Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

Today’s message is going to be slightly different in presentation because usually as I present a message to you, it I am wanting to communicate a truth from scripture, always wanting to present a teaching, a doctrine of practical application. The message today is intended certainly for practical application and also is based completely in scripture. But the focus that I would like to take with you today is looking at the coming year as a church, what is our vision, our purpose, our direction? Where is it at the end of 1986 that by the leading of God, we as a congregation would want the Lord to be leading us? I think this is a very important question, and there is perhaps no more appropriate time than at the beginning of a new year to reflect upon that as a congregation, what is our vision for 1986?

It’s been said over and over, if you don’t know where you’re going, practically any road will get you there. And we do not, as a church, want to take any road to get just anywhere. Now, there are some Christians, I believe, that say a Christian really should not plan for the future. What we should do is wake up each day and simply ask the Lord, what do you want me to do today? And that is certainly a good principle and one that I follow of wanting to know, what should I do today, Lord? And I would encourage each of you in the beginning of each day to ask yourself, what does the Lord want you to do and how to use that span of 24 hours.

But if that is true for one day, it is also true for a week, or a month or a year. And it is appropriate for a church to ask the question, what is it that by God’s leading, we plan to do in this coming year? Now, the apostle Paul spent a great deal of time planning for the future. We read often of his plans to visit the church at Rome. He tells us that he planned to visit Thessalonica, that he made clear plans for the direction of his ministry. We know that Paul had his own plans that he prayerfully wanted to see completed, but also there were times when the Lord would not open up that door. And so he did not go to Rome because he was prevented by the Holy Spirit to go. But he still had a plan.

And as a church, I think it is good for us to have a plan for the coming year. In the air force, I learned the six p’s. Proper prior planning prevents poor performance. I’m glad I said it. And this is a helpful principle for the Church of Jesus Christ to be prepared for the coming year. Now, one of the most reflected on verses that talk about planning and a vision is taken from proverbs 20 918. In the King James version, this verse reads, where there is no vision, the people perish. In the new King James translation and also in the new international version, it reads like this. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

The truth of that verse is that as christians we are to learn the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by receiving that revelation, we are then to go in a plan with a vision, a purpose for our lives. Now we get a clearer picture of a vision or a revelation as you turn to one Samuel 31. Here we have a verse that uses the same word vision, but it helps us to understand exactly what a vision for the Lord is based upon. One Samuel, three one. Then the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation. In other words, the vision that was difficult to accomplish in the day of Samuel was based upon the fact that there was little presentation of the word of the Lord.

It was rare to hear anyone speak from God’s word a day that is similar to our own. Jesus gives a clearer picture of what it means to have a vision, a purpose, a plan. In John 1315 and 17, our text for this morning, Jesus says, I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. If were to overlay the understanding of proverbs 20 918, where there is no vision, the people perish, and were to place upon that the text of Jesus, that it is with the revelation of Christ, it is with the knowledge of Christ that we are to build a plan, that we are to have a vision.

I think we could say where there is no vision of Jesus Christ, where there is no following of the example of Jesus Christ, the people will perish. Now, that is true not only for individuals, but it is also true for a church. If the heart of Princeton Presbyterian church does not have as its primary vision to follow the example of Jesus Christ as a result of having received from him new life, if our desire as a congregation is not to follow his example, then we will perish. But if we will follow his example and his principles, then we will flourish. You can see all over our town, all over our county, examples of churches with buildings that were built in a past generation by faithful christians. You do not build first churches without the support of christians who love the Lord.

And the history of all of the churches in our community that would call themselves Christian is that certainly there was a time when there were people who prayed to the Lord. There was a time when those churches taught God’s word. There was a time when thermostat was not turned down at 12:00 on Sunday because they knew that people would return Sunday evening to worship the Lord. There was a time in these congregations, in our own community, when there was a burden, a concern for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who did not know him. There was a time when the churches in our own community, the chandeliers, were brightly burning on Wednesday evening as people came from around the community to pray and to present their petitions to the Lord.

It is very sad that as we look at our own community, to see that you must go a long way to even find a church that will teach the Bible that on Wednesday night there is few that would say, come and pray, that on Sunday evening there are fewer still who would say that the Sabbath is a holy day and that we join again together to close this day before the Lord. My greatest prayer and vision for Princeton Presbyterian Church is that as a congregation, we would never lose sight of Jesus Christ. His example, his example of being concerned for those who do not know him, his desire that we grow in our knowledge, in his word, his desire that we pray. These meetings are not just to fill a calendar.

If that is all that we are trying to do as a congregation, then we may as well close the doors now. But if we are gathering as God’s people in this community, then as God’s people, let us pray. Let us study his word. Let us share his gospel with people around us. As a church. Several years ago, we determined a purpose which was presented to the congregation, and I think it would be fitting for me to remind you of our purpose as a church. Our purpose. These are not in priority order. All of these are of equal importance. Our purpose, to worship the living God through his son Jesus Christ. To equip God’s people for works of service, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ through word and deed. Our first purpose, to worship the living God through his son Jesus Christ.

I sinrely believe that the greatest art form of mankind is to learn how to worship the Lord, and as christians, that we would learn and continue in our knowledge of the worship of the Lord. Perhaps one of the greatest disciplines that a Christian is called upon to do is to truly learn to worship the Lord not only corporately on Sunday, but throughout the rest of the week. Habakkuk 220 reminds us, the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. Jesus says in John 423, the hour comes, and now is when true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth. Sometimes worship becomes casual. Sometimes we would say, I don’t feel like going to church today. I have had a very busy week. I am under a lot of pressure.

I would have liked to go to worship the Lord, but I just couldn’t do it. And that is casual worship. It is taking the things of the Lord. Incidentally, I think that as a congregation we should be reminded in Hebrews 10:25, do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. That part of the privilege of being a Christian is that our sense of worship would be greater and heightened. And so, over this coming year, I would encourage you as a congregation, as followers of Jesus Christ, to see the morning corporate worship as an appointment that if you were to place on your own calendar, an appointment, and you know that you must be there, that this is an appointment with your heavenly Father. And to come late, to come nonchalantly or not to come at all has an effect upon God’s people.

But more important, it is the Lord’s desire that we would not forsake the assembling. Come early to church. Bring your bible. Pray on Saturday evening, that the Lord would use this service for his glory. If you have difficulty with family on Sunday morning, then set the breakfast table on Saturday night. Lay out the clothing in preparation for the Sabbath. Pray that the Lord would use the worship service to encourage and strengthen God’s people. There are some of you that I would encourage to become members of the church. Membership is important. It is important for this reason that, as you would say, I want to be a member of this church. You are saying, I want to establish formally a tie of responsibility. I want to be accountable. And as a person would come and say, I want to be a member of this church.

The session of the church takes that very seriously. And we have a responsibility to encourage you in your walk with Christ. But until you would become a member, then you are a friend, an acquaintance. And because there is no formal tie, it is inappropriate for someone to come and to say that you were missed, or we would like to have had you present. Because you have said by your lack of membership, of formalizing, that I would like to stay at a distance. So I would encourage those of you who are not members, to consider more seriously what it means to be a member of the church. And as it will be of great strength to you in your walk with the Lord, it is also a strength to the church.

Let me ask, as you look at this coming year, how is the church in your own home? Deuteronomy 1118 and 19, therefore shall ye by these words in your heart and in your soul, and ye shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house. Do you know 150 years ago, when the Sunday school program was begun, its intent was for nonchristians? The Sunday school program began as an evangelistic tool to draw people to the church. As a matter of fact, those parents who were strongly Christian would not send their children to Sunday school. Why? Because they saw that their primary responsibility was to train their children in the things of the Lord at home.

Over the course of a century and a half, the Sunday school has replaced, in many cases, religious instruction that ought to be occurring in the home. When was the last time that your children, your wife, your husband, heard you pray out loud? I was talking to one man who said he had never once in all of his life heard his father pray. How is the church in your house? My vision for this congregation is that we would have homes where there is a place of worship of the Lord, not in a formal sense, but in a very real sense, where the things of the Lord are discussed, where there is prayer, where there is a concern for instructing our children. As has been mentioned, the church is not a building.

And yet in our culture, it is difficult for a church to accomplish some of its tasks without a building. Over the past year, we have been in the process of securing property on Meadow Road, and I think that is appropriate for a congregation. Solomon spent years building the temple of the Lord, and people came to that building to worship the Lord. The Lord certainly does not need a building to be worshipped in. But in our culture, in the setting in which we live without a building, there are many who would not come to a church simply because it meets in an auditorium. My vision for the coming year is that as a congregation, we would continue in the process not only of securing property, but of tangibly looking towards the building.

Do you realize that if over and above the giving that is occurring now, if 60 individuals were to commit $100 a month, that we could be in our own building as soon as a builder could put it up? Over and above what is happening now, if 60 people were to give $100 a month, it’s within our reach. I think as a congregation that we should be in prayer for the Lord’s supplying of this great need. A building will allow us expanded ministry in this community. Our second purpose as a congregation is to equip God’s people for works of service. One of the last words of Jesus was that we should go and make disciples of all nations. Christians are called upon to be disciple makers. How many people over the past year have grown in their spiritual walk because of you?

Part of the reason that some are not sharing the gospel and teaching others how to grow in their knowledge is because we simply feel ill equipped. We don’t know what we would exactly say or how we would go about helping someone to put their trust in Christ or to grow in their knowledge of Christ. And that is one of the reasons that over the next month, beginning in February, we will begin a ten-week discipleship class.

And during that time, we will be focusing on helping you to be equipped to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, to become familiar with important passages of scripture, so that you can have Bible studies in your home and with others, one or corporately, and that you would know and develop the spiritual gift that the Lord has for you, that you might grow in your knowledge of the Lord. There is a christian worldview, and part of my responsibility as a pastor is not only to share with you biblical truth. And that is the reason that the activities of our church are saturated in Bible study. The assumption is this.

If you are serious about wanting to grow in your knowledge of Jesus Christ, there is ample opportunity, not only within this congregation, but within our community, of learning God’s word, the content of God’s word. We have Sunday school that focuses upon Bible study. We have Sunday evening Bible studies. Throughout the course of the week, I have a half a dozen different Bible studies meeting with small groups here and there in the community, to say nothing of one one Bible studies. I would encourage you in this coming year to personally become acquainted and continue your knowledge of God’s word.

But as a minister, I have a responsibility to you as a congregation, and that is to take the Bible studies that you have been part of throughout the week and through Sunday school and Sunday evening and through a Sunday morning focus of a sermon to be able to share with you some aspect of the worldview that is a result of the Bible that you have been studying throughout the week and through the various programs of this church. And so in February, I am going to begin a 17 week sermon series that will focus upon the christian worldview that will be steeped in scripture. And I believe that this will be a very important series, one that I hope that you will come and take very seriously the pieces that will be set in place.

As for 17 weeks, we will look at the various foundational teachings of God’s word. If you’re going to a seminary, it is highly unlikely that you are being taught a systematic understanding of God’s word. It is highly unlikely as a Christian that from a casual reading of God’s word that you are understanding the worldview that is being taught from genesis to revelation. And that is a focus that we will be putting a great deal of attention on in coming months. Our third purpose as a church is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ through both our words and deeds.

And so over this coming year, in every situation, in every circumstance, where there is opportunity to share the gospel of Christ, whether it is in Sunday morning, to share about the grace that Christ has given by his death upon the cross and his resurrection, and by faith that we would put our trust in him, and that this gift is open to anyone who would receive. That message will continue to be the focus of the invitation for anyone who would receive Christ. And if we are going to a basketball game, we are not going just simply to have a night out.

The purpose is that you would be inviting to that activity a friend, a neighbor, a son, a daughter, a child from the community who may not understand Christ, has never set foot in a church, but might be willing to go to a basketball game or take a hayride and be with other Christians. And for them, that will be the first half step of coming to an understanding of Christ. And so I would hope that as you would hear different events that we would be planning for this coming year, that you would be thinking to yourself, not so much. Well, I don’t want to go because I don’t like basketball. But you would be thinking to yourself, who can I invite to be with Christians in a setting where they might be introduced to christian men and women?

Also, this past year we have been on two radio stations which simply has edited this morning message and shared it on several different radio stations. We are glad for the impact, and there are many people who are benefiting from the ministry of this church because of radio. And the letters that we receive and the calls are a very clear indication that the Lord is using that ministry to expand the proclamation of the gospel beyond the walls of Sunday morning. And in this coming year, we have over the last six months been working on some technical difficulties which have been straightened out. And Lord willing, this winter we will beginning a local cable Bible teaching program that will be heard in the 5000 homes in Princeton. And I hope that you’ll be in prayer for that.

That the Lord would use this vehicle for the sharing of his word. Over this coming year, we will continue to support missions and as opportunity lends itself, to be able to present various missionaries who are in the field or preparing to go. Also as a church, we have not only a responsibility of proclaiming the gospel of Christ but also at those points of greatest conflict where the culture has taken over and in a sense destroyed Christian response to some of the great tragedies that are happening in our time. I speak especially of abortion. That as a church that we would in every way speak about the things that are precious to the Lord in the sanctity of life.

I believe that when our generation is long gone and we have applauded ourselves because of our great accomplishment in economics or education, that the thing that our generation will be remembered for is that it was in that generation that multiple millions of babies were aborted. And so I pray that as a congregation we would speak a word of concern and the word of Christ about the sanctity of all human beings. And also it is our privilege as a church, as we read the example in scripture, where once the church was established, they went on to the next town and began another church. And then they went on to another town and began another.

It is our privilege to see over the last several months the beginning of another new church as a result of the base that has been presented here in our church through our presbytery and through our denomination as worth and Sandy Carson would be involved in the establishment of another Presbyterian church with the similar understanding of the gospel. And I pray for God’s richest blessing upon that ministry. And in this coming year that we would have a vision for sharing the gospel in the next town to the end, that Jesus Christ’s name would be shared around the world. I believe it’s good for us to reflect upon the coming year and to have a plan, to have a vision and to know that it’s Christ who will go before us. That it is Christ who will stand beside us.

That it is Jesus Christ who will teach us. It was Jesus Christ who will build us. And in the end, it is Jesus Christ who will accomplish his work through his church, through people like you and me. I pray that he would use this plan, this vision for the coming year and that each of us would find our place of ministry and grow in that ministry to the end that Christ would be honored. Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we thank you for the privilege of this new year, and we pray that you would watch over us as a congregation, that you would be with our plans, that you would breathe upon us. Help us, Lord, to continue to worship you in truth through Jesus Christ. Help us to become equipped for the ministry that you have given to each of us.

And Father, help us as we would proclaim the message of Jesus Christ to a world that is longing to hear about him. Help us to be used by you. We pray these things in Jesus’s name. Amen.

Thank you for listening to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. That’s Princeton Ministries Post Office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. The Lord bless you and Dr. Smith looks forward to hearing from you. We would like to thank Rone’s web development company for making this webcast possible. You can find their link at the bottom of our website, princetonministries.org.