Vizion Church | Charlotte, Nc

o live in light of eternity we must deliberately live for eternity. We must be motivated by our future rewards, and we must become misfits. Are the things you’re living for worth Christ dying for?

The church is still called to send. A church that stops sending is a church that starts dying. Before we’re called to minister to people, we’re first called to minister to the Lord. To minister is to serve. Let go of the old ways of life and serve God wholeheartedly! It might be your life but it’s his story!

In this world there will be trouble. God doesn’t promise to deliver us from this trouble but be with us and deliver us through it! Salvation is free, but our calling will cost us. But we serve a God who sticks closer than a brother! He can do much with little. Our faith doesn’t have to be perfect for God to move on our behalf!

Christianity isn’t a religion but a relationship with the living God. You can’t earn your own way to heaven. Your goodness will never be good enough. May we never forget where we came from or how lost we were when Jesus came to rescue us from our own sinful nature! We still need the power of God! 

Peter’s encounter with Cornelius shows us God’s nature in a multitude of ways, but the main point is this: No matter the audience, the message remained the same: The Gospel of Jesus Christ. May our message to a lost and dying world remain the same. To continually preach Jesus. 

When you have an encounter with God, everything changes. Don’t allow fear get in the way of your obedience to God. You were called by God. Your suffering is not vain. Devote yourself to the Lord!

It’s not what it looks like. There’s more happening than what meets the eye. What looks like defeat is actually God’s hand at work in those unseen places. God’s word cannot and will not return void so don’t stop believing! May Jesus go before us, and may we just preach Christ! 

May we take up a posture today where we don’t worship comfort but become bold to stand out in the midst of wickedness. We can’t blend in the crowd but be willing to stand out and be a witness for Jesus! Don’t defend yourself, defend the Gospel! God gives us the grace to endure the call!

The church isn’t about comfort. We’ve got to shift from this consumer mentality and come out of our convenience and focus on the mission that’s at hand. The great commission is still our mission. May we return to the bold, loving, and truthful preaching of the gospel!

Acts Chapter 5 encourages believers to live with integrity: God doesn’t benefit from deceit. Rely on the Holy Spirit: When the Holy Spirit goes to work in our lives, wonderful, even miraculous things can happen! Remain faithful under persecution: May we become a people that we can praise in the opportunity to suffer in the name of Jesus! And trust in God's sovereign plans: God didn’t promise us peace in our comfort. He promised us peace in his presence!

God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things! The Gospels transformative power can’t be thwarted by human efforts! We it is by grace through faith in which we are saved and there is no other name but Jesus! May will live with a great boldness and be effective witnesses for the name above all names!

Like the lame man, many of us don’t want to change or be transformed, but want the blessing where we are. God doesn’t work like that. He isn’t just going to comfort you in your condition but deliver you out of it! God is able, and He will. But even if He doesn’t, He’s still worthy of our praise!

The Holy Spirit: Descended at Pentecost, was promised to us, is worth waiting for, comes as He wills, and is often received as He convicts us and we acknowledge our own emptiness and dependence on Him. Relying on your own strength or efforts will result in emptiness. We need the Spirit! The power is in surrender and reliance on Him to transform the human heart!

The baptism of the Holy Spirit empowers believers to be effective witnesses and fulfill the Great Commission. With the Holy Spirit’s indwelling and resting upon believers, He transforms their lives, giving them boldness, love, and consecration to God’s purposes! We can be bold in our faith in order to help fulfill the Great Commission by trusting and relying on the Holy Spirit to help us and give us peace.

The world isn’t afraid of shouting its lies at you so why are you afraid of shouting the gospel that saves you? Stop exhausting yourself trying to be liked by a world that God saved you from, and make the decision to stand firm for Christ and be bold with your faith! There is no other God who can rescue like Him!

The construction of the memorial highlights the significance of remembering God’s faithfulness and provision. We should actively remind ourselves and future generations of the goodness of God in our lives. Joshua 4 points to Jesus Christ as the ultimate fulfillment of the Jordan River crossing. Jesus held back the floodwaters of sin and death through His sacrifice on the cross, providing a way for us to enter into eternal life. It emphasizes the urgency of accepting Jesus as our Savior and not delaying our decision!

There is beauty in God’s “no”. Sometimes His “no” is the best thing that can happen to you. That no can be the blessing all along! But the no isn’t meant to stop you but redirect you. The steps of the righteous are ordered, the key is you have to start walking! Even when you don’t know where you’re going, keep going, and walk in obedience! Your obedience triggers the miraculous!

We are called to be priests in the Kingdom of God. And part of being priests in God's kingdom is preaching! Whether you feel called to pastor, lead a Connect or Discipleship Group, or just want to know how to study God's Word better, knowing how to prepare and give a message is a piece of executing the Great Commission! Let's be a house that rightly divides the Word of Truth, and preaches with boldness, conviction, and accuracy, so that we can continue to show people who Jesus is.

The Bible interprets itself. Nothing unlocks the Bible like the Bible. The best tool to use when studying scripture is Scripture itself. The Bible points to Jesus. We are not the hero in this story. God chose us even in our brokenness, not because there was anything lovable about us but because he is love. And the Bible won’t contradict itself. It’s rarely either/or but often both/and. Having knowledge of the Bible does us very little good if it’s not being applied. It’s time to put the Bible into practice!

Interpreting and applying the Bible involves several key practices. First, through observation and prayer, we must recognize that the Bible requires the Holy Spirit's guidance to fully grasp it. Then, interpretation demands understanding the context, audience, and historical background to grasp the intended meaning accurately. Utilizing study tools like commentaries and concordances aids in this process, ensuring we extract meaning rather than impose our ideas onto the text. Finally, we interpret passages within the broader context of Scripture, allowing the Bible to interpret itself and guide our understanding and application of its teachings.