Any group or organization needs to cast vision in order to know how to move forward in the future.  This is especially true for the church.  Without a clear vision, we can inadvertently exchange being a disciple of Christ to being simply a member of a church.  Thankfully, we have already been given a crystal clear image in Scripture of what we ought to pursue: Jesus. Nothing more. Nothing less.

We have all experienced confusion as a result of poor communication or vague expectations.  But Jesus was clear about how his people ought to put first things first.  After his resurrection, with all authority on earth having been given to him, his first command to his followers is this: Make Disciples.

We have all experienced confusion as a result of poor communication or vague expectations.  But Jesus was clear about how his people ought to put first things first.  The first and most important thing, in conjunction with a love for God, is this: Love People.

We have all experienced confusion as a result of poor communication or vague expectations.  But Jesus was clear about how his people ought to put first things first.  The first and most important thing, according to Jesus, is this: Love God.

Many of us have seen poor attempts to share faith, from bad church signs to street preachers.  Sometimes the fear of what people think keeps us from wanting to share our faith.  If we are serious about what we believe, we need to share it with others.  And if we have inhibitions about sharing faith, we'll need to change our perspective.

Many of us have seen poor attempts to share faith, from bad church signs to street preachers.  Sometimes this leads us to favor good deeds over talking about Jesus.  When we do this, faith and works end up pitted against each other, but Scripture sees them as two sides of the same coin.  Right teaching without good works is hypocritical, and justice is not complete without a proclamation of Jesus.

A core belief of Christianity is that the only way to know God is through Jesus.  However, many of us have tried alternatives.  Churches in our own network have made the same mistakes.  We may have earnestly sought God, but we have looked in all the wrong places.  Jesus makes it clear that faith in him is the only way to come to know the Father.

A core belief of Christianity is that the only way to know God is through Jesus.  However, statistics show that a growing number of Christians (especially younger ones) don’t share their faith.  Some even believe it’s morally wrong to share their faith.  But if we take Jesus seriously, we have no choice but to share the gospel.

The central claim of Christianity is that Jesus died and came back to life.  However, that claim has been understandably doubted and challenged for thousands of years.  Without a literal resurrection, Christians are the most pathetic people on the planet.  But if it is true, it is the most important event in all of history.

Throughout Scripture, there is an emphasis that blood is a requirement to take away sin.  Another way to say this is what Paul writes in Romans 6:23 “…the wages of sin is death.”  Jesus gave his life to atone for the sin of the world.  As the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), Jesus shows us what God is like.  There is nothing else like the cross that so clearly shows what our God is like.