Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network Cornerstone Church Network Master’s Group Session 6

Agenda  8:45 Arrival, breakfast and fellowship  9:00 Koinonia Connection  9:30 Hand of the Lord  10:00 Vision: What is it and How is it Developed?  12:00 Lunch  12:30 GPS  2:15 Wrap up / Debrief the day / Admin stuff  2:30 Adjournment Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

Koinonia Connection  PASTHere is something about my past that would help you know me better  DEFINING A difficult life experience MOMENT which helped me grow as a person was..  VALUESHere’s what I stand for… X Information + Feelings Information Only X

Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network Hand of the Lord Nehemiah 1:1 – 2:9

Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network Leading with Clear Vision from God (Content from George Barna’s book titled, The Power of Vision: How you can capture and apply God’s Vision for your ministry)

Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network Vision Definition “Vision for Ministry is a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to His chosen servants and is based upon an accurate understanding of God, self and circumstances.”

Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network Vision Components: 1. A Clear mental Image “Vision is an in-focus picture held in your mind’s eye of the way things could or should be in the days ahead.”

Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network 2. Preferable Change “Vision is never about maintaining the status quo. It is about stretching reality to extend beyond the existing state.”

3. Future Focus “Vision focuses on thinking ahead rather than dwelling upon or seeking to replicate the past.” Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

4. Imparted by God “Vision for ministry is a reflection of what God wants to accomplish through you to build His kingdom. Visionary leaders receive their vision for ministry from God.” Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

5. A Chosen Leader “God chooses leaders carefully and provides each of them with a vision tailored to their circumstances.”

Don’t confuse Mission and Vision “A mission statement is a broad, general statement about who you wish to reach and what the church hopes to accomplish. Many churches share the same mission and could even use the same wording of that mission. Mission is essentially a philosophic statement that undergirds the heart of your ministry.” Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

“In contrast, Vision is specific, detailed, customized, distinctive and unique to a given church. It allows a leader to say no to opportunities, it provides direction, it empowers people to service and it facilitates productivity.” Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

“The vision statement ‘puts feet’ on the mission, detailing how the church will influence the world in which it will minister. It provides direction that motivates people to become enthusiastic about the ministry.” Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

So how do you capture God’s vision for your church? Barna suggests spending intentional time in pursuit of the following: Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

1. Know Yourself Having a clear understanding of who you are personally (how God has gifted you, what strengths you have, how you’ve been used to impact people, what energizes you, etc) is an essential place to start. If God has called you to be the leader, He has built into you the right components to lead the people toward His vision. Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

2. Know Your Ministry Environment Take the time to get to know your community, the other churches surrounding your location, your congregation and its ‘DNA’, and your competition (this is not the other churches!) Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

3. Know God Specifically in the context of discovering God’s vision for your church, dive into the Word and listen carefully for the ways God is speaking to you and planting passion in your heart. Spend significant blocks of time in prayer expressing your desire for God’s leading. Consider engaging in the discipline of fasting and prayer. Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

4. Verify the Vision Invite some trusted advisors to review and respond to your sense of God’s vision for the church. The purpose of gaining the perspective of outside, godly, trusted counselors is not to allow them to determine or frame the vision. Rather, they can help you be as certain as possible that you have truly grasped the vision God has prepared for you and have not succumbed to the desire to follow the ways that seem right to you alone. Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

Discuss Your Experience: Share with one another your understanding of the vision God has called your church into. How does that statement of vision compare to Barna’s definition of vision? What was your process of arriving at that vision? How does that compare to Barna’s recommendation? Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

Discuss Your Experience: How have you communicated vision in your church context? What seems to be most effective? How important is it, from your perspective, that people in the church understand and buy into the vision? What was your process of arriving at that vision? Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

Next Steps: Use the ‘Free Writing Exercise’ Sheet to complete the following statement: “If God’s vision for our church is realized, three years from now the following will be a realistic description of us…” You will have 5 minutes to write. Please write without pause for those 5 minutes. Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

Master's Group | Cornerstone Church Network

Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network Growing Past Stress

Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network