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Assemblies of God Vision 2000
Proclamation

August 2000

We are a people of the Spirit. We are a people of vision. Birthed in the fire of renewal, still less than one hundred years ago, we have now become a worldwide influence for worship, discipleship, and evangelism in the 21^st century. What God has done, and is doing, should fill us with gratitude and awe, and should move us to deep prayer and faith in understanding God’s vision for us in this new century. Who can predict what the Holy Spirit may yet do before the return of the Lord? His vision is that the glory of Christ be revealed among every people and culture. Our church must proclaim Christ to this world in the 21st century with first century fervor.

Less than 90 years ago, the Lord raised up this Fellowship with a group of 300 leaders. But, consider what God has done! Together with our fraternal fellowships abroad, we have become a worldwide communion of 35 million people. We gather each week in more than 175,000 congregations. Who can forecast how greatly the Spirit will multiply this church in the years ahead, should Jesus tarry? Can we believe for a worldwide spiritual family of 100 million, or even more? We cannot—we must not—place limits on what the Spirit will do if we remain faithful to the mandate to preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15) and the provision of power to accomplish it (Acts 1:8). We believe the past is a prologue to an unparalleled, sweeping outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as we surrender ourselves afresh to be used as a vital agency for the fulfillment of the Great Commission, bringing all the gospel by all means to all peoples.

God has used the principles set forth at the inception of this Movement to produce continual growth. These principles remain as bedrock for our future. Therefore, it is with a common heart and purpose, unified by the Holy Spirit in like precious faith, in united effort, and interdependence, that we pledge ourselves to both the advancement and conservation of the work of God.

In 1914, our founders boldly stated, "We commit ourselves and the Movement to Him for the greatest evangelism the world has ever seen. We pledge our hearty cooperation, prayers and help to this end."

The foundation laid by our early leaders in the faith is strong. It will bear the weight of the great growth and responsibility the Lord now places upon us at the dawn of this century. We have a forceful vision from the Holy Spirit, and we believe He is preparing us for the greatest advancement of Christ’s Kingdom the world has ever known.

We have sought the Lord of the harvest and believe He is giving fresh vision to our Fellowship. With God's help–with the passion and anointing of the Holy Spirit–we will continue to fulfill His desire to reach every person for Jesus Christ. This year, U.S. districts and local churches have passionately expressed their desire to advance God's kingdom in their communities and throughout the world. They have given voice to what they believe the Holy Spirit is saying to His Church and to the Assemblies of God concerning our part in fulfilling the Great Commission. Their collective voices from all over this nation have confirmed the centrality of our threefold purpose to worship, disciple, and evangelize. They have also confirmed our need for a fresh dependence on God to give new life to these core values. Therefore, as we look to the future, we declare our total dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as we re-affirm our purpose and seek God to rekindle His passion in us.

Echoing our founding leaders, we again commit ourselves and this Movement to Him … in worship, discipleship and evangelism.

WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO HIM…IN WORSHIP.

1. We commit ourselves to anointed worship–to glorify God in Spirit and in truth, unashamed of our extravagant love for Jesus Christ. We commit ourselves to be a people who live in, and for, the glory of God. In our endeavor to enable every believer to become a true worshipper, we will ask the Lord to provide anointed, gifted worship leaders, and we will equip them in every way possible as they lead our congregations in authentically expressed, spiritually alive worship to the Lord.

WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO HIM…IN DISCIPLESHIP.

1. We commit ourselves to personal spiritual growth and discipleship. It is God's will for every believer to mature in Christ-like character. Spiritual formation brings glory to our Creator and Savior and validates our witness to the world. We will use every effective means to spiritually develop believers in our churches and to prepare continuing generations for service.

2. We commit ourselves to training and equipping. We will diligently train new leaders called by the Lord. We will encourage and enable pastors, teachers, evangelists, missionaries and lay leaders to reach their full potential in ministry. We pledge that our national and district offices, as well as our training institutions, will be vital, indispensable ministry resource centers. Excellent training and meaningful resource materials will be provided for our church leaders to enable them to effectively equip God’s people for service.

WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO HIM…IN EVANGELISM

1. We commit ourselves to a renewed passion for evangelism. We are asking God to birth in us new compassion for those who are perishing without Christ. Every member and every ministry of this Fellowship must be compelled by the lostness of humanity. We will reach out to the oppressed and wounded–to all who are marching blindly to everlasting death, numbed by the immorality, materialism and rampant decay of our society. With God's help, we will reach every home and every culture in our communities with an adequate witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will use every effective, biblical, outreach method the Holy Spirit gives us to bring people to salvation and transformation through the love and lordship of Jesus Christ.

We commit ourselves to establishing new, Spirit-birthed Assemblies of God churches throughout this country. We will ask the Lord to provide God-called pastors for these churches. We will help these new churches as they grow into effective, powerful, light-bearing communities of faith, which pierce through the darkness of evil to reach their cultures.

2. We commit ourselves to compassion ministries. We will touch the poor and the suffering with the compassion of Christ and will demonstrate His love in practical ways, providing food, clothing and medical care. Through our churches and missions programs, we will minister to total human need, both spiritual and physical. We will proclaim God's unconditional love, His provision of forgiveness, and His pathway of acceptance to all who are broken by sin—poor and rich alike—and urge them to receive and follow Christ.

3. We commit ourselves with unrelenting passion to the great cause of worldwide missions. In this cause, we pledge ourselves anew to extend the bonds of partnership with fraternal fellowships around the world. The Lord of the harvest clearly spoke to the hearts of our founding fathers that our church shall, without reservation, be of one mind in the task of world missions. We believe God that, in the grip of the Spirit’s conviction, every Assemblies of God church and every member will support in prayer and sacrificially give to this cause. Most importantly, we pledge the greatest of all investments–men and women who will take their places in the vast, unreached fields of end-time harvest.

In all we do…

1. We will remain faithful to sound biblical doctrine. We must "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3, NASV) and be ever mindful of "destructive heresies" (II Peter 2:1, NASV). Our Statement of Fundamental Truths begins, "The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)." This is not only the first of our fundamental truths, but foundational to all we believe and live. Salvation through Jesus Christ, divine healing, the second coming of Christ, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit will be kept at the forefront of our commitment only as we adhere to the eternal Word of God.

2. We will actively seek, depend on and yield to the working of the Holy Spirit. The world desperately needs to see Jesus in us through the fruit of the Spirit. We will embrace and grow in His gifts and graces. We will press in to manifest more of His power. We will be a church of the Spirit in the 21^st Century, living in first century fullness. We reaffirm the baptism in the Holy Spirit to be a God-appointed blessing and are fully persuaded that it is God’s promise for every believer to receive this wonderful gift so that the church may be advanced with signs and wonders following. We call each generation to a fresh baptism of divine power for service and ministry. We will not allow the way we live to be characterized by apathy, dryness or mere mental assent to doctrines–void of power. We will be people of the Spirit, dynamic and relevant in a post-Christian culture.

3. We will saturate all we do in prayer. With humble hearts, we acknowledge that we may serve God only in the energy of the Holy Spirit. Public and private prayer, a consistent devotional life and the personal study of God's Word are the very foundation for our future. With one heart we commit ourselves to prayer, to fasting and to the development of networks of prayer throughout our communities and around the world.

4. We will serve our Lord in a cooperative spirit. We will do everything possible to work together in harmony and not in competition. We will be a people united by God in the recognition that there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all" (Eph 4:5-6a). We will work for cooperation between the General Council, the districts, and the local churches to foster unity and to advance the kingdom of God. Depending upon the Holy Spirit, we will discover new ways of networking with other churches in our communities to expand our witness and effectiveness. We will lay aside self-serving promotion and stand ready to encourage and support the ministry of others knowing that we are laborers together with the Lord.

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