Main Scripture passage: Acts 15:32-16:10
Christ gave his apostles the vision for the church two thousand years ago: to make disciples and build them up in the faith. This is the same vision the church has today. And while each local church holds this same vision, not each church has the same means of accomplishing it. The means of accomplishing this goal are different for each church. So the question, “What is the vision for Liberty,” really boils down to “What are the means of better accomplishing this vision?” To answer that question, we must examine the ministries we do, and we must realize that there will be certain aspects of accomplishing the vision that will change: certain ministries will need to be changed; others removed; others added. Getting started, the first thing we need is a plan–a long term plan. And we must ensure that this plan is God’s plan, not simply ours, and we must be willing to adjust it according to God’s sovereign plan. As we plan long term there are a few key areas we must look at with the vision of advancing the kingdom. These areas are foundational as we ensure that Liberty is doing the work the Lord has called us to do. First and foremost, we need to meet the needs of the people–the people inside the body and the people outside the body. There are two ways of doing this: (1), you see a need and then you meet it, and (2) you plan to meet a need you soon anticipate. But to meet these needs, we must have workers! For Liberty, this means more elders, more deacons, and just more workers in general for the various ministries we have. To meet these needs we have various ministries at Liberty–inward ministries and outward ministries. In the context of meeting the needs of the people, we must ask ourselves a few questions. The first is, “How can we make our current ministries even better?” The second is, “Are there other ministries we aren’t currently doing that we should be doing?” To conclude, the keys to 2011 are: meeting the needs of the people, making a continued effort on preaching the gospel, a re-examination of our ministries to ensure they are meeting the needs of this church and meeting the needs of the community, and finally, a continued focus on training the people that are already here so they can start serving or better serve.