Today we come to the conclusion of our series on good news. The series "officially" concludes next week as the adult Sunday school class, using the Just Walk Across the Room curriculum, will discuss more about today’s topic, "Grander Vision Living." However, my hope and prayer is that the topics of this series—greater awareness of people around us, God’s love for them, God’s method of reaching them through us, and a greater intentionality in us to develop a natural way of sharing the good news of the gospel—are topics that will never conclude in our lives as Christians and as a church. With that hope…and prayer, let’s attend to God’s Word for us as it comes to us from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, chapter four, verses five and six. (Read passage)

First of all, let’s remind ourselves of where we’ve been. Let’s remind ourselves, because the goal is that these principles will become more than grand sounding ideas, they will become a lifestyle. The first week we were reminded that the gospel of Jesus Christ is, indeed, good news. It is the "greatest gift" we can give to someone. However, in order to give that greatest gift, us Christ-followers have to become willing to leave our circles of comfort and enter the "Zone of the Unknown." We must develop a greater awareness of people around us—especially people who are far from God—and take the risky steps of approach to meet them. We must become more attentive to the Spirit’s prompting on our hearts—to take those steps across a room, across a street, or whatever steps are involved. And then, we must step out in faith and just walk. We must do that if we are to give to someone the Greatest Gift there is to give.

Then, we learned what it means to live life in 3D. Upon entering the Zone of the Unknown, our initial goals are to develop friendships and discover stories. All the while we are doing that, we continue to listen to the Spirit’s prompting in order to discern appropriate next steps to take with someone. 3D living—develop friendships, discover stories, and discern appropriate next steps.

Then, last week, we were reminded of the power of story. The stories people will tell us have power in them. They are their stories about their lives. If we listen well—if we truly "show them that we care," the time will arrive when they will "care to learn more about what we know." We will have an open door opportunity to tell our stories—and to tell God’s story. We must learn to tell those stories well. We worked on that some just a few minutes ago in Sunday school. Stories are powerful. God has a story. You have a story. Learn to tell them well.

Now, today, we conclude with an invitation to live life with a grander vision. What is "Grander Vision Living?" The quote on the bulletin cover states it pretty well. At its core, Grander Vision Living means allowing other pursuits to fall away in order to focus on the priority that is nearest to the heart of God. And when you choose to pursue the Grander Vision, you will be partnering with God in the most magnificent mission imaginable: finding what’s lost, restoring what’s broken, and reclaiming what’s his. However, let’s be clear about what those grander pursuits are—what’s lost, what’s broken, what is God’s to claim—because we are easily confused in our society about that. In Grander Vision Living, the priority is PEOPLE. What is lost and God desires be found are people. What is broken and God desires be restored are people. And what God seeks to re-claim are people. The priority is people. And as we join in with Grander Vision Living and make people our priority, our focus is on POTENTIAL. Consider for a moment who you were in your "before Christ" picture. Was there anything in you that made you worthy of God’s love? Was that "before" picture the fulfillment of who you are as a follower of Christ? Of course not! All that you had to offer in your "before" picture was potential—the potential of what you might become with Jesus in your life.

Friends, the fact of the matter is that becoming a just-walk-across-the-room kind of person means your path is going to cross with some folks whose potential is difficult to see. You’re going to have to look at them with the discernment of God’s Spirit because the potential will be difficult to see. But, God sees it. Jesus calls a bunch of non-descript fishermen to become his disciples. He calls a tax collector—without a doubt the most hated and despised profession in his time—to come along, follow him and become his disciple. It wasn’t their greatness Jesus saw at the time when he called them. It was their potential. Grander Vision Living makes people the priority and focuses on their potential.

The only thing around us that has eternal worth is people. That is why people are the priority in Grander Vision Living. But, we are too easily led away from such a priority in our lives. What gets in the way of living with a grander vision—seeing the eternal worth of the people around us—is the lure of the temporary things in our lives. Think about how much time and energy we spend on temporary things. Good things, most of them, but temporary! For example: Dream House; Escalade; Golf; Shopping; Big screen TV; Sailboat; Vacation; Mattress; Broncos/Football; Yankees/Baseball. All TEMPORARY! The "grander vision" of Grander Vision Living is to put less focus and energy on temporary things and more on things of eternal worth…and that is people. And when we look at people, we look for the potential in them that God sees.

So, we are called in Grander Vision Living to start to view life—and the people around us—in a new way. Leaving our circles of comfort, entering the zone of the unknown, discovering the stories of people we might otherwise never have begun a conversation with—it all sounds a bit too much. But, that is where Christ’s heart is and that is where our hearts, as Christ-followers, ought to be too. It sounds a bit daunting. But, we must start to live a "grander vision" life. Start small, but start!

One area in which we can start is to become a more inviting church, a more inviting Christ-follower. Let me show you what I mean.

In our Inquirers’ classes, we ask the question, "How did you first hear about Shepherd of the Hills and decide to visit?" It’s interesting and informative to hear their answers. I compiled their responses from the last few classes. Here’s what they had to say.

Bells: 1

Church shopping: 2

Conversation w/member: 7

Drove by: 12

Family member is a member: 12

Internet: 2

Invited by a member: 4

Phonebook: 2

Presbyterian awareness: 3

What’s interesting—and disturbing about these responses is that surveys across the country reveal that the number one reason people identify for visiting a church for the first time is, by far, someone invited them. 80%! Yet our numbers, at best, are slightly less than 50%, and, at worst, where invitation was mentioned specifically, less than 10%. We simply have to do better than that. Not just for our future as a church, not even primarily for that. Rather, to reach people far from God with the good news of the gospel, to invite them into a relationship with Christ and to grow in that relationship through the ministries of Shepherd of the Hills. A part of becoming a walk-across-the-room kind of person is to become a more inviting person.

We seek to provide you such opportunities. This Saturday’s Super Bowl Breakfast is one. Men, do you have friendships with men who enjoy football? Here is a non-threatening, natural opportunity to invite someone to an event that lines up with their interest—football—and to hear people they’re familiar with—Bart Starr, Tony Dungy…the coach of one of the teams in this year’s Super Bowl—to hear such football greats share the importance of their relationship with Jesus Christ. Are there men you know for whom it would be a natural thing to invite them to join you for breakfast and, perhaps, introduce them to the good news found in Jesus Christ?

Alpha is another such opportunity. If you’re walking with someone, discovering their story and in doing so, discern that they are searching for meaning in life, Alpha is an easy invite. "You know, our church has a program that addresses the kind of questions you’re asking. Would you join me for dinner one evening and watch a short video about someone’s own search for meaning in life? If you’re interested in exploring some more, there are more meetings to do exactly that. If you’re not interested, that’s fine, I won’t bug you anymore about it." By the way, if you’re a little fuzzy about your own story and why the gospel is good news, Alpha is a good opportunity for you to review that as well. Alpha begins February 21^st. Consider joining us for Alpha this semester. Where appropriate, consider inviting someone you know to join you for Alpha.

In the process of becoming a walk-across-the-room kind of person, one begins to live with a grander vision—looking beyond the temporary things in life and focusing where God’s heart is…on people and their potential.

So, that is the challenge before us…to become a walk-across-the-room Christian, a walk-across-the-street neighbor, a walk-across-the-hallway employee and discover the great adventure of pursuing what is close to God’s heart—people. Will you accept the challenge? Start small…but start! Introduce yourself to a neighbor. Strike up a deeper conversation with a co-worker. Discover what their story is, all the while praying for the Spirit’s prompting for appropriate next steps to take. Review what it is about God’s story that is good news to you, creating your story in the journey with God’s good news. Then focus your time and energy on people and not temporary things. Start small…but start! Hey! It’s good news! Why don’t we share it with someone who needs it?