VISION DAY Booklet - Belmont Tremorfa Family Church · This 2018 Vision Day booklet is based upon and is an amended version of the re: ... and recovery of sight for the blind,

This book is packed with the words of a pastor with a heart for mission. It is full of stories from the pastor’s casebook, which illustrate the reality and effectiveness of the Gospel in transforming lives. The text offers practical guidance for leaders and the whole church drawn from over forty years in ministry, where the principles discussed have been successfully put into practice. It’s emphasis in making, growing and keeping disciples is a must for the church in the 21st century. Rev Dr John Weaver, Principal, South Wales Baptist College

“Dry Bones can live” is available from Amazon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-84694-282-2 This 2018 Vision Day booklet is based upon and is an amended version of the re:focus programme workbook produced by Rev John James for use by South Wales Baptist Association.

2018 Vision Day

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from

heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Where there is no prophetic vision the people are discouraged, but blessed is he who keeps the law

Proverbs 29:18

Isaiah 61

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour

and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of

a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour.

8. Fellowship that is real

The coming of the Holy Spirit into the lives of the early Christians produced amongst them not only life in all its fullness but also a spirit of oneness in unity that exceeded anything previously experienced by the people of God.

So unique was the sense of community that the New Testament writers had to create a word to describe it, the word ‘Koinonia’. We find that the early believers “devoted themselves to…the fellowship.”

Unfortunately, the word fellowship has become debased. The word has become so devalued that it seldom means more than a nice get-together in church, followed by coffee and biscuits! Fellowship is one of the great words of the New Testament and we need to redeem it and restore to it the meaning that was once attached to it.

‘Koinonia’ bears witness to the common life of the church in two senses.

First, it expresses what we share in together. This is God himself, for “our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” And there is “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”. Thus ‘koinonia’ is a Trinitarian experience; it is our common share in God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Secondly ‘koinonia’ also expresses what we share out together. What we give as well as what we receive. ‘Koinonia’ is the word Paul used for the collection he was organising among the Greek churches, and ‘koinonikos’ is the Greek word for ‘generous’.

“All the believers were together and had everything in common (koina). Selling their possessions and goods they gave to everyone as he had need”. (Acts 2:44-45). Extracts from ‘The Message of Acts’ John Stott

For a church to be a healthy church it must discover once again the spirit of oneness and unity that marked the New Testament church.

12

7. Evangelism & Mission

A study of the Great Commission as it appears in the various parts of the New Testament makes it clear the Lord Jesus meant, quite literally, that we are to make disciples and thereby reach all the world with the Good News. 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:7-8

‘‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ Matthew 28:19

Every Christian is charged to be a witness. There are hundreds of ways of witnessing and our responsibility is to be a witness in word and deed wherever we find ourselves.

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.



Isaiah 61

11

Luke 4

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit

and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

15 He was teaching in their synagogues and everyone praised him.

16 He went to Nazareth where he had been brought up

and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as was his custom.

He stood up to read 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah

was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom

for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.

The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them

‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’

BELMONT 2018 VISION DAY

We believe that the verses from Isaiah 61 and spoken by the Lord in Luke 4 are vital to God’s Vision for Belmont Tremorfa Family Church.

Our prayer is that we might truly be the church that the Lord wants us to be in Tremorfa for today & into the future.

In order to be that church, we need to be a healthy and growing church.

In the Bible we discover the truth and the principles of health and growth. We need to look at the different characteristics of a healthy and growing church.

Another mighty resource that God has given is the presence and the power of His Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit, given to inspire the writing of scripture, is the same Spirit that will help us to understand, interpret and apply it to our situations.

God has provided everything we will ever need for a healthy church, but we do not use the resources He has provided.

There is a Welsh word “Hwyl”:

It is often used as a way of saying “good bye” but is usually associated with spontaneous and heart-felt fervour in worship e.g. at the rugby!

It actually means the “setting of the sail”.

God’s Spirit blows; all we have to do is set the sail and let Him move us where He will.

1

6. Relevant Worship Services

A really important area of church family life is gathering together to worship God. We want to be engaged, challenged and inspired by meeting together to praise the Lord.

We want to be open to receiving from God, by hearing His voice and knowing His presence, even feeling His touch.

Jesus said that true worship must be in Spirit and in Truth.

God is Spirit. When we worship Him, we are engaging our spirit with His. We need God’s help and grace for this, because if it was about our own strength, goodness or skill we would get nowhere near to God. But, praise God, He comes and meets with us when we humbly ask Him.

Real worship is about freedom before our God. Where the Spirit is, there is freedom. Christ has freed us from our sin and guilt; He has made a way for us to approach the throne of grace.

He has put the Spirit of Truth in our hearts. When we come to worship together, the Spirit inside us cannot help but praise God.

What does ‘in truth’ mean? Well, God knows everything; there is no point pretending with God. He sees straight into our hearts and knows our worries and the things we struggle with. But He still wants us to come to Him, even in our brokenness. He longs to heal and restore us.

We worship Him because of the truth of Jesus and His Gospel. The Gospel is rock-solid truth. Jesus is the only rock worth standing on in a crazy world of dodgy ground. We celebrate the truth that Jesus is God’s Son; He is the beginning and the end; He is the perfect sacrifice for sin; He rose from the dead; He is the only way to the Father; He has given us the Holy Spirit; He is the guarantee of eternal life for us and all who believe; He is coming again to reign forever.

There is no ‘right’ way to worship God. God is interested in our hearts, not our style. Worship is about glorifying God – putting Him above everything else in our lives and in this world. All worship, preaching & teaching needs to firmly Bible based.

10

5. Effective Small Groups

Healthy churches have discovered that small groups meeting in member’s homes are not only enjoyable but vital.

Call them what you like - house, fellowship, small or cell group - the name isn't as important as what happens when believers meet in such gatherings.

Each group needs to have a structure within it which enables the small group leader to be a facilitator leader.

Each member should be encouraged to participate and to feel included from the start rather than just being a spectator. Worship

There must be worship in the group. It could be singing or anything that exalts the Lord in the meeting. For example, the reading of a psalm and pause for reflection and prayer.

Word This section is based around personal application of a teaching, perhaps from the Sunday service or other source.

Prayer There will be opportunity for corporate prayer for those who request it and opportunities for the group to minister one to another.

Fellowship To minister and care for each other.

Witness Such groups can provide opportunities to invite others to join in and to be a witness to them.

Every disciple should be encouraged and assisted to belong to an appropriate small group. There are plenty of options. Some can be held during the day, morning and afternoon, and some in the evening. It is also a way to offer pastoral care for all the membership. Small group members care for each other in a remarkable way.

9

Our prayer is that we might learn how to trim the sails and experience something of a mighty work of God in Belmont and throughout Tremorfa & Cardiff & Wales.

2

Church Growth; a sign of life and health. Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18)

Church growth is God’s business. He is the Sovereign Lord.

Our responsibility is to ensure that we are in the centre of his will and are obedient disciples and an obedient church.

In the teaching of Jesus we can see that;

• The parable of the sower teaches us to expect a harvest in the world.

• The parable of the shepherd and the sheep teaches us not only to protect the flock but we are to grow the flock.

• The parable of the fishing net teaches us to expect a great in-gathering.

• In his teaching on the vine and the branches we are encouraged to bear not only fruit and more fruit but much fruit, and that which will remain.

Take the parable of the sower as an illustration not only that we are to expect growth but that the condition of the soil affects the return the farmer gets. However, at the end of the parable he then reminds us of another factor in farming:

“This is what the kingdom of God is like; a man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces corn – first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear”. (Mark 4:26-28)

There is a hidden work being done in the soil. The clue is in the words “all by itself”. There is a power for new life and growth at work without human assistance.

3

4. Empowering & Servant Leadership

A healthy church will be led by leaders committed to empowering every Christian to minister within their gifting.

Jesus was the greatest leader who ever lived on earth. He lived for just 33 years and in 3 years he called, equipped and empowered his disciples to take the Good News across the world.

Christian leaders must empower the disciples of the local church.

There are many ways they can do so – by believing in them, by trusting them and by encouraging them.

Jesus had a vision for the disciples and inspired them to go after it.

When Jesus called Simon Peter he realised the work that needed doing in him; “Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of Jonah. You will be called Cephas (which when translated is Peter a Rock)”. Notice the emphasis that in that verse. “You are…you will be.” The Lord Jesus was inspiring and empowering Peter to believe he could be what the Lord Jesus was calling him to be. People saw in Peter instability, fickleness and fear but Jesus saw what could be done through love and the divine power.

People see us as we are, but God sees us as we can be in Him. God’s ability to give is limited by our capacity to receive.

Jesus also modelled servant leadership. It was He who washed the disciples’ feet and modelled servanthood.

The disciples did learn from Him; for as we read in Acts of the Apostles we find them making it a priority to work every day serving the widows and orphans food. They saw the need and they gave themselves to meeting it. True they soon had to appoint others, but they did not ask anyone to perform tasks they were not themselves prepared to do.

8

3. Every-Member Ministry

Healthy churches invest time and effort into helping every member to discover, develop and then release their gifts.

Paul tells the church in Corinth:

“You are the Body of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)

He is saying more than the church is like a body; the body with its many independent members is a good picture of a church, but the church is actually the Body of Christ in a sense that it is the place that he lives in and the means by which he works.

For the Lord Jesus to do his work on earth he requires a body in which his Spirit will dwell and through which he may operate.

The Church is the instrument of the Kingdom of God and we all have to play our part with our God-given gifts.

For the Body of Christ to be effective its members must function as they have been designed.

Every believer must seek God to know the purpose for which God has placed them in the Body of Christ.

The Bible is equally clear that God has a purpose for you and me to fulfil. No one else can do it. Our primary task on entering the Body of Christ must be to discover God’s purpose for our lives and do it.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16)

7

There is a hidden energy at work below the surface, as the gospel message is preached and enacted. The sovereign purpose of God.

God will do what he promised to do. He will grant growth.

The Apostle Paul put it like this, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Sometimes we give the impression that church growth is up to us making sure that we do things right and well.

However, that is only a small part of the truth.

The whole truth is that without him, our Lord Jesus Christ, we can do nothing.

We need to discover the Biblical principles he wants us to adopt.

Throughout the Bible, we consistently encounter the principles of church growth. We must discover what they are and with the Holy Spirit’s enabling put them into practice.

There are 8 essential areas to concentrate on:

1. Following the Example that Works

2. Dynamic Spirituality






8. Fellowship that is Real

Together these qualities add up to Intentional Discipleship.

4


The church in Jerusalem is the biblical model. Acts 2:42-47

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

It was a learning church It was a fellowshipping church It was a praying church It was a worshipping church It was a sharing church It was a witnessing church It was an exciting church It was a happy church

What is more, it was all of these things at the same time.

They had discovered a harmony and strategy that enabled them to reach up, to reach out and to reach in.

There is no one single factor which makes a church healthy or will guarantee life and growth. A healthy church is a church that recognises the importance of devoting themselves to all of the qualities in the model New Testament church.

5


If Belmont is to be a healthy church, then we the members must be healthy Christians. Our church will be renewed only when we know personal renewal.

Peter spells out the steps in a person becoming a member of the Body of Christ:

“Repent and be baptised, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

Notice the 4 steps:

Repentance Baptism Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit

It is only when we have taken all 4 steps that we can ever hope to know a Dynamic Spirituality and to function properly in the Body of Christ.

The tragedy is that there are some Christians who see the 4 steps of Acts 2:38 as optional. It may be possible to be a Christian and leave one or even two of these steps out, but you will never fulfil your potential.

So, this is where our diagnosis must begin. We must examine whether we have entered into the fullness of all that God purposed for us in our salvation. Such a Dynamic Spirituality leads inevitably to a wholehearted commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and his church.

Faith will be on fire and life will be lived with zeal and enthusiasm.

This kind of Christian living is contagious and attracts others to discover the Christian life.

6


The church in Jerusalem is the biblical model. Acts 2:42-47

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

It was a learning church It was a fellowshipping church It was a praying church It was a worshipping church It was a sharing church It was a witnessing church It was an exciting church It was a happy church

What is more, it was all of these things at the same time.

They had discovered a harmony and strategy that enabled them to reach up, to reach out and to reach in.

There is no one single factor which makes a church healthy or will guarantee life and growth. A healthy church is a church that recognises the importance of devoting themselves to all of the qualities in the model New Testament church.

5


If Belmont is to be a healthy church, then we the members must be healthy Christians. Our church will be renewed only when we know personal renewal.

Peter spells out the steps in a person becoming a member of the Body of Christ:

“Repent and be baptised, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

Notice the 4 steps:

Repentance Baptism Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit

It is only when we have taken all 4 steps that we can ever hope to know a Dynamic Spirituality and to function properly in the Body of Christ.

The tragedy is that there are some Christians who see the 4 steps of Acts 2:38 as optional. It may be possible to be a Christian and leave one or even two of these steps out, but you will never fulfil your potential.

So, this is where our diagnosis must begin. We must examine whether we have entered into the fullness of all that God purposed for us in our salvation. Such a Dynamic Spirituality leads inevitably to a wholehearted commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and his church.

Faith will be on fire and life will be lived with zeal and enthusiasm.

This kind of Christian living is contagious and attracts others to discover the Christian life.

6


Healthy churches invest time and effort into helping every member to discover, develop and then release their gifts.

Paul tells the church in Corinth:

“You are the Body of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)

He is saying more than the church is like a body; the body with its many independent members is a good picture of a church, but the church is actually the Body of Christ in a sense that it is the place that he lives in and the means by which he works.

For the Lord Jesus to do his work on earth he requires a body in which his Spirit will dwell and through which he may operate.

The Church is the instrument of the Kingdom of God and we all have to play our part with our God-given gifts.

For the Body of Christ to be effective its members must function as they have been designed.

Every believer must seek God to know the purpose for which God has placed them in the Body of Christ.

The Bible is equally clear that God has a purpose for you and me to fulfil. No one else can do it. Our primary task on entering the Body of Christ must be to discover God’s purpose for our lives and do it.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16)

7

There is a hidden energy at work below the surface, as the gospel message is preached and enacted. The sovereign purpose of God.

God will do what he promised to do. He will grant growth.

The Apostle Paul put it like this, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Sometimes we give the impression that church growth is up to us making sure that we do things right and well.

However, that is only a small part of the truth.

The whole truth is that without him, our Lord Jesus Christ, we can do nothing.

We need to discover the Biblical principles he wants us to adopt.

Throughout the Bible, we consistently encounter the principles of church growth. We must discover what they are and with the Holy Spirit’s enabling put them into practice.

There are 8 essential areas to concentrate on:








8. Fellowship that is Real

Together these qualities add up to Intentional Discipleship.

4

Church Growth; a sign of life and health. Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18)

Church growth is God’s business. He is the Sovereign Lord.

Our responsibility is to ensure that we are in the centre of his will and are obedient disciples and an obedient church.

In the teaching of Jesus we can see that;

• The parable of the sower teaches us to expect a harvest in the world.

• The parable of the shepherd and the sheep teaches us not only to protect the flock but we are to grow the flock.

• The parable of the fishing net teaches us to expect a great in-gathering.

• In his teaching on the vine and the branches we are encouraged to bear not only fruit and more fruit but much fruit, and that which will remain.

Take the parable of the sower as an illustration not only that we are to expect growth but that the condition of the soil affects the return the farmer gets. However, at the end of the parable he then reminds us of another factor in farming:

“This is what the kingdom of God is like; a man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces corn – first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear”. (Mark 4:26-28)

There is a hidden work being done in the soil. The clue is in the words “all by itself”. There is a power for new life and growth at work without human assistance.

3


A healthy church will be led by leaders committed to empowering every Christian to minister within their gifting.

Jesus was the greatest leader who ever lived on earth. He lived for just 33 years and in 3 years he called, equipped and empowered his disciples to take the Good News across the world.

Christian leaders must empower the disciples of the local church.

There are many ways they can do so – by believing in them, by trusting them and by encouraging them.

Jesus had a vision for the disciples and inspired them to go after it.

When Jesus called Simon Peter he realised the work that needed doing in him; “Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of Jonah. You will be called Cephas (which when translated is Peter a Rock)”. Notice the emphasis that in that verse. “You are…you will be.” The Lord Jesus was inspiring and empowering Peter to believe he could be what the Lord Jesus was calling him to be. People saw in Peter instability, fickleness and fear but Jesus saw what could be done through love and the divine power.

People see us as we are, but God sees us as we can be in Him. God’s ability to give is limited by our capacity to receive.

Jesus also modelled servant leadership. It was He who washed the disciples’ feet and modelled servanthood.

The disciples did learn from Him; for as we read in Acts of the Apostles we find them making it a priority to work every day serving the widows and orphans food. They saw the need and they gave themselves to meeting it. True they soon had to appoint others, but they did not ask anyone to perform tasks they were not themselves prepared to do.

8


Healthy churches have discovered that small groups meeting in member’s homes are not only enjoyable but vital.

Call them what you like - house, fellowship, small or cell group - the name isn't as important as what happens when believers meet in such gatherings.

Each group needs to have a structure within it which enables the small group leader to be a facilitator leader.

Each member should be encouraged to participate and to feel included from the start rather than just being a spectator. Worship

There must be worship in the group. It could be singing or anything that exalts the Lord in the meeting. For example, the reading of a psalm and pause for reflection and prayer.

Word This section is based around personal application of a teaching, perhaps from the Sunday service or other source.

Prayer There will be opportunity for corporate prayer for those who request it and opportunities for the group to minister one to another.

Fellowship To minister and care for each other.

Witness Such groups can provide opportunities to invite others to join in and to be a witness to them.

Every disciple should be encouraged and assisted to belong to an appropriate small group. There are plenty of options. Some can be held during the day, morning and afternoon, and some in the evening. It is also a way to offer pastoral care for all the membership. Small group members care for each other in a remarkable way.

9

Our prayer is that we might learn how to trim the sails and experience something of a mighty work of God in Belmont and throughout Tremorfa & Cardiff & Wales.

2

BELMONT 2018 VISION DAY

We believe that the verses from Isaiah 61 and spoken by the Lord in Luke 4 are vital to God’s Vision for Belmont Tremorfa Family Church.

Our prayer is that we might truly be the church that the Lord wants us to be in Tremorfa for today & into the future.

In order to be that church, we need to be a healthy and growing church.

In the Bible we discover the truth and the principles of health and growth. We need to look at the different characteristics of a healthy and growing church.

Another mighty resource that God has given is the presence and the power of His Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit, given to inspire the writing of scripture, is the same Spirit that will help us to understand, interpret and apply it to our situations.

God has provided everything we will ever need for a healthy church, but we do not use the resources He has provided.

There is a Welsh word “Hwyl”:

It is often used as a way of saying “good bye” but is usually associated with spontaneous and heart-felt fervour in worship e.g. at the rugby!

It actually means the “setting of the sail”.

God’s Spirit blows; all we have to do is set the sail and let Him move us where He will.

1


A really important area of church family life is gathering together to worship God. We want to be engaged, challenged and inspired by meeting together to praise the Lord.

We want to be open to receiving from God, by hearing His voice and knowing His presence, even feeling His touch.

Jesus said that true worship must be in Spirit and in Truth.

God is Spirit. When we worship Him, we are engaging our spirit with His. We need God’s help and grace for this, because if it was about our own strength, goodness or skill we would get nowhere near to God. But, praise God, He comes and meets with us when we humbly ask Him.

Real worship is about freedom before our God. Where the Spirit is, there is freedom. Christ has freed us from our sin and guilt; He has made a way for us to approach the throne of grace.

He has put the Spirit of Truth in our hearts. When we come to worship together, the Spirit inside us cannot help but praise God.

What does ‘in truth’ mean? Well, God knows everything; there is no point pretending with God. He sees straight into our hearts and knows our worries and the things we struggle with. But He still wants us to come to Him, even in our brokenness. He longs to heal and restore us.

We worship Him because of the truth of Jesus and His Gospel. The Gospel is rock-solid truth. Jesus is the only rock worth standing on in a crazy world of dodgy ground. We celebrate the truth that Jesus is God’s Son; He is the beginning and the end; He is the perfect sacrifice for sin; He rose from the dead; He is the only way to the Father; He has given us the Holy Spirit; He is the guarantee of eternal life for us and all who believe; He is coming again to reign forever.

There is no ‘right’ way to worship God. God is interested in our hearts, not our style. Worship is about glorifying God – putting Him above everything else in our lives and in this world. All worship, preaching & teaching needs to firmly Bible based.

10


A study of the Great Commission as it appears in the various parts of the New Testament makes it clear the Lord Jesus meant, quite literally, that we are to make disciples and thereby reach all the world with the Good News. 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:7-8

‘‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ Matthew 28:19

Every Christian is charged to be a witness. There are hundreds of ways of witnessing and our responsibility is to be a witness in word and deed wherever we find ourselves.

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.



Isaiah 61

11

Luke 4

14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit

and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

15 He was teaching in their synagogues and everyone praised him.

16 He went to Nazareth where he had been brought up

and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as was his custom.

He stood up to read 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah

was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom

for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.

The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them

‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’

Isaiah 61

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.



and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of

a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour.

8. Fellowship that is real

The coming of the Holy Spirit into the lives of the early Christians produced amongst them not only life in all its fullness but also a spirit of oneness in unity that exceeded anything previously experienced by the people of God.

So unique was the sense of community that the New Testament writers had to create a word to describe it, the word ‘Koinonia’. We find that the early believers “devoted themselves to…the fellowship.”

Unfortunately, the word fellowship has become debased. The word has become so devalued that it seldom means more than a nice get-together in church, followed by coffee and biscuits! Fellowship is one of the great words of the New Testament and we need to redeem it and restore to it the meaning that was once attached to it.

‘Koinonia’ bears witness to the common life of the church in two senses.

First, it expresses what we share in together. This is God himself, for “our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” And there is “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”. Thus ‘koinonia’ is a Trinitarian experience; it is our common share in God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Secondly ‘koinonia’ also expresses what we share out together. What we give as well as what we receive. ‘Koinonia’ is the word Paul used for the collection he was organising among the Greek churches, and ‘koinonikos’ is the Greek word for ‘generous’.

“All the believers were together and had everything in common (koina). Selling their possessions and goods they gave to everyone as he had need”. (Acts 2:44-45). Extracts from ‘The Message of Acts’ John Stott

For a church to be a healthy church it must discover once again the spirit of oneness and unity that marked the New Testament church.

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This book is packed with the words of a pastor with a heart for mission. It is full of stories from the pastor’s casebook, which illustrate the reality and effectiveness of the Gospel in transforming lives. The text offers practical guidance for leaders and the whole church drawn from over forty years in ministry, where the principles discussed have been successfully put into practice. It’s emphasis in making, growing and keeping disciples is a must for the church in the 21st century. Rev Dr John Weaver, Principal, South Wales Baptist College

“Dry Bones can live” is available from Amazon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-84694-282-2 This 2018 Vision Day booklet is based upon and is an amended version of the re:focus programme workbook produced by Rev John James for use by South Wales Baptist Association.

2018 Vision Day

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from

heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Where there is no prophetic vision the people are discouraged, but blessed is he who keeps the law

Proverbs 29:18

Documents

VISION DAY Booklet - Belmont Tremorfa Family Church · This 2018 Vision Day booklet is based upon and is an amended version of the re: ... and recovery of sight for the blind,