Sermon Tone Analysis

*Without A Vision The People Perish* by Mike Hays \\ \\ Proverbs 29:18-18 \\ \\ Without A Vision The People Perish \\ Proverbs 29:18 \\ \\ I was in Denver for four days last week.

I wasn't there on vacation or for sightseeing, even though I did see some awesome sights like the snow-capped Rocky Mountains at the end of July.

I will never understand how that can happen no matter how many times I see it!

\\ \\ I went to Denver for four days for a special project I have been asked to participate in and to attend the General Assembly of our church.

You need to know something about me when I go on trips.

I talk to everyone who will stand still long enough for me to strike up a conversation with them.

I have found over the years, as I have had the opportunity to travel and speak, that there are incredibly interesting people all around us.

I have also found that the Lord will speak to me powerfully through some of these folks if I will only stand still long enough to listen.

Let me give you an example.

\\ \\ On Sunday morning I was sitting on the sofa in the lobby of the Ramada Inn waiting for an airport shuttle to take me to Denver International Airport.

An elderly couple came into the lobby after they got off the elevator.

I noticed that the man had a long cane that he was using to find his way around the lobby and that she was at his side to give him assistance.

They made their way over to the sofa and sat down beside me.

I introduced myself and asked where they were from.

The lady said they were from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Their names were Eunice and Gerald Frederick and I found out that they were in Denver for a conference on reaching the blind for Christ.

Eunice had a Bible in her hands and I asked if they were going to church.

She told me their nephew was a minister and that he was coming to get them so they could attend his church while they were in Denver.

At one point in the conversation I asked Gerald, "How long have you been blind?"

Eunice said, "My husband was born blind and I am legally blind, but the Lord has been so good to us.

God has His purpose for everything and we know that we are experiencing all of this so that we can share His love with others who are blind."

Gerald leaned over, looked my direction, and said, "I was born blind, but I believe that I can see better than a lot of folks who have their sight.

The Bible says, 'The things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are eternal.'

God has allowed me to see things that eyes can't begin to see!" (2 Corinthians 4:18) \\ \\ Gerald's words jumped out at me and grabbed me by the throat!

I sensed in my spirit that something significant had just taken place and that I needed to pray about what Gerald had said.

I thought about his words all the way home on the plane and I have not been able to escape those powerful words since.

I met a 70+ year old man who has every excuse under the sun to just sit back and wait for life to pass him by, but God has given him a vision to reach those who lack sight for the Kingdom of God! \\ \\ Helen Keller, probably the most recognized blind person who has ever lived, once said, "What would be worse than being born blind?

To have sight without vision."

I am convinced that the vast majority of our population today has no vision for their lives, their families, or their church.

I am also convinced that there is not a single person who has ever committed themselves to serving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior whom God did not desire to give a glorious and gigantic vision of what could be, if we will only pursue His heart.

\\ \\ I want us to spend our time today focusing on "vision" 1) What does it mean to have a vision from God? 2) How do we get a vision from God? 3) Once God gives us a vision -- then what?

After we make our way through these important questions I want to share with you the vision God has given me for this church.

I am excited about what God has done in the past at Britton Christian Church.

I am also excited about what He is presently doing at this church.

I am most excited about what I see God purposing to do through you and me and others who are yet to come in the future!

God has an incredible future planned for this little church if we will only pursue His vision for us.

\\ \\ The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18 "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." (KJV Proverbs 29:18) The word "vision" is translated in different ways in varying translations of God's Word, but the Hebrew word means, "vision, oracle, or divine communication."

When we talk about a vision or "divine communication," the indication is that the object, the vision itself, will be something other than what is within our grasp on our own.

Let me give you an example.

\\ \\ Esther is one of the most prominent women in the entire Bible.

God used her to save His people from the evil plans of Haman.

Haman was a powerful man in Babylon and he had it in for the Jews, he wanted to kill every Jew in Babylon.

\\ \\ Many people recognize the name of Esther, but few recognize the name of Mordecai.

Mordecai was the older cousin of Esther, but he had actually raised her because she was an orphan.

These were hard times for the Jews.

They were not in their homeland, they were captives of the Babylonians under King Xerxes.

\\ \\ Through a strange turn of events King Xerxes had set out to look for a new Queen.

He was going to search the land to find the most beautiful woman whom he could call his own.

Esther was chosen as one of the finalist for the job and when Mordecai found out he told her not to tell the King that she was a Jew.

\\ \\ While Esther was strolling down the runway along with the rest of the contestants for the King, Mordecai was refusing to bow down to Haman.

The rest of the Jewish leaders were submitting to this foreign leader and Mordecai's refusal to bow incensed Haman.

Haman became so infuriated that he plotted to kill the Jews.

\\ \\ Esther was chosen as the Queen for Xerxes.

At about the same time Mordecai learned that Haman had a plan that he was determined to see through.

The plan was for the complete annihilation of the Jewish people.

Haman went to the King and convinced him that the Jews were not to be tolerated, that they were undermining the best interests of the country.

Xerxes gave Haman permission to do with them whatever he desired to do.

We all know what that meant.

\\ \\ Mordecai didn't give up simply because some King had given his permission to obliterate the Jewish people.

Mordecai had a vision.

He knew God was bigger than any King!

Mordecai had a plan.

\\ \\ Mordecai knew that Esther had the King's ear and when he learned of the edict being sent out he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the streets to mourn loudly.

He drew so much attention that Esther heard he was distressed.

She sent one of her servants to find out what was going on and he returned to her and reported the planned slaughter of the Jews.

Esther must have had an idea of what Mordecai wanted her to do because she sent word to Mordecai.

The word was as follows, \\ \\ All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death.

The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life.

But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.

(Est 4:11 NIV) \\ \\ Esther, the apple of the King's eye, the Queen of the entire nation, finds her palms begin to sweat, her heart begin to race, and her mind wondering how she ever got herself into this mess.

She knew Mordecai wanted her to go to the King, but she knew the law said that she could be killed if she did such a thing.

\\ \\ Esther was a woman of limited vision, and that is being kind.

Mordecai sent word back to Esther.

He said, \\ \\ {13} ..."Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape.

{14} For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish.

And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Est 4:12-14 NIV) \\ \\ Oh, I love a man of vision!

Oh how I love someone, anyone who will dare to trust God enough to say "Yes!" to the impossible!

Mordecai says, "Even if you chicken out and try to save your own neck God is still going to act!"

He doesn't stop with reminding Esther of God's power to save the Jewish people despite her -- he plants a vision in her heart of what God might be purposing to do through her.

Mordecai says, "And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" Mordecai planted the seed of greatness in Ester's heart and she bought into the vision even though she was scared to death.

Esther sends word back to Mordecai that shows us how apprehensive she really was.

Esther says, "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me.

Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.

I and my maids will fast as you do.

When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law.

And if I perish, I perish."

(Est 4:16 NIV) \\ \\ Esther was uncertain of what would happen.

She had never been in a situation like that before (and I bet she was praying that she wouldn't ever have to go through something like it again!)

The Jews prayed, Esther was obedient, God worked on the heart of the King, the Jewish people were spared, and Haman was hung on the gallows that he had had built for the Jews.

When God gives someone a vision and the courage to pursue it, He will always bring it into reality...always!

\\ \\ Mordecai had a vision from God that was totally absurd.

He had no power in a foreign land, but he served the Lord of every land, the King of all creation!

\\ \\ There is a reason why God's people have visions that burn within them.

The reason is this: God is a God of vision.

Paul said in Romans, "...The God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

(Rom 4:17 NIV) God was calling Abraham the Father of many nations before he had ever heard of Toys R Us or even made a single trip to the OBGYN with Sarah!

God saw a King in a shepherd boy! God saw within a young virgin what it would take to be the mother of the Savior of the world!

What a mighty God we serve!

\\ \\ The same God who saw all of these things in those of old sees in you and me what no other can see, and He wants to give you a vision for your life, your family, and your part in this church.

Let's take a look at those important questions I referred to in the beginning of our time together.