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Godly Vision – A Vision of CARE! (Sermon Audio)

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This is the audio from the November 3, 2024 sermon, “A Vision of CARE!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Zechariah 10

“I will strengthen them in the LORD and in his name they will walk,” declares the LORD.”
Zechariah 10:12 (NIV)

As God revealed Himself in Old Testament times to His chosen people, He often did so in visions seen by His prophets.  Zechariah was one of those prophets who was given a series of godly visions to share with God’s people of his time and with God’s people of today.  Today we continued a sermon series from the book of Zechariah as we consider how his godly vision should teach us now.  As we gaze into God’s Word, we find this Godly Vision looked forward to the coming of Jesus and the work He would accomplish through His life, death, burial, and resurrection.  As we return to God from wherever we are, we find He fills us with a vision of . . .

  • Compassion:  Zechariah 10:1-2

    • A vision of care is revealed in the compassion God has for people.  The suffering of mankind does not escape the notice of God.  In fact, He chose to suffer with us so that through Jesus He could rescue us from the source of our suffering — sin.  When we experience the compassion of God, we learn to care for others when we extend that same compassion towards them. 

  • Anger:  Zechariah 10:3-5

    • A vision of care contains a surprising element of anger.  In fact, a lack of anger about anything will generally expose a lack of true care about anything.  The problem isn’t the anger, but rather the way we express and respond to anger.  When we notice the things which make God angry, we also see His heart for people exposed in His care for them . . . even when His anger burns against them.  When we learn to care for people in the way God cares, we learn to focus our anger against the spiritual enemy which seeks to destroy rather than on the people whom God seeks to save.  

  • Restoration:  Zechariah 10:6-8

    • A vision of care will turn the compassion and anger we experience into a process of restoration.  Far too many people are living life distant from God and from one another simply because the enemy does a good job of convincing them that they are not cared for.  Unfortunately, as Christians we don’t always excel in expressing care for people in a way which restores them to God or to fellowship with others.  When we understand the extent of God’s love while we lived as His enemy, we begin to see a godly care which leads to restoration.

  • Embrace:  Zechariah 10:9-12

    • A vision of care is not restricted to compassion, anger, and restoration in ways which are superficial.  In fact the superficial nature of many human relationships cause much of the despair and hopelessness which comes from believing no one really cares.  The kind of care God expresses towards us is the kind which embraces us as one fully loved.  It is this embrace that the body of Christ ought to have toward one another as we follow the prayer of Jesus in letting the world know we belong to Christ by the visible love for one another, shown by the way we care.

Today, how will you live with a vision of CARE?