VISION & GOALS FOR 2010

When I was young, older people used to tell me that time goes faster as you get older. Now I am over 50 I know it is true, years and even decades whizz by! The problem with the speed of time is that years can just roll by and we can end up just drifting through time.

This year it will be 10 years since this church started. Later in the year it will be 7 yrs that I have been pastor here. When I came in 2003 there were around 40 people including children meeting in the old dingy upstairs room of what was a derelict engineering works. In 2003 I presented a 3 year vision of growth from the early church in Acts 2:42-47. That as a church we should be – growing up in maturity / growing out in evangelism / together in community / bigger in numbers. This is still our church vision today. As part of this vision I presented a goal that we would double in numbers in 3 years, a goal that seemed a big dream and vision at the time. Was it really possible for this tiny new church plant meeting in a derelict building in a deprived area, on an industrial road to grow? But we believed that God had led us here and that He had plans & purposes for this church & our city. We stood boldly on the promise of Jesus when He said ‘I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’

We had confidence that what seemed impossible to man is possible with God.

God is Sovereign, His purposes are always fulfilled. Thankfully our vision and faith was in line with God’s plans & purposes; therefore it was more than fulfilled. By 2006 the church had more than doubled in size and we had converted the derelict ground floor into the 300 seat auditorium we use today. Since 2006 we have continued to grow and have quadrupled in size in 6 years. But vision is not all about numbers; just as important has been all the people who have grown in maturity; grown together in community; gone out in evangelism. Rock Christian Centre is a radically different church from what it was in 2003. But the danger is we could sit back and feel comfortable as a church and drift into 2010 and a new decade.

I believe God has greater plans and purposes for us as individuals, as a church and our city. I believe God wants us to be ready & prepared for greater growth, greater works, greater worship, greater moves of the Spirit, more effective evangelism

I believe God wants us to have specific goals for 2010, this is a season for 1 year goals not 3 year goals! Goals are only goals if they are measureable, if at the end of the year their fulfilment can be measured.

-      My vision is to see the numbers at church on a Sunday break through the 200 mark by the end of 2010. Currently we have about 150-160 on a good Sunday. 200+ would be big growth for 1 year – but I believe God is challenging us to have faith & go for growth in 2010.

-      I would like to have faith to see 15 people getting baptised this year – this is a big increase – but we want to see an increase of the work of God in people’s lives.

-      At the beginning of 2010 we are launching a Building Fund. In the next 4 years we believe we will be given the opportunity to buy our building, or another building, as God leads & develops the church. We will need a stack of money. It looks impossible – but with God nothing is impossible. We have launched the building fund with £10,000 – I would like to have faith to see it grow to more than £25,000 by end of 2010.

-      In addition to these goals we want to see the growth & multiplication of our ‘Helping Hands’ ministry to the needy in our community / increasing answers to prayer through our weekly ‘Breakthrough Prayer’ evenings / ’Street Pastors’ reaching out on the streets of Burngreave / people getting saved through Alpha / increasing our support for world mission etc.

If these goals are just my grand hopes & dreams – they will not be fulfilled, they will come to nothing. If God is inspiring these hopes & dreams – we will see them fulfilled. In fact we will see far greater things than these, because God is able to do far more abundantly than we can even dream or imagine. We are asking God to increase & multiply His work in us and through us to the glory of God’s name and the extension of His kingdom.

In 2009 God challenged us to move up a gear and we have. But God doesn’t want to stop – God wants us to keep moving up the gears – so we are moving ahead, growing, developing, and seeing more people getting saved. I believe God is encouraging us to think big, to have greater faith.

He is a great God – we can, ‘expect great things from God & attempt great things for God’. (William Carey – missionary pioneer to India). As we go into 2010 we can expect great things from God because He is a great God. We can attempt great things for God in 2010 because He is with us and He calls us to step out in faith.

Bible Verses to consider:-

Isaiah 43:18-19

Isaiah 61:1-7

 Luke 4:18-19

Acts 2:42-47