As God is preparing us for a growing season, I want to share with you four steps that will help you to regain and renew your vision for your church.
- Set aside adequate time to seek the Lord.
This is where you are the guard standing on the post to see what God will say (Habakkuk. 2:1). Daily devotions seem like the obvious first step, but I am talking about more here. I challenge you to spend a day or more per week specifically praying for God to renew your vision for the church. Once God has revealed something to you, take some time to meditate on that vision. I have found that understanding the vision is necessary in order for you to relay that vision to others in the church.
- Make an action plan to implement the vision.
Be specific about what God is showing you. Does the vision mean fine-tuning your church’s youth ministry, growing your outreach department, building up leaders within the ministry, or growing your church’s deeper understanding of God’s Word? Consider the following questions to help you create a plan of action for implementing your renewed vision for your ministry:
- What will it take to see the vision come to life?
- Will I need to restructure church services or change our curriculum?
- How will this change in vision affect our current budget plans and calendar?
- Will this change require new staff? Do we hire new staff?
- What commitment will the vision require from your current team?
- What type of training will your leaders need to outwork the new direction for your ministry?
The Bible says that we write the vision so that those who read it can “run.” This renewed vision will give fresh energy to the legs of those who have been running this race with you.
- Create a plan to communicate this vision to your church.
When you receive a renewed vision from the Lord, do not just share it with anyone. You want to be strategic about those with whom you share it. I suggest that you first share it with your leadership team, which you can choose to do during a leadership meeting or leadership retreat. You want those who are closest to you and who knows your heart to hear the vision first. They will most likely catch on to the vision more quickly and they can help the rest of the church get on board.
Keep in mind that the goal is to articulate the vision not as your own but as the vision God has for the church. When you do that, not only will the church leadership jump on board, but so will the rest of the congregation.
- Stay encouraged; the vision will work if you work it!
This is key. Remember, the vision hastens towards the end goal and will not fail if we are faithful to run with it. If you are faithful to write the vision, communicate it to your church, and give them a strategy to implement it, then the vision will encourage you all to reach the end goal.
First published on StartChurch.com. Used by permission.
