• Luther saw a reformation of the church.
• John Knox said “Give me Scotland or I die.”
• John Woolman saw his denomination free of slaves.

Jesus gave his personal vision statement in the synagogue on the Sabbath at Nazareth as he began is ministy (Luke 4:18 -19 NKJV)

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

This tells what Jesus is going to do (future tense). As his ministry bececame realized, the same statement becomes present tense as He shares it with his followers:

"....the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”
Matthew 11:4-5 NIV

Then Jesus promised that what He was doing would be commissioned to His followers"

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. "
John 14:12-13 NIV

Jesus defined His future perfect vision statement in the Garden of Gethseme:

"I'm praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind —
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are —
I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me."
John 17:20-23 The Message

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Copyright 2005-2009, Carl Townsend

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