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Vision-Casting VignettesVision-casting is an essential activity of leadership for every group or church, yet it is one of the most neglected elements. Without vision, people forget their purpose and direction, lose their focus, and they fall back into a self-service mode. You must be faithful to cast a clear vision--a picture of what God sees--to mobilise disciples in mission. Here are some suggestions for keeping the vision alive:
Imagine Your People GroupFrequently begin your sessions by asking the question, "What would your people group be like if everyone loved and obeyed God?" Our Heavenly Father wants no one to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3.9). To reach everyone is the very heartbeat of God. Unrealistic as it may seem, we must yearn for this to take place and work toward that end. 420 and 390Every day, about 420 people in Australia die of various causes. Only about 5 percent of all Australians have a meaningful relationship with Jesus, meaning that of the 400 who die, about 390 of them enter a godless eternity every single day! This is a tragedy, but if the small contingent of believers in Australia would be faithful to share the good news, we can begin to reach many people before it's too late.Parable of the StarfishMost of us have heard the story of the little boy walking along a beach covered with starfish. He began tossing them into the water one by one. A man approached saying, "Son, with thousands of starfish lying in the hot sun, how do you expect to make a difference?" The boy picked up a starfish and tossed it into the sea, "I made a difference to that one!"Indeed, the boy could save one at a time, and he could never save them all. But let's consider this story in a new light. Imagine that every starfish which was saved was able to join forces with the boy to become a starfish-saver. With this new strategy, how long would it take to save all the starfish on the beach?
Lost Sheep in AustraliaIn Luke 15.1-7 we read the story of a shepherd with 100 sheep. When one runs away, the shepherd leaves the 99 to go find that lost sheep. When he returns with the lost one, there is great rejoicing!Now imagine the same flock of 100 sheep, but this time 95 of the sheep have become lost and only 5 sheep remain. How much more will the shepherd be compelled to go and find those which are lost. The task will take much more time and will require the help of many people. This is the scenario in Australia, where 95 percent of all people do not have a living, vibrant relationship with Jesus.
The MCGThe Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is the tenth largest stadium in the world with a capacity of just over 100,000--an enormous number of people. For me to give everyone a one-second handshake would take over 27 hours!Now rewind to WWII to the holocaust where 6 million Jews were exterminated. This represents 60 MCG stadiums full of people who perished at the hands of the Nazis. Here is an even greater tragedy: those in Australia who do not know Jesus would fill 190 MCG stadium--more than three times that of the holocaust--and they are on their way to a godless eternity. What's it going to take to reach the people of Australia before it's too late?
Microbes in a JarThink of an ordinary glass jar. Inside this jar let's place one single-celled microbe. Through cell division, this microbe turns into two microbes in the space of one minute. In the next minute the two microbes divide and create four microbes, and so on. If we started at 12.00 noon with one microbe, and the jar is to be completely full at midnight, at what point will the jar be half full?The jar is half full at 11.59pm--just one minute before midnight. This illustrates the acceleration of things that multiply. Things start small and progress at a seemingly unnoticeable rate for a long time, but the results are quite evident in the end. Don't ever doubt what God can do when you let Him multiply the work through faithful disciples. You begin with just a few, training them to train others, but after several spiritual generations you find that you have reached many people.
Chessboard MathematicsImagine a chess board, 8 x 8 with a total of 64 squares. Place a one-cent coin on the lower left-hand square. In the next square double the amount to 2 cents, and in the third square double it again to 4 cents, and so on, doubling for each square. By the time you reach the 64th square, how much money would be on that square?The answer is 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 cents, or $92,233,720,368,547,758. This is 92 quadrillion dollars, more money than exists in the entire world!
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