The vision is simple: to engage one% of Ontario. According to Ontario.ca there are 15 million people across Ontario. The prayer is that God would allow us to reach one%, 150,000 people, in the next ten years.
When we speak about engaging and reaching, we are asking the Lord to allow us to see Isaiah 61:1-4 come to life. Isaiah 61 says,
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind of the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. (NIV)
We long to see disciples of Jesus, anointed by the Holy Spirit. We long to see lives radically transformed—from broken hearts to healed and whole hearts, from captivity to freedom, from mourning to comfort and joy, from despair to praise. We long to see Jesus plant restored lives as a witness to the Lord’s greatness. We long to see radically changed lives rebuilding, restoring, and renewing other lives in our city.
This is the vision. To see 150,000 people living in the midst of Isaiah sixty-one.
This will happen in four ways…
1) Moving from ME to US -- When we realize no one person or one church can do this alone. This will only be possible when WE do this all together.
2) Taking Ownership of your Region -- The vision will only come to life when we move to an US mindset and take ownership of the region with one another. We must break the big down numbers to a regional size and collectively work as one.
3) When the Big Vision Impacts My Daily Life -- We must break the 150,000 down to my region, and even to where I live, work, and play. Our prayer is that our daily life of sharing and serving the city will be understood as directly linked to the big ten-year vision.
4) The vision will come to fruition through “Healthy Churches Everywhere for Everyone” -- Our family of churches will continue to pursue what it looks like to be a healthy church. We will also pursue churches of all kinds of people and all kinds of models in order to reach every man, woman, boy, and girl with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Don’t miss out on being a part of reaching one% of our amazing province. Join us!
