I.                    God’s Vision - What is it? How is it accomplished?

II.                 Holy Spirit- What role does He play?

III.               Prayer- what role does it play in regards to God’s vision?

IV.              Applications

Where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverbs 29:18)

Jesus said in Matthew 12:25 “ that a divided house cannot stand.  In other words, as Christians, if we allow our theology or style of worship to keep us at odds with each other, we will have a difficult time impacting Portland for God or any one else for that matter.  That is why in John 17:23 Jesus prayed, “ May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you have sent me”.  Jesus knew that  one of our biggest stumbling blocks would be ourselves, in particular unity among believers and so he prayed for it so that others might be able to see Him in us!

From John 17:1-26 Jesus prays for 7 things that can be seen as God’s vision for the church.

• To be glorified in the churches (v1)
• For churches to be protected (v11)
• For us to be sanctified and cleansed by the truth (v17)
• For His people to be one (v 21-23)
• That the churches would have power to save the lost (v2)
• That the destiny of the church would be fulfilled with a heavenly vision (v24)
• That His Father would be revealed to the church ( v26)

You see the ultimate vision has already been given. Jesus told us to make disciples of all men.  Let’s set our sights on His vision for Portland and then ask Him to reveal the strategy that we can follow to accomplish it.  God knows exactly what He wants to do He just desires our cooperation. It will involve unity among believers within these walls and believers outside these walls.  We need to be motivated and equipped by God to reach pre-believers for Jesus.  It is not about building church buildings- but building the Kingdom of God right here in Portland.  It is about the rule & reign of Jesus Christ in our lives and in our community.   Unless Pre-believers see Jesus in us- they won’t believe and will continue to be turned off.  We need to be driven by a Kindgom agenda not our agenda. We must raise up “the church” in our community so that our message is clear- Jesus.   I will quote “It will take a citywide church to win the citywide war.  Our separate, isolated efforts will not stop the flood of increasing evil in our cities if we, as Christ’s Church, remain isolated from each other.”  God really desires to advance His Kingdom where we live. We must be prayer warriors and his foot soilders.  He will only be creative to the degree that we are willing to let go of our man-serving traditions and imagine with Him: He will only display His power to the degree that we are willing to be bold for Him. 

Okay, so we see that God’s vision is that Believers be brought to complete unity so the world will know that God sent Jesus as our Savior; therefore enabling us to make disciples of all men.  How will this be accomplished? It will only happen by the power of the Holy Spirit & prayer.  Jesus said in John 11:40 “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. ( John 7:38).  The Holy Spirit is the power. The Holy Spirit is the evangelist. Extraordinary things like changed lives, can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. We sometimes wonder why the Holy Spirit doesn’t fill us.  The problem is that we have plenty coming in but we are not giving it out to others.  If you will give away the blessings you receive, planning your life around greater service and being a blessing to those around you, then you will quickly find that the Holy Spirit is with you.  He will bestow blessings to you for service, giving you all He can trust you to give away to others.  When the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, they did not lease the upper room and stay there to hold holiness meetings they went everywhere preaching the gospel.

 Somewhere along the way, prayer and evangelism grew apart and eventually separated.  The book of Acts is the story of things happening as the disciples were going to pray, while they were praying, and after they prayed.  Prayer evangelism was the very essence of life. Until the church owns prayer as a world class weapon in the battle against evil and cherishes prayer our effectiveness is severely limited, if not altogether doomed to failure.  The Holy Spirit & Prayer are the power of Evangelism.  We need to stop relying on our own efforts and realize that prayer must become a way of “church” life.  Let’s begin to get serious about unity at Portland Church of Christ and a prayer ministry that God can begin to teach us, train us and equip us to realize His Vision right here in our church and our community!  Revival begins with each one of us individually and then works it’s way outward.

Suggested Applications to jump start a prayer ministry for our House of Prayer.

• Door hangers with a written prayer of blessing- made by children, delivered to homes in the neighborhood ( wouldn’t it be cool to have other children from other churches to make these as well).  And invite other church members to go on a prayer walk hanging these on the doors of our neighbors???
• Prayer request from our members prayed over by prayer team. ( Let’s begin to get serious about sharing our concerns, needs, joys,etc).
• Prayer power point ( names of children fromVBS, sick,etc)
• Pass out prayer flyers for members to take home to pray for member needs.
• Prayer walk around church & neighborhood
• Prayer warriors praying in the sanctuary before and after church services
• Open our church to the community for prayer- other than Sunday.
• Prayer vigils
• Fasting & Prayer
• Make answers to prayers visable- power point or poster board.
• Allow 2-3 minute testimonies on Sunday morning.
• Once per month- let’s fast from our regular worship service and have a prayer service!