Vision Day

Success in life is about habits. If you are having to remember to
do the things that lead to success, you are probably not doing them.
You have to find a way to put them on auto pilot. You have to make
them part of the culture. You have to make them a tradition. You
have to make them a habit.

One of the best habits your group can get into is the habit of
Vision Day once a quarter. I recommend you do it on the first day of
every quarter. On the day you get your new literature, make that
Vision Day.

Vision Day is about Re-casting the vision

I can summarize the vision for your class in five words: make
disciples of all nations. Anything less is disobedience to Jesus'
command. It was the vision of Jesus' original small group and it
is should be your vision as well.

Right here we find the problem in many groups. They don't have
the right vision, or, they don't have any vision. The vision of many
groups is to have a group. That is an inadequate vision. It is
not the vision Jesus gave us. We need to embrace Jesus' vision: Make
disciples of all nations. Put a poster up on the wall and point to
it once a quarter. Say it together: our vision is to make disciples
of all nations.

Once a quarter we do well to say to our group, "Let's remember
what our vision is. Jesus gave it to us: make disciples of all
nations. That is our marching orders."

Zig Ziglar taught us, "Yard by yard, life is hard; inch by inch,
its a cinch." So, let's break it down. How can your Sunday School
class make disciples of all nations? By doubling every two years or
less. A group of ten that doubles every eighteen months will reach a
thousand people in ten years. That is an indisputable fact of
mathematics.

The second ten years, your group would reach one hundred
thousand. The third ten years you would reach ten million. The next
ten years you would reach your first billion. It is all down hill
from there!

I echo the sentiment of Andy Stanley: until you come up with a
plan, or until you come up with a better plan, I'd invite you to use
this plan. You don't have to learn to sing, dance, play the guitar,
juggle, or do anything else. All you have to do is get a group that
is committed to growing and dividing. Until you come up with a
better plan, why not do that?"

In order to double a group every two years or less, all we have
to do is have halfway decent teaching and invite every member and
every prospect to every fellowship every month. This quarter, I
recommend you have four fellowships:

• Christmas Party


• New Years Party


• Super Bowl Party


• Valentine's Day Party

You might set the dates for each of these events on Vision Day.
The middle two are actually set for you. The first and last might
have some flexibility as far as scheduling.

Vision Day is about recruiting a team

On vision day recruit a team. John Maxell says, "One is too small
a number to do anything great." Recruit a team. Say something like
this. "O.K. we have these four fellowship set. Who wants to help
plan the parties? Who would be willing to invite every member?
[Inreach leader] Who would help us invite every prospect? [Outreach
Leader] Who will be the over-all group coordinator, or Class
President?

This last role is especially important. It could be the teacher,
if he or she is so inclined, but often, they are not so inclined.
Often they are inclined to teach. They like to read, study, prepare
and present. They are not into a lot of fun and games. Teachers, as a
rule, do not tend to be the funnest people in our churches.

If you have someone who uses a PDA, they"d make a great candidate
for a Class President. People who carry PDAs don't tend to do any
real work. They just delegate and supervise and coordinate and
oversee. They realize it is work getting other people to work. So,
they will set aside a Monday night to help the class, but it will go
something like this:

• They call the fellowship leaders: how are our plans coming
  for the fellowship?


• They call the inreach leaders: do you have your list? How is
  it going calling every member?


• They call the outreach leaders: how is it going calling
  every prospect?

My wife would make an excellent candidate for a class president.
She is talking to our church about being Children's Director. Her
son asked her, "What is involved with that, organizing stuff
and telling people what to do? You will be great at that!"

 

That is what the Class President does: bosses everyone around and
keeps everybody organized.

Allowing everyone to serve for a quarter does two things: it
allows them to test-drive the job, and it allows you to test-drive
them. If they don't work out all that well, you can find a different
role for them in three months. You are not locked into a long time
commitment on either side.

Ultimately, people may settle into roles that they want to do
over the long haul. That is all well and good. That is the way it
should be. They discover their gifts and minister according to their
giftedness. They use their gifts to grow their group to double their
classes every two years or less. But, until then, let them test
drive a role for a quarter and see how it fits.

Conclusion

If you would be successful in any arena in life, learn to develop
habits that contribute to your success. For a group, there is no
better habit than vision day. Vision day is about two things:

• Recast the vision: make disciples of all nations


• Recruit a team to get it done