19 Oct “Influencd” | Part Five – ‘Vision Sunday’ – All Locations
Check the Events Page for What is Happening (not everything is listed here) (waterschurch.org/events)
NEW ENGLAND LOCATIONS
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ALL LOCATIONS
NEW>>>>>>OPERATION THANKSGIVING IS UNDERWAY!
This year, we’re feeding over 800 families for Thanksgiving!
A $60 donation provides a full Thanksgiving meal for an average family.
Food is already ordered and will be picked up on November 10, so please get your donations in by then if possible!
To give, visit waterschurch.org/give — select your location and choose Operation Thanksgiving from the dropdown menu.
Let’s come together and bless our communities this Thanksgiving!
WATERS UNIVERSITY:
We’re looking to grow healthy Christians at Waters Church…spiritually, physically, mentally, financially and relationally — that is the mission of Waters University. The Fall semester has begun and Alpha classes will start on October 6 Financial Peace University has been postponed to a November start (date coming soon). Go to https://watersu.org/ or click the link below now for more information on classes and to register.
ALPHA MEAL PREP – SEE NEW DATES FOR FALL – GO TO WATERSCHURCH.ORG/EVENTS FOR THE SCHEDULE
ALL LOCATIONS – MEALS FOR ALPHA CLASS
Details:
- Choose a Monday to serve, starting 10/6 for nine weeks.
- Meals must arrive between 5:15–5:30 PM.
- Provide a fully cooked, pre-heated meal including salad and dessert (serves ~10).
- Stay to eat and mingle from 6–6:30 PM, then assist with clean-up.
- Drinks, condiments, serving ware, and warming trays are provided.
- Can’t cook? Donate to help cover meal costs—$25 per registration. You may sponsor multiple nights when registering or donate at Info Central on Sunday.
Thank you for helping us share the Good News of Jesus Christ!
Reminders:
✳ Please regularly check your Planning Center profiles for requests to join your life groups, remove members from the list that no longer attend, or add members not listed. Please ensure that you have added no-reply@churchcenter.com to your email contacts so that you do not miss an email from Planning Center and encourage your members to do so as well. This will ensure you do not miss a member request or any emails that come from the Planning Center site.
Thank you!
Waters Class Schedule:
- Growth Track – Check schedule and register on the events page.
- 4th Sunday: Baptism Class – after every service
Waters Help: Need marriage and family care or have a group member in need of marriage and family care? Click here: help resources page or visit waterschurch.org/help
Location Text Alerts:
| North Attleboro | Text “subscribe” to 508 695-1300 | |
| Norwood | Text “subscribe” to 781 762-3357 | |
| Apollo Beach | Text “subscribe” to 813 642-6979 | |
| Woonsocket | Text “subscribe” to 833 241-4837 | |
| Southcoast | Text “subscribe” to 508 809-3490 | |
Check the Events Page for What is Happening (not everything is listed here) (waterschurch.org/events)
PLEASE CHECK YOUR NOTIFICATIONS AND OR YOUR PLANNING CENTER PROFILES FOR NEW MEMBER REQUESTS.
NOTE:
Two opportunities to pray:
Leaders only: Please be available at the end of service to pray for those who come forward. If you are not actively serving during the service you are attending, make it a priority to head to the front when the invitation is given. Your presence matters!
North Attleboro Leaders and members: If you are available, or any member of your group who currently serves is available, there is an opportunity to meet for prayer in the conference room off of the break room area during the second and third services. Please see Doug and Joanie White or Felix Shyllon if you would like to be a part of that ministry.
Please Note: if you have a member who is not serving currently and would like to be a part of the prayer during the service team, please have them take the appropriate steps to become a serve team member.
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**Please read all scripture in the ESV, unless otherwise noted.**
Key Verse: Numbers 13
Ice Breaker:
What’s something you once dreamed about doing that seemed impossible—but with time or faith, it actually happened?
Opening Prayer
“Lord, thank You for being the Light that gives us vision and direction. Open our hearts to trust You more deeply, to walk by faith and not by sight, and to see Your promises through the eyes of belief. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Two things are being asked of us to do:
1. Growth Track
New membership course for everyone at Waters Church. All locations will be rolling it out over the next two months.
2. Generational Influence Campaign Giving
Save to give on December 21st this year and March 1st next year.
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God is LIGHT and where there’s LIGHT, there’s VISION.
Light reflects off the objects around us, and vision leads to direction and occupation.
Proverbs 29:18 ESV; Proverbs 29:18 MSG
The Church is called to progress. God is for progress. Jesus made progress.
Right now, Jesus is saving people. Our Church and nation are experiencing a revival.
Three things that happen in the cycle of REVIVAL:
1. God SAVES
2. God SIFTS
3. God SENDS
God saves many people, sifts the true from the false, and sends those who remain to reach others.
Three agents by which God SIFTS His Church:
1. PAIN – intentional or unintentional bias against a person based on thier Christian faith.
2. PRESSURE – the desire to fit in or live up to expectations.
3. PRICE – the cost of following Jesus, stepping up to serve, giving your resources.
Q. When God brings light and vision into our lives, He often reveals both opportunities for growth and areas that need refining. How have you seen God use pain, pressure, or price to clarify your purpose or strengthen your faith?
Leader Prompt:
Encourage members to reflect on how God often uses challenging seasons to clarify purpose and strengthen faith. Remind them that God’s light doesn’t always remove the darkness immediately—but it reveals the next step. Help them connect how the cycle of revival (God saves, sifts, and sends) often begins in those very moments when His light breaks through the most challenging circumstances.
Numbers 13:1–2 ESV
God SAVED Israel in the Wilderness. God SIFTED Israel. Now God is SENDING Israel… BUT… they lost sight of what God was doing!.
1. They get TOO MUCH INFORMATION.
Numbers 13:21–25 ESV
Forty days of walking twelve miles per day make everything seem worse.
I don’t need to know EVERYTHING God is GOING to GIVE me, I only need to TRUST that God is WITH ME.
The Israelites asked for this.
Deuteronomy 1:21–23 ESV
In life, at times, if you’re not careful, God will give you what you want, and it won’t be good.
Ask God for wisdom, not specifics.
Q. Have you ever wanted to know everything about what God was doing—only to realize later that too much information made it harder to trust Him? How can we stay focused on God’s presence instead of needing all the details about His plan?
Practical Application:
This week, take one step of obedience in an area where you’ve been waiting for more clarity. Trust that if God called you to it, He will walk with you through it.
2. They EXAGGERATE their CHALLENGES.
When the spies return, a few things happen from their own testimony:
Numbers 13:27 ESV
They now call it ‘the land to which you sent us’, not ‘the land the Lord God is giving us’.
Numbers 13:2 ESV; Numbers 13:28-32 ESV
The ten spies exaggerated.
Numbers 13:33 ESV
NEPHILIM – which means “Fallen ones”.
Genesis 6:4 ESV; Genesis 7:21 ESV
The flood in Genesis wiped out the Nephilim.
The ten spies’ hearts were filled with fear, so they lied.
When you start DOUBTING God, you start SEEING GHOSTS.
Numbers 13:29 ESV; Exodus 17:14 ESV
Q. What are some “giants” in your life right now that may be growing larger because of fear or doubt?
Practical Application:
Speak faith over your challenges this week. Write down one situation that feels impossible and pray specifically for God’s strength and courage to overcome it.
3. They didn’t embrace the PAIN, PRESSURE, or PRICE.
The land was theirs, but they had to fight. The land was theirs, but the process of obtaining it was painful.
Pursuing God-given VISION requires FAITH to endure the PAIN, PRESSURE, and PRICE to follow Jesus.
Q. Which of the three—pain, pressure, or price—has been the hardest for you to embrace in following Jesus, and why?
Leader Prompt:
Remind the group that God’s promises often come with a process. The Israelites had to fight for the land God already gave them—just as we must sometimes fight through difficulty to step into what God has promised us. Encourage members to share personal stories of perseverance through pain, pressure, or sacrifice that led to spiritual growth or a stronger faith.
Practical Application:
Ask God to strengthen your endurance this week. Choose one area of obedience where it’s been costly, and thank God daily for the opportunity to grow through it.
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Closing Prayer:
Father, thank You for being the Light that guides our path. Help us to see with spiritual vision, trusting that where You lead, You also provide. When we face pain, pressure, or the price of following You, remind us that these moments are shaping our faith and preparing us for a greater purpose. Give us courage to obey even when we don’t see the whole picture and strength to endure as You sift, shape, and send us. May our lives reflect Your glory and bring others into Your light. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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