Why Go?

Clear Vision communicates God’s plan for you, your family, and the Church. It answers questions like:

Why should we go to church?

Why should we keep going to church?

“Without the God-given habit of corporate worship and the God-given mandate of corporate accountability, we will not prove faithful over the long haul.” – Kevin DeYoung

Do Not Forsake the Assembly

- This is a commandment in Scripture. Hebrews 10:23-25

-  Christian fellowship is one of the signs of a true believer.

- 1 John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

The Bible tells us we need to attend church so we can worship God with other believers. Acts 2:42 - They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The Bible tells us we need to be taught His Word for our spiritual growth. Hebrews 10:25 – Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Church is the place where believers can:

love one another (1 John 4:12),

encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13),

“spur” one another (Hebrews 10:24),

serve one another (Galatians 5:13),

instruct one another (Romans 15:14),

honor one another (Romans 12:10),

be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32).

Seek God's clarity for your life this year. It will be the greatest discovery of your life!

Worth

I read a book a few years ago called Jesus is ____ . Eventually every person has to fill in that blank. Over the next four weeks we'll discover how God may want us to fill in that description. Today we will look at the question of worth.

Here’s a question we all ask, every single one of us, whether verbally and actually, or mentally and internally.  What am I worth? Maybe you ask it in a different way.  Maybe you have a different question that passes through your mind.  Who am I? What am I about?  The next question, of course, is how do you answer that question? What’s the criteria?  We may look at status - how rich, smart, skilled, powerful, influential, etc. I am. Maybe, but I think most people judge by a more personal measurement. 

Probably the most common answer is in connection with our deeds.  “I’m a good person. I do good things for people. I tip big.  I read my Bible every year. I go to church every Sunday. I don’t hurt anybody. So I must be worth something.”  What does this reveal? Do you believe worth is earned?

The NT writer gave us a clue to the answer; Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. - Hebrews 4:16

Your focus will determine your true worth.

Father's Business

In the Scripture today, we see the boy Jesus at the Temple. It is a story most parents can relate to. The Mom and Dad were separated, and each one thought Jesus was with the other! They found him days later in the Temple! They were rightly upset, but His answer astounded them.

    ⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”  ⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he was saying to them.  ⁵¹ Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. - Luke 2:41-52

“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Wow! They didn’t see that coming; did they? I think people would be surprised by that answer from us as well, but aren’t we to be constantly about God’s work?

I want to encourage you to think like that this year. Ask the question every day, “What does God want me to do today?” It’s good to be at work when God is your boss! Follow His directions and you'll never go wrong. Amen?

God's Plan

How can you know God's plan or vision for my life? I heard someone once say on this topic; You seize only what you can see! The problem with that mentality is where does faith come in to the equation? Jesus told us that we are blessed by believing and not seeing. 

Vision without the ability to achieve it makes it only a hallucination! But with God all things are possible and He will give you the ability if it His will, plan, and vision for your life. Here are some ideas on the subject.

Finding your Vision 

1. Vision starts from within - what is your heart

2. Vision draws on your history - past pains and victories

3.  Vision meets others needs - no one lives in a vacuum

4. Vision helps you gather resources - God will make a way

Focus on Listening

1. The inner voice - the Holy Spirit

2. The unhappy voice - God never wastes a hurt

3. The successful voice - where has God successfully used you

4. The higher voice - God's direction through His Spirit and Word

Think about what you would liked changed in this world, 

and be willing to do something about it.

Start today!

Why With Us

Immanuel means God with us. During His ministry time on earth Jesus was constantly asked, Why have you come to us? On thirteen occasions in the New Testament Gospels He answered this question with,  “I have come…”.

Matthew 9:13 - ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call sinners in to righteousness.”

John 5:43 - I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

John 6:38 - For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

John 7:29 - but I have come from God and he sent me to you.”

John 12:46 -  I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

No sense of calling or mission has ever been more apparent. Jesus came to us, meaning He left somewhere else for the most important ministry – to the lost. That means all of us!

Have you let Him “come” in to your life completely?

Allow Jesus to make His home in your heart all year long.

Essentials

Starting off on the right foot is essential for success. The same is true as we begin a new year. You might be a Christian, but unless you commit yourself to putting God at the center of your lives you’ll not only miss out on the peace of God this year You’ll also miss out on a lot of other blessings from God. Are you waiting for God to come in to your life?

The apostle Peter wrote to the people of God about this in 2 Peter 3:3-12: Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives  as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

There will always be those who believe it is futile to wait for God. The Lord comes to us many times throughout our lives if our hearts are receptive and our eyes are open. How should we wait and watch?

We should wait patiently, expectantly, and faithfully.

Keep your eyes on Christ - You’ll be glad you did.

Goal Setting

It's a New Year and a time to change the things we didn't like about ourselves last year, and strengthen those we want to grow! Most of us set goals or resolutions for ourselves for the new year. Starting off with a "clean slate" is the best way to obey God's Word. God offers forgiveness through Jesus Christ and "cleanses us from all unrighteousness".  Accept His forgiveness and consider applying the teaching and wisdom from the following verses.

Luke 5:30-32 - But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

John 8:1-11 - But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

1 Corinthians 6:11 - And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 - But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Apply the Word to your new year's resolutions. It will change your world!