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"I Have a
Dream"
Acts 16:9-10
In the book Chicken Soup For the Soul, there’s a story told about a man
named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in Texas. In telling about
his life, he says, "It all goes back to a story about a young man who
was the son of a horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race
track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses.
As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted.
When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted
to be and do when he grew up.
That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday
owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he
even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the
buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan
for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
He put a great deal of his heart into this project and the next day he
handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back.
On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, “See me after
class.”
The boy went to see his teacher after class and asked, “Why did I
receive an F?”
The teacher said, “This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like
you. You have no money. You come from a traveling family. You have no
resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy
the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later
you'll have to pay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do
it.” Then the teacher added, “If you will rewrite this paper with a more
realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.”
The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. Finally, after
sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the very same paper,
making no changes at all. He said to his teacher, “You can keep the F
and I'll keep my dream.”
Monty Roberts now owns a 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of a
200-acre horse ranch. Oh, and he still has that school paper framed over
the fireplace. He refused to allow his teacher to crush his dream.
When you look back in history, or even around us today, at those men and
women who are considered outstanding in their fields, there’s one
quality they possess that sets them apart from others, they are people
with a dream. Look at the inventors, the explorers, those who have truly
accomplished great things. These are people who at some point in time
were captured and captivated by a dream. It becomes the driving force in
their lives so that they have the ability to accomplish goals that seem
just out of reach by others who are just as talented.
Today as we continue our beginning together I felt that we needed to
talk about the importance of having a dream of what we hope to
accomplish in our lives or, more accurately, what we hope to allow God
to accomplish through us.
I want to share with you three things that I think are vital in having a
vision.
I. The Ability to See
Nowhere in all of scripture is the importance of a dream more apparent
than in the story of Joseph.
Read Genesis 37:5-11
Joseph’s dreams were so strong and so vivid, they became the compelling
vision of his life. Basically it was a dream of God's blessing upon his
life, a vision that he would be put into a place of leadership and
authority. Although that dream seemed utterly unrealistic, Joseph never
forgot it, he never doubted it, never abandoned it. Even when it seemed
to be completely shattered when his brothers sold him into slavery, or
when he suffered humiliation by being thrown into prison for a crime he
didn't commit, Joseph was always comforted by the dream, which he held
in his heart. He saw what God had in mind for him, and that gave him the
power to keep moving toward that goal. It filled him with the confidence
that God was always with him and was somehow working through him to
bring about its fulfillment.
Having a vision means we’re able to see in our mind’s eye the way we
want them to be. When Disney World first opened, Mrs. Walt Disney was
asked to speak at the grand opening, since Walt had died five years
before Disney World was completed. She was introduced by a man who said,
“Mrs. Disney, I just wish Walt could have seen this.” She said, “He
did.”
So today what do you see? What is your dream? What is your vision of
where you personally want to be five years down the road, ten years down
the road? Maybe your goal is to become more knowledgeable in God's Word,
to spend more time reading and studying the Bible. Maybe your goal is to
be more outgoing, to talk to more people about Christ and to invite more
people to worship services. Maybe your goals center on your family and
the need to be a better husband or wife, father or mother.
I don't know what particular goals you may have for your life, but I do
know this, if you don't have a dream, if you don't set goals for
yourself, then you can pretty much count on being the same next year as
you were last year. Nothing will ever change, you'll never mature,
you'll never grow unless you first have a vision of what you want to
become and what you need to become.
On a broader scale, what is your dream, your vision for this
congregation? What would you like to see us be accomplishing here five
or ten years from now?
I heard about a Sunday School class that was asked to go home and count
the stars in the sky as part of their next lesson. They came back with
various numbers. Some said they counted 100 stars, some said 1000, some
said a million. But there was one little boy who sat there quietly, so
the teacher asked him, "How many stars did you count?" He said, "3". The
teacher asked him, “How did you only see three stars?” He said, "I guess
we just have a small backyard."
I think a lot of us have a small backyard, spiritually speaking, because
we don’t see much, we don’t have much of a vision.
What do you see when you look at a country of people who don’t believe
in Jesus Christ? Or a community of people who don’t believe in Jesus
Christ? Or even just a neighbor who doesn’t believe in Christ? When you
see people whose lives are ripped apart by alcoholism, or divorce, or
immorality, how do you react?
Do you say, “I’m wasting my time because there’s a bunch of people here
who don’t think God is important?” Or do you see it as an opportunity
and say, “Wow, there’s a lot of potential here because these don’t have
God and they need him”? What do you see? Because what we see will
determine what will come about in the future.
II. Vision is the Faith to Believe
Remember the story of the 12 spies that went into the land of Canaan?
God had given the Israelites a vision. He had told the Israelites that
the land of Canaan was theirs. All they had to do was go in and claim
it. So 12 spies were sent into Canaan to check it out. When they came
back, ten of them said, “There is no way we can go into Canaan. It’s
full of huge men with lots of weapons and we don’t stand a chance.” But
there were two men, Joshua and Caleb, who believed that the vision God
had set before them could become a reality.
Listen to their words in Numbers 14:7-9
The Lord is on our side. We can conquer the people and the land will be
ours. This isn’t just some pipe dream. This can be a reality if we will
just put our faith in God. When we develop our vision of what we want to
be and what we want this congregation to be, we need to believe that our
vision is a reality – not because of what we can do, but because of our
faith in what God can do through us.
So again I ask you – what’s your vision for this congregation? Now, do
you have faith in God strong enough that God can bring us to that point?
Vision must involve faith.
III. Vision is the Courage to Do
The story is told of a school of agriculture whose dean of admissions
was interviewing a prospective student. He asked the student, “Why have
you chosen this particular career?”
The student said, “I dream of making a million dollars in farming, just
like my father.”
The dean was quite impressed. He said, “Your father made a million
dollars in farming?”
The student said, “No, but he always dreamed of it."
Dreams are good, and necessary. But we need to take steps to make those
dreams a reality. And I believe this is where we fall short.
“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood
and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’”
Acts 16:9.
Paul had a vision – a vision of people who needed to hear the gospel,
people in an area where the gospel had never been preached before. It
was a great vision. Paul could see it. He believed it was possible. But
then he actually had to do something.
“Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to
Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel
to them.” Acts 16:10
Paul’s vision was a great vision. But As long as that vision was just a
vision, nothing would ever be accomplished. Paul had to say, “I’m going
to do what I can to make that vision a reality.
Listen to Paul talk about his vision for his personal life in
Philippians 3:12-14. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have
already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which
Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to
have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the
prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Paul says, "My all-consuming goal in life is to be with God eternally."
That dream motivated him throughout his life, a dream that he never
stopped pursuing. And that vision of what he ought to be drives him
onward with determination, and he took action.
We need to be able to envision where we want this church to be, we need
to believe that God can take us there, but then we need to be willing to
fully commit ourselves to doing everything in our power to make that
vision a reality.
IV. My Vision for This Church
I would like to close today with my Vision for this family. I want you
to understand that my vision has nothing to do with the Building or the
contribution, but in a transformed people.
1. A Commitment to Prayer
I have a dream of this church truly being a house of prayer, a place
where prayer provides the foundation for every ministry we are involved
in. I have a dream of a time when our passion for God leads us to praise
him continually for all that he is and he does, to lean on him in our
times of need, and to trust him to accomplish all the things that we are
unable to do by ourselves.
2. A Commitment to the Bible
I have a dream of a church that is so committed to God’s Word that we
look forward to our times of being together to share what we have
studied during the week. That we will be so immersed in the word that we
will be able to live in peace and in harmony with one another, as we are
compelled to share the Gospel with everyone we meet.
3. A Commitment to Servant hood
I have a dream of a church that is committed to doing whatever it takes
to follow Jesus Christ. I dream of a church where the question is not,
“What are you doing for me? but “What can I do for you? I want to
serve.”
4. A Commitment to Balanced Christianity
I have a dream of a church where we are able to serve God with all of
our intellect, with all our emotions, and with all of our strength. As
God is Three in one we will be able to fully worship Him in 3 ways.
5. Every Christian is a minister
I have a dream of a church where everyone uses their talents and their
abilities to accomplish whatever needs to be accomplished. I dream of a
church where our members truly see themselves as God’s ministers and are
sacrificially investing their gifts, their talents and their resources
to make God’s vision become a reality.
6. A Commitment to Growth
Finally, I have a dream of a church that is filled every week with
family and friends that we truly care enough about to invite to worship
with us. I have a dream of this church being attended by hundreds of
unchurched people every week who are in the process of trying to find a
relationship with Jesus Christ, and us desiring their salvation more
than our own comfort level, pew or parking space.
Conclusion:
Can my dreams come to realization? Well there are not as big a pipe
dream as Joseph’s dream of becoming a ruler.
If we are ever going to accomplish great things for God, either as
individuals or as a congregation, it has to begin with a dream. So once
again I ask you: Do you have a vision for your life and where you want
to be?
Parents, do you have a vision for your children?
Do you have a vision for this congregation and what God can do with us?
Do you have a vision of how the lost in this community can be reached
for God?
What do you see?
Do you truly believe that God can accomplish those goals through us?
What are you willing to do to get us there?
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