Sermon Tone Analysis

Last week, we talked about getting into our “prayer closets”… drawing that circle around ourselves… and praying that God would fill it with His Holy Fire!

Today we are talking about “dreaming big”… because “BIG Dreams” create fire in our lives!!!

Did you notice something?

Paul’s desire was to go to Spain… Yet… Did God tell him to go there??? NO!!!!

Paul was dreaming big!

Look at verse 23:

He found that he had done all the work he could in his current situation… He had “run into the wall”… He was serving the kingdom… He was working… He still found great satisfaction in serving the people in the places he served, BUT....

He still had a dream!

He desired to do more!

So his plan was to go to Spain and continue to spread the gospel!

Look at verse 24:

Paul was dreaming big!!!!

Take a look at Nehemiah…

Nehemiah’s friends came to visit… He asked them how things were going, and they told him “horrible....”

Look what he says:

Nehemiah 1:4–11 (NIV)

4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.

For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

5 Then I said: (listen to his prayer) “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel.

I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.

7 We have acted very wickedly toward you.

We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,

9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.

11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name.

Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

I was cupbearer to the king.

Can you see Nehemiah’s heart?

He didn’t think the king should do something… He didn’t think someone else should do something…

He had a dream to do something about it himself… and so, he took that Dream to God!!!

What is your dream??!

Look how Nehemiah’s turned out…

Nehemiah 2:1–6 (NIV)

1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king.

I had not been sad in his presence before,

2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill?

This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

I was very much afraid,

3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever!

Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven,

5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?”

It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

When we dream BIG… We PRAY BIG!

When we pray BIG… BIG things happen!!!

Paul and Nehemiah dreamed BIG dreams… and they saw God move in mighty ways!!!

How BIG are you dreaming?

Mark Moore was a former missionary to Africa… In 2009, he launched MANA — “Mother Administered Nutritive Aid”.

MANA is a peanut butter based nutritive aid that is high in protein, calories, vitamins and minerals… It is used for malnourished children because it is easy on the stomach…

Mark states that God gave him the vision for MANA while he was working at Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse in Africa…

Listen to what Mark says happened: “As that dream began to gel and I began to pull together resources and relationships to pursue the dream, Ebenezer’s became the meeting place.”

Today, MANA produces more than a million packets a month!

Mark’s dream didn’t just impact him… it effected Ebenezer House… and it effects people all over the world!

“You show me the size of your dream, and I’ll show you the size of your God.” — Mark Batterson

How BIG is your God?

Over and over in scripture, we are told to dream BIG Dreams… to pray for BIG Things… to expect BIG Answers from God…

BIG Dreams change the world!

Do you know what testimonies are?

— They are times when God moved!

Testimonies are times when God moved!

— They are times when God moved BIG!

— They are times when God made our dreams a reality!!!

Let me tell you: Sharing our Dreams… unites us!

Think about it…

What happens when we hear a huge Ground shaking… God sized Dream… and how God fulfilled it?!?

(we get excited, right?)

Why?

— They lift us up!

— We love a good story…

— We love stories that help us see God… that build our dreams…

We borrow faith from each other when we share our testimonies.

Mark Batterson shares how he struggled with asthma for most of his life until … in 2016, he prayed the “bravest prayer he had ever prayed”…

You see… It was then that he “stopped talking to God about his problem, and started talking to his problem about God.”

He says, “It was in that moment that I was healed.”

God can do absolutely amazing things in our lives when we stop simply talking to Him about our Dreams and start talking to our Dreams about God!

What’s keeping you from it?

What’s keeping you from talking to your problems and dreams about God, instead of God about your problems?

We can trust God!

He can and will take care of us!

He can do immeasurably more than we can imagine!

Are we asking God to do immeasurable things in our lives?

And even more… Are we believing that He already has?

Let me tell you… God has already done what you need Him to do…

This phrase is past tense!

God said this BEFORE Joshua and the people did anything!

All Joshua and the people did was trust the victory that God had already declared!!!

Let me tell you: God has already answered your prayer!

and

We just have to have Faith that He has answered us… and express our Gratitude to Him.

We’ve talked a lot about Faith …

Scripture says that “a mustard seed of Faith will move mountains”… Do you know what that kind of Faith is?

— FAITH is thanking God before He has acted.

— GRATITUDE is thanking God after He has acted.

The Psalmist tells us to “Be still and know”… and Jesus tells us

Matthew 6:25 (NIV)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?