Vision Night... Why bother?
Ryan Dawson
Maybe you have heard that we are holding our Sequoia Vision Night and Annual General Meeting (AGM) this Sunday and you were thinking "meh, why bother"? Good question! If you grew up in the church you might have visions of boring church meetings where people drone on about fixing the church roof, with the smell of tuna casserole in the air (BTW Tuna casserole is a must for all boring church meetings!). If you didn’t grow up connected to a church family, you might envision endless slides of budgets and inconsequential details that have nothing to do with you. Well, let me assure you that this won't be that, and this will be a great investment of your time!
Here are a few exciting reasons to come to Sequoia’s Vision Night on February 25….
1) Jesus will be there! Jesus promises that when “two or three believers gather in His name” (Matthew 18:20) He will be present. Now that passage specifically references church discipline (which we won’t be engaged in on Sunday), but if church discipline is an aspect of a healthy functioning church and Jesus will be there, we can be sure he will show up for our AGM’s as well.
2) You will meet some amazing friends: We have a vibrant church family filled with incredible people. When we gather together we have an opportunity to meet some new friends and enjoy time with current friends. We grow best when we grow with others and we are better together!
3) Giving thanks is good for you: We will take time to recount and celebrate God’s faithfulness to our church in 2023 and this will encourage us and give us the opportunity to give thanks to God for His goodness and grace. Focusing on God sightings and giving thanks for God’s involvement in our lives and church family will fill our hearts with joy, thankfulness, and hope - all of which are good for us and help us live more fulfilling lives. We will also give thanks for some great charcuterie and fellowship starting at 6:30pm! 😊.
4) It will build your faith: We will take time to look ahead into the future and lay out what we sense God is asking us to engage in as a church. Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion in us and this fuels our faith to trust God for more. Hebrews tells us “without faith it is impossible to please God and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6) so setting goals and plans for 2024 helps us walk by faith, believing God to show up in power. This also informs our prayer life, which is another indictor of our faith, because as we pray for these plans to come to fruition for God’s glory, we are making ourselves dependent on God and this is an act of faith.
5) Unity is mission critical: Before Jesus went to the cross, He prayed for the Church to be One - to be unified in the same way as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Unity is mission critical! Simply put, without unity we can’t accomplish our God given mandate. So, unity really matters, but we have to work at unity, and coming together in this way helps us be aligned and unified as we trust God for His plans in 2024.
6) You need a bigger story: You were created for a purpose, but that purpose is not you. Too often we wrongly assume that our lives are just about us, and we simply orbit around things that bring us fulfillment. But God is on a rescue mission to restore the world through Jesus Christ and He sets apart His Church as the means to accomplish this mission. You are part of the Church and so you have been invited into something so much bigger than you. You have an important role to play within our church family and it matters that you show up. Leaning into God’s purpose for your life in the context of the Body of Christ (the Church) will awaken you to more than you can ask or imagine. This is good for you and it is good for our church.
7) Membership has its privileges: As members of Sequoia you have the privilege and responsibility to help give oversight so that our spiritual house is in order. We want to ensure we are staying on mission and being integral with our finances and governance. Having our members present ensures we are accountable, and as as Proverbs 11:14 reminds us “there is safety in many advisors.” Thank you for taking your membership seriously.
8) It’s better than Netflix and TSN: Let’s face it – who really needs to watch Season 6 of Love is Blind? And the NFL season is over, and March Madness hasn’t yet started. This means that you are not going to miss anything of consequence by leaving the couch on Sunday night, and you will also have the chance to win a cool raffle prize!
So, I really hope you will join us this Sunday at Ottawa Christian School from 6:30-9pm as we gather in faith and unity, believing God for a great year ahead. Everyone is welcome to join us! Please come for 6:30 to sign in and enjoy the charcuterie and fellowship and we will get rolling at 7pm. See you Sunday!
For Christ and His Kingdom, Ryan
Maybe you have heard that we are holding our Sequoia Vision Night and Annual General Meeting (AGM) this Sunday and you were thinking "meh, why bother"? Good question! If you grew up in the church you might have visions of boring church meetings where people drone on about fixing the church roof, with the smell of tuna casserole in the air (BTW Tuna casserole is a must for all boring church meetings!). If you didn’t grow up connected to a church family, you might envision endless slides of budgets and inconsequential details that have nothing to do with you. Well, let me assure you that this won't be that, and this will be a great investment of your time!
Here are a few exciting reasons to come to Sequoia’s Vision Night on February 25….
1) Jesus will be there! Jesus promises that when “two or three believers gather in His name” (Matthew 18:20) He will be present. Now that passage specifically references church discipline (which we won’t be engaged in on Sunday), but if church discipline is an aspect of a healthy functioning church and Jesus will be there, we can be sure he will show up for our AGM’s as well.
2) You will meet some amazing friends: We have a vibrant church family filled with incredible people. When we gather together we have an opportunity to meet some new friends and enjoy time with current friends. We grow best when we grow with others and we are better together!
3) Giving thanks is good for you: We will take time to recount and celebrate God’s faithfulness to our church in 2023 and this will encourage us and give us the opportunity to give thanks to God for His goodness and grace. Focusing on God sightings and giving thanks for God’s involvement in our lives and church family will fill our hearts with joy, thankfulness, and hope - all of which are good for us and help us live more fulfilling lives. We will also give thanks for some great charcuterie and fellowship starting at 6:30pm! 😊.
4) It will build your faith: We will take time to look ahead into the future and lay out what we sense God is asking us to engage in as a church. Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion in us and this fuels our faith to trust God for more. Hebrews tells us “without faith it is impossible to please God and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6) so setting goals and plans for 2024 helps us walk by faith, believing God to show up in power. This also informs our prayer life, which is another indictor of our faith, because as we pray for these plans to come to fruition for God’s glory, we are making ourselves dependent on God and this is an act of faith.
5) Unity is mission critical: Before Jesus went to the cross, He prayed for the Church to be One - to be unified in the same way as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Unity is mission critical! Simply put, without unity we can’t accomplish our God given mandate. So, unity really matters, but we have to work at unity, and coming together in this way helps us be aligned and unified as we trust God for His plans in 2024.
6) You need a bigger story: You were created for a purpose, but that purpose is not you. Too often we wrongly assume that our lives are just about us, and we simply orbit around things that bring us fulfillment. But God is on a rescue mission to restore the world through Jesus Christ and He sets apart His Church as the means to accomplish this mission. You are part of the Church and so you have been invited into something so much bigger than you. You have an important role to play within our church family and it matters that you show up. Leaning into God’s purpose for your life in the context of the Body of Christ (the Church) will awaken you to more than you can ask or imagine. This is good for you and it is good for our church.
7) Membership has its privileges: As members of Sequoia you have the privilege and responsibility to help give oversight so that our spiritual house is in order. We want to ensure we are staying on mission and being integral with our finances and governance. Having our members present ensures we are accountable, and as as Proverbs 11:14 reminds us “there is safety in many advisors.” Thank you for taking your membership seriously.
8) It’s better than Netflix and TSN: Let’s face it – who really needs to watch Season 6 of Love is Blind? And the NFL season is over, and March Madness hasn’t yet started. This means that you are not going to miss anything of consequence by leaving the couch on Sunday night, and you will also have the chance to win a cool raffle prize!
So, I really hope you will join us this Sunday at Ottawa Christian School from 6:30-9pm as we gather in faith and unity, believing God for a great year ahead. Everyone is welcome to join us! Please come for 6:30 to sign in and enjoy the charcuterie and fellowship and we will get rolling at 7pm. See you Sunday!
For Christ and His Kingdom, Ryan
Tagged with Vision