Our Vision: Acts 29.

Changed by Christ - Changing Our World:
The Vision of Oak Pointe Church.

The greatest movements in human history did not succeed merely because of a great vision; rather, they succeeded because great vision was coupled with an unwavering resolve to see the vision through to fulfillment. Great vision must be met with equally great commitment to that vision.

God-honoring vision is not just “dreamed up” by a leader. Instead, God-honoring vision is rooted in the history of God’s ways with men. God has already given us a pattern, a blueprint, if you will, of what He wants to do through the Church.

So, we must first look back before we can truly look forward to cast vision. That is why our vision for Oak Pointe starts with looking back, retelling the amazing story of first century Christianity as found in the book of Acts. This story is the model for our vision. There seem to have been very few “spectator Christians” in that original group of Christians. Most of them were on the field, seeing the dream through in their lifetime.

I challenge you to live with us for something that will last for eternity, to participate with us fully in the achievement of this Acts 29 vision. I invite you to become an imitator of those first Christians, who brought all of life under the gaze of God, and who lived full-on and full-out for eternal purposes. Let’s follow in those courageous, Christ-honoring footsteps!

Bob Shirock
Senior Pastor

Over the next decade of our life as a church we are aiming to fully embody six core qualities, and we are aiming to achieve six key results.

Being: The Inward Character of an Acts 29 Church.

These six qualities are the foundation. We believe that when God sees those qualities animating our daily lives, in increasing measure, then He will move His mighty hand in our experience, in increasing measure.

1. Power.
   We must be a Spirit-empowered church. No movement of God succeeds by human strength. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 4:6). If we expect to shake our world, we will need to live out of the riches of His supernatural resources. We need to be people who “walk in the Spirit.”
2. Prayer.
   We must strive to be a praying church, seeking God’s face in genuine dependence. There is no other way to unleash the mighty hand of God than to seek Him in dependent prayer. Every great movement of God is born of prayer, bathed in prayer, sustained in prayer.
3. The Name.
   We must remain a Christ-enthralled church. The powerful activity of God the Father and the empowering work of God the Spirit are always centered on the exaltation of the name of God the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We must lift high His matchless name, keeping Him as the focus of our proclamation and our praise.
4. The Mission.
   Lost people must always be dear to our hearts! We must excel at being an outreach-oriented church, never losing sight of the mission. God’s heart is to seek and save the lost. That must remain the heartbeat of our mission. Never can we become ingrown; always we must look outwards to the lost sheep around us.
5. Community.
   We must be a “knit together” church, cultivating real spiritual family at all levels. Authentic Christianity is about relationships. We must continue to embrace people into life groups, so that everyone is truly cared for.
6. Sacrifice.
   We must cultivate a heart of sacrifice, the heart to lay it all on the line for the sake of Christ. God will use us to shake our world, if we offer our lives as living sacrifices to Him (Romans 12:1,2). He died for us. We must live for Him, full on and full out!

Doing: The Outward Results of an Acts 29 Church.

God used the first Christians to shake their world. Can He not do the same with us? In tangible terms, what might happen with Oak Pointe Church in the coming years if God moved powerfully among us, as He did with those first Christians in Acts? Here are six pictures of how we might turn our world upside down. Each of these six vision-pictures is connected to some physical or architectural aspect of our Atrium. We hope that when you see them, you will always be reminded of what we stand for as a Church.

1. The Fountain.
   Reaching out to the lost and leading them into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. The fountain in our atrium is also our baptism pool. This is where hundreds and hundreds of people will publicly declare their faith in Christ. This is our place of celebration where we will praise God as many lives are changed by Christ.
2. The Steps.
   New life in Christ is the starting point, but God wants His children to grow to spiritual maturity. Life groups are our primary growth environment. Other environments will also foster spiritual growth—mentoring, support and recovery groups, teaching of God’s truth through core classes and leadership training for the leaders of the future. Providing clear pathways toward maturity is central at OPC.
3. The Towel.
   Jesus set the example of serving by washing his disciples’ feet. Likewise, we must help believers discover and use their God-given gifts and abilities to serve others. We are all ministers (not just pastoral staff) and have a specific God-honoring role and purpose at OPC. If we all take up the towel and release our giftedness in ministries, we can turn our world upside down.
4. The Bridge.
   Jesus “went about doing good” and we also want to “do good” within our community. We can be healing agents for those who are burdened—listening and learning how we can, as a church, serve those around us. We must build bridges to the community, not walls, and show them that we love them and truly care about their lives. They will listen to our message when they feel our love.
5. The Arrows.
   The early church was not content to remain stationary. They always saturated an entire region with the gospel by planting new local churches in outlying areas. We have planted one church, Bell Creek, but expect God will call forth gifted leaders who will launch new churches. We hope to launch 5 new churches over the next 10 years.
6. The Window.
   Jesus commanded His followers to reach “the world”, and within one generation they did! We must seek to impact not just our immediate area, but also other nations through partnerships, such as we have with Zambia and Turkey. We must dream big and watch God move through us to help the wider world hear about Jesus Christ.