03/07/10 - Vision Sunday - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore recasts the vision of the Church At Mirror Lake in this Sunday service.

Vision Sunday
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, March 7, 2010

www.churchatmirrorlake.com


Sermon Notes:

Isaiah 60
1 “Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see.
 For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you.
 2 Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
 but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.
 3 All nations will come to your light;
 mighty kings will come to see your radiance.
4 “Look and see, for everyone is coming home!
 5 Your eyes will shine,
 and your heart will thrill with joy,
 15 I will make you beautiful forever,
 a joy to all generations.
 17 I will make peace your leader
 and righteousness your ruler.
 18 Salvation will surround you like city walls,
 and praise will be on the lips of all who enter there.
22 The smallest family will become a thousand people,
 and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation.
 At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.”

1. Things full of life grow. Our church is growing. Our intimacy with our Lord and each other is growing. Our influence is growing. Our Dream Team, those who minister at least twice a month, has grown from about 25 when we started to almost 400! We have grown in 6 short years from a church ministering to about 35 people a week to a church touching the lives of over 1100 people every week! We have grown from a church where we told people to drive as many cars as possible so people would notice us, to a church asking people to carpool and park as far away as possible.

2. We are still a very young church and must continue to take “next steps”. God is blessing our church. He is moving us rapidly toward the vision He gave us when we started a little over 6 years ago. We are in the top 1% of church starts in the United States. Lives are being changed, you are bringing your friends and family in amazing numbers. Our city has embraced our church as an important part of the community. We are continually challenged by our God to move forward. It is almost like He is forcing us to keep moving. Like the children of Israel, our promised land lies straight ahead and God will remove the obstacles if we will continue to follow Him humbly and obediently. We are making an impact on our original goal—reduce the number of unconnected and disconnected people in West Georgia. Along with other life-giving churches in our area (We have started a West Georgia Pastor Coaching Network that kicks off this Thursday) we will make it hard for people to go to hell from West Georgia. Our region of the country will be known as a place where the name of Jesus is famous. It will be the best place in America to live, work and play. We cannot become satisfied or settle for what has been done. We must stay focused on what could be and should be done.

3. Excited—both celebrations are 80% full, parking lot is 80% full, children’s facilities are 80% full—calling for responses:
a. Launch a 3rd Celebration—Try “Unplugged” for 6 to 8 weeks
b. CAML Kids Ministry will take over the front building except for the foyer.
i. Launch, our nursery will expand to the present Orbit room, giving us the ability to separate the crib and crawlers from the toddlers
ii. Orbit will move across the hall to the present Axis room and will represent a more age appropriate pre-school environment
iii. Axis will move into the Café Seating Area and will be 1st thru 3rd grade
iv. Spin, 4th – 6th grade will occupy their new building.
v. More play environments—indoor playgrounds and inflatable games
vi. More classes and a smaller teacher-child ratio means a richer environment for our kids and more opportunities for ministry teams and leaders.
c. Explore parking solutions
i. Challenges each of us to practice preferred parking (Romans 12:10)—park further away
ii. Acquisition of more property for parking and future development.
d. Begin strategic planning for campus expansion:
i. Kids 1st—Complete takeover of existing facilities with ample indoor and outdoor play areas—3rd space facility that can be used during the week by those in the community
ii. Next phase for adults: Connection Center with large common areas for café/coffee shop used as 3rd space throughout the week. Nursery facilities housed in that building. Beautiful courtyards for café/receptions, etc connecting buildings. 800 seat auditorium that could eventually be taken over by Revolve—moving them to the same property
iii. Future Sanctuary: 1200 seat, stadium seating (storage underneath seats)
e. Launch new campuses—reaching those we are not reaching now and providing a more convenient alternative to those driving from these areas now
i. Introduce CPG
ii. Add an Umbrella Name to our existing name that will allow each future campus to be connected—Many campuses, one church. We have always believed the church should be a gate-keeper for the city. Our mayor and city council proclaimed our location as “The gateway to the city”. Our vision has always been to be a place where the “Rich and Satisfying Life in Jesus” can be found. Therefore, we will become LIFEGATE Church at Mirror Lake. Each subsequent campus will be LIFEGATE Church at Bremen, Carrollton, Rockmart, Lagrange, etc.

So what must we do?
- Continue to be generous with our time, talent and resources
a. Many churches are struggling financially. Because of your faithfulness, we are solid financially.
b. Right now we need to generate the funds to create great environments for our kids.
c. We need to fund an additional parking area. We need to pray for favor in acquiring the land.
d. We need the fulfillment of our original agreements for connected roads and signs on Conners and Mirror Lake Blvd.
- If you are not involved yet, get on the bus
- If you are on the bus, get in the right seat
- Complete the Growth Track
- Join the Dream Team
- Keep inviting people to church
- Serve our community (Servolution groups)
- Stay focused, fired-up, praying and passionate
- There is real meaning to everything we do as the Body of Christ
- There is no unimportant task—everything matters and will change the world
- Protect our “community”. Love, Love, Love
- Be life-giving—March series

Isaiah 60:22 “The smallest family will become a thousand people, and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation. At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.”