nerf bullets waiting to be stumbled upon. He cares for you. He has a plan for you. This is for everyone.
You are not more than or less than;
1 Cor 12:18 (NIV)
But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
Romans 12:4-5 (TLB)
Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of it, and it takes every one of us to make it complete, for we each have different work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others.
What we are part of - the body of Jesus, is for every one. It is for you as much as it for me. I need you, like you need me.
Every one has a gift.
Every one has a purpose.
Every one has grace.
Every one has hope.
Every one has a place.
Every one is on mission.
Every one has a part to play.
Every one has their own journey.
Every one has their own faith.
Every one is created uniquely.
Every one is welcome.
Can you embrace this for you? Can you embrace this for others?
The problem we face is ourselves;
For some of us the problem is we don’t think we are known, or needed, or graced or anything much at all!
For others of us, we don’t think others are needed, or graced - they are different to us! We get caught up looking at others through our eyes; when they look like, sound like, behave like us; then they are good and welcome.
In Mark 12:41-44 there is an event Jesus wants his disciples (and us) to see. People are coming and giving their offering; big amounts of money. Then a widow comes along and gives her offering, a couple of coins. Jesus points out that the widow has given more; she gave everything she had. Others who gave higher amounts, gave from their wealth.
From the outside, without knowing each persons circumstance and journey it is impossible to know what motivates a person to live the way they do. But Jesus wants us to know; commitment looks different, faith looks different, sacrifice looks different. Not everyone is meant to give them same amount, serve the same way and look like… you!
2021; this is for everyone. We aren’t all meant to look like each other. Instead we are all on our own journey; changing to become more like Jesus.
There have been studies on choirs and their singing, specifically what it does to their breathing and heart rhythms. They have discovered that when singing together in a choir or group, people’s breathing and heartbeats sync.
What a great picture of what it means to be different, unique, but still together - with one heart.
Phil 2:1-2 (CEV)
Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God’s Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others. 2 Now make me completely happy! Live in harmony by showing love for each other. Be united in what you think, as if you were only one person.
This is for everyone. Everyone singing their part, their harmony but together we are unified.
“Our walks are different but we travel the same direction.”
Over the next four weeks we are going to unpack our Sale Baptist Values. We are entered around these ideas, these are our heartbeat. We live in sync and will embody these as we all travel our own journey.
The four values are;
Your faith matters, your journey matters, your contribution matters.
My prayer, my hope and vision for us, is that every one will get on board - no spectators, join the choir, add your voice, get in sync and let’s see people welcomed into the Kingdom of God - every one!
We are different but we all sing the same song, we all worship and live for Jesus… we all get on board to mission to see others come to know him.
Every one as a disciple, every one making disciples; this is for everyone.
