Good evening. Well, week one of classes has been enough to already wear me out. At times this week it has been difficult for me to communicate just how tired I really was. However, as we continue this morning in our series from The Purpose Driven Church, we are going to learn how to better communicate. No, I don’t mean how to communicate that we are tired, rather we are going go look at how to communicate our purpose.
To start things off, let’s begin with a word of prayer.
In the Living Bible in Proverbs 13:17 it says, “An unreliable messenger can cause a lot of trouble. Reliable communication permits progress.”
So, by having poor communication of what our purpose is, it can cause us to not be an effective church. However, if we communicate our purpose to others, we can progress into what God wanted the church to be.
In Nehemiah’s story of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, we learn that halfway through the project the people got discouraged and they wanted to give up. In some ways, like many of our churches today, they lost sight of their purpose, and as a result they became overwhelmed with fatigue, frustration, and fear. Nehemiah was able to reorganize the people and get them back to working by recasting the vision. He simply reminded them of the importance of their work and reassured them that God would help them fulfill His purpose.
Listen to what is written in Nehemiah 4:6-15. Here in Nehemiah 4:6-15 it says, “1”
The wall was completed in 52 days. Although the wall only took 52 days to complete, the people became discouraged at the halfway point: just 26 days into the project. It was at that moment when Nehemiah had to renew their vision. From that story Rick Warren gets what he calls, “The Nehemiah Principle”. That principle says that, “Vision and purpose must be restated every 26 days to keep the church moving in the right direction.”
In other words, we need to make sure that our purpose is communicated at least monthly. It is amazing how quickly human beings, and churches, lose their sense of purpose. What is even more amazing his how quickly rediscover their purpose can ignite that same person or that same church.
Warren says, “if you fail to communicate your purpose to those in your congregation on a regular basis, you may as well not have one.”
Now as we discover some ways to communicate our vision and our purpose today, I want you to make the connection of how we communicate it as a church, and how it is all of our jobs to communicate it as individuals as well.
So what are some ways to communicate vision and purpose? There are several ways to communicate the vision and the purpose of our church, and that is what I want to spend time looking at today.
First, we communicate our purpose with SCRIPTURE.
The greatest church changing and church growing textbook that a church could use is by far the Bible. It is important to show how every vision that our church has is biblically based by providing the passages that explain and illustrate our reasoning for doing what we do, and doing it how we do it.
Now as we relate that to a personal level, when we are attempting to communicate our vision or we are trying to carry out the great commission of reaching the lost for Jesus, again the best starting place is with His words. When we try to witness to others, it is always helpful to have some good scriptures to be able to share with them while we are talking to them. The important thing is that when we are attempting to reach the lost for Christ, we communicate the bible to them not only in action, but in words as well. Words taken from the pages of the Bible and given to them. So, one way to communicate our purpose is to use scripture.
A second way to communicate our vision is to use SYMBOLS.
Listen to what Rick Warren has to say in this section. He writes, “Great leaders always understood and harnessed the tremendous power of symbols. People often need visual representations of concepts in order to grasp them.
Symbols can be powerful communication tools because they elicit strong passions and emotions. For instance, you would be outraged to find a swastika painted on your church wall, while an American flag brings out feelings of honor and pride.”
What Rick Warren went on to say was to have some sort of symbol that could be used to represent your purpose. In their church they used circles and a baseball diamond, and each represented a part of the church’s mission. Now this may be a little harder to come up with, but it is possible to find a symbol that helps to show what your mission is as a church. Once the church has a symbol, the individuals can incorporate that into their own witnessing approach.
A third way to communicate our vision is to use SLOGANS.
Slogans, mottoes, and little phrases are remembered long after the sermon or the speech is forgotten. There are many key events in history that are marked by slogans. Last week we looked at the speech given by John F. Kennedy when he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” We also looked at the phrase, “I have a dream,” from Martin Luther King Jr. There are many others as well. For example, “Remember the Alamo!” Give me liberty or give me death!”
History has proven the fact that a simple slogan, repeatedly shared with people can motivate people to do things they would normally never do. Listen to what Rick Warren said here.
He writes, “We’ve developed and used dozens of slogans at Saddleback to reinforce our church’s vision: “Every member is a minister,” “All leaders are learners,” “We’re saved to serve,” “Evaluate for excellence,” “Win the lost at any cost,” and many others.”
So, by having some slogans, we can be better equip to communicate our message to others. Perhaps you have some great ideas, I encourage you to let the guys know, or at least let me know, and maybe I can use that in a sermon or something and everyone can hear it. When it comes to these slogans, we can then tell them to others as we attempt to communicate God word to them as well. This may be a way of getting them interested and getting them connected. So, slogans are a great way to communicate our vision as well as to use it when communicated to those that we are trying to reach.
And finally, is to use STORIES.
A great way to communicate our vision is to use stories. Jesus Himself used simple stories to help people understand and relate to the vision that He had. In the Living Bible Translation in Matthew 13:34 it says, “Jesus constantly used… illustrations when speaking to the crowds…He never spoke to them without at least one illustration.”
If you remember, a few weeks ago on Sunday night I said that the parables or the stories that Jesus told make up over 1/3 of everything that Jesus said. So, telling stories is a great way to communicate our vision. Listen to what Warren says in this section about telling stories. He writes, “Use stories to dramatize the purpose of your church.
For example, when I speak about the importance of evangelism, I tell stories of Saddleback members who have recently shared their faith with friends and led them to Christ. when I speak about the importance of fellowship, I read actual letters from people whose loneliness was relieved by getting involved in our church family. When I speak about the importance of discipleship, I may use a testimony of how a couple’s spiritual growth saved their marriage, or how someone resolved a personal problem by applying biblical principles.”
Now these stories are also called testimonies. And let me tell you, I have heard some testimonies that have made me draw closer to God than many of the sermons I have heard and preached. When you tell someone you own story about how you came to know Christ, you don’t have to worry about getting the information wrong, because it is your story. Some of the greatest changes in people’s lives are due to someone sharing their own personally story of how they became a Christian and why.
So, a great way to communicate the vision of the church is to tell stories. Telling stories is also a great way to witness to others and let them know what you believe, why you believe it, and how you came to that point in your life.
Now, what I want to spend the rest of the morning looking at is personalizing our purposes.
When communicating the purpose of our church, it is important to personalize them. Listen to what Rick Warren had to say about personalizing your purpose. He writes, “The way to personalize the purposes is to show how there is both a privilege and a responsibility connected to each of them. Colossians 3:15 in the Living Bible says, “This is your responsibility and privilege as members of His body.”
There are both responsibilities and privileges of being a member of a church family. I try to personalize the purposes of our church by showing how they are our responsibility to fulfill and how they are our privilege to enjoy.”
To start we are going to look at 5 responsibilities from God that every believer has.
First, God wants you to be a member of His family.
This is the purpose of fellowship stated in a personal way. Being baptized into His family, and having fellowship all of the other believers. The Bible is very clear that following Jesus is not just a matter of believing, it also included belonging. It means belonging to His family, and belonging to His fellowship. The Christian life is not a solo act, we are meant to live in fellowship and in a relationship with others. Listen to what it says in I Peter 1:3 in the Living Bible, “He has given us the privilege of being born again, so that we are now members of God’s own family.” God has provided the church as our spiritual family. In Ephesians 2:19 in the Living Bible it says, “You are members of God’s very own family,… and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.”
So, we are all meant to be in the family of God with all of His other children. God wants you to be a member of His family.
Second, God wants you to be a model of His character.
This is the personal goal of discipleship. God desires every believer to grow up and be like His Son Jesus Christ. You see, God knows that this will never happen, but He still desires that it would happen. Becoming like Christ is the biblical definition of “spiritual maturity.” Jesus has established a patter for us to follow. In I Peter 2:21 it says, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.”
Earlier in I Timothy 4:12, Paul gives us several specific areas in which we are to model the character of Christ. Here in I Timothy 4:12 it says, “Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” If you notice, a person’s maturity is not measured by their learning, but rather it is measured by their lifestyle. It is possible to know the Bible well, and still be immature spiritually.
So, we now know that God wants us to be models of His character. The only question is, if you were accused of being a person of Christ’s character, would there be enough evidence from your lifestyle to find you guilty?
Third, God wants you to be a minister of His grace.
This is personalizing the idea of service, and ministry. You see, God expects us to use the opportunities and the gifts and the talents that He has given us, to have an impact on others for Him. In I Peter 4:10 it says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
Warren says, “God intends for every believer to have a ministry. At Saddleback we are very up front about this expectation when witnessing to unbelievers. We don’t “bait and switch.” I tell unbelievers, “When you give your life to Christ, you are signing up to minister in His name for the rest of your life. It’s what God made you for.” When doing this, I use the passage from Ephesians 2:10 in the Living Bible where it says, “It is God Himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus, and long ages ago He planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.””
So, here we learn that God wants us to be ministers of His grace. Every one of us has a gift or a talent that we are good at, and God calls each of us to use that as a way of ministering to others in His name. Perhaps you are good at music, then use it for God. Maybe you excel in a sport, then use your presence on a team to influence others. Use whatever it is that God has given you as a way to minister to others in His name.
Fourth, God wants you to be a messenger of His love.
Listen to what Rick Warren says about being a messenger of His love. He writes, “This is the church’s purpose of evangelism stated in a personal way. Pat of the job description for each believer is that once we have been born again, we become messengers of the Good News to others. Paul says in Acts 20:24 in the Living Bible, “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.””
This is an important responsibility for every believer to carry out. II Corinthians 5:19-20 in the Living Bible translation says, “God was in Christ, restoring the world to Himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message He has given us to tell others. We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you.”
Warren goes on to say, “Have you ever wondered why God leaves us here on earth, with all its pain, sorrow, and sin, after we accept Christ? Why doesn’t He just zap us immediately to heaven and spare us from all this? After all, we can worship, fellowship, pray, sing, hear God’s word, and even have fun in heaven. In fact, there are only 2 things you can’t do in heaven that you can do on earth: sin, and witness to unbelievers.”
So, let me ask you a question. Which of these 2 do you think Christ has left us here to do? Every Christian has a duty of witnessing to unbelievers. So, we are to be messengers of Christ’s love.
Finally, God wants you to be a magnifier of His name.
Psalm 34:3 in the New American Standard Bible says, “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” We each have a personal responsibility to worship God. The very first commandment says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” We all have a sense of worship inside of us. Either we will worship God, or we will find substitutes.
We will begin to worship our job, our family, our money, a sport, or even ourselves. It is important that we turn that focus to God and worship Him alone. So, we are all called to magnify His name.
Now, those were some of the responsibilities of a believer. Now what I want to leave you with this morning are some of the privileges that we have as believers.
Listen to what Rick Warren says here. He writes, “While fulfilling the 5 purposes of the church are a responsibility of every Christian, they also provide spiritual, emotional, and relational benefits. In fact, the church provides people with things they cannot find anywhere else in the world: Worship helps people focus on God. Fellowship helps them face life’s problems. Discipleship helps fortify their faith. Ministry helps them find their talents. And evangelism helps them fulfill their mission.”
So, there are great benefits not only for our church by accomplishing these tasks, there are benefits to each believer as well.
In closing, warren says, “Don’t assume that a single sermon on the church’s purposes will permanently set the direction of your church. Don’t suppose that by printing your purpose in the bulletin everyone has learned them, or even read them! One widely know law of advertising is that a message must be communicated 7 times before it really sinks in.”
Now, that is why we are spending several weeks looking at becoming the purpose driven church. I use to have a baseball coach that told us, “Repetition is the mother of all teaching.” I never caught on to it in the planning for this, but I find it very significant that I planned 7 sermons based on the purpose driven church, seeing as to how it takes communicating something 7 times in order for it to sink in.
George M. Marsden once said, “The church faces the same problem today as it faced in every era, the problem of communicating to our culture while not identifying with its values.” So, the church still has a hard time communicating its messages to the world around us, without allowing the world around us to creep into the church. Communication is a hard aspect of any mission, when we can learn how to communicate our vision to others, they will want to be a part of that vision.
That is exactly what we have been called to do. To communicate our vision, which should also be God’s vision to the world on non-believers around us. After doing that we are to baptize them, and teach them how to obey what He has commanded of all of us. I simply want to end, by communicating our mission in a nutshell. It should be a familiar verse by now, we have looked at it each week we have been studying becoming the purpose driven church. If you want to turn with me to Matthew 28:18-20 we are looking at one of the great commissions that Jesus Himself gave to us. Here in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says, “2”
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