The story of Jesus could be told in many different ways.  The Bible uses four writers to give us a multi-dimensional feel for the life and times of Jesus.  Every moment of the story counts for something.  John tells us that he had to pick and choose which moments to tell us about because if everything that Jesus did were written down, "even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25).  The Gospel writers may have had their reasons for including parts of the Jesus story and leaving other parts out.  Matthew, Mark and Luke include a lot of the same scenes.  John approaches it from a completely different perspective.  For this reason the first three gospels have been labeled the synoptic gospels (the word synoptic means, "to see together").  But even these three writers who seem to be somewhat interdependent, diverge and converge in ways that are not always easy to understand.  They don't contradict each other ... they simply refuse to be pasted into the same mold.  Like four witnesses standing at four corners of an intersection watching an automobile accident -- their stories diverge and converge because they saw it from different angles.

Lou Holtz, former Head Football coach for the University of Notre Dame, once said, “All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams … win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims.” Lou Holtz is right, and he has the record to prove it.

Jesus gave us one very specific goal: make disciples. Jesus’ singular mandate to his church is to turn other people into highly devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Therefore, Our Vision as a church is to MAKE DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST. Our strategy for accomplishing that vision is to inspire others to CONNECT, LEARN, WORSHIP AND SERVE.

In this sermon series I will unpack what OUR VISION means, and how it impacts our daily lives.