IT CAN’T HAPPEN ALONE
“God’s Vision Requires Participation”
TRUTH: GOD CAN GIVE YOU A VISION, BUT WON’T BUILD IT WITHOUT YOU
Numbers 14:1-4, “Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night.2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3 “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”
Numbers 14:26-30, “6 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. 28 Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. 30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.”
Numbers 14:34-35, “‘Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!”
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN WHERE GOD HAS BROUGHT US AND WHERE GOD WANTS TO TAKE US ISN’T DETERMINED ONLY BY GOD’S PROMISE…IT IS AFFECTED BY OUR WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE
TRUTH: VISION DOESN’T HAPPEN BECAUSE SOMEBODY SEES IT. VISION HAPPENS BECAUSE SOMEBODY IS WILLING TO BUILD IT
OUR PART
1. GOD GIVES THE PROMISE, BUT PEOPLE HAVE TO POSSESS IT
Deuteronomy 1:6-8, “When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. 8 Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’”
GOD PROVIDES THE PROMISE. WE PROVIDE THE PARTICIPATION
TRUTH: A GOD-GIVEN VISION IS NEVER A GOD-ONLY RESPONSIBILITY
2. COMPLAINING CAN TURN AN ELEVEN-DAY JOURNEY INTO FORTY YEARS
Deuteronomy 1:2, “Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir.”
COMPLAINING DOESN’T JUST DESCRIBE A CULTURE…COMPLAINING CREATES A CULTURE.
AND EVENTUALLY A CULTURE OF COMPLAINING BECOMES A CULTURE OF RESISTANCE.
TRUTH: YOU CAN BE PHYSICALLY MOVING WHILE SPIRITUALLY GOING NOWHERE.
3. YOU DON’T JUST ATTEND A VISION; YOU CARRY IT
1 Corinthians 12:14-17, “14Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?”
The Church Was Never Meant To Be: PASTOR + STAFF = MINISTRY
It’s Supposed To Be: PASTOR + STAFF + EVERY BELIEVER = MINISTRY
ASK YOURSELF: “WHAT DO I HAVE IN MY HANDS THAT I’M WILLING TO PUT IN GOD’S HANDS?”
4. VISION REQUIRES ALL OF US
Nehemiah 2:18, “Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king.
They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.”
THE VISION IS ONLY AS BIG AS OUR WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE IN IT
COMMITMENT OF PARTICIPATION
FIND YOUR PLACE
FIND YOUR FAITH
FIND YOUR PEOPLE
FIND YOUR “YES”
DON’T WATCH THE VISION…BUILD THE VISION
