Here is a message on the Victory Outreach Mission Statement on how we have a “Mandate, Mission, and a Calling “
Isaiah 45:2-3 – New International Version
I will go before you
and will level the mountains[a];
I will break down gates of bronze
and cut through bars of iron.
3 I will give you hidden treasures,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the Lord,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.
This morning I would like to speak a message entitled “Mandate, Mission, Calling”
- Our ministry has a Mandate.
As Victory Outreach International God has given our ministry a mandate and that mandate is to impact the inner cities of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God has promised us that He will give us the Treasures out of Darkness, hidden riches in secret places and He has been faithful to that promise.
Since 1967 God has been giving our ministry the Treasures out of Darkness. We started with one church right there in East Los Angeles and now we are a worldwide ministry with hundreds of churches around the world.
We are a cutting-edge ministry doing that that haven’t been done before.
We are a trailblazing ministry, going places that haven’t been gone before.
When our ministry first started there was no other ministry like it.
God has given our international ministry a promise and an anointing to impact the inner cities of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have a God given mandate.
Victory Outreach is an international, church-oriented Christian ministry called to the task of evangelizing and discipling the hurting people of the world, with the message of hope and plan of Jesus Christ.
This call involves a commitment to plant and develop churches and training centers, in strategic cities of the world.
Victory Outreach inspires and instills within people the desire to fulfill their potential in life with a sense of dignity, belonging, and destiny.
Victory Outreach works cooperatively with others of mutual purpose in accomplishing the task before us
2. Our Church has a Mission.
The second thing that I would like to point out is that inside of the mandate of our ministry, our church has a mission.
We have been planted here to impact our continent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Just like our ministry has a mandate, we as a church have a mission.
Victory Outreach Church of Cape Town hasn’t been established so we can be like the church up the street.
No, we have been planted here to impact the inner-cites, townships, and areas with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have been planted here to let the gang-member and their families know that there is hope.
We have been planted here to let the drug-addict and their families know that there is hope.
We have been planted here to let the twilight treasure and the families know that there is hope.
We have been planted here to let the hurting families know that here is hope in Jesus.
God has heard the cry of the mommies that were crying out for their son and the mommies that were crying out for their daughters.
God has seen the need in the townships, areas and our country to bring hope to the ones that feel hopeless.
That is why he raised up Victory Outreach in South Africa.
We are not here just to play church. We are not here because God couldn’t think of somewhere to put a church.
No, we are here as a church to fulfill the mandate that God has given our ministry and that is to impact the inner cities of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God has anointed our ministry for a specific purpose.
God has called our ministry for a specific purpose.
God has raised up our ministry for a specific purpose.
Are we better than the church up the street?
No, but there is something specific that God has called us to do as a church and if Victory Outreach is your church, then you have a part to play in helping us to see this vision come to pass.
That leads me to my third and final point.
3. You and I have a Calling.
Did you know that God has a calling upon your life?
I Samuel 3:7-10 – New International Version
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Eli didn’t call Samuel, but it was God.
I came to encourage someone this morning that God has a calling on your life.
Yes, God has given our ministry a mandate,
Yes, God has given our church a mission,
but God has also placed a call upon your life and the exciting thing is your call will help us to fulfill our overall mission and mandate.
See it is not man that has called us, but it is God.
The bible says in Colossians 3:23 KJV – And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
The New Living Translation says – Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Did you know that there is something that God has called you to do and only you can do?
When God wants to do a work, He will equip a people to do that work. He will anoint the lives of people. He will place callings on the lives of people for that work.
Your calling goes along with what God has called us as a ministry to do.
That is why we need you to go for all that God has called you to do.
Your call is not isolated from the overall mandate of Victory Outreach. You make the team complete.
God has gifted you to do something that only you can do. Notice I said God has gifted you, not your boss, not your friend, not your family, not your leader, but God.
The challenge for you and I is to go after all that God has called us to do.
As we go after all that God has for us, we should desire to be the best that we can be.
Just like on any team. The better the player gets, the better the team gets.
Example:
The better the right wing, left wing or the goalie, the better the futbol team.
The better the blind side flanker or the props in rugby, the better the team.
So, it is with you and me. The better you and I get in what God has called us to do, the bigger the impact we will make in this world.
That is why you and I should be the best that we can be for God in what He has called us to do.
The type of team player we should be:
- We need team players that desire to grow.
(We can’t have the attitude of we have always done it that way. Especially in this day and age. The skills that brought us to this level may not take us to the next level.)
Quote from our founder in one of his sermons entitled: Next Level Leaders: “We are a futuristic ministry. The strategies that worked for you in the past, may not work for you in the future.” Pastor Sonny Arguinzoni Sr.
- Team players who are willing to adjust our strategies from what we used yesterday to those that are effective in this time.
(We can have faithfulness and dedication, but if we are not developing our skills, we will eventually stagnate our effectiveness.)
We should be dedicated, but we should also be developing.
Dedicated and developing.
Have you ever seen someone who is dedicated, but they are not developing?
There are many businesses that were dedicated to their product, but since they didn’t develop, they became obsolete and went out of business.
Let’s not be a team player that doesn’t adjust our skills for the times that we are living in, but let’s be a team player that is willing to develop and grow our skills to keep making an impact in this day and age for the Honor and Glory of God.
We need team players that will not ever stop developing our skills, our heart for the lost, and our dependency of God.
As we develop as team players, we take our ministry and the impact of our church to another level.
- We also need team players that are focused.
God has anointed you and me for a specific area of ministry, and we need to stay focused in our power spot and try to be the best that we can be in that area.
Your calling is unique.
The challenge for you and me is to be faithful in our power spot and focused on what God has called us to do and that is reaching the inner cities of the world.
What can cause us to lose focus:
- Problems – When we face opposition.
- People – People hating on you when you go to new levels.
- Past – Our mistakes and failures, but God’s Grace is sufficient.
Just like Jesus has called the disciples, He has called us.
Let us answer that call and continue to make an impact in the inner cities of the world.
Maybe some of us have gotten comfortable, distracted, complacent or let past mistakes hold us back, but today is the day to make a comeback.
We are starting to send teams into countries and cities.
We are not a drug addict or gang member church; we are a likeminded church.
We need people that will fit the profile of the city, country, or continent.
We are launching out teams.
It is time to step up and make yourself known.
I loved reading this and respect and love you guys, your home directors are amazing.
Brother Richard from San Jose & brother Billy from Santa rosa have both taught me a lot!
Hello there, Thank you for the shout out. God Bless you.