“Dream No Small Dreams”
In 2009 our mission continues to be: “Bringing people to Jesus, loving, equipping and sending them out to make more and better disciples.” BLES
Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision the people perish.” We might add: “Where there is vision people are being saved.”
Winnie the Pooh and Piglet were walking along he road in companionable silence. Then Piglet asks Pooh: When you wake up in the morning, what do you say?” I say, “What’s for breakfast, what do you say, Piglet?” Piglet answers, “I say, I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?”
Is that your view as we plan for 2009 in the Willow Vale Church? What are your dreams for this church? “Dream no small dreams they have no power to stir men’s blood.”
John 4:4-38 - Jesus traveled through Samaria to show God’s love and truth to a wayward Samaritan Woman. He crossed social and cultural barriers to talk to a Samaritan who also happened to be a woman. The woman was taken by surprise that Jesus even talked to her.
Jesus offered her living water and revealed to her that He was the Messiah. While Jesus was talking to the woman the disciples were in Sycar buying lunch from a farm market.
The disciples were shocked to find Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman and told him that he needed to take a brake and eat some lunch. Jesus told them that His nourishment came from doing God’s will.
Then Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest?’ I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” John 4:35
Vision is all about “looking.” “Look on the fields…”
Look – Sight is the ability to see as God sees.
To look on the fields requires adequate vision. A farmer can look at a wheat field and see one thing, and a computer analyst can look at the field and see something else. One understands what it takes to grow healthy wheat and the other knows how to analyze and compute how many bushels per acre.
In Numbers 13 God commanded the twelve leaders of Israel, one from each tribe, to go explore the land of Canaan and look at the fields that God was going to give Israel. Numbers 13:18, “Go spy out the land…are they strong or weak, few or many, is the land good or bad, rich or poor, fertile or desert?”
God wants us to see for ourselves the opportunities. Vision is seeing the potential. Without vision people perish. Vision is going to spy out the land and seeing the potential. Faith is claiming the Land for God.
Twelve spies went into the land of Canaan. Ten looked and gave their report: “The land flows with milk and honey. The land is beautiful – paradise on earth. But the people there are strong – the cities are protected with walls, giants live there. We are not able to defeat the people—they are stronger than we are—we are like grasshoppers in their sight.”
If we sent out 12 spies to check out San Jose would ten give this report: “The city is enjoying prosperity. Many millionaires live there. There are giant corporations what are not God fearing and put the profit motive above keeping marriages and families together. People are too busy for God and have no time to gather for worship. We need to just hold the fort until Jesus comes.
Two men, Joshua and Caleb, gave a faith report. “Let us go up at once, and occupy it. for we are able to over come it. The Lord will bring us into the land and give it to us. Do not fear the people. Let us go up and take possession for the land, for we can certainly do it.”
As we plan for the future of the Willow Vale Church what is your level of faith?
Little faith – God can do it.
Great faith – God will do it.
Active faith – God has done it.
Without vision we see our situation only from the human view. “We are like grasshoppers in their sight.”
• We are too small.
• We don’t have enough money.
• The economy is bad.
• We have too few workers.
• We must wait for better times?
Church growth doesn’t happen by accident. There are reasons why small churches grow into middle-size churches and middle-size churches grow into large churches.
John Polak in his book, The Future in Past Tense, says: “A study of the history of the people of God reveals an interesting fact—the wellbeing of the believing community was directly proportional to their obedience to God’s mission for them. When the people of God have a sense of mission things go well and the church is strong and healthy. When the church becomes introverted and loses its desire to minister in Christ’s name to those who are in need, problems set in.”
“When the church expends itself for the sake of others, it becomes healthy and grows.” The statement of Jesus is true in the life of the church, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” When we lose ourselves in something bigger than ourselves, namely Christ’s work, we find ourselves.”
As we plan for the future we have the promise in Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
The questions is, “How big is your God?” A man in New York died at the age of seventy. As a young man he and his wife lived in a tiny apartment on the East side. Six morning a week he would get up, eat his breakfast, walk to the subway station and ride to his work. All day long he spent in his shop. He never employed another clerk. He carried his lunch and ate on the job. At closing time he would catch the subway back, eat his supper and soon go to bed. He was never a strong man so he rested in bed every Sunday. For fifty years he did this same routine and then died. When that man said, “My City.” He meant a tiny apartment, a subway train, and a shop on a side street. He never saw the Metropolitan Museum, or rode to the top of the Empire State Building, or mingled with the crowds on Fifth Avenue. His world was very limited.”
For too many of us who say, “My God,” have a God that is to small. We somehow believe that God is limited.
When Jesus says, “Look on the fields,” our look is through weak eyes. We need to look and see as God sees. With God all things are possible. “My God shall supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
Prayer
Through Prayer we believe that God will guide us as we plan for the future. We don’t want to get ahead of God or behind God; we want to keep right in step with God’s plan. We have the promise of Jesus in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Faith
As we plan for the future we go forward in faith. Having faith means we take God at His Word and act accordingly. When Jesus asked his disciples to “Look on the fields they are ripe unto harvest.” He was calling for action. Take action, there are people all a round you wondering around lost like sheep. “Don’t worry about your next meal, get busy and care for the needs of people all a round you.”
People of vision and faith are not problem-minded; they’re opportunity minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems.
Why do we get involved in outreach programs for Kingdom growth? Because, we are not satisfied with little or no harvests, we are preparing for a great harvest.
We often need to pray the prayer of the man who brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus. The man said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “If you can?” said Jesus. Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believer, help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:21-24
Faith is seeing every situation and circumstance as God sees it regardless how challenging or hopeless it seems. We know that God is greater than any obstacle the Devil can throw our way.
Ask Moses- “What do you see?” “Nothing is too hard for God – Let’s go forward. The Red Sea parts.
Ask David – “What do you see?” No giant is too big for God. Goliath is defeated.
Ask Joshua—“What do you see? Let’s go conquer the land. God will give it to us.
Faith means action. A small boat wants to cross to the other side of the sea. The power to help is across is the wind; but the power is not effective until someone on board hoists the sail. Faith is the hoisting of the sail. Hoisting the sail brings the power of the wind into contact with the boat.
As we plan for the future we want to hoist the sail of faith and see where the wind of the Holy Spirit takes us.
When we look out on the harvest fields of our Silicon Valley it should forever sweep away from our minds the paralyzing thought of littleness. The very word should be deleted from our thinking. We serve a great God and He is not willing than anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance and receive eternal life.
Donald McGavran, for many years a missionary in India believed that Jesus is not pleased with---
Fishing without catching.
An empty banquet table.
Sowing without reaping.
A fig tree that bears no figs.
Lost sheep that are not brought into the fold.
A lost coin that is sought but not found.
Ripe harvests that are not reaped.
Proclamation without response.
As a local church our primary business is bringing people to Jesus and making more and better disciples.
If Jesus had his way what would He have us doing the next ten years? He would say: “Life up your eyes and look, the fields are ripe unto harvest.” The harvest is now ripe; there is no time to waste. Act on your vision. Take God at His Word and act accordingly.
Charles A. Lindberg years ago said:
We actually live today
In our dreams of yesterday;
And living in the dreams,
We dream again.”
As we plan for the future we want to stay relevant to our culture:
1. We need to learn to think like people who are confused and haven’t yet found God’s love and forgiveness. We need to listen to the needs and hurts of people in our community.
2. We need to focus on the felt needs of the un-churched, their emotional needs---their need for love, acceptance and inner peace.
3. We need to let our ministry area determine our approach—It takes all kinds of ministry styles to meet people’s needs.
a. The needs of the un-churched should guide us in determining our ministry programs.
b. Their hang-ups should help us determine our strategy.
c. Their culture should help us shape our style.
4. We need to be willing to minister outside our comfort zone.
5. We need to appeal to as many people as possible. We need to use our resources to connect to people in our community.
This coming year what are we going to do? We’re going to life up our eyes and see our mission fields around us as God sees them.
We’re going to pray and trust God to guide our steps and actions. We don’t want to get ahead of the Lord or behind the Lord, we want to keep in step with the Lord as He guides.
We’re going to plan with faith by taking God at His Word and acting accordingly. With God’s help we will carry out His mission for the Willow Vale Community Church:
“Bringing people to Jesus, loving, equipping, and
sending them out to make more and better
disciples.”
Let’s pray
