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Write the Vision

Hab. 2:2 "And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may ran that readeth it."

Where Is LWCC Going?

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the "Vision" God has given for this church. In doing so, however, let me stress that any vision is progressive and any vision takes time to develop. There is a place to which I believe we are heading, and this is what I will be sharing. In the weeks and months to come we will be praying concerning the steps we must take to eventually come to that place, and it is important to realize that God is in no hurry. We must cultivate an attitude that will allow us to be happy and faithful where we are, as well as being aware that we are growing towards something greater.
One of the most important aspects of our local vision is the commission to the church universal. In short, why did Jesus establish the Church to begin with? Any local vision that is not in tune with this primary directive from the Lord Himself is not valid. That commission can be found in Mark 16:14-18, Acts 1:8 and Matt. 28:18-20. It is two fold in nature, the first part directed to the world and the second to the body of Christ. Our responsibility to the world is to preach the Gospel. The Gospel is the Good News that Jesus paid the price for our sin, providing a means for us to walk in a relationship with the Father God. In approaching the church we are admonished to make disciples and to teach those disciples to observe all of the commandments of Jesus. A disciple is a disciplined follower of the Lord or one who can walk in the fullness of Christian privilege and character. Above all else this is our vision.

The word church comes from the Greek word ekklesia which refers to any group called out from the general populace for a specific purpose. The church universal is that group called out of the world unto the Name of Jesus. In any locality within this general ekkiesia of the Body of Christ, there are various smaller divisions or churches that are set apart by the Lord to do different parts of the work of the universal Church in their area. With this in mind, our "vision" is how to accomplish that part of the great commission which Jesus has entrusted to us.

When you determine your membership in any local church you are determining first of all whether or not you are part of the team or ekklesia that God has called to do that work. Secondarily you must determine if that ekklesia or church is equipped to provide you with the necessary training from the Word of God to accomplish discipleship in your life. If, as far as you can discern, a church does not fill both areas it is probably not where you belong.

LWCC as a Channel of Life

What, then, is the vision of the ekklesia called Living Word Christian Center? Just as the great commission is two fold, so is our "vision". First and foremost I believe that a church exists to be a vehicle for the preaching of the Gospel to the world around it. In order to most effectively and efficiently accomplish this call, the local church must become a channel for the spiritual, physical and financial resources of its people. In every individual there are spiritual gifts and physical talents that God desires should be used to reach our world for Jesus. All of us have a certain amount of finances that we can give for the work of the Lord. LWCC exists to put to work the principle of agreement in all of these areas. The word says that one can put a thousand to flight but two can put ten thousand to flight. Separated, our money and talents may be able to accomplish a certain amount for the kingdom. If we join them together, we multiply that effectiveness many times.
One of our goals for this church is to become a channel, never hindering the creativity and uniqueness of an individual, but allowing him or her to become and express all that he or she can be. The Lord has shown me three phases in the accomplishment of this goal. These phases will first be put to work in the initial development of the church as a channel of life, and then in each subsequent individual who becomes a part of it. These three phases are:

• Discovery: In order to channel an individual we must first discover what their talents and ministries are. In the establishment of LWCC our first step has been to get to know the people God has brought to us and find out what each is called to do. This process will be repeated with every person who comes to the church. Since all of us are continually in a state of growth, discovery will be a life long process.

• Preparation: Once the church leadership and the individual know what their calling is for that time in their life, they must be prepared to fulfill it. Each person comes at a different degree of preparedness, and LWCC will endeavor to be a place where preparation for any type of work or ministry at any level will be locally available. This is up to and including five fold ministry training for future work in other localities.

• Direction: Once we have discovered the abilities and prepared the individual we must direct that person to a place where they can utilize what God has given. This involves providing programs and helping people develop ways in which they can be what God has called them. This also involves providing the leadership necessary to coordinate all of the varied gifts into an effective front in the community. LWCC will ultimately be multifaceted enough to accommodate any number of divers "people gifts" and will be committed to cultivating new ideas provided by our church family. In addition we have contacts in other ministries which will enable us to place people having callings that may be outside our locality with others of like calling. One such example would be missions. There are many places we will be able to send people to gain experience in this area as well as supporting them for permanent missionary service.

LWCC as a Discipleship Center

The second part of our vision is the desire to produce strong believers in every area of Bible revelation. The idea of discipleship is people sharing their lives with people in order to help them grow in the Lord to a place where they can truly function in the reality of Christianity. Living Word Christian Center is called to become a place where this will be accomplished in your life.

One of the main offices that I function in is the office of teacher. As a teacher, there is nothing I cherish more than the transmission of the life in the Word of God to an individual. LWCC will always remain committed to providing you with the best teaching available to help you live as a successful person and a light for Jesus in your community. We believe in all kinds of ministry to meet the needs of people, such as counseling and the laying on of hands, but the only way for you to walk in Christian maturity is to build the Bible into your life. Jesus was what He was because He was and is the Word made flesh. Our goal is that the Word will become flesh in your lives as well, and this will be the primary motivation in every aspect of our church ministry. This teaching and training will be in three major areas:

• The Uncompromised Word of God: Our first line of teaching will be the basic and fundamental truths of the Bible. These truths are the most important things any person can learn because they are the foundation upon which all of our life is built. These things include faith, righteousness, redemption, holiness and love. They will be taught with an uncompromising manner that says the Word is absolutely true and final authority in my life. If you are grounded in these areas, and many others, you will be a successful Christian.

• "How to" Training: The second line of teaching will be training on how to walk in various areas of life. These teachings will be of a more practical nature and will include instruction in marriage and child rearing, healing, witnessing and financial planing.

• Personal Encouragement and Instruction: At some time in each of our lives we need a personal word of encouragement or counsel in order to help us understand why we do not seem able to "do the Word". LWCC will endeavor to provide this hands-on attention whenever needed. This will be first of all a personalized teaching on how to apply the word in the area of need. Secondarily it will be ministry to whatever area of the person, spirit, soul or body, that is hindering him from being successful in receiving the freedom promised in the Word.

Regional Church -- Local Ministry

The final area I would like to address is the fact that God has always shown me "church" in a regional instead of community setting.

Many times we hear of the great churches in our nation and we desire to see such a work in our area, but we fail to realize that these works invariably have a central meeting place and draw from an area with at least a thirty to fifty mile radius. The reason is the need to have a large population base to draw from in order to bring large numbers of people together in one "team". I am convinced that this is God's latter day plan to bring in the great end time harvest.

For many of us the prospect of driving up to an hour to church is quite foreign, but if we are going to bring together the resources necessary for the world to stand up and take notice we are going to have to get used to the idea. We must understand that it is not just large numbers we desire; I would almost prefer to stay small, but it is impact that we need in these last days. A church as large as even one or two hundred people will hardly be noticed in the community, but just imagine one of a thousand. A church that size changes the whole atmosphere of an area. It can truly begin to dominate the landscape, so to speak. Isn't that what we are after?

There is an obvious second benefit to a large regional church, and that is the resources available for the preaching of the Gospel. On the surface the most obvious would be finances and people. Certainly this is a factor. The larger the group of people, the less there is a problem having the money to do almost anything and you would need little help from outside the church. The less obvious and more important factor is the amount of spiritual resources made available. That many people in agreement through prayer and faith about anything will see their goals accomplished!

Of course the major problem with such a work is the tendency to lose the sense of family by causing the individual to become "just a number". I want to assure you that if I had to choose between a large church and a place where the individual is known, loved and important, I will choose the latter. I do not, however, believe that such a choice is necessary. The answer to this question is to have church within the church.

As LWCC grows we are believing God to establish home cell groups in every area from which people come. These groups will be responsible for praying for their area as well as providing personal care to the members of the church from their community. They are also a prime place for witnessing, as people may be much more likely to come to a home for some fellowship than to come to a church. Ultimately there will be pastors working with me overseeing every area and someone responsible and in touch with leadership for every 10 to 15 people.

We also anticipate local activities and meetings as the spirit leads. This will particularly be stressed in the evangelistic ministry. I can see LWCC sponsoring outreach meetings in each city and town. Since they will have the support of the whole church, we will not have the pressure of having to obtain enough money to pay for these meetings. We will be freely able to preach the Gospel.

We may also have community get-togethers and teachings, or whatever will help to meet the peculiar needs of your area. This provides each of us with the ability to be a part of something that is larger than ourselves without losing the joy of being part of a church family or giving up on ministry to the community in which we live. I believe that as we follow the Lord closely, we will have the best of both worlds.

This is a great vision and will take much prayer and dedication to accomplish. We are only at the infancy stage of this work, and obviously very little of this is currently in operation, but I believe that it is all attainable if we will be faithful in small things. It must be the Lord who builds the house and, as we already stated, He is in no hurry. Use this statement of where we are going to help keep you on track with us in leadership and flowing towards the goal. Do not allow it to put pressure on us to try and bring it to pass. God will do it one day and one person at a time. When Jesus comes it is not important that he find us having completed this course, but that we be where we should be at the time he comes. As long as we are following His lead and allowing growth to come naturally we will do just that!

Rev. William J. Kiefer