2010 - we're onthe road  - a highway of God's blessing for BMCC. We can't see the fullextent of what God is going to do or what the future holds, but we're on theway.

Vision is about seeing - we're talking to you today about 'The Church We See'

This message is in 4 parts: 1. Mission Statement. 2. Evangelism. 3. Closing the Back Door. 4. Community Impact.

1. Everything we see is built upon our Mission Statement: To influence the mountains region and beyond, by building a relevant, Bible-based church, helping people to reachtheir full potential as leaders in life.

 First, we will unpack the Mission Statement: INFLUENCE - that's what we see for our church.Can we as a church change people's mindsets about God and the church? We believe we can. 

It's all about every person in our church believing they can be an influence. It's all about wanting to make a difference in people's lives. JFK quote: ONE PERSON CAN MAKEA DIFFERENCE AND EVERYONE SHOULD TRY.

Church is about God and people. Love God- love people. People are what God values. All people,from all walks of life. We are each surrounded every day by a huge variety of people that God loves.

We want to be achurch that helps people REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. There's a dream in every person. If you don't have a dream, you need to get connected to the dream/purpose God has for your life, so that you can climb God's ladder of success,and help others to do the same.

What can you see for your life? You can reach your God-given potential.

Everyone can be aleader in life. The Christian life is a marathon – not a sprint. You run inyour lane and be the leader God created you to be.

2. EVANGELISM: why does it scare us so much? We often think a lot about what we should say to an unchurched person, but when it comes to the crunch, the words come out allwrong much of the time.

We do have a message,but we need to be able to convey it in a relevant way that isn’t weird. We need to make evangelism GOOD NEWS again.

So we are introducing the 1 in 2 Principle: everyone reach one person in a two year period.

How will we do this? You probably know someone who would not come to church with you right now, but they would definitely come to dinner or a barbeque. Through the year, we aregoing to give you the opportunity to invite unchurched friends to a Dinner For Eight or a Barbeque For Twenty. You can elect to host a dinner or a bbq; you can also elect to be a guest at a dinner or bbq. Easy, and relaxing –  unchurched people can meet our churchcommunity in a non-threatening way.

Another way to reach people and bring them to faith should be through our life groups. We have some great life groups where people are flourishing, but would unchurched people feel comfortable in our life groups? What we are talking about is building relationships, sharing the gospel and introducing people to our church community.

So another way we can do this is by broadening our existing life group structure through having a free-market style of life group system. In the free market, consumers determine the success or failure of a business. Applied to church life, people who wantto add value to others’ lives could lead a life group that focuses on their passion. You, the people of BMCC will vote with your feet, by attending whatever group meets your needs at the time. More about that next week.

3. CLOSING THE BACKDOOR: We want to do this by having a great children’s program. It’s already going well, and as you know, we have been praying for a young couple to advance this vital ministry. We have been talking with a couple who we will betransitioning into the leadership of the children’s program. We also want tomake sure we are looking after our new people and getting them connected intothe life of the church.

4. COMMUNITY IMPACT:  We have formed an Elevate Board. Wewill be encouraging more people to get involved in teaching scripture in schools.DivorceCare is up and running. We are looking for opportunities to run the Shine program for girls and women. Valiant Man is running. Our college will have more of a community emphasis, offering more short courses that meet community needs. All of this is on a local level, but we also have our international missions program, by which we can impact overseas communities with the gospel.