Sweat began to run down my face, into my eyes, onto my notes in my Bible, running the vegetable-based ink into long, black rivulets even further obscuring the wedding notes. I couldn’t see clearly – so I started getting really nervous – which only added to the sweat pouring down my brow!

Not being able to see where you’re going or what’s coming next is not good. That’s so true for the Church.

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18 -KJV)

If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed. (Proverbs 29:18 – The Message)

Friends, we have to be aware of God’s vision for us – what He wants us to look like. Then and only then can we step boldly onto the path, and strategically work together to help make His vision a reality.

Quarry Ridge has “word-smithed” a vision statement – a statement of what we believe God wants – not only us, but His Church everywhere – to look like. We’ve worded it to read like it’s a reality today, knowing that we’ll be working on this for the rest of our lives!

We are living as a biblically-functioning community –
an Acts 2 Church in the 21st century –
serving with an unreserved outpouring of our gifts,
inviting our non-Christian and spiritually-yearning friends to join us
as together we grow into unconditional followers of Jesus Christ.

All this must be bathed and covered and held up in prayer.

Jesus told us: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

I want to re-visit this vision for our community of faith – in order to help us all get back in touch with what we’re about. I've written and taught and preached about this for the last 6+ years; many who read this will recognize much of the content. But the Holy Spirit keeps bringing this back to me. . . clearly we haven't learned all we need to learn. Plus - everyone learns through repetition, so this is a re-telling or a re-casting of the vision so we can all pick up what we've yet to learn and apply to our lives! We’ll take it in five parts

We are living as a biblically-functioning community – in other words – we live in fellowship the way the Bible tells us to live.

For example – in our interactions with people – Jesus taught us: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. . .” (Matthew 18:15-20)

The Pharisees or religious leaders of Jesus’ day asked Him “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:36-39)

Jesus also told us how deep and wide and rich our love must be: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35 (NIV)

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:12-14 (NIV)

These are just a few examples of what it means to live as a biblically-functioning community. The remaining four parts of our vision statement are simply additional ways of living biblically.

. . . an Acts 2 Church in the 21st century – doing what the Church did in the second chapter of Acts!

In Acts 2 we see the Holy Spirit come and bring power to the Church. . . we are to be a Holy Spirit-led and empowered Church, not disengaged or ignorant of the Spirit’s leading.

In Acts 2 we see the Gospel preached – and it has an edge to it! Each follower of Christ is called to preach the Gospel, not just the pastor or the leaders of the Church. We all need to be ready, willing and eager to share the Good News with the people with whom we rub shoulders everyday.

In Acts 2 we see that people are saved through the sharing of the Gospel. It happens no other way. This is the daily work in which we’re all to be engaged.

Then, in Acts 2:42-47 we get a summary of the New Church and how they lived together and changed the world:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread (their version of Communion or The Lord’s Supper) and to prayer.

Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. (Note how Acts 2 tells us “everyone” and “all”!)

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. (The Church as the focal point of their lives! Is that how we approach the Church today?)

They broke bread (shared regular meals) in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. (The community-at-large loved the Church and wanted to be with them!)

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (When we learn to live like this – God pours people into our midst!)

. . . serving with an unreserved outpouring of our gifts, being servants one to another is the basic way of life for Christ-followers; unreserved speaks to the quality of our servanthood and the energy behind it. Our gifts are the spiritual empowerments and abilities God gives to each of us to equip us to do the ministry He’s laid out before us.

The Apostle Paul tells us that “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

Paul also let’s us know that “God's gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29) – He doesn’t give them out and then yank them back; He gives them expecting us to use them.

. . . inviting our non-Christian and spiritually-yearning friends to join us, asking people to join us on this journey is an assignment given to each and every Christ-follower, without exception. We’re all to be out in the world talking about Jesus and leading people to faith in Him.

Jesus told us: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

He also gave us this Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) Notice that it’s not given as a suggestion – but a commission or assignment! We’re to share Christ and invite the people in the world around us to join us.

That brings us to the last section of Quarry Ridge’s vision statement – why we’re inviting the world to join us. . .

. . . as together we grow into unconditional followers of Jesus Christ.

Jesus wants us to include people and grow. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)

Jesus wants us to reflect God’s glory in the world – to be like Him in every way. The Apostle Paul taught us this: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The Apostle Peter told us “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15-16)

The VISION of Quarry Ridge is what we believe God wants us to look like. . . in fact, it’s what we believe God wants His Church all over the world to look like:

We are living as a biblically-functioning community –
an Acts 2 Church in the 21st century –
serving with an unreserved outpouring of our gifts,
inviting our non-Christian and spiritually-yearning friends to join us
as together we grow into unconditional followers of Jesus Christ.

Our MISSION then is what we’re all doing together to fulfill the vision God has given us. It’s our job – each and every day, 24-7, without fail. . . because it’s who we are and why we’re here on planet earth. We’re to be:

Making disciples of Jesus Christ
who are making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Circular. Never-ending. Repetitive.

If you find one person with whom to share the Gospel – you’ve won that one person. Ten years later – if you’ve done nothing else, you could say that you won a single person to the Lord in a decade. We call that “Static Growth.”

If you make one convert each year, in ten years you will have won ten people to the Lord. We call that “Growth by Addition.”

If you and your first convert make one disciple each per year – then in ten years you will have won 18 people to the Lord. We call that “Growth by Multiplication.”

But if you and your first convert each make one convert per year and each of those converts each make a new convert to the Lord each year, then in 10 years you will have been responsible for 512 people coming to faith in Jesus Christ. That’s called “Exponential Growth!” And exponential growth gets even more exciting as the days rolls by.

• In 20 years that’s 524,288 people won to Christ!
• In 25 years that’s 16 million people won to Christ!
• In 30 years that’s a whopping 536 million people who find faith in the Lord.
• In 35 years an amazing 17 billion people would be heaven-bound because you shared your faith!

But wait – there’s only 7 billion people in the world! That just means that if you and each of your converts and each of their converts reach one person per year, every person in the world would hear the Good News of Jesus Christ in less than 35 years! Can you imagine what would happen if each and every Christian in each and every Church in the world would simply win one person per year to the Lord? In only 11 short years we would reach every living human on the planet with the Good News of Christ! Heaven would become a reality in our lifetime! Do you see the power in making disciples who make disciples?

Strategically, in order to do our part, Quarry Ridge is going to continue to go deep in three areas:

Worship – Discipleship - Fellowship

We’re all going to learn to worship with abandon! Kneel, clap, laugh, raise hands, close eyes, shout. Adore – exalt – exclaim – love Him with your heart, soul, mind and body!

We’re all going to be asked to grow as disciples. D-Teams are there for that purpose. We’ve got to go deep. We’ve got to study His Word. We’ve got to learn to pray. We’ve got to go with your D-Team to serve in our community and our world.

We’re going to grow closer together in fellowship and community. Sharing meals. Playing together. Inviting new people over. Meeting new friends. Sharing our faith.

And to pull this all together and make it happen – we have to pray. We have to lift up the people of the North, South, East, and West, asking God to prepare hearts – theirs and ours – and give us the ability to invite and include and befriend.

Please pray at least once each week for the following:

NORTH
SE Michigan, Bedford, Temperance
Retirement Villas
Neighborhoods of NW Ohio and SE Michigan
Lenawee and Monroe Counties
Crossroads Church
Bethany Fellowship Church

SOUTH
Centennial Terrace and the people who visit there
Triathalons
Olander Park system
Tam-O-Shanter
Our Neighborhoods
Farms
The City of Maumee
The City of Perrysburg
Family Christian Center on King Road
Boulevard Christian Church
Our Jewish population
Our Islamic population

EAST
Downtown Sylvania – and all area businesses
Sylvania Public Schools
The City and Township governments
Our Neighborhoods
McCord Road Christian Church
Sylvania UCC
St. Stephen’s Lutheran
Sylvania United Methodist
Our Hindu population

WEST
Farms
Our Neighborhoods
Pacesetter soccer, baseball, softball – thousands who use the fields
Our Berkey neighbors
Berkey United Methodist

There are three “foundations” of Christ’s Church – areas in which we’re choosing to grow DEEP rather than growing W I D E:

Discipleship - Unconditional Followers
Fellowship - Together
Worship - Unreserved Outpouring

Through it all we must be mindful of the Vision – and work to fulfill it by consistently working our Mission. . . bathing it all in prayer! Let’s go DEEP!