{"id":11377,"date":"2023-07-24T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainchurchleaders.com\/practicum\/?p=11377"},"modified":"2026-07-07T14:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T18:46:13","slug":"goal-setting-to-reach-our-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trainchurchleaders.com\/practicum\/goal-setting-to-reach-our-vision.htm","title":{"rendered":"Goal-Setting to Reach Our Vision"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Setting<\/a>
\nRunning a race requires knowing where you should go and setting goals to get there. We may have properly discerned a vision for where God wants to take our church but still find ourselves floundering around aimlessly. In large part, that might be because we have failed to set goals — measurable steps we will take to fulfill our vision.<\/p>\n

Goal-Setting That Leads Toward Our Vision<\/h2>\n

Consider the following points to remember about goal-setting:<\/p>\n

1) Goals must evolve from our purpose.<\/p>\n

Unless we know the essence of who God wants the Church to be and do, we could end up accomplishing little that counts for eternity though we appear to be in constant motion. For this reason we must consider God’s Purpose for the Church<\/a> a leadership basic. If we seem to be “spinning your wheels,” perhaps it is time to get back to the basics.<\/p>\n

Vision is the expression of our purpose. — What might the fulfillment of God’s purpose look like in your ministry?<\/em><\/p>\n

2) Goal-setting must be enveloped in prayer.<\/p>\n

Paul prayed for the Philippian church that they would be able to grasp their purpose (that their “love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight”) so they would “be able to discern what is best” (Phil. 1:9-11). Paul knelt before the Father for the Ephesian church that they, “being rooted and established in love” (purpose), may understand His love that they “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:14-19).<\/p>\n

Prayer is essential to discerning God’s direction for your church. — How often do you pray about God’s vision for your church?<\/em><\/p>\n

3) Goals, by their very nature, envision the future.<\/p>\n

If we pursue God’s purposes for the church, enveloping that pursuit in prayer, we should begin to discern what that might look like. Then we can set goals to get us there. Yet, we must be careful not to hold on so tightly to those goals that we miss the Spirit’s prompting to change course. We must let God be God and not let our goals turn into gods. He is the Potter and we are the clay. He has the prerogative to shape and reshape our churches for His purposes.<\/p>\n

God’s purpose never changes. His purpose is the essence of who we are based on the essence of who He is. Our church’s vision, how we express His purpose, might change as we continue to trust Him each step of the way. Sometimes He sends us down a certain path to put into place what is needed for His next move. Reading through Scripture we will find that God has been known to take people in a certain direction, only to change course. You see it in the covenants He has made with His people. Think of the New Covenant of Jesus’ blood setting aside the law. Yet, His overall purpose has not changed … that of reconciling people to Himself and bringing them into a love relationship with Himself.<\/p>\n

So, while we want to envision what the ministry could look like in the future, we should revisit those goals every year, praying over them, and trusting God to guide us in the way you should go one step at a time and revise as needed. — “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov. 3:5-6) — Are you truly trusting God or leaning on your own understanding?<\/em><\/p>\n

4) Goal-setting should express faith.<\/p>\n

While we need to be good stewards of what God has given us, we also need to trust Him for what is unseen. We must guard against limiting our goals to current resources. Remember verses like Ephesians 3:20-21. — “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”<\/p>\n

If down the road the resources still aren’t available, perhaps it isn’t God’s will but maybe it simply still isn’t the right timing. This is why point number two is so critical — We must envelop all we do in prayer. — Are you setting limits on what God wants to do in and through you?<\/em><\/p>\n

All Posts about Vision Casting & Goal-Setting:<\/h3>