I’m sorry everyone. I know I should be writing on brand
strategy more but it seems so much easier to talk about what the Lord is doing.
Anyway, here is a blend of both. Jerry and I were running an executive brand
strategy session this last weekend. After the first day Jerry told me he
couldn’t sleep that good and that God was redirecting him.
Not sure were God was leading we started talking. Out of the blue I mentioned Rick Warren’s vision statement that he launched during his first sermon.
His eyes widened and lit up. He said “you have to say that to the team." So I read it. Here it is.
The Saddleback Vision
From Pastor Rick’s first sermon, March 30,1980
It is the dream of a place where the hurting, the
depressed, the frustrated, and the confused can find love, acceptance, help,
hope, forgiveness, guidance, and encouragement.
It is the dream of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ
with the hundreds of thousands of residents in south Orange County.
It is the dream of welcoming 20,000 members into the fellowship
of our church family-loving, learning, laughing, and living in harmony
together.
It is the dream of developing people to spiritual maturity
through Bible studies, small groups, seminars, retreats, and a Bible school for
our members.
It is the dream of equipping every believer for a
significant ministry by helping them discover the gifts and talents God gave
them.
It is the dream of sending out hundreds of career
missionaries and church workers all around the world, and empowering every
member for a personal life mission in the world. It is the dream of sending our
members by the thousands on short-term mission projects to every continent. It
is the dream of starting at least one new daughter church every year.
It is the dream of at least fifty acres of land, on which
will be built a regional church for south Orange County-with beautiful, yet
simple, facilities including a worship center seating thousands, a counseling
and prayer center, classrooms for Bible studies and training lay ministers, and
a recreation area. All of this will be designed to minister to the local
person-spiritually, emotionally physically, and socially-and set in a peaceful,
inspiring garden landscape.
I stand before you today and state in confident assurance that these dreams will become reality. Why? Because they are inspired by God.
After using this to encourage their God given vision, I found out that four people in the room were apart of Saddleback Church that Rick Warren was talking about in the vision. The church was actually only 2-3 miles away.
Later that night they Keri and Steve took us to the Saddleback campus.
I touch the sanctuary, read the verses on the glass that towered the height of the building. I crossed their bridge saw the unbelievable landscape.
This was so unexpected that I even would have been their let alone spoke on his vision earlier in the day.
This campus, more importantly their community was birth and transformed out of this vision.
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish…
PS. The session went great. You will hear someone talking about it in some sort a way in the future. “It will be the most unique Christian 9-12 School in the world and set the standard for private school in general.” Tell you more as it develops.
It just goes to show you that when you're open to what God has for you, He uses you and then some. When we see God using one of our own, it just inspires us to keep working. It takes a lot of little soldiers to make an army strong.
Posted by: Kathy | July 31, 2008 at 05:12 AM