See It Before You See It | Pastor Chris Kouba

Large buildings kind of all around them.

That was the case a while back, whenever it was Discovery Green.

Before it became that, you actually in the 19th century, they built some high-end residential housing.

But then as things change and people begin to take patterns differently, they decided to get rid of those and put up some hotels.

Then in the 20th century, towards the end of the 20th century, what you begin to see was that then they started to have some issues and some struggles with all of the different downtown area kind of started getting run down a little more, and they just took those out, and ultimately what they were left with was two really large parking lots and a little bitty tiny green space that is called the Houston Center Gardens.

I've got a picture of it.

This is what ultimately Discovery Green used to look like.

It's just basically a big, massive parking lot and a little bit of green space.

And what happened is in 2002, a group of philanthropists led by Makonda Brown O'Connor and Nancy Kinder of the Kinder Foundation approached the then mayor of Houston at the time and said, Hey, we have a dream and a vision.

What would it look like for us to be able to put in an urban park in the middle of downtown?

And so they began to walk through the process.

What's amazing to me though is that Makonda and Nancy at some point stood on the corner down there at the bottom of that intersection.

And as they looked out and saw all of this concrete and a little bit of green space at the end, they saw something before everyone else saw it.

They had the ability to not look out and see concrete in parking spaces.

They instead had the ability to stand there at that place and to look out, and they instead saw people gathering together to watch movies under the stars.

They had the ability to look at that far green space and think, what if this green space has some water and some different walkway, all these different types of things, and people from all over the city of Houston could come and they could gather and they could enjoy downtown.

Folks, they saw it before they saw it.

This morning, what I want to talk to you about is vision.

The ability to be able to see something before you see it.

Take your journals out, and I want you to turn with me to page 13, that's where we're gonna be, and I want you to write down this definition of the word vision.

The word vision means this: the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.

The ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.

There's something really powerful about vision.

Vision allows you to see something before you see it.

Vision is something that inspires hope.

It gives people motivation, it allows them to be pressed to move to action.

Vision is that thing when you're standing here, but you want to be over there and you're trying to figure out how to get there.

And what I want you to know is that the idea of vision isn't just a business idea.

It's actually a biblical idea.

Proverbs chapter 29, verse 18.

Proverbs 29:18

Here's what it reads.

It says, Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint.

But blessed is he who keeps the law.

I love what Eugene Peterson, who paraphrased the Bible into what's called the message translation.

Look at how he describes this verse.

He says this if people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves.

But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.

It's important for all of us to have vision in our lives.

What I want you to know is that God desires that you have a dream or a vision, not in a weird mystical way, but instead a God-inspired way where you would see where you are can be different and better.

It's not so that you can be great and that you can be wonderful, but instead, it's so that God can be glorified by his work in your life.

He desires that you would see that your life personally could be different, or your business could be different, or your position could be different, or your school, that what the influence that you have in your school, that you could leave the team in such a way to be able to see a vision for what could be.

Zig Ziglar actually had a chance to know Zig.

He was a famous motivational speaker.

He used to say this was just so true.

If you aim for nothing, you will hit it every time.

Our lives were meant to have meaning and purpose.

We aren't created just to exist, take up some time on earth, and die with no direction.

Instead, we were made to have a purpose.

And if you don't live in that way and discover what that is, it leads to a life without strength.

We're in a series of messages in the book of Nehemiah, and we've been talking about leadership.

A couple of weeks ago, I gave you a very key principle that is this that I am a leader.

You are a leader.

Every single person here today is a leader in some capacity.

At a minimum, you are a leader of your own life.

You're a leader of yourself.

But many of you have positions of influence along the way to where you also are able to lead groups of people.

Maybe you do that at the office, maybe you do that in your group, maybe you do that at school.

Whatever your context is, you have been given the ability to bring influence to other people.

And we've been learning and we've been talking about what it looks like as a leader to build or to rebuild something.

In fact, here's the prompt I gave you a couple of weeks ago.

I want to encourage you to think about it yet again.

I want to build blank.

I want to rebuild blank.

What is it that you feel like God wants you to do?

Let me say it another way.

What do you need to see before it is seen?

Maybe you have a dream and a vision that you would have a family who is closely connected to each other and also is closely connected to the Lord.

What are you gonna do in order to achieve that outcome?

Maybe you are a grandparent and you have a desire and a goal that you want to build an ability to be able to bless your family relationally and financially and spiritually.

What are you gonna do in order to get there?

Be able to accomplish that.

Maybe you are just started back on your sports teams, and so as a result of that, you want to see your team win district, you want to see your team make the playoffs, you want to see your team win a few games in the playoffs and see what could happen.

What are you gonna do in order to help achieve that vision?

Maybe you look at your job and you want to see your job situation change, you wanna be able to be promoted, you want to be able to have more influence.

What are you gonna do in order to make that happen?

Maybe some of you, you want to see your friends get saved.

And so, because of that, how are you gonna go from right here where you are right now to having your friends come and know Jesus?

Maybe some of you, your health, you want to improve in your health, you want to be able to do more for yourself.

And so, in light of that, what are you gonna do in order to achieve that goal?

We've learned that leadership, first of all, involves starting on our knees, where we go before the Lord and we ask him, God, what do you want?

I know some things that I want, but at the end of the day, I want to submit these things to you and ask what you want.

We learned last week that leaders don't just start with their knees, but leaders also wait on God's timing, and God is very often slow, he's never in a hurry, but he is also never late.

This morning I want you to take your journals out and I want you to write in the little bubble that is there on page 13 this key principle that I want you to walk away with today, which is this leaders have a convicting vision.

Leaders have a convicting vision.

Leaders have that stand at the corner at the intersection moment and they look out at the pay the pavement all around them and see the little bit of green space, and they say, I think God's gonna do this.

It's that moment when something isn't half-baked or made up or wishful thinking or settling.

Instead, it's a conviction in your heart.

It's a vision that is thought through and prayed through and talked through.

What I want to talk about today is how do you create a convicting vision for your life?

How do you create a convicting vision for your position or your situation?

The book of Nehemiah gives us some insight into how that happened for him that can help guide us whenever we do it for us.

Let me give you some context again before we jump in in Nehemiah chapter two.

Nehemiah was in a position of great influence, and he took his chance to be able to go back to his homeland.

Remember, the people of Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem, and the people of Israel, they were spiritually, they were politically, and it was physically in total ruins.

And Nehemiah wanted to go back and do something about his homeland.

And the problem in his homeland, and so he's in a position of influence, and he leverages that position at the right moment, and he basically asked the king to not only send him back to his land, but to send people with him and to send money to pay for the rebuilding of the wall.

We of course know Donald Trump uh made a big very famous about talking about how Mexico is gonna build a wall and they're going to pay for it, right?

He got this idea from the book of Nehemiah, all right?

That's what he did, all right?

Nehemiah instead was going to Jerusalem and he was asking the king to pay for it.

By the way, don't send me any emails.

That's just funny.

It's just lighting up a little bit.

1130, you guys are the least responsive group out of all day.

Everybody else thought that was funny.

You guys just looked at me like I was an idiot, alright?

Have some fun, all right?

Let's let's enjoy this, okay?

So that is the background because now Nehemiah has been sent to go in to rebuild the wall, but like, how's he gonna do it?

He he knows what he wants to do, but he's not really sure how to get the bridge, the gap between the two things.

Let's pick up reading in verse 9.

Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the river and gave them the king's letters.

Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

But when Sanbalat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite's servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

Let me just stop right there.

We're gonna spend two weeks on dealing with conflict as a leader.

And I just want you to see, it comes up over and over and over again.

Look at the next verse.

So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days.

Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me, and I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem.

There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.

I went out by night by the valley gate to the dragon spring and to the dung gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down, and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.

Then I went on the fountain gate into the king's pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass.

Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.

And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing.

And I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.

Let me give you three things about how to create a convicting vision.

First thing I want you to see is this be honest about your situation.

Be honest about your situation.

Many times, leaders, they've got an idea of what they want to do in their business, they got an idea of what they want to do with their family, they got an idea of what they want to do in terms of achieving success.

But the biggest problem they have is they're not honest about where they actually are to begin with.

And in light of that, it causes there to be great problems when they're trying to figure out where it is that they're wanting to go.

Maybe you're wanting to be a better athlete.

Maybe you're wanting to establish some good spiritual rhythms and disciplines in your life.

Maybe you're trying to be more of a witness among your friends.

These are all great things.

But if you're not honest about where you are, then it's gonna be difficult for you to determine where you're going to go.

Sometimes our issue, think about this when you wrote down to your I want to build or I want to rebuild, sometimes our dreams are too big.

So, for example, if you say that, man, I want to be able to have a good, thriving prayer life, that's what I want to build in my life, and I want to go and I want to be able to pray one hour per day, but right now you don't pray at all, your dreams might be a little bit too big.

It's probably gonna be discouragement along the way because you're going from zero to all of a sudden an hour a day.

Instead, be more realistic about what it is that God may be wanting to do in and through your family.

Maybe you would say to yourself, you know, I want to be able to have biblical finances, I want to be able to operate at a certain level of income, I want to be able to operate at a certain level to where I'm giving out a certain percentage of my money, all great things, but if you're not honest about your spending problems, then at the end of the day, you're never gonna be able to see that vision take place.

It's gonna be too big.

You're not being honest with yourself about your situation.

Maybe you want to rebuild or build your credibility or your reputation.

And that's a great thing, but let me ask you the question: do you honestly know what your credibility and your reputation is right now?

Have you been willing to ask the hard questions that help reveal what it is that's actually going on?

For some of you, your dreams, your vision is too big.

That is part of your problem.

For some of you, your dream or your vision is too small.

Let me just tell you if your goal and you're down, hey, I want to be able to be healthier and I want to be able to lose a little bit of weight, you don't need God to do that.

You just need to eat less and work out.

That's how it works, okay?

You ain't gotta bother God about that.

You ain't no reason to pray about it, just do it.

Right?

If you want to move up in your company and you want to go further along, some of you, you don't really have to ask God about that.

You just gotta work hard.

That's how it works.

And so we gotta make sure that we also don't try to spiritualize things that at the end of the day are just called hard work and perseverance.

Just be responsible, and you're gonna maybe achieve some of these things that are there along the way.

What I instead believe, what God is trying to call us to, is not things that are so big they just sound great, or so small we could just do them with hard work, but instead are things where we ask this question, God, what do you want to do that only you could do?

God, what do you desire to accomplish in my life that would require, cause me to depend, and keep me to never lean on anything else but you?

Like I want to achieve and do something that at the end of the day I can look up and say, Man, God did this.

God is the only one who did this work in my life.

You there's no way I could have possibly been able to achieve this.

Be honest with yourself and ask if your dreams are too big or if your dreams are too small.

The reason why we avoid this honest assessment is because doing so is usually hard and difficult.

So if you're to say, I'm the span to be the spiritual leader of my home, that's a great thing.

But let me ask you, how are you right now?

Are you willing to ask the question to your spouse, to your kids, to those that are around you, how you are, so they can give you the honest, hard, gut level feedback so that you know where am I actually at?

I saw a leadership coach recently in uh I was meeting with him just to kind of talk through a leveling up as a leader and all the various things of just work-related stuff.

It's kind of what my mindset was going in there, talking through him in the midst of the conversation.

He says something totally off that I was not expecting.

He says, Hey, I really want you to meet with Hillary, your wife, and I want you to ask her some specific questions that basically are gonna be how she experiences you.

And I'm like, I'm not doing that.

That's stupid.

Why would I ever do that?

I know what she's gonna say, and I came here to talk about work.

I don't want to talk about this, I want to talk about work, but let me just tell you the actual opportunity to sit down and to ask those questions was extremely helpful, not only for us, but for work.

I'm telling you, you've got to be willing to ask, where am I?

What is my situation?

Am I willing to be honest about where I am so that I can know where God wants to move?

Let me ask you.

Take out your journals on page 13 again, and I want you to write this sentence and I want you to answer this phrase.

My current reality is My current reality is beyond.

How are you doing?

What are you sensing?

What are you feeling?

Maybe you need to write down some questions that you need to ask other people.

Hey, when I'm doing this, how does this come across?

Like, what would you say if you could speak into my life a little bit?

Be willing to ask it.

Nehemiah heard that was ruins, he'd heard that was great challenges, but he didn't make any assumptions.

He went and saw it firsthand with his eyes.

He went and he inspected the walls because he wanted to know what is God gonna ultimately do.

I gotta see what the situation is.

I think too often we lead with assumptions instead of leading with the gut level honesty.

Nehemiah chapter 2, verse 12.

Nehemiah 2:12

Look at what it says.

It gives us a second principle.

It says, Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me.

And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem.

There's no animal with me but the one on which I rode.

Second key to creating a convicting vision is don't process alone.

Don't process alone.

Leadership can be very lonely.

Leadership can be a place where you're surrounded by a bunch of people yet have free friends.

I just want to encourage you to be very intentional about finding people who can be around you who can be honest and speak truth to you.

It's a biblical idea, Proverbs 11, 14, where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

Proverbs chapter 12, verse 15 the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 12:15

Proverbs chapter 19, verse 20 and 21, listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Proverbs 19:20

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

We don't exactly know the nature of the relationship with these guys in verse 12, but we do know this.

They were with him when he was on a scouting trip.

We do know that they were with him when he was having to process and think and prepare to lead.

There are two key aspects when you're thinking about the wise counsel that you surround yourself.

First thing you need to know is find people who know you.

Who know you.

Don't just find people who will tell you what you want to hear, tell you people who will tell you the truth.

Yes, you need people to encourage you.

Yes, you need people to speak into you.

All of that stuff is great.

But you really need people who will challenge you and who won't allow you to get away with assumptions.

Jared Stevens is the pastor over at Champion Forest Baptist Church on the northwest side of Houston.

He and I have been friends, best friends for 20 years.

Jared Stevens is this guy in my life.

I can call up Jarrett and I can basically tell him about something I'm wanting to do with the family, or I can tell him about something that I'm wanting to do with the church, and he knows both of those situations well enough, and he mainly knows me well enough to be like, man, that sounds awesome, but I know you.

Have you thought about this?

Because I promise you, you probably didn't think about this part.

Or he'll say, you know, now, Chris, I know how you can be, and so in light of that, have you considered how this may sound, or have you considered what this could be?

And he basically challenges me because Jared is for me and he knows me.

Folks, you need people who are gonna know you so well that they can kind of maybe call you out or challenge you on certain areas that you might have a blind spot.

You need those types of people in your life.

But it's important not that you just have people that know you.

Second thing, you need people that know God.

You need people that know God.

As a leader and the pastor of a church, large church, what I have found is that there is no shortage of people who will tell me what they think.

I get emails, I get people to stop me in the halls, and they will tell me what it is that they don't like, like all of the above.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, but what I've discovered is this most people, when they are talking to someone who is the leader, they will tell them what they're thinking out of their personal agenda.

It doesn't necessarily mean that their agenda is bad.

It just means that is the primary motivator.

They're seeing it from their perspective, and this is how I see it, and this is what I want you to do.

Here's what I want you to see, though.

When you're talking about leading spiritually and seeing God begin to use you as a leader, it's way more important that you know what God thinks about the situation than you do what somebody else thinks about the situation.

And it's vital that we live in such a way where we find people who are giving you advice while at the same time walking with the Spirit.

Who are walking with me and walking with Jesus at the same time.

Folks, this is why we encourage you to get involved in a group.

Because whenever you get involved in a group and you've got a vision for your family, or you've got a vision for your life, and you begin to share that, and then whenever you do, you're gonna have people that are like-minded who also want to see things that take place in their lives that may be similar, and you're both pursuing the Lord while you're both pursuing the vision that God has given to you.

It's a beautiful thing to be in community and be able to experience life with somebody else and moving in that direction.

You want people who don't just tell you what they think about your situation.

You want people who tell you what God says about your situation.

Keep reading in verse 17.

And I said to them, You see the trouble that we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned.

Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision.

And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good.

And also of the words that the king had spoken to me.

And they said, Let us rise up and build.

When you're at the office, do you tell everybody else what it is that they're supposed to do?

Marking out all of the orders and pointing out to everybody else all the things that they've done wrong?

Or do you instead say, hey, this is the kind of culture we're gonna be, and this is the kind of business we're gonna be, and this is the type of success that I want us to have, and let's go and do this together.

So I want you to know being a leader doesn't mean that you do everything, but being a leader means you're willing to do anything.

Ultimately, we know this was modeled by Jesus himself.

John chapter 13 tells the story of Jesus with all of his disciples, it ended up being the last meal that they ever ate together, and it says that they go into the room and they notice there was a problem.

John 13 · chapter mention

Back in those days, because of just the nature of the hygiene, all that was around and the walking on all of the roads, they anytime they would go into a room, there was supposed to be a servant, if a house was a good one, to be able to be there who would wipe the feet of those guests that would go into the house.

We don't know the situation here in John chapter 13, but we do know this.

John 13 · chapter mention

There was no servant around.

Maybe the servant was taking a day off, maybe the servant they didn't have one, we don't know, but we know this.

Jesus, the clear leader in the room, didn't start barking out orders, telling his disciples, hey, you're gonna do this time, and you're gonna no, I don't want to hear it, you're gonna do it this time, and they did none of those things.

He said, Jesus saw a problem, Jesus saw an opportunity.

In John chapter 13, beginning in verse 3, it reads like this Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.

John 13 · chapter mention

He laid aside his outer garments, taking a towel, tied it around his waist, and he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, to wipe them with a towel that was wrapped around.

Jesus ends up washing each of those disciples' feet.

The most powerful person in the room is getting dirty himself and modeling servant leadership.

But instead, being a leader means that you are willing to lead the way.

Following after a God-given vision for your life and for your team.

Asking God's favor and blessing all along the way, and having a yes that says, God, I'll do whatever you call me to.

Would you bow your heads and would you close your eyes all across this room?

Joining us online, let me invite you to do the same.

Just want us to pray.

Would you just pray this prayer with me?

Lord, give me a vision for what you want to do in my life.

Give me a vision where you want me to be.

Some of you here, you need to know that Jesus had a compelling vision.

He didn't just tell you what you need to know, show you some examples of how to live, fill your mind with some good teaching, and then say, do as I do.

The message of Jesus is not do like me.

The message of Jesus and the vision that he gives to you is to follow him and receive from him his life.

And you give him your broken one.

The Bible says that he died a death on a cross.

He rose from the dead and he invites you to give an exchange where you give him all of your sin and all of your problems and all of your baggage and all of your mess ups.

And in exchange, he gives you his perfection and his righteousness and his goodness and his mercy and his grace.

It's an exchange that makes zero sense.

But it's the message of grace available for you today.

So what I want to invite you to do today, if you've never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that you would do that very thing right this moment.

You would pray this simple prayer with me right where you are.

Dear God, I know you died on the cross.

I believe that you rose from the dead, and right now I receive your gift of mercy, grace, forgiveness.

I receive your life into mine.

I ask that you would change me.

You would make me new.

They're gonna be up on the sides.

I'm gonna ask you to do, no one looking around, but if that was you, if you just prayed to receive Jesus, would you just look up and see where the nearest person is?

Because in just a moment, we're all gonna stand up, and that's gonna be your cue, that you need to be on the move.

And I want you to know where the closest person is for you to go and see.

They want to celebrate with you, we want to pray with you, we want to get some information.

Others, if you need to come and join United City Church, maybe your vision for your family and your vision for your life is that you would be actively connected together in a local church and God is leading you to make this your church home.

Would you come and lead the way today?

Others, if you need to be baptized like this one that we just saw.

Man, what an unbelievable testimony of God's grace and mercy in a person's life.

Your next step today is to follow through in believers' baptism.

I want you to come.

Let us schedule your baptism.

Maybe some of you need prayer.

You've got a need, you've got to struggle, you've got to hurt.

Don't hurt alone.

Let us pray with, let us pray for you today.

Maybe some of you need clarity.

What does God want me to do?

Where does God want me to go?

Where does God want me to be?

We don't want you to struggle alone.

We want to pray with you today.

So let us have the privilege of praying with you.

Father, I pray you'd move in these moments.

Give people boldness and courage to take their next step.

And I pray, God, that the name of Jesus would be glorified in all that we do and all that we say.

It's in Jesus' name that I pray.

Amen.

Would you stand up?

And as you stand, our team is up front, ready to receive you.

You come as God is making you to respond.

Come on.

He is enough.

It's always enough.

Forever enough.

It's more than enough.

Church, I want you to walk away today knowing this.

The reason that you can stand here, you can believe that God wants to do something over there, is because God has been, He is, and He always will be faithful.

He has a track record that is proven time, time, time, time again.

And so I want to encourage you.

We're about to go into this next section of Nehemiah, where there's about to be a lot of conflict, there's about to be a lot of struggle.

Leadership, it's all it's not just casting big vision.

It also means that you're gonna experience opposition.

But here's one thing, don't ever forget it.

Forever enough, more than enough, always enough.

Jeremy Winters, come on up here if you would and close our service today.

Thank you, Pastor Chris.

I got a couple things for you before we leave today.

First and foremost, is if you haven't found your group, if you haven't found your people, we want to help you do that.

Head out to the Life Group uh booth in the lobby afterwards.

There's more than just life groups, there's also re-engage if you're looking to reconnect and reignite your marriage.

Uh on Wednesday nights at 6 30.

You can still join and be a part of that.

Financial Peace University Celebrate Recovery, a bunch of other things as well.

You can find all that information at that groups booth out there.

Second, this coming Sunday, August 25th, is our serve rally that we do once a year, okay?

5 p.m.

this Sunday, August 25th at 5 p.m.

That's for people who are currently on serve teams and help serve and lead in the life of our church in different areas.

And for people who are interested and want to join the serve team.

So we've got a breakout specifically for you.

Uh for those who don't quite know where you want to serve, but you know you do, uh, we want to help you identify that.

But please register for that and sign up for that, okay?

Uh so that you're a part of that.

You don't want to miss that time of encouraging and equipping that's gonna take place.

Lastly, we've got a group standing behind me who are getting ready to go out this week uh to South Asia, where they're gonna partner with uh International Mission Board partnerships that we have there uh to work to reach unengaged, unreached people groups.

But what that means is they're going there to spend time with people who have never heard the name of Jesus before and may never hear the name of Jesus unless somebody like them goes.

All right.

So that's what Romans 10 would tell us.

Uh and so they're gonna be going to do that and partnering with them and sharing the gospel and discipling the few believers that are there and those kind of things.

So we're gonna close our service today by just praying for them and praying over them.

So, like we did earlier, if you wouldn't mind just extending your hand out towards them, we're gonna pray for this team and pray over them as they're heading to South Asia this week.

Father in heaven, we thank you for who you are, God.

Uh that you are good and powerful and kind and compassionate that you sent your son, Jesus, so that we could be reconciled into a right relationship with you, Father.

We know that you don't want just a relationship with the people in this room here at United City Church, not just people in Texas or the United States or North America or the Northern Hemisphere, but a try people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, Father.

And so I thank you for this group of people who are heading out to do that very thing.

Father, would you empower them?

Would you embolden them?

Father, as a result of their trip this coming week, would it be said that somebody would come to faith in Jesus Christ?

And not just one person, Father, but something that would start a church planning movement in South Asia, Father.

And so we pray for that in your holy and precious name.

Amen.

Amen.

Y'all have a great Sunday.