The basic definition of the word “disciple” is learner. But the goal set by Jesus’ Great Commission is far greater than just being an A student of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus instead challenges us to intersect our lives with people in need of the gospel. These intersections only come if we leave our places of comfort and move towards people who are far from God. This intersection of learning and applying God’s Word is where we get our term “missionary disciple.” God’s Word calls the church to activate our faith where we live, work, and play—be missionaries. It’s an audacious goal to aim for 1,000 missionary disciples by December 31, 2020, but if we take progressive steps every year, we can achieve our goal. We believe that if our people involve themselves in our Groups Ministry, they have the best chance to become a missionary disciple. So to reach our goal we will need 160 Missional Communities and 330 DNA Groups (or 1,000 DNA participants) by 2020. what can we do over the next 6 months to make a dent in our ultimate goal?
A new building at our Ladson location is our next step. In March of 2014, 101 Journey Church family members pledged $774,000 to our Vision 2020 initiatives. To date we have collected $360,000. With only 10 months left in our commitment time window, I am asking all who pledged to finalize their pledge. If you are new to Journey Church, would you consider making a pledge to our Vision 2020 initiatives? Click here to give. If everyone recommits to accomplishing their pledge, we can purchase the identified piece of land by December 31, 2015. We are moving this project forward and well on our way to making Vision 2020 a reality.
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A few weeks back, we conducted a survey at all of our worship services at both campuses. One of the questions on the survey was . . . In two or three sentences, could you describe what the Journey Church’s Vision 2020 is all about? Below are six of the 300 responses we received. They give a pretty thorough scope in determining how clear we have been in communicating our church vision to our congregation. Answer #1 - Not sure. I have only been attending for a month. Nearly half our church has joined the Journey family since we first talked about Vision 2020 in February 2014. That is exactly why we are going to take a few minutes before every sermon in June to give a 5-minute review and update. Answer #2 - It is money to be used for a new building down the road. While a portion of the money that is being raised is for a new building off of I-26, this is not the primary objective of Vision 2020. Any building we leverage for the sake of the gospel is simply a tool used for a greater purpose. Answer #3 - Plant a Goose Creek Campus, start a counseling center, build a new building. It’s kind of complicated. It can be complicated! This answer provides the outcomes of our vision. Vision 2020 is focused around three main objectives—1.) Deploy 1,000 missionary disciples, 2.) Redeem the family, and 3.) Plant churches. For instance, in our attempts to see families redeemed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, we dedicated ourselves to helping people overcome challenging family issues by opening a counseling center. Again, though, these are tools to help accomplish the ultimate goal. Answer #4 - I think it is planting 20 churches. Our people just may have a greater vision for our city than we do! While I do hope that one day we will plant our 20th church plant, the goal we set was to plant five more churches by 2020. That would bring us to a total of 9 church plants in our first 13 years. Maybe planting our 20th church could be a goal for 2030! Answer #5 – Journey Church’s attempt to become a megachurch. While I have no desire to get into the merit/deficiency debate of the megachurch movement, I can say this, “Journey Church’s sole desire has to be a Mothering-church.” A Mothering-church births, cares for, and helps raise new church plants. What I have learned is that God entrusts with greater responsibility those individuals and churches who faithfully take great care to accomplish his will (Luke 16:1-13). While Journey Church’s pursuit is to be a Mothering-church, I am going to let God decide how large he wants our womb to be. Answer #6 - Redeem the Family, Deploy 1000 Missionary Disciples, and Plant Churches. If this is your response, you hit the jackpot! These are our three main objectives of Vision 2020. First, we want to raise up and deploy 1,000 missionary disciples across this city, nation, and world. Second, we desire to see the family redeemed in our city; this means we want to see orphans adopted, marriages healed, and homes become training grounds for gospel transformation. Third, we want to be the most dependable church planting church in South Carolina. |
About WillChurch Planter. Pastor to pastors. Husband. Father. Reader. |