Sight

Written by cycleguy on September 20th, 2012

I have bad eyesight.  I had all things against me from birth, but at least I survived until fourth grade.  My then teacher, Miss Kutzer (whom I was secretly in love with), betrayed me by telling my parents that I couldn’t see the chalkboard very well.  A trip to Dr. Braveman confirmed her suspicions, and I began my trek through “Glasses Land.”  Trust me when I say that my sight never improved.  I have a hard time trusting anyone who says, “I began wearing glasses and my sight actually got better.”  Say what?  Anyway, time moved on.  My glasses got thicker and thicker until I felt like I had this weigh pulling my head down.  Fortunately for me they began finding lighter and lighter material to make lenses.  I tried contacts and liked them, except for the fact that I couldn’t see with them…least not sharply.  So after several years of trial and error, I resigned myself to wearing coke bottles glasses for good.  They tell me if I ever get cataracts it could be a good thing because I won’t have to wear glasses anymore except to read.  But I reckon that is not a reason to hope for something to be wrong.  😛

This past summer as the church was being renovated physically, God was also renovating my thoughts.  When I came to OVCF in 2005 they had no Mission or Vision, so after a couple of months that was an agenda item.  We have since changed twice more to reflect a growing and changing thought process.  Our latest is here.  As I thought of that more and more over the summer, it finally hit me why I was suddenly uncomfortable with it.

It was not us.  It was not personal.  It was generic.  It was also used by tons of other churches.  🙁   What was so unique about it?

N.O.T.H.I.N.G.

So as the summer wore on my thoughts kept going back to that Mission Statement.  Make it us. Make it personal.  Make it say what we desire.  So this Sunday I will presenting the new Mission Statement of OVCF:

“To win the HEART of Owen County’

Of course that led me to rethink the Vision of the church.  Our new one uses HEART to tell it:

H– Hear Truth

E– Exalt Christ

A– Accept the Imperfect

R- Restore Relationships

T- Teach Service

As you probably noticed a couple of them didn’t change.  Kind of hard to do when that is your focus.  🙂  This Sunday at our Celebration, I have the privilege of sharing this.  Simple approach:  SEE WHAT GOD HAS DONE and SEE WHAT GOD CAN DO.  The elders will also be sharing some exciting news/goals we have.

All around I expect a banner day.  Would you mind saying a prayer for us if/when you think about it?  I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am.  What is your church’s mission/vision statement?  Do you have a personal one?  What are you expecting Sunday?

 

27 Comments so far ↓

  1. Daniel says:

    You might think that after all of the time that you have been in the ministry, that it would have long since just become your “job”. Grumble, grumble, off to work I have to go. But as I read your blog, I pick up on a deep passion and love. I find that really inspiring and lovely. I will be praying for you as you head into this weekend. Blessings.

    • cycleguy says:

      That means so much that you can read that Daniel. I reckon I never stopped to think about it but that is exactly how I feel. Thanks for your encouragement and prayers.

  2. I hope that Owen County gives all hearts to Christ. I will be praying for that.

  3. That’s pretty cool. I love thinking though things like this. In my opinion, the vision statement is powerful – but more powerful is the thought process behind it. It really refocuses and centers you, forcing you to think deeply about the trajectory of your life or your organization’s life.

  4. Steve Martin says:

    Praying that you reach many for the Lord, Bill.

    That’s pretty much our only goal.

  5. Praise the Lord! Prepare the Laborers! Proclaim Jesus to the Lost! is my/our motto type of thing. Will be praying.

  6. Desert Jim says:

    Prayer – done!

    Like the mission and vision!

    Have a great Sunday

  7. floyd says:

    Love the passion, Bill. Our pastor spent a month going over the meaning of our mission statement… It now slips my mind… My fault, not his.

    My personal mission statement is, “Honor God.” Seems simple enough, but it encompasses everything… then again, I’m fairly simple I guess.

    Praying for you and your church, may you impact Owen county and beyond.

  8. lindaM says:

    Hi Bill,
    My personal goal and life’s aim is to ‘love God and obey Him’. This is the believer’s main goal in my mind. It would be a tragedy to save others and become lost ourselves.

    My vision is to allow God to become stronger and more powerful in me through the Holy Spirit. This is done by maintaining a close relationship with Him and submitting to the Holy Spirit’s working in me.
    We have the example of Mary, Jesus’s mother. She submitted to the plan and work of God in her life as revealed to her by the visiting angel. Mary said, ‘I am the handmaiden of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said’.

    This was no easy road that she was submitting to as we find out when we read her story further in the Bible. In the end she followed Jesus as a devoted disciple and while Jesus was bleeding and dying on the cross he made arrangements for her care and provision after his death.

    We serve a personal God.
    I will pray for you and OVCF this weekend. The project is done! Enjoy!

  9. lindaM says:

    Hi Bill,
    What am I expecting Sunday? I am expecting 2 or 3 more people in the prayer room before the service starts. I am expecting that God will direct more people to come on Sunday. The pastor is preaching a series on Romans, there are 2 other pastors in the house, (one retired), I believe there is a prophet in the house, and the expectation is that leadership will allow and arrange for some ministry to the body by the Holy Spirit.

    Believers cannot be givers and not receivers. They will become tired and discouraged. They need to be revived and strengthened by the Holy Spirit through ministry just for them.

  10. Zee says:

    Like your new mission, especially the A part – accepting the imperfect.

    I feel like there’s a new “set of glasses” for me as well, but at the moment it feels rather depressing. Had a meeting at work yesterday about the “development plan” for me, but on three pages of that plan (that discussed my qualities), there was nothing encouraging and the way it was presented… *Sigh* Suffice to say that I once again wondered whether I should change my job (since according to that development plan, I stink at what I am doing right now… in all areas)… So for me, the questions is what God is DOING right now – since He knew this was coming… Trying to see what I can learn from this, but it’s no fun.

    Anyway…

    We are thinking about a mission for our Church especially now that we are moving to another part of the city and we suspect that the audience will change. Therefore, yeah… the need for new mission.

    Have a great Sunday, big brother. You, Jo, and OVCF are in my prayers.

    • cycleguy says:

      I hurt to think you are hurting sis. I also hate to see you doubting your abilities cuz I know you are good at what you do. But like you are asking, “What is God doing right now?” and is He preparing you for something else? Will keep praying for that. As for the church: a move may require a new approach but perhaps the mission should not change. Just thinking out loud. Thanks so much for your prayers. You are in mine.

  11. Betty Draper says:

    I think it is so good for a church to view their mission, purpose statement occasionally and even purge if there is a need and add if there is a need.

    One of the thing that drew us to New Tribes was their purpose/mission statement. When we found out the hard to reach was their goal…it moved us into missions. Not that we didn’t believe there were those needing Christ in the USA. But the hard to reach…it is hard to get to them, hard to live with them, takes tons more years because of the langauge barrier, the sacrifices are great. We will be eternally grateful to those who believed they needed to hear too. We told our pastor, Brother, you preached us out of this church and to a foreign field by keeping before us the need for everyone to have a chance to hear. Years later he stepped down from the pastorship and went to Africa himself so I guess he preached himself out of the pulpit. All missions start in the local church, local churches hold the ropes for the missionaries they support, the local church needs to have a strong vision so they do not get intrapped in petty things.

    Will be praying for you and the whole church family that they will not only stirred but changed by your message. Blessings.

    • cycleguy says:

      I also believe that many times people are drawn to a church or organization (New Tribes for example) because of their desire expressed in a statement AND the living out of that statement. You experienced that Betty. Thanks for your prayers. They are much needed and appreciated.

  12. Michael says:

    Bill,
    I’m really sorry that Jan and I can’t make it….we so wish we could both be there. We will be with you in prayer, though, and will catch up with you soon. I’ve got some weekends off coming up we will be coming to see what God has accomplished through you and your congregation. Love, Mike and Jan

  13. Jan says:

    I always pray for you and OVCF. I think that is an awesome mission statement!!!

  14. Jan says:

    P.S. I’m right there with ya on the eyesight, glasses, contacts thing. Having vision in one eye has been a challenge.