Main Point: It doesn’t cost us anything to dream, but it costs us everything to rebuild

Ephesians 2:22 NIV- “In Him, you too are being built together into a dwelling place for the Spirit”

Envision: “It doesn’t cost us anything to dream”

Ephesians 1:15-23 ESV

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

• When we envision the space we are renovating, wisdom and revelation are critical. Wisdom and Revelation help us to see the future…the blueprints should always drive the building project
• Imagine looking at building plans once and then never referring to them again as you continue to build…time and time again, I get too comfortable with the blueprint, I forget to refer back to it

• The Bible is our Owner’s Manual, filled with vision, testimonies, truth and warnings, but also the Bible is an envisioned reality of what life can be like.

Envision: Know His Hope, His Riches and His Power

• Know “the hope which He has called you”
• Know “the riches of His glorious inheritance in the Saints”
• Know “immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe”
• Envisioning the Space is a constant revisiting of hope, remembering the inheritance and the power of God that is available to us
• Hope is a blueprint to go back to again and again

Paul says that God’s vision for His Body (the Church) is that we would be Hopeful, Rich (soul), and Powerful

• Jesus has all rule, authority, power and dominion – we are an extension of Him

How often do we envision and revisit our goal? It’s a Vision Statement: it’s exciting, it’s hopeful, it’s everything we want church to be…but it isn’t reality.

Experience: at some point, we need to wake up a grab a sledgehammer

• A vision statement is not a finished statement- we aren’t there yet…in fact, we haven’t even begun demolition yet

Northside Vision: “To Be a Loving Community…”

• “To Be a Loving Community” is a huge statement…we aren’t there yet but let’s start with “friendly” and move toward “vulnerability”
• For true community to exist, there must be vulnerability- a simple description of vulnerability is “I allow you to see me”
• Do you want to know what our sledgehammer is? Vulnerability

• Community is a place to come to find real relationships, transformation in worship, prayer and the Word and then to GO…our success as a church is defined by our level of transformation and the level of transformation in our community
• Today, may we ENVISION a hopeful future together as a Loving Community