Peter Tan-Chi - Vision
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today we will continue the Motivate series. 8 secrets to influencing loved ones, children, friends for long-term change. Let's do a quick review. M: Modeling. O: Open Communication. T: Time. I: Intimacy. Today we will discuss V: Vision. What are the principles of Vision? Vision provides direction. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no vision, the people become wild". What does it mean? The root of the word vision comes from the root of the word revelation. Vision is a revelation of God's will, God's command, God's word.
So without a vision, the people will perish. What does the word perish mean? In some translations it is said that the people became uncontrolled, the people became wild, there were no boundaries. They don't know which one is right, which one is wrong. So vision is very important. Because vision gives us direction. Let me explain. Vision and mission are very closely related. Mission tells us what we should do. A vision is an image, from the word video, a mental picture of what happens if we pursue our mission.
In Matthew 28, Jesus said to His disciples. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations". This is his mission, to go and make disciples, And then He tells us how you go and make disciples. Look at the next verse: "And teach them to observe everything that I have commanded you". So part of our mission in making disciples is to teach them obedience. Once we do that, what happens? Vision tells us, you will see the world change. The Bible gives us a picture in Revelation 7:9. I'll read it. "Then I saw: behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from all nations and tribes and peoples and languages, stood before the throne and before the Lamb".
The Bible says God gave His disciples a vision of what would happen one day. People of all languages and tribes... A great multitude of people whose multitudes cannot be counted. That is God's vision. How do we complete God's vision? Carry out His mission today. I was reminded of the importance of vision. We have leaders who come from broken homes. His father was a drunkard, liked to play with women, was involved in gambling and drugs. While growing up, when he got married, his own family fell apart. His marriage fell apart. His life is a mess. He became a drunkard, drug addict, womanizer. When he was sick and tired of his life, his wife, slowly but surely influenced him, and he met Jesus. When he met Jesus, God gave him a vision of what a family should be like. God gave him a vision of what his life could be like.
And I am happy to tell you, our brother, by God's grace, is now a leader and pastor. He doesn't let his past paralyze him. God gave him a vision of the future, how should life be, how to live in Christ, Today, he is one of our leaders, especially in helping to disciple young people, disciple families. God is amazing. According to Helen Keller, the only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. Is there anything worse than not having a vision? Well, I will warn you. That is having the wrong vision. What do I mean by wrong vision? When your vision is only about yourself. When your only vision is about materialism, about your own family? The end result is emptiness, hopelessness. You know that the Bible describes life like that.
This is found in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 2:8-11, which talks about a man who was very successful, he gained power, he acquired property, he had everything. I will read you the story of this man. Verse 8: "I gathered for myself also silver and gold, the treasures of kings and regions. I sought for me singers and female singers, and who pleased the children of men, namely many concubines". For many people, that is the vision of life. Lots of money, eating, drinking, having fun, enjoying life, enjoyment of life, that's his vision. What happened? If you look at verse 11, this is what he says: "When I examined all the work that my hands had done and all the labor that I had put into it with toil, behold, everything was vanity and a striving after the wind; indeed there was no profit under the sun".
He talks about his life as trying to catch the wind, catching the wind. How can you hold the wind? It feels empty. In verse 17, he talks about his personal feelings. How he hated life. he talked about the work he did as very troublesome. "I hate all the effort I put into it". You see? When he could still achieve his worldly goals, all his visions, what happened? He said: "I hate all the labor I labor under the sun, because I must leave it to those who come after me. And who knows whether a person is wise or foolish? Nevertheless he will rule over all the efforts I do under the sun with toil and by using wisdom. This is also in vain. Thus I began to despair of all the efforts I had made by toiling under the sun".
If your vision in life is about materialism, worldly success. The result is despair. Emptiness. What is the main difference between a God-centered vision and a God-centered vision in man? A man-centered vision is about himself, his own plans, all temporary. But a God-centered vision is about God's plan, God's mission, and most importantly, it will help most people. This is a fulfilled life, a life full of joy. Do you know what God's vision is for your life? Have you ever thought about it? The greater the motivation and willingness to sacrifice to sacrifice. God wants you to know His vision for your life.
Ephesians 2:8-10. We are familiar with these verses but we don't see the connection. Pay attention to the order. God's vision for us. Number one. "For by grace you have been saved through faith". This is about safety. God wants us to know that what matters most is how we are saved. Saved by faith. Note that this is "not the result of your efforts, but the gift of God". The Bible is very clear. Salvation is a gift. "This is not the result of your works: let no one boast". God wants us to know His vision for us, His plan for us is that we will be saved. We will know Him, we won't have to fear death, we won't have to fear hell. Because He promises us salvation by grace through faith. But once you understand salvation, He wants you to know the next step. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works".
Take note. We are His creation. Impressive handcrafted masterpiece. In Greek "Poema". Poem (poetry). You are unique. You are second to none. God says "I have been thinking about you, you are special and I have big plans for you". What is God's plan for us? "To do good works, which God prepared beforehand. He wants us to live in them". God has planned something for us. Your and my mission is to find out what God's amazing plan, amazing vision is for your and my life.
Do you remember what Mark Twain said about the two most important days of your life? Your day is born. And the day you find out why you were born. Can I tell you something, for followers of Jesus, you have three important days in your life. What are these three important days in your life? The day you were born, Praise God! The day you are born again, that is the day you begin to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. And thirdly, the day you understand why you were born again into God's family. You need to find out why God gave you eternal life. What is His purpose for your life? This will not happen until you encounter and know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
This is what happened to the Apostle Paul. In Acts 26:16-18, you will learn about Paul's life. Paul at one time, was strongly opposed to Christianity. He was very much against Christ. His vision in life was to destroy Christians. But watch what happens. The Bible tells us on the road to Damascus, he met Jesus, by grace Jesus appeared to Paul. And this is what happened, God said to the Apostle Paul: "But now get up and stand. I appeared to you to appoint you as servants and witnesses of everything you have seen from Me and of what I will show you later". God has a purpose. God has a plan. And God said, I will appoint you as servants and witnesses. We will all be like that, a servant of God, a servant and we must be witnesses. But also notice something: "I will exile you from this nation and from other nations".
In other words, God's vision is often, perhaps difficult, but once you understand the greatness of God's vision, you are able to endure, you are able to persevere. The word save implies that there will be danger, there will be difficulties. So what will keep you going. What kept the apostle Paul going, despite many problems? An extraordinary vision from God. Look at verse 16: "...about everything you have seen of Me and about what I will show you later".
God gave Paul an extraordinary vision. To show him the greatness of His calling. To help open the eyes of the spiritually blind, so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. You and I were given that privilege. What is more valuable than the eternal souls of men and women? And the most important thing is to obtain forgiveness of sins. And not only to obtain forgiveness of sins but to share in what is appointed for those who are sanctified in faith. God gives us extraordinary promises, a share/inheritance that money cannot buy, that is priceless. Once you understand God's vision, what He wants to do in your life, through your life, the direction of your life will become an incredible inspiration.
You will see God's vision of mission for Paul as He told the early church in Acts 1:8: "You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth". In Acts 26, Paul continues to preach in Jerusalem, in Judea and to the Gentiles. Paul saw this vision clearly in his mind, that one day "at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and every tongue confess: Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God Father". I wonder, do you have that vision in your mind that the day will come. No matter what your religion, no matter whether you are rich or poor, no matter the color of your skin, every knee will bow and every tongue confess to Our Lord Jesus Christ.
When I was young, I wanted to be the richest person in Asia. That was my vision, God did something dramatic, God took control of my life, and by doing that He changed my vision from materialism and money, to expand His Kingdom, and by God's grace, God showed me that my mission in life was to fulfill the Great Commission to make His disciples. And that's why CCF was born. That's the origin of God showing me why you don't use your influence to inspire entrepreneurs and professionals to do the work of evangelism and discipleship.
People often ask me "Is your vision downgraded"? Can I tell you something? This vision is much greater than being the richest person. You know why? This has an eternal impact, it has a wider impact and by the grace of God, let me tell you something. When you put God first, His promises are true. I never realized that God would bless our family's efforts even more? Why? God gives us a promise: "...seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you". For me, one of my greatest joys right now is serving God as an entrepreneur, as an independent pastor. And one of my greatest joys is seeing hundreds of other business people serving God in the same capacity.
Many of our leaders, many of our pastors are independent. Why? That is the vision God gave us. "Serve Me wherever you are". It doesn't matter whether you are a housewife, entrepreneur, professional, banker, wherever you are. God has an amazing vision for your life. Serve Him, do your best. I have one important word I want to share with you, it's called "intentionality". What is intentionality? In life, you don't get what you hope and dream about, you get what you actually do on purpose. In other words, intentionality turns hopes, dreams and visions into reality.
Pay attention, how many dreams, how many hopes will not achieve anything unless you do it deliberately. Intentionality is doing something you don't want to do to get the results you want. It involves understanding the purpose of life. How do you pass this vision on to others, to your children, to your students, to those you love? Start with yourself. You must intentionally understand God's vision for your life and only you can learn to pass the vision on to your loved ones, your children, your students. And help them develop God's vision for their lives. I will ask my son, Peter Jr. to share with you the importance of vision and how the vision was passed on to him.
Praise God for his testimony. You see, Peter learned something important. The vision must impact current choices. You are free to choose, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your decisions. Many people don't realize that choices have consequences. The consequences may not be immediate, but sooner or later you will experience the consequences of that choice. So are you intentionally focusing on God's vision for your life and doing something about it? Because what you do now will have an impact on your future. But more importantly, I want you to learn something, you must let God's vision for your life influence your choices right now, because the two are connected. I asked my wife to share with us how she intentionally involves our children.
Deonna Tan-Chi: As Peter shared, we intentionally provide a vision for our children. When they were little kids during independent school at home, we shared the Gospel with them. About the good news and how to have eternal life in Christ Jesus. When they believe in Jesus Christ we have them memorize Bible verses that they can use to share the Gospel with others. We explained to them the Bible says that a person who does not have Jesus will not have eternal life. They will be separated from God forever. And those who have Jesus have eternal life. So they had a vision of the need to share the Gospel.
Now how does this translate into action? When our kids went to middle school, they asked us to come and train their classmates how to share the Gospel. Then they went with us and their classmates to Mega Mall where they randomly shared the Gospel with others. And I remember seeing Candy and an older woman sitting in a chair and she stood up sharing the gospel with this woman without shame. This woman looked at him, nodded and prayed to receive Christ. We explain to our children that no matter what you become, whether a businessman, a doctor, a teacher, that is your job. Of course you have a vision for that job, but God's overarching vision for all who follow Jesus is us creating followers of Christ who are committed to sharing the good news about Jesus and then helping them grow to be like Christ. Even now that our children are adults and they run our business, during this regional quarantine we have a thousand workers who were quarantined regionally for months.
What do our sons do? Because they know that God's ultimate goal and vision is to share the Gospel, they buy big screen TVs, and they put them in several locations, buy big speakers, and broadcast their Sunday sermons broadcast various kinds of gospel presentations, so that workers can know Christ. Our son just got 5000 brochures about Jesus Christ to distribute to all workers and everywhere we go. Because this is God's mission, God's vision for all of us who call Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. I pray that you have the same burden to pass this on to your children, to set an example to your students, so that we can make Jesus' Kingdom come and fulfill His vision.
Now how does this translate into action? When our kids went to middle school, they asked us to come and train their classmates how to share the Gospel. Then they went with us and their classmates to Mega Mall where they randomly shared the Gospel with others. And I remember seeing Candy and an older woman sitting in a chair and she stood up sharing the gospel with this woman without shame. This woman looked at him, nodded and prayed to receive Christ. We explain to our children that no matter what you become, whether a businessman, a doctor, a teacher, that is your job. Of course you have a vision for that job, but God's overarching vision for all who follow Jesus is us creating followers of Christ who are committed to sharing the good news about Jesus and then helping them grow to be like Christ. Even now that our children are adults and they run our business, during this regional quarantine we have a thousand workers who were quarantined regionally for months.
What do our sons do? Because they know that God's ultimate goal and vision is to share the Gospel, they buy big screen TVs, and they put them in several locations, buy big speakers, and broadcast their Sunday sermons broadcast various kinds of gospel presentations, so that workers can know Christ. Our son just got 5000 brochures about Jesus Christ to distribute to all workers and everywhere we go. Because this is God's mission, God's vision for all of us who call Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. I pray that you have the same burden to pass this on to your children, to set an example to your students, so that we can make Jesus' Kingdom come and fulfill His vision.
I want to praise God for my wife for being intentional about teaching the kids and most of all for engaging them. Thank you darling. In order to do so intentionally, you have to inspire them. What we mean by inspire your children, the people you love. The best example I can think of is what God did with Gideon. In Judges 6:12-14 "The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, 'The LORD is with you, O mighty warrior.' Gideon answered and said to him, 'Ah, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why all these things have come upon us? ...But now the LORD has banished us and delivered us into the clutches of the Midianites.'"
In other words, you can see Gideon is desperate. He couldn't reconcile what happened with his life and God's presence, but what did God do? "The LORD is with you, O mighty hero". Gideon not only fought every battle, he never fought one. In fact he was afraid, but God called him a "mighty hero". "Then the Lord turned to him and said, 'Go with your strength and save the people of Israel from the clutches of the Midianites. Did I not send you?'" You see God inspired Gideon, you will be the leader, you will deliver them. This is what Gideon said: "Ah my God, with what will I save the people of Israel? Know that my people are the smallest among the tribe of Manasseh and I am also the youngest among my family".
You see Gideon only looked at himself, and as for Gideon, he couldn't do this. I was the smallest, I was the youngest. How can I do this? What is inspiration? Inspiration is giving you a vision of what you will become because of God. "will beat the Midianites to the ground". Wow, God gave him inspiration, a vision. God said "I am the one who will be with you". God didn't see Gideon as he was. God saw what Gideon would become. You see the Bible tells us we are in Philippians 1:6 "Of this I am fully convinced, that He, who began a good work in you, will continue it until the end on the day of Christ Jesus". What they can become in Christ.
Don't look at your children for who they are now. See what they can become in Christ, but more than that let your students see what they can become in Christ too. Often we feel hopeless with other people, we think they are hopeless. Let me suggest, learn to see people with a different perspective, learn to see people with the eyes of an encourager, with the eyes of a dreamer, because no one is without hope, with God nothing is impossible. A good leader must not only understand God's vision for his life.
A good leader must be someone who will not only maintain that vision, fulfill that vision, but most importantly learn to carry that vision forward. God's vision is always greater than what we can do. Without God, we cannot achieve His vision. That's why I focus on the fact that God the Holy Spirit will enable us to fulfill His vision. If you ask me, my personal vision, I would like to hear God one day tell me How good you are, "O my good and faithful servant; you are faithful in small things, I will give you responsibility in great things". Do you see that vision? "I will give you responsibility in great things".
That is the future. What I do now for God is one p. But one day God will give me responsibility in a great matter. Have you thought about God's vision for your life? live in regret, you will say, I wish I did this, or you will live a fulfilling life, a life of joy. Remember the only two possibilities at the end of your life. Rejoice eternally and say "Lord, I thank you, you have helped me live a life pleasing to You" or a life eternally separated from God, a life of eternal regret. Vision is one thing, but what will you do? To go to heaven is one thing, but what are you going to do now? Pray this prayer with me in humility:
Lord Jesus, I come before You to admit that I have never truly surrendered my life to You. I never truly repented of my sins. I never truly accepted You as my Lord and Savior. I never truly entrusted my life to You. At this moment I invite You as my Lord and Savior. Right now I accept Your gift of forgiveness. I accept Your gift of eternal life. Thank you because it is a gift through faith. Lord help me to understand Your vision, so that I will faithfully do what You want me to do, from now on. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.