04/01/12 - Vision Sunday - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore recasts the vision of LifeGate Church in this Sunday morning celebration.

Vision Sunday
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, April 1, 2012

www.mylifegatechurch.com

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Sermon Notes:

Vision Sunday, April 2012
“Christ loves us and by his blood he set us free from our sins. He lets us rule as kings and serve God his Father as priests. To him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 1:5b-6

Big Idea:

*   Gen 1:28 “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it…”
*   Gen 9:1 “Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.”
*   Gen 22:17 “I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.”
*   Matt 28:18-20 “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
*   Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”


1.  God has a heart for the whole world (2 Peter 3:9 “…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentence…”).  His 1st partnership with man was to love the whole world.  Every partnership with man since is for the same purpose.

2.  Sin interrupted, broke, that partnership. 

3.  The Church is God’s restoration of that partnership with mankind to reach the whole world.  God wants healthy, growing churches.  There are people to be loved, lost and hurting people to be reached.  God’s consistent, continual heart is a partnership with us to reach everyone.  Matthew 28:18-20 = Genesis 1:28.

4.  As His Church, we are responsible to that partnership.  Matthew 16:18 “…the gates of hell shall not prevail…”; Acts 26:19 “…not been disobedient to the Heavenly Vision…”

5.  As His representatives (2 Corinthians 5:20), His ‘re-presenters’, we are to be ‘kings and priests unto our God’.  Our leading and our connecting is through Him and for Him and His glory. 

6.  One of our functions as a local church is to equip, empower, arrange, the believers in ministry (service to the Lord by serving others) until we can be mistaken for Him! (Ephesians 4:10-12).

7.  How?  Experience, Connect, Grow, Serve.  Moving people from an experience with God to fulfilling our destiny in God.


Genesis 12:2-3 “I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  The ‘full gospel’, the complete Truth is not just “We are blessed” but “ We are blessed to be a blessing to the whole world.”  To fulfill the partnership with God. 
Acts 20:35 “And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  Want to live the Blessed Life or the More Blessed Life? 


So What?

Live the rest of this day in partnership with God.  Live tomorrow in partnership with Him.  Seek His advice, His presence, His will.  He is the Senior Partner, the majority stake is His.  Learn to hear His voice, submit to His direction.  And move forward with Him.  Where are you right now in your relationship with Him?  Experience? Connection? Growth? Serve?
Make an intentional decision to incorporate all 4 into your lifestyle. 
Luke 19:13 “…Occupy til I come…”