2017 Vision Casting

Pastor Lionel shared these for Vision Casting 2017.

1. 2016 Thanksgiving Highlights

  • He spoke about the 2016 Emphases – 1. Encountering God’s Love and 2. Doing Church as a Family
  • The leadership succession plan is in place and in progress.
  • Missions: 50 trips, 586 participants / 3045 salvation decisions / 613 recorded healings
  • Living The Gospel (LTG) Seminar: 500+ participants (English Adult) and 22 leaders (Chinese)
  • Hunger for the Word: Launch of Precept Ministry – 7 courses with 553 participants.
  • Growing in Outreach: Glorious Blessings Outreach had 1700 people came. Megalife’s Love Walk and their Evangelistic Events had more than 100 newcomers.
  • Pastor Lionel also shared about Thanksgiving items: Service Attendance for 2016 saw an average of 2720 with 210 salvation decisions. The Church has also been generous in their giving, and the surplus each year is placed in an account to be used when the land lease ends in 21 years.

2. Who we are 

  • Our DNA – 1. Word and Spirit Church 2. Cell Church 3. Family oriented 4. Missional church

3. Our Vision:

  • A vibrant family where sons and daughters mature and reveal the Father’s glory from generation to generation
  • 4 things God desires us to do:

A vibrant family               

Growing in relationships

Maturing sons and daughters

Growing in discipleship

Revealing the Father’s glory

Growing in our Missional Call

From generation to generation

Growing stronger with each succeeding generation


Pastor Lionel shared about how the Church in New Zealand was fervent for the Lord and missionaries were sent forth to the nations. However, the Church began to deteriorate as she began to be inward-looking, and pastors stepping down due to immorality. He exhorted the adults the importance to steward our young people and help them grow in godliness.

4. 2017 Goals and Objectives

Pastor Lionel also shared about the various goals for the church and shared the importance of prioritizing.

 

Long Term

  • Walking in the fullness of our missional call
  • Growing stronger with each succeeding generation

Mid Term

  • Establishing a relational discipleship culture

Short Term

(2017)

  • Growing closer to God
  • Growing closer to one another

 

  • The two goals: growing closer to God and growing closer to one another are a continuation from 2016’s goals.
  • Growing closer to God means to engage with God daily and obey the Holy Spirit’s prompting.
  • Growing closer to others means growing closer as a church and in our homes.
  • This means that RiverLife will:
  1. Focus less on big events, and more on relationship building and mentoring in smaller groups.
  2. Prioritise spending time with lay leaders and members.
  3. Work with Pastor Ben KC Lee to lay a comprehensive discipleship road map and state that it is good to ask others who have experience for help so as to refine our processes without the need to “reinvent the wheel”.

5. Pulpit Themes for 2017

Pastor Lionel also shared about the Pulpit themes for 2017 and that Pastor John Koe and Pastor Ben KC Lee will be the church’s advisors. He then shared about his own journey of God leading him back to the central leadership of RiverLife Church. He mentioned about his lack of stage presence and dislike for public speaking. However, he believed that the strength and wisdom of God is beyond his own and asked God to give him godly people to supplement him with what he did not have.

He has taken up the position because he saw a glimpse of what RiverLife church could be (His vision statement). He shared that God has a destiny for RiverLife Church and we are part of it.

In closing, he said:

  • It is important to build structures that can hold what God wishes to bless us with – cells to have life and growing disciples. Building the structure is laborious and there is no fanfare, still it is important as this structure enables us to hold and move forward when God gives us the growth.
  • To read the bible passage on the church at Laodicea. He shared that there is a danger of us becoming lukewarm if we continue where we are at. He asked us to examine ourselves - whether we have been passionate for God and the things of God, or have we been crowded out by many things (Numbers 23:19 ESV, Rev 3:20). He encouraged us to:
  1. Submit ourselves to the Lord once again
  2. Align ourselves to church vision and direction - "We can only go somewhere if we go together."

Discussion Questions

1. Share one of your highlights for 2016 with the cell group. [10 min]

2. The goal for 2017 is “Growing closer to God, and growing closer to one another”. Share how this would look like for you and as a cell family. [10 min]

3. Read Revelation 3:14-22 on the Church in Laodicea.  What are possible things that could crowd God out of our lives? [10 min]

4. What is an area that you would like to commit to the Lord in your personal life and align it with RIverLife Church?  [10 min]