Be very careful to understand that a vision statement of this or any other kind is NOT a set of rules. Where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty and oneness is not achieved by a set of dogma or regulations. There is only one ecclesia and if God our Father puts you in His family no man written rules can keep you out. EVERYONE has access to the Father God. EVERYONE with no exceptions.
This is the vision and the heartfelt desire of those who have joined together in fellowship to be the local Christian ecclesia known as, ………………………….. It is written to encourage us all to move in harmonytowards the greater goal so clearly brought by Paul the Apostle:
“I have not been disobedient to the heavenly vision” Acts. 26:19.
It is our vision that the members of this local ecclesia be faithful in assembling themselves together for worship, fellowship, counsel and instruction in the Word of God and for the exercise of those spiritual gifts and offices set forth in the New Testament.
We expect that God will confirm His Word to us by signs, wonders and miracles.
We look forward in faith to the day when a great fellowship will be established of autonomous local ecclesia in every land and every nation, each being planted as an outworking of the great commission.
The outline that follows gives a simple explanation of how a local ecclesia desires to implement the heavenly vision. This is not a universally held viewpoint there are many differences of opinion on the detail. See the extensive version for Scriptural references to the views expressed here!
It is our vision and desire that:-
1. We obey and earnestly desire to fulfil the great commission Jesus Christ gave to the ecclesia.
(Mat 28:18-20 NIV) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
2. The Gospel of Christ spreads to the four corners of the earth. First in ………….., then to outlying areas, then in fellowship with other sister ecclesia to every country of the earth.
3. We fulfil the commandment of the Jesus, that we should love one another as He loves us.
4. The local ecclesia be “a people called out and assembled together that they might become an organism … a communion of the Body of Christ.
5. There be established in every place, as the Holy Spirit directs, autonomous, self-governing, local ecclesia.
6. There be no division into clergy and laity, but all will serve wholeheartedly as the royal priesthood of our God.
7. The local ecclesia be a prophetic community after the Bible pattern. It is to fulfil all the needs of the whole man, body, soul and spirit.
8. The gospel of Christ, being the good news of the Kingdom of God will cover the earth with the glory of God.
9. Every Christian will live their life as a time wholeheartedly and fully devoted to the will of God.
10. The planning of the ecclesia will not be after man’s ideas but in accord with the pattern laid down in the Scriptures.
11. That the people of God will live in harmony, and we see fulfilled in the ecclesia the prayer of Jesus our Lord. He asked that we be one. Not union but oneness.
12. As with any healthy body, authority, as a blessing of God will flow from Jesus Christ the head by the Holy Spirit. God will raise up leaders from within the local ecclesia to mentorthe saints as they grow towards maturity.
13. The local ecclesia is to be an example of the Body of Christ fitly framed together. The pattern of a building, where every stone finds its place is to exemplify the teamwork in love of every local
ecclesia.
14. Each and every local ecclesia rests in the hand of the Lord. He will provide all the needs, be they spiritual, material or financial.
15, From the individual local ecclesia will come the birth of new local ecclesia. Growth spiritually involves “planting” new ecclesia.
16. A giving and sharing spirit is one of the primary callings of a Christ like life.
17. The commission of the ecclesia includes teaching all saints the full message of the whole Word of God.
18. The ecclesia, who are the people of God, and upon whom He has placed His name, provides safety and blessing for the righteous.
A vision for a Ecclesia is in Christian terms related to faith. It is the heart’s picture of the evidence of things not seen. It seeks to show forth the expectation of the Ecclesia. Through its beauty we seek to have revealed to our spirits a picture of His glorious Ecclesia without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. It seeks to be an outworking in our hearts of the path of the just, which as a shining light shines more and more unto that perfect day.