Living the DREAM!
(Chuck Hill, Senior Pastor @ Trinity Fellowship Church – Greenville, SC)
Sunday, October 1, 2006 - AM
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)
I want to start this morning with a question:
When, in the Bible, did God ever give someone an easy job?
Honestly, I want you to think about it…when did God ever interrupt someone and say to them:
I have an assignment for you, but it’s not going to be very difficult or take much time.
The answer is – oh course…
No where! Because He never does!
God’s call to each and every man, woman and child…is always very big and seemingly impossible!
Think about it:
God comes to Noah and says:
I have a DREAM for you to fulfill. A mission for you to undertake. I want to begin the whole project of the human race all over again, and I’m going to do it with you. So, here’s what I want you to do - - I want you to go to Home Depot, and get some materials (some wood, and nails and tar to seal out the water) and build yourself an ark.
Now, you’re going to face some ridicule and hostility -- but hang in there, because, I want you to do the impossible. I need you to collect all kinds of animals, house them, feed them, care for them…and replenish the earth with them. And when it comes to the human race, I want you to be willing to start with your little family—and kick start civilization all over again from scratch—but I want you to remember my commitment to you. You will not go through this alone. I promise that I’ll be with you. And I will even give you a sign to remind you of both My promise and My presence.
And that sign was . . . the rainbow.
Noah said:
All right God. I don’t really understand it all, but You can use me.
God came to Abram one day and said:
I have a DREAM for you to fulfill. A mission for you to undertake. I’m going to create a new community—the people of Israel. I want you to leave everything that you call familiar—your home, your culture, your wealth, everything—and I want you to go to a land that you have never seen. I want you to make your home among strangers. And as you go, I’ll lead you and show you where it is that I am sending you. But never forget this promise, you are not alone – I will go with you! And I will give you a sign to remind you of both My Promise and My Presence.
And that sign was . . . circumcision.
Yeah, and that is when Abraham said:
Why did Noah get the rainbow? Couldn’t you give me a sign that was a little less intrusive? Like a secret handshake or a decoder ring, or something like that?
No, he didn’t say that!
Abraham said:
All right, God. I don’t understand all of that, but You can use me.
God came to Moses, and He said:
I want you to free My people. I want you to go to Pharaoh, the most powerful man on earth, defy him to his face and demand that he let My people go.
And Moses said:
I’m slow of speech. I don’t have much to offer...but you can use me.
And that is the way it happened over and over again. God called on common people (both men and women) and gave them a DREAM of uncommon proportions.
• Like Nehemiah who rebuilt the city walls and gave his people hope.
• And David, who took on the giant and an entire army of evil men.
• And Esther, who risked her life to change the mind of the King.
• And Joseph, who faced rejection and prison and slavery in order to provide for the people of God.
• And Daniel, who was thrown into a lions’ den for standing up for His faith in an evil society.
Each of these men and women who followed God overcame great trials and hardship in order to fulfill their destiny. But notice that none of them had a small DREAM. Each of them faced unbelievable struggles in order to fulfill the plan of God for their lives.
Max DePree (a Christian author and leadership guru) once said: “Never insult someone by giving them an easy job.”
And the truth is…God never does.
He gives the ultimate assignment to all who will follow Him. And you can see this best in the person of Jesus Christ. He literally embodied the idea of fulfilling a big DREAM even through it wasn’t easy!
Jesus reconciled the world to Himself, to show just how much God loves us by going to the Cross and giving His life. And then, because Jesus had done the hard part, He gathered His followers together and said to them:
Now, go into all the world and have really successful careers and drive nice cars and build big houses and live safe, respectable lives…and don’t attempt anything too big…just get by and just take it easy! (You can find that verse in 1st Hallucinations)
No, actually -- when Jesus prayed to his Father for his followers, this is what he prayed:
John 17:18-21 (NLT)
18As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19And I give myself entirely to you so they also might be entirely yours. 20"I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony. 21My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father--that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.
In John 20:21-22 (NIV) – after Jesus had risen from the dead, He met with His disciples and told them:
21"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”
One of my favorite Christian authors -- Brennan Manning, in his book The Signature of Jesus, writes “Whenever the Spirit of God breaks into our lives, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, or in the middle of a lifetime, it is to announce in some fashion that the time for behaving hesitantly or indecisively is over.”
Folks, God wants to come into our lives – He longs to give us a God-sized dream and then place within us the courage to attempt it.
I believe that deep within the heart and life of every human being is a yearning to live bigger and better than anyone ever has before. God has created us with a passion to rise up and make our mark in this world.
And I would add – to live the adventure that He has created FOR US…or maybe it is better said, to live the adventure He has created US FOR!
You see, we have all been uniquely designed to fulfill a destiny and embrace an adventure that has been personally designed with us in mind. God has created us to fit our Destiny and He has designed our Destiny to fit us!
The unfortunate fact is that many of us settle for self-driven dreams when we could enjoy the pursuit of God-given dreams. The life He has created us for is nothing short of an ADVENTURE.
This past week I looked up the definition of the word adventure, and here is how it is defined – An ADVENTURE is…“an undertaking or enterprise of a hazardous nature.” And folks, life as God intended us to live it is nothing less than an adventure.
It comes at great risk and at significant cost.
Jesus summarized it like this, “For whoever wants to save his life will lost it, but whoever loses is life for me will save it.” - Luke 9:24
Listen, there is nothing safe or easy in this life. At least not if we want to really live. But if we choose to do life with Christ, He has promised us the very same thing that He promised those who have walked this path before us. He promises to give us His presence so that we will never walk alone.
Jesus has called each and everyone of us to live a life of unimaginable adventure. And it begins the moment that we choose to follow Him.
In John 10:9-10, Jesus tells us that He is the portal, the passage way for embracing this kind of life. He says… 9Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. Wherever they go, they will find green pastures. 10The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
Isn’t that good news!
That is the core of the Gospel message! The good news – that Jesus has come to give us life. As the creator – He knows the potential that has been placed within us…and I dare say that most of humanity, both within and without the church is living way below the level of wonder and adventure that God has created us to experience.
God is a dream-giving God. To categorize him any other way is a total mis-representation.
17" ’In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. -Acts 2:17-18 (NIV)
The activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to result in dreams and visions. It’s the Holy Spirit revealing to you the purpose of God for your life.
God wants to give you a dream - a vision - an insight into His purpose for your life. He gets good things in the earth through dreamers. Everything worthwhile begins as a dream.
Let me give four things that discovering God’s DREAM for your life will do for you:
1. A dream will give you direction.
The bible tells us in Genesis 37:5: "Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more." -Genesis 37:5
Joseph was given a dream by God, and the dream set the course for the rest of his life.
His dream allowed him to overcome family problems, set backs, temptations, false accusations, prison and to rise up to a place of influence and impact for the glory of God.
A dream born of God will take you places. If you don’t know where you want to go, it’s unlikely you will get anywhere.
Do you remember the story – Alice in Wonderland? Well there is a great conversation of unbelievable wisdom which takes place in that story between Alice and the Cheshire Cat.
One day while Alice was walking, she came to a fork in the road and when she did, she noticed the Cheshire cat sitting up in a tree. So she asked him, "Which road do I take?" And to this, the Cheshire Cat responded, "Where to you want to go?" Alice thought for a moment and replied, "I don’t know," And the Cheshire Cat made a monumental statement of truth…He said, "Then it doesn’t matter."
Folks, that is what life without a Dream is like.
And can I tell you, if you have not fully embraced Jesus Christ – then you have never fully embraced the DREAM of your life. For your relationship with Christ will determine your identity – which will determine your dream – which will determine the way in which you should go!
Did you get that?
• Your Connection with Jesus Christ will…
• Connect You with your Identity, which will…
• Connect You with your DREAM, which will…
• Connect You with your Direction for Your Life!
Oswald Chambers once wrote, “The destiny of every human being depends upon his relationship to Jesus Christ. It is not on his relationship to life, or on his service or his usefulness, but simply and solely on his relationship to Jesus Christ.”
If you read through the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life you will discover something spectacular. Jesus’ encounter with people is nothing short of remarkable. So individual! So personally tailored! So full of surprises! Everyone who met Him up close was profoundly changed after spending time with Him. That’s the common thread throughout the New Testament accounts. All of the people whom He met were vastly different – yet the common ground between them was that He turned no one away and changed them for the best!
He changed them…though Jesus took them as they were – He loved them too much to leave them that way. And He is still doing the same for you and me!
Can I tell you, I believe the Christian faith is more about living than it is about dying and going to heaven. Christ did the dying so that we could do the living.
The beauty of this life which we have in Christ is that when we choose to follow Him, we not only receive the golden ticket to heaven…but we also receive the promise, the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit which comes alive in us and directs our steps here on earth!
You see, the Holy Spirit turns people into dreamers and visionaries. It’s how God reveals His plans for us about how our lives can make a difference.
A person with a dream lives a very different life than a person without one.
Henry Ford once said, “The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.” And let me add – you can only find out what your true destiny in life is…by embracing the Creator of this life and following Him.
Without direction, we are drifting through life, existing, maintaining our routine. We will never be successful without a sense of where we want to go. And more importantly, where God wants us to go.
One of my favorite quotes comes from a Scottish author from the 1800’s – Thomas Carlyle. He wrote:
“The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder-a waif, a nothing, a no man.”
There is a powerful story about the necessity of purpose and direction in life captured in the true story of the greatest battleship the German Navy had ever commissioned.
It was called the Bismarck and was built to destroy everything in it’s path. Hitler had his army launch the ship which could fire a shot over two and a half miles, which carried over 2200 sailors and weight over 50,000 tons on May 18th 1941. This was the Bismark’s first and only mission.
As it was designed, it destroyed everything in its path. Until it came in contact with the British war ship named the Hood. In a final attack, almost in darkness at around 11:00pm, a "miracle" hit by a single torpedo (launched by a British plane) jammed the Bismarck’s rudder and steering gear. Which ultimately rendered her virtually un-maneuverable. All she could do was move in a continuous circle. The largest and most powerful warship ever known had been disabled and left as a sitting-duck by a single torpedo. It didn’t take long for the British war ships to take advantage of the opportunity and sank the Bismark where she sat.
You see, life must have purpose and direction…without it, we just go in circle after circle trying to find our way until ultimately we are completely destroyed and rendered useless.
And folks, the only answer to this kind of problem is to connect to Jesus Christ and then discover the God-given DREAM for our life.
This includes thinking bigger than we ever have before. God’s plan for our lives will only lead us to those things which we could never do alone. His plan is far greater than our minds can conceive.
That is why the Bible tells us to “set our minds on higher things – and then to keep our minds on those things above.” You see, God’s plan for you and me is to change our way of thinking and then to change our level of expectancy.
Isaiah 30:18 (NKJV) – gives a promise to those who embrace God’s plan for their lives and follow Him. The prophet writes…
21Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it…”
Do you remember what we discovered earlier?
• Your Connection with Jesus Christ will…
• Connect You with your Identity, which will…
• Connect You with your DREAM, which will…
• Connect You with your Direction for Your Life!
Here is the deal – if you want to really fulfill your purpose in life (that which God personally crafted you for) then you have to embrace His DREAM for your life. But when you do – that DREAM will provide you with solid direction every step of the way! Secondly…
2. A dream will unlock your potential.
Without a dream, we are locked into our present circumstances - merely responding to each thing that comes our way.
When you do not have a purpose or a dream to live out, you begin to be reactive rather than proactive. And reactive living is always a step behind.
But when you possess God’s purpose for your life…when you understand and embrace His dream, you will begin to stretch – to attempt – to dare to accomplish more than you ever have before.
That dream unlocks areas of your heart which you never knew existed. It allows you to partner with God in such a way that the norm…just seems small.
Living with the awareness that God has created you with a purpose to fulfill will lead you to the place of daring to do more than you would have ever dreamed about before.
The bible tells us that we were created with purpose. The prophet Jeremiah tells us that God has said…
“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29: (NIV)
A DREAM will unlock the hidden potential of your life. Thirdly…
3. A dream will dictate your future.
Without a dream, we are spectators - sitting back, hoping everything will work out.
With a dream, we are taking an active part in shaping and molding the meaning of our lives. A dream is not a 100% guarantee, but it improves our chances of success immeasurably.
And when we dare to dream and then work to accomplish that DREAM under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit…no matter what takes place, the promise always remains…God will never leave us nor forsake us. His abiding presence shall be in our lives.
One of the books I read early last year was entitled, Your Best Life Now – written by Pastor Joel Osteen. At the conclusion of one of his chapters, he makes this statement – and I believe it is one that you and I should allow to linger in our hearts and mind. He writes:
“If you’ll do your part by continually contemplating the goodness of God, living with faith and expectancy, God will take you places you’ve never even dreamed of, and you’ll live at a level you have never before dared to imagine. God has good things in store for you!”
Discovering God’s dream for your life…and living with the expectancy that you will be able to fulfill that dream with Him will take you places you never thought possible.
A DREAM will dictate your future! Lastly…
4. A dream will draw you closer to God.
To fulfill a dream is to fulfill the purpose God created us for. A true dream will continue to cause us to believe in God and to believe in ourselves in new ways.
It will cause us to be highly dependent on Him. It will in a very real sense continue to draw back to God – again and again and again!
There are many things in this world which tend to disconnect us with God. Even the ministries and the programs and the schedules of our lives can do that. But not your DREAM. The DREAM God has designed for you will keep you coming back for more insight, direction and presence.
So, this morning – I want to ask you: Have you connected with Christ. And if so, have you allowed Him to place within you something of such significance that it changes the way you see the world?
Have you begun to DREAM – something that is costly…but undeniably a God thing?
I want to encourage you to live the real life. Choose today to follow Christ. Connect yourself and your identity to Him and then begin to Dream big!
Here is how I want to close this morning,
If you are here today and you have come to the realization that you have no real direction for your life…you are living apart from God and apart for any real significance.
If you are sitting here and the Holy Spirit is just gripping your heart, and you realize this is your chance – this is your day
With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to give you an opportunity to respond to what God is doing in your life. If you know that God has been pulling at your heart this morning to surrender your life’s control to Him…then I want you, without any hesitation to slip you hand up this morning. Slip it up and just hold it there for a moment.
Now let me tell you something…you have just responded to the greatest opportunity you wil ever have - - to follow Christ is a monumental decision. If you raised your hand and said I want to follow Christ, would you slip out of your seat and come meet me down here at the altar. Come meet me here – I want to pray ith you this morning!
Come quickly,…come settle the issue of who is in control of your life…come make the decision to follow God.
Now while you are standing here with me – I want to lead you in a prayer of repentance and reconciliation with God.
Let’s pray!
And now for you Christian…maybe you are sitting here today and for years – you have just done church. It has been a habit for you, but it has not really made a difference.
You may have invited Christ into your life…but unlike those men and women we discussed early in this message – you have never responded to God completely and said, “You can use me!”
And because of that, all you have ever known is a watered down, mediocre faith.
Today, God is looking for you to settle the surrender issue as well and allow Him to birth within you a lasting DREAM of great significance.
It doesn’t matter your age, rank or serial number…if you are not living the DREAM, then this is your day!
I want to ask each and everyone of you who are going through the motions but have yet to discover what your place in this world is all about to come now and join with me and we are going to lay hands on you and ask God to speak into your heart and direct your paths.
Come join me here at the altar and let’s pray!
