Stretchy Yourself
Living the Dream
02/03/07
I. Introduction
Humble monk Ignacio has always dreamed of being a lucha libre wrestler, but having grown up as an orphan in a Mexican orphanage, he never got the chance. Now an adult, he’s a bad cook at that same orphanage and blames the poor quality of the food on the lack of fresh ingredients.
After a wiry and nimble thief, Esqueleto, steals his bag of chips, Nacho comes up with an idea. If the two team up and enter a wrestling match, they might be able to win enough money to buy good food for the kids as well as satisfy Nacho’s lifelong obsession with the sport. So he’s now a man of God by day and a masked luchador by night.
The thing about Nacho is that he’s chasing after his dream. He goes after the thing he wants the most with unbridled passion. Sure, he faces a lot of challenges along the way, but plenty of strength and nutrients, he’s sure to overcome whatever comes his way…even Ramses.
II. The Dream
I believe each one of us has a dream placed in our hearts. I am talking about a vision deep down inside. The thing we were born to do, that draws from our gifts and talents, appeals to our highest ideals, sparks the feeling of destiny in our life and is inseparably linked to our purpose in life, the dream that links us to the success of our journey between the lines of a time to be born and a time to die.
If we’re just content to be satisfied with our lives and the place we’re at right now, we’ll never move, we’ll never grow, we’ll never dream. We’ll stay where we are.
The other day I was sitting at my desk and a fly was buzzing around me and my computer. I was getting completely annoyed and grabbed a magazine to end this chaos (in love, of course). But this guy was good. He would never stay in one spot long enough for me to send him to hell. One key that determines his life span is how long he is willing to sit in one place. The more content, the less he moves, the easier the elimination process. Splat.
But he wasn’t content, he wouldn’t stay in one place long enough, and there’s something we can learn from this fly. Not that we’re supposed to move from church to church or from city to city, but that we keep moving forward in life, that not only do we dream about a greater state, but that we move towards that state of being.
2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV 18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
That’s how we were meant to live, from glory to glory, always getting better, always going forward.
ACTIVITY: I want each of you to take just a second and introduce yourself to one of your neighbors as if it were ten years from now. Tell them all about who you are and what you do.
III. How BIG is Your Dream?
Amos 7:14-15 NIV 14 Amos answered Amaziah, "I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ’Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
Amos was a shepherd and a fig tree farmer, just an ordinary guy doing an ordinary thing, but God had other plans. God told Amos to do something big, to be a prophet.
What about you? Are you just an ordinary person doing an ordinary thing? Content to go to school day in and day out and do your thing? What is the dream for your life?
PLAY NACHO LIBRE CLIP HERE
Jeremiah 29:11 God’s plan
Proverbs 16:9 9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
Two men went fishing. One man was an experienced fisherman; the other wasn’t. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.
The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing this man waste good fish. “Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?” he asked.
The inexperienced fisherman said, “I only have a small frying pan.”
When you catch the dream that God has for you, do you keep it or throw it back? Do you say, “I’m not big enough for this dream, I only have so many abilities and talents.”?
“If you’re big enough for your dream, your dream’s not big enough for you.” – Erwin McManus
If your dream is something that you can do on your own, it’s not big enough. If you can accomplish your dream by yourself, with no help from friends, family, or God, you’re dreaming too small and you’re settling for less than the best.
IV. Carry Out The Dream
Have 5 volunteers come up. First person acts out the Acronym word and the others act out each word in the acronym.
1. Catch It
In order for you to successfully carry out the dream, you first off have to catch it. And by catch it, I mean, get the dream from God. God is constantly throwing ideas, insights and revelation your way. In order to catch that dream, you’re going to have to be looking for it and reach out and grab it.
Many of you are going to be watching the Super Bowl tomorrow. Picture the Colts’ Wide Receiver Reggie Wayne as he goes out for a pass. Now, when Reggie goes out to catch a pass, he doesn’t just stand in one position and wait for the ball to come to him. When the ball is thrown, he is actively pursuing that ball in order to catch it. That’s the same way we have to be with the dream God has for us. We actively go after it to catch it.
2. Author It
Habakkuk 2:2-3 MSG 2-3 And then God answered: "Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time.
When we say “author it” we mean to literally write down your dream. Write down what you want to be when you get older. Write down what you want to accomplish before your life is through. Write down what you want to achieve this year. Write it down and put it somewhere where you’ll see it everyday – your mirror, your wall, your locker. And write it as a faith statement…not I want to or one day, but begin each phrase with the statement I WILL or I AM.
3. See It
Proverbs 23:7a NKJV For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
Meditate means to mull over and over in your mind. Take time everyday to think about your dream. You have to envision yourself carrying out the dream that God’s placed in your heart. Actually visualize yourself living that dream!
4. Hop To It
Psalm 37:23 AMP 23The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step].
Take steps in the direction of your dream. If your dream is to be a musician, then obviously you need to learn to play an instrument. If your dream is to be the President of the United States, then take steps in that direction, learn more about political science and the government. If you’re not moving toward your dream, you’re not getting any closer to living it. The thing about getting in motion is that with every step you gain momentum. The more momentum you gain, the harder it is for something to stop you.
And no matter what your dream is or God’s dream for you, you can accomplish it and more with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 3:20 MSG 20God can do anything, you know--far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
The first step to fulfilling God’s dream for your life is to accept Christ as your savior and become born again.
The second step to fulfilling God’s dream for your life is to be filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
