 President David, Dean Jewell, precious pastors and church leaders, good morning. I hope you've had a good night's rest and have awakened refreshed to start this new day. Last night as we considered your theme, Thriving Together, I invited you to dare to hope. This morning I want to invite you to dare to dream. Habakkuk 2, verses 2 and 3. It says, Write the vision and make it plain on tablets so that a harrow may run with it. For the vision awaits an appointed time, it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay. I love to dream. Daydreaming is one of my favorite past times. There are times during the day while I'm driving down the street in my car or sitting at my desk or in a meeting when I find myself caught up in a dream. I know I need to be more attentive. I dream of what is possible in my life and in my ministry. I've dreamed of developing the City of Hope, an after-school program, a counseling ministry, and our Hope Through Health Clinic. What about you? What are your dreams? What are the visions floating around in your head and heart concerning the future of your ministry? What are those strongly desired goals to be achieved? Those distinctive hopes and images dancing around in your imagination, exciting you, stirring up your passion, setting your soul on fire and unleashing energy within you that is not easily contained. Every one of us has the ability to dream. To dream is a gift of God having been created in the image and likeness of God with purpose and destiny. We have the ability to dream great dreams and make them come true to see a vision for our lives and ministries and watch them come to pass. Each of us has at least one dream to live out a vision for our lives that allows us to see the invisible, believe the incredible, and achieve the impossible. So what dream is stirring down on the inside of you, down in your soul, longing for an audience, languishing for lack of attention? Dreams have to be taken seriously. While Callistad says and wake up your dreams, that dreams are the parents of possibility. Dreams or visions are the revelation of God's purpose and the God-sized potential that we have in our ministries. George Barnard says in his book, the power of vision, that vision is a clear mental picture of a preferable future. Vision is where you see your ministry going. A vision is a gift of God through the pastor and leaders to the congregation. The writer of Proverbs says, without a vision, the people perish. Another translation says, without a vision, they cast off restraints. They go in all directions. They run wild. A vision gives focus to a community of faith. Dale Galloway also affirms in his book, Leading with Vision, vision is the place where tomorrow is shaped. It motivates ministry and determines achievement. Vision unleashes creativity and helps an individual or a body of believers visualize a magnificent future. There is nothing like a vision to energize a pastor and a congregation, give them purpose and meaning, set direction, unleash power and possibility for life and ministry beyond your wildest imagination. When you have a vision, life is exciting and ministry becomes exhilarating. Many of us have dreamed wonderful dreams about what is possible in our ministries and what God is calling us to do. But too often these dreams become deferred as we focus all of our attention on meeting the demands of ministry from day to day or just surviving. Not only does a dream have to be taken seriously, it has to be developed through careful planning and execution. When I started Ray of Hope Christian Church 35 years ago, I really didn't have a vision. Didn't even know I needed a vision. I had a passion to see people come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, discover their purpose and be empowered to help establish the Kingdom of God on earth. God's vision for our church has been revealed in a progressive way through the years and God is still speaking. What I've discovered is that at each stage of our life together, God has renewed the vision when we have been intentional about going through a strategic planning process. When we fail to do so, the ministry plateaued or slipped into survival mode. This can happen so easily, you know, especially in this day and time. As you are aware, we are at an interesting time in history, one in which we are experiencing catastrophic changes in our nation and world. Aubrey Maupers in his book Advanced Strategic Planning says, more than at any time in history, North America along with much of the rest of the world is exploding with change, fast frightening change. Maupers refers to the change as mega change because it has affected every institution, businesses, government, schools as well as churches. There are some who believe, particularly in the church, that we should just be patient and ride this thing out because it will all pass in time. But as Maupers states, we have been riding this wave for some time and there is no end in sight. The changes we are experiencing are much greater than any of us ever imagined and we are caught in the middle of it. As I just said, the church at large is not handling this well because we don't understand the change that is reflected in people's worldview, their perspective on life and even the church. We struggle to understand how we are to serve this present age and respond with effective ministry to those who no longer see the church as relevant and therefore do not attend. The other reality is, too many churches are wedded to the tried and true, stuck in tradition or the past. Therefore many have reached a plateau, cease growing and or find themselves in decline. Some have tried to discover where to place the blame suggesting that the church could do a better job of evangelizing the loss and edifying the found. It is true that the church could be more serious about evangelism and the edification of its members given the fact that 65% of church members are declining in their own spiritual growth. But Maupers argues that there is a bigger and more fundamental explanation of the problem that is represented by the Sigmund Curve. The term Sigmund simply means S-shape. The S-shape represents the natural development of one's personal life and relationships. It also represents the national development of biological systems, institutions, worldviews, civilizations and organizations including the church. The S-curve depicts how virtually everything in life begins, grows, plateaus and then ultimately dies. The world and everything in it is somewhere on the S-curve. As it relates to the church, the S-curve represents essentially its life cycle pattern. Churches like people have a life cycle. In general, a church is born and grows. Eventually it reaches a plateau. And if nothing is done to move it off that plateau, it begins to decline and eventually it dies. Every stage represents a growth challenge for the church. All churches, whether they are growing, have hit a plateau or are declining, face growth challenges. Some are alike, but most are unique to the church's particular situation and where it is on the S-curve. The lesson of the Sigmund Curve is that all good things and even some bad things end in a world of constant, turbulent change. Many relationships and most organizations don't last. The pattern is they wax and wane. The bad news is that today, given the rapid change that is taking place, decline is happening faster than ever before. While it may be helpful to examine specific reasons for the decline in our churches, the reality is that it will happen anyway at some point. The good news is, as a church, we can circumvent decline strategically by starting a new S-curve. Growing churches can avoid a plateau and have continued growth and renewal by starting a new S-curve. This time for a church to start the second curve is while it is still strong and energetic and growing despite the fact that people may think it's foolish to start a new course when the present one is successful. That's because we respond to most things as, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why fix it? But we have to constantly renew ourselves so that we're not only surviving but thriving together. Unfortunately, too many church leaders wait until the church is on a plateau or in decline before they seek renewal. Even if you are in decline or have hit a plateau, you can turn it around. We did it at ray of hope. Some of you may feel discouraged at this point about what's happening in your ministry or apprehensive about what the future holds, especially after the pandemic. But let me just say that what it looks like and feels like is a crisis. But it's really an opportunity to partner with God in taking your church to the next level. You have to dare to dream. It's for this reason that you are called a visionary leader. Visionary leaders engage in continual visioning and strategic planning for their ministry. A good leader is not one who simply maintains the status quo but is one who sets the direction for the church. A leader knows where he or she is going. People are following you and they need hope and direction on an ongoing basis, particularly in these uncertain times. Visioning as a body of believers helps people look beyond the place where they are and gives them hope and courage to move ahead. While there are many ways to initiate an S-curve such as relocating the ministry, starting a new service, redesigning the traditional Christian worship or education program, launching a vibrant small group ministry, one of the most powerful ways to start new S-curves is to engage in a strategic planning process that allows you to include any of the above. As I just shared when I started the ray, I didn't have a vision and at least I didn't think I did, but what I discovered is as is the case with many vision, one was stirring around in my heart and mind and was being cast unintentionally through my preaching and teaching. I'll talk about that more in a moment. It wasn't until our fifth year of existence that I realized we needed to go through a process to write the vision. The vision requires a plan. The prophet Habakkuk says in 2, to write the vision and make it plain. Someone said, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Visions don't go anywhere without a plan. Strategic planning provides the framework, structure and the process by which we can operate effectively in the spiritual matters of the church. There are some who might question whether or not planning is spiritual. Isn't God in control anyway? Shouldn't we simply be open to the leading of the spirit? Shouldn't we just pray and trust God to lead us about the direction we should go? I believe in trusting God with all of my heart, but I also know that planning is biblical. In Luke 14-28, Jesus talks about planning. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he or she not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he or she has enough money to complete it? Planning is essential. Strategic planning makes a difference in the life of the congregation by breathing new life in it and making it effective. Strategic planning is a process, not simply an event. The process of strategic planning should encompass the lifetime of the congregation. One has to evaluate where you are in the process at least yearly and make regular updates and changes to the plan. The primary purpose of the strategic plan is to give your ministry the framework to carry out the great commission of our Lord to the church. Go into all the world and make disciples of all people. The strategic planning process involves developing core values of the church. Core values indicate our core identity, our DNA, our culture, or who we are as a church. Discovering your core values is important because we act on the basis of who we are. All the decisions we make are value-driven. The vision and mission of our church will flow out of our core values. Values are the key to knowing why you do what you do. The church in Jerusalem considered core values important. We know this because Luke states that in Acts 2, 42 through 47, particularly verse 42, they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. The key word that identifies the values in this text is the word devoted. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Values determine what makes you distinctive as a church. Values also dictate personal involvement. People often join and become active in the life of the church whose values match theirs. The core values of the ray of hope Christian church are exalt the Savior, worship, evangelize the seeker, evangelism, equip the saint, education, empower through stewardship, giving and elevate society, serve the community, the vision. The vision answers the question, what is the direction of the church? And it paints a picture of that destination. The vision is a short, pithy statement that people can remember and recite easily. The original vision statement was to be a city of hope where persons will impact and transform this present world into the kingdom of God. It will shorten several years later for branding purposes to transforming your world. Goals and strategies. Your goals are an outflow of your vision. They are the steps that will make the vision a reality. A goal is what you want to achieve. A strategy is how you want to achieve it. The benefits of goals setting are goals keep you focused and from becoming distracted. Goals keep you from trying to be all things to all people wearing yourself out and being ineffective. Goals make it easy to track your progress or the lack there of on a regular basis in order to make corrections and changes. A vision is what you would like to see happen. A goal is how you intend to make it happen. A goal is a dream with a deadline says Tlee Jenkins. Goals must be smart. You already know this. A smart goal is specific. What am I trying to accomplish measurable? How will I determine the success of the goal? Attainable. What is the solution for reaching the goal? Relevant. What needs to be increased, decreased, improved, created, etc. Timely. What is the completion timeframe for this goal? Determining your vision mission and goals requires that you do an honest assessment of your ministry through the SWATS model. SWATS causes you to ask yourself the following questions. What are our strengths? Because you want to build on your strength. What are our weaknesses? You want to minimize your weakness. Opportunities for ministry inherent in the community. Threats to doing ministry. Strategies for employing your strengths and opportunities to overcome your weaknesses and threats so you can move the ministry forward. I know that I'm giving you a lot but I only have 30 minutes so stay with me and I'll answer some questions later. Strategies are developed to give a detail step by step process by which to develop your goals. Strategic plans must answer the following questions. Who will do it? When will we do it? Where will we do it? In what order will we do it? And what resources are available for doing it? Casting the vision. The vision mission is first presented to the leadership for approval, confirmation or whatever your process is. When our church first started as I shared earlier, I didn't have a vision but I developed a vision statement. That was those core values that we realize we needed to have. I presented it to the leadership. Each ministry chairperson was trained and directed to develop goals for their particular ministry. Based on the mission statement, everything that we did as a church needed to be in line with our vision and mission again so that we did not waste time and energy and resources on being what we were not called to be. The vision mission needs to be clearly communicated to the congregation for their information, inspiration and implementation. The people will need to catch the vision, get excited about it and take ownership of it. They are the ones who will carry out the vision and the mission. The vision, mission is communicated to the church through sermon series, Bible studies, retreats, seminars and other events. That year as I preached, taught, shared the vision at every opportunity given, the atmosphere of the church became electric. The people began to understand and get excited about what it meant to be the member of the church. They bought into the vision, the mission. They told all of their friends they got excited about it because you see, they believed in something that was bigger than us. I just told you that all we had at that point was a mission statement. But I had already begun to talk about the city of hope based on Psalms 107. The city represented for me a place of salvation, a place of security, a place of soul satisfaction where all people's needs are met, where love would be the basis of every relationship. Everybody would be treated with dignity and respect without even realizing it. In my preaching I had outlined my dream of becoming a city of hope where the members of the ray were actively involved in meeting the needs of the people. The city people realized represented something bigger. Well little did I realize that the vision was taking hold even though we had named it. This became clear to me one Sunday when we had an intergenerational event and the children, the children performed that day a little skit. The children depicted themselves as travelers moving around on a train from city to city and every time they got to a place they would ask the mayor of the city, is this the place where the hungry are fed? Is this the place where the homeless are given shelter? Is this the place where people's needs are taken care of? The mayor would then say no this is not the place and so they would get back on the train and they'd head off again to another location and finally after asking a series of questions at that particular city, the mayor responded yes this is the place where the hungry are fed and this is the place where the homeless homeless are sheltered. This is the place where the trouble are given help and addicts are delivered and the children began to scream and say this is it, this is it, this is it we say it even I say it what are you talking about? They said this is the past vision. This is it. The children had named the vision. This taught me that as I said earlier one of the key elements in casting and implementing vision is preaching. You have to preach where you want people to go. Never underestimate the power of preaching. Be systematic in your preaching. Preaching develops people and it develops thriving churches. Shortly after that the elders and youth pastor and I went into a formal strategic planning session with a consultant and we wrote out the vision. Visioning can be done by church staffs, volunteer ministry councils, boards and other leaders. It's important to have people of all ages and varied experiences in the planning process. Programs, budget, the structure of the church must flow out of and serve the vision. Mission and core values of the church changes made in the church are based on the need to move the church forward into the future. I find that people who are not open to change sometimes are more amenable to it when they understand that it means we can meet the needs of more people and become all that God wants to be. In the strategic planning session we set goals for growth in membership and stewardship. We decided to have a health ministry a counseling ministry and athletic ministry among other things. We developed a brochure to let the church know about it and people went crazy year after year as I've continued to renew the vision. The people have remained excited. At one point I let it slide. That's when we went on a plateau. We have to constantly keep the vision alive. I've only got three minutes I think so let me tell you quickly how to implement the vision. After the vision is communicated to the congregation the implementation requires that the senior pastor focuses and dedicates himself or herself and the church's resources to the fulfillment of the vision. Number two, the pastor chooses and positions the people who will assist in the implementation. People are essential to the implementation of the vision, the mission. First of all we need dream partners dream partners are those persons with whom you can share the vision who can bring a different perspective and ask the critical questions to bring the vision into focus and make sure it stays on track while Alcala says all of us have blind spots in our visions that make it possible for us to be hit without warning. Plans fail for lack of counsel but with many advisors they succeed. A team of persons must be developed developed developed to implement the plan. Our team consisted of members of the staff as well as lay people. For years y'all I couldn't afford a staff so I used the gifted the talented the experienced lay people for example with the health clinic we have doctors and nurses and persons who are medical experienced, medically experienced people who are in hospitals to run the clinic and then everybody else pitches in. Number four implementing the vision requires productivity or work. You don't get a vision without lots of work and the people who position who you position to work with you must be workers. Let me reiterate it's mostly performed by volunteer people with talents and expertise in every imaginable area. Five implementation of the vision requires passion. You must have a heart for doing what God has called you to do and you must do it with all of your heart implementation of the vision is sometimes a slow tedious process that requires perseverance patience and persistence getting the Lord tell aback for the vision waits for an appointed time it speaks of the end though it linger wait for it it will certainly call and will not delay. In the implementation of the vision you will face delays detours interruptions and opposition to the process everybody may not appreciate your dreams. Sometimes people will be threatened by them we have to persevere despite opposition every visionary needs a personal prayer life it's through prayer that the vision was given to you in the first place and it will be through prayer that you will be able to be successful in your dream Proverbs 16 3 says commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed. When you commit your plans to God through prayer you are placing your dreams responsibilities risk and rewards in God's hands when God gives a dream and we make plans to accomplish it things may not always go as planned the fulfillment of your dream may not come easy you may be faced with all kinds of difficulties and setbacks along the way but remember God is the initiator and the insurer of the dream as well and God works in all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose a delay does not mean a denial dare to dream but also dare to hope they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint God bless you