Where are we going?

The vision of Life is defined in one word-relationships.  When Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly,” we believe the abundant life is only experienced when 3 key relationships are in place: our relationship with God, our relationship with the church, and our relationship with the world.  If any one of those relationships is strained-we miss out on the abundant life.
 
Because the relationships are so critical-it is impossible to understand our vision without the backdrop of relationships. The first 4 statements describe the church in terms of what we will be.  The second 4 statements describe the church in terms of what we will do.  As Clyde Cranford said, “If we focus our attention on being what we ought to be, God will give us plenty to do.”
 
By God’s grace, 
 
Life will be a church that exists because we love Him. At each step along the way-God has challenged me to move away from numbers, budgets, stats, strategies, and move towards establishing the church on the bedrock of loving God.  It doesn’t mean that the other things are not important in their own place-but they can never be the motivating factor in why we involve ourselves in God’s Kingdom.  Our motivation must always be love for God.

At Life, we will emphasize the relationship beyond our activity for God. As we serve, as we learn, as we worship, as we share, as we plant churches, as we help the hurting-it will be because we love Him.
 

Life will be a church alive with contagious prayer.  Prayer is not something we do.  Prayer is who we are. Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” In the earliest stages-the God’s people were not called Christians, Jews, or even believers.  God’s people were first identified as ‘those who call on the name of the Lord.”  Prayer defined the people of God.  It was not what they did; it was who they were.  Our willingness to be used by God will position us to make an impact; but it is our prayers that will determine how big an impact we will make.

 

Life will be a church where believers are made complete in Christ. The Apostle Paul told the believers in Colossae that his aim was to “proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28).  The teaching, the instruction, the proclamation was so that everyone may be complete in Christ.

We are not teaching for the sake of knowledge-we are building in the Word so that believers realize who they are in Christ.  Irenaeus once said, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” As Christians, we shouldn’t be half alive, barely alive, or even dead in our relationship with Christ.  We should be fully alive, complete in Christ, and ready for every good work.  It is part of who we are.
 

Life will be a church that enjoys the diversity of a multi-cultural fellowship.  When God called me to ministry on October 29th, 1995-He shared a three-part vision for my future in ministry.  The ministry He called me to is one of dynamic worship, application-sytle teaching, and multi-cultural fellowship.  For 10 years, that vision has never changed.  

Heaven will be comprised of people from every nation tribe and tongue.  We believe His Church should reflect His heart?
 
With that being said, what is God’s plan for our activity in the world?  What will God do with a group that loves Him, prays diligently, pursues completeness in Christ, and loves people?
 

God will use Life to saturate the community with Christ.Through prayer walking, putting the gospel in every home, random acts of kindness, serving the community, loving our neighbor, starting churches, holding Bible studies, throwing block parties, and representing Christ through changed lives-we will saturate this community with Christ. My heart is that Christ is seen in every direction.  

Part of our ability to saturate the area with Christ is to be a permanent part of the community.  In His timing, God will give us facilities of our own.  The vision is not to see a traditional church building, but a multi-functional facility where the community meets, and God happens to house a church.  The building will be Life Community Center. There will be a large room for worship, a gymnasium for activities, a coffee house for relationships, and various classrooms for community groups, preschool programs, and seminary classes.  The idea of land and buildings are not the vision. They are simply tools given by God to accomplish the vision.

God will use Life to help hurting people experience positive life change.  You cannot read the Gospels without seeing Jesus’ compassion for hurting people.  He cleansed lepers, stood up for prostitutes, healed the blind, touched the defiled, and wept for sinners.  He taught His disciples, “If you have done it unto the least of these-you have done it unto me.”

Part of God’s journey for this church was not to put us in the suburbs initially. Instead, He took us on the tour of the casinos.  He allowed us to bump shoulders with the hurting.  He brought homeless people to our services.  He brought strippers to our services.  He allowed us to sit next to drug addicts, and those consumed with the desires of the flesh.
 
I see a time in the future, when God gives us another facility called Healing House.  It will be a dormitory styled building with a professional kitchen, computer lab, childcare center, and classroom space. Instead of telling people, “Accept Christ and all of your problems will go away,” we are going to take Christ at His Word and make disciples.  We are going bring people in, help them get clean, disciple them to follow Christ, and train them in career fields so that they can begin a stable life when they leave.  Where are we going as a church?  By God’s grace, we will help hurting people experience positive life change.  

God will use Life to plant church with a passion to reproduce. God has a specific plan for every church, and when those churches pursue the plan God gave them-they fill a different niche within the community.  Through planting churches with a Kingdom mindset and helping them get off to a healthy start-we have the ability to invest in communities, families, and individuals across the valley.  

As God reveals His timing, we will plant some churches for as little as $5,000 of upfront costs.  Through multiplying our efforts, and being good stewards of God’s resources-we will start churches where God directs (regardless of the difficulties along the way).  We will train indigenous leaders to pastor new plants.  We will train men and women from across the country to start churches.  We will be a part of planting churches in other cities, other states, and even other countries.  Where are we going as a church?  By God’s grace, we will plant churches with a passion to reproduce.

God will use Life to engage the nations through Kingdom-minded partnerships. In the first year of our churches life, we have worked in 3 countries. Jesus told His Church to “go into all the world.”  As a church, we will be faithful to the call.  

I see a day when God gives us a ministry on which the sun never sets.  We might live in Vegas-but by partnering with strategic ministries around the world, we will see the Kingdom expanded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Where are we going as a church?  By God’s grace, He will use us to engage the nations through Kingdom-minded partnerships.
 
After three months of diligent prayer, reading, writing, and reflection, and after 32 years of God preparing me for this ministry-I stand before you today and say, “By God’s grace it will happen!”