Keeping the Dream Alive!
Keeping the Dream Alive!
Philippians 3:12-14
Today, I want to challenge you to keep the dream alive. Your dream is “the underlying vision that gives your church its unique purpose and personality.” Your church lives by its dreams. God’s Word says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish!” (Prov. 29:18) You also live by your dreams as individuals and as families. You have reaffirmed over and over again: Your dream is “a church carrying out the Great Commission--evangelizing, baptizing, and discipling all the people we can in the power of the Holy Spirit.” You have committed yourselves to Making disciples, Marking disciples, and Maturing disciples.
To a great extent, your dreams determine the structure of your existence. With a dream, you have mountains to climb, dragons to slay, rivers to cross, and goals to achieve. Without a dream, you are dead in the water. William Herbert Carruth’s poem “Dreamer of Dreams” makes clear how the rise and fall of our dreama shape our lives.
We are all of us dreamers of dreams, ..........On visions our childhood is fed;
And the heart of the child is unhaunted, it seems,........By the ghosts of dreams that are dead.
From childhood to youth’s but a span..............And the years of our life are soon sped;
But the youth is no longer a youth, but a man, ...........When the first of his dreams is dead.
..............................
He may live on by compact and plan...............When the fine bloom of living is shed.
But God pity the little that’s left of a man..............When the last of his dreams is dead.
Let him show a brave face if he can,.................Let him woo fame or fortune instead.
Yet there’s not much to do but to bury a man............When the last of his dreams is dead. (the end)
Without a dream, we have no direction in life. It is sad when a person does not know where he came from, why he is here, or where he is going. Virtually all of the parables of Jesus centered on the kingdom vision. Jesus shared a vision.
1. You Must LEARN FROM AND THEN LET GO OF The PAST.
"Forgetting what is behind"...
There are some things we must remember. We must learn from our mistakes and cherish our victories.
But there are some things we must also let go of: [1] Grieving over the death of a loved one. [2] Self pity over our own bad health or undesirable lot in life. [3] Resentments and grudges. [4] Failures. [5] Successes.
2. You Must LOOK TO The FUTURE.
"straining toward what is ahead"
Someone has said: "He who aims at nothing will surely hit the mark."
3. You Must LIVE IN THE PRESENT.
"press on toward the goal"
Hebrews 11:1 reads: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Clarence Jordan paraphrased the verse: “Now faith is the turning of dreams into deeds.” That is a good definition of what our church’s objective ought to be, too. Turning kingdom dreams into deeds of ministry should be a prime goal for our church.
Remember, “Yesterday is but a Dream, And Tomorrow only a Vision; But Today, well-lived, Makes every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope."
“I’ve only just a minute, Just 60 seconds in it. Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it, But it’s up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it, Give account if I abuse it. It’s just a tiny minute, But eternity is in it.”