THE PROCESS OF LAUNCHING A VISION
LESSONS I LEARNT FROM THE DEATH OF A FRIEND.
July 25, 2014IT TAKES A TEAM TO ACCOMPLISH THE VISION
August 21, 2014 GCC SUNDAY MESSAGE
Nehemiah 2
1. GOD CREATES ENVIRONMENTS FOR HIS FAVOR.
“2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”
– You can never know where those favor will come from, even thru, non- believers.
– This time thru the king.
– Have you ever asked yourself why you work where you work?
– God providentially places us in places where He will open doors.
– Esther found herself a queen, to save her people from destruction.
2. TALK ABOUT YOUR VISION.
§ Do not fear to share your vision with other people, leaders,
§ Nehemiah was so full of God’s vision for his life, it had become a burden, and the king could
§ even see it in his eyes.
§ Vision fills your heart. Burdens always result in passion.
§ What fills the heart the mouth speaks. When you are passionate about something you cannot help but talk about it.
§ The Bible says that life and death are the power of our tongues. When we speak what god has put in our hearts, we spread that passion to others. We welcome other people to join us on our faith journey.
§ Never ever fear to tell what is on your heart. You can only get a no or a yes. But if you do not speak you can get nothing. SPEAK UP.
3. VISIONARIES HAVE DISTRACTORS
Vs 10. “But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.”
· They will always be there.
· They help us check and test whether God is in our vision.
· They help us grow our faith muscles.
· But the enemy can use them to divert our attention from the task to begin fighting.
§ Non-visionaries give up when these people appear.
§ DISTRACTORS can be people, but they can also be situations.
§ They can be your enemies, but they can also be your very own friends and family.
§ These are the people who tell you that you are a no body, you are finished.
§ They remind you of your past failures, the projects you began that never worked.
BUT WHEN YOU LISTEN TO GOD WHAT DO YOU HEAR?
I am your God. I have called you.
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Even when you go through the shadow of death, fear no evil for I am with you, says The Lord.
Isa43: 8 “Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any.”
Isa 45:2 “I will go before you and level the exalted places,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron,
3 “I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name”.
4 “For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name,
I know you, though you do not know me.”
4. WHAT DO YOU SEE? IT IS ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE
– In prayer God spoke to Nehemiah, he had heard and he had felt, but in prayer a vision was born, he saw the need, but he saw the God who could solve the need.
– Visionary people see what can be and not only what it is.
– Visionary people do not deny reality but they look beyond that reality.
– They see the God who can change that reality.
– What do you see when sickness hits? do you see yourself in the hospital on a drip? Do you see yourself in wheel chair crippled? Do you see yourself dead?
– Or do you see beyond your sickness and see God at work in your life, do you see Jesus lifting your hand and saying rise up my child, I am your healer, and I am Jehovah Jireh.
Let us talk about business: What do you think when someone opens a shop next door to yours, with bigger space more capital in-put? How do you take it? Do you see your business collapsing, your clients all taken away and running out of business? Or do you say, thank God for this competition, it is going to push me to excellence, I am going to make sure I improve my customer care, I am going to open my shop earlier and close later, and I am going to consider opening a branch shop.
§ VISIONARY PEOPLE SEE OPPORTUNITY BUT OTHERS SEE PROBLEMS, THEY ARE ALWAYS COMPLAINING, ALWAYS BLAMING THE GOVERNMENT & THE COMPETITOR.
§ They see an opportunity to see God at work. Non- visionary people see how the situation will get worse and not better.
Gaba we saw poverty, Need, sickness, many people without hope. Then God began to speak to us:
Isa 60:4 “Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.”
Ø I SEE A CHURCH WITH THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE.
Ø I SEE A CHURCH WHERE OUR YOUNG PEOPLE WILL CAPTURE A VISION TO CHANGE THE WORLD
Ø I SEE A CHURCH WITH PEOPLE FROM ALL TRIBES IN UGANDA.
Ø I SEE A CHURCH THAT TOUCHES NOT ONLY GABA BUT KAMPALA, UGANDA, AFRICA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD.
Ø I SEE A CHURCH WHERE SICK PEOPLE ARE HEALED
Ø YOUNG PEOPLE GET SPOUSES.
Ø A CHURCH WHERE WE RAISE BUSINESSMEN, POLITICAL LEADERS, PROFESSIONALS, MISSIONARIES & CHURCH PLANTERS.
I do not see Sanballat, I see Jesus.
Ø I see you pursuing God’s vision for your life.
5. INSPECT BEFORE YOU MOVE FORWARD.
VS “11 So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. 13 I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool.
15 Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, Nehemiah took three days to see for himself what he had heard from the people who came to him.”
§ Visionaries inspect before they act.
§ Visionaries are wise they do not take things at face value.
§ THEY ASK?
§ IS IT REAL?
§ DID I HEAR FROM GOD.
§ HOW BIG IS THE CHALLENGE?
§ How much will it take, how many people will I need for the task?
§ It takes going on site, it takes asking the right questions,
Inspecting increases the burden, when you have burden, you can easily have a passion.
When you have a passion you can communicate better. Passionate people put emotion in their message. They are so moved that they are able to move others.
6. MOBILIZE THE RIGHT PEOPLE FOR THE TASK.
These are the movers and shakers. People who will help you move the vision forward.
“16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet
told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.
After gathering the information. After knowing all the facts. After getting the extent of the task. After getting the plans and the budgets, after being convinced of the need he called the leaders together and passionately described the mission and rallied the people together”.
That is what visionaries do.
PRIESTS: the spiritual leaders
NOBLES: respected people in society, and rich people with the resources.
THE OFFICIALS: political leaders.
THE REST: everyone who could use his hands to build.
