People who don’t have vision hurt themselves because they stop when they experience pain. Vision allows you to persist through pain because vision sees where it is going. Vision sees the finish line, which causes the pain to submit to the greater cause.

There is a difference between vision and focus. Vision is the inspiration part. Focus is the discipline part. Vision makes things clear. Focus makes things practical.

We can engage in missions by (1) investigating the place or people that interest us, (2) educating others as to why meeting a need is strategic, (3) stimulating others as to why this is critical to the heart of God, your church, and the people you are reaching out to, (4) creating an opportunity to do something, and (5) celebrating what is happening through your engagement.

In all things, when you obey God, there is a reciprocal blessing and benefit. The benefits of working with other local churches in missions are that you are more effective, influential, and able to develop people. As a local church, if you are not involved in missions with other churches, you can’t be as healthy as God designed you to be.

Missions is about relationship, not just giving money. Missionaries are often the most neglected people in the body of Christ. It is essential when we take on missions that we take on caring for that person, as well.

Missions are not an addendum to Church life. God so loved THE world. Not just the world in our sphere, but the world as He sees it. Any endeavor in Church life has to be connected to God’s ultimate intention, and that is that everyone should hear the Gospel and see the Gospel displayed.

Ministry is a privilege. That perspective changes everything. In the grand scheme of things, leadership does seem on a temporal level to be sacrificial, but the reality is that you are getting the best deal of your life. The reward you get for the investment is the greatest thing!

Are you promoting a trustworthy culture? As leaders, we can teach people to be trustworthy, help them to understand the value of trust, teach them how to build trusting relationships and how to disagree without being disagreeable. If we don’t do those things, trust won’t be part of our culture and people will end up not trusting us.