Dare To Dream
WE MUST DREAM AGAIN
(Genesis 37:1-20).
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims’ pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.".
“Everyone has one. It may be living undiscovered or as yet undetected, but everybody has one. It could be broken, undeveloped or hidden beneath the rubble of past mistakes, but… everybody has… a dream.”
We have all had our dreams. We have had dreams in childhood. We’ve had dreams in adolescence, and we continue to dream in young adulthood. And along life’s way some of those dreams die a natural death. When that occurs it’s important many times to dream again; To get a fresh vision from God for our lives.
Someone said, “The richest spot on the face of the earth cannot be found in the diamond mines of South Africa, or in… the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. No, the richest plot of land is in your very own neighbourhood… It’s the cemetery. That’s right! The graveyard is the wealthiest place in all of creation. Beneath those rectangular pieces of sod and tombstones lie countless unsung melodies and unwritten poems. The grassy plots overflow with brilliant ideas that could have transformed entire communities… Our burial grounds reek with unattained successes and unrealized dreams.”
KEY TEXT: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy.” Proverbs 13:12).
- Dreams. What dreams has God put in your heart?
- I want to stir you up to dare to dream. To pursue the dream God put in your heart.
- To rediscover dreams that may have been dormant. What’s your dream?
- CS Lewis said, “Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.”
THE STORY – PART ONE:
“1 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf." 8 And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me." 10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?" 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
(One day his father sent him to see his brothers as they tended the sheep in the fields…)
18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ’Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!” (Genesis 37:1-20).
WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS STORY?
1. Joseph knew he was deeply loved by his father, and he was able to dream. (Note – none of his other brothers were dreamers).
2. Joseph was 17 when he started to dream. God usually starts birthing dreams in us while we’re young. Sometimes as people get older they abandon the dreams. Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, “For a dream comes through much activity.”
- Joseph was a dreamer of dreams.
- Verse 5 says, “Joseph dreamed a dream;” but he didn’t dream just one time.
- But verse 9 says, “ and he dreamed yet another dream.” Joseph had a dream and he lived out of that dream
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE STORY?
In Genesis 37 - Joseph is thrown into a PIT
In Genesis 39 - Joseph is a slave working for POTIPHAR
In Genesis 40 - Joseph is in PRISON
In Genesis 41 - Joseph finally arrives in the PALACE
3. Joseph was approximately 37 years old when his dream finally came to pass. It happened 20 years later! Habakkuk 2:3 (NLT) says, “But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.” Dreams don’t usually come to pass overnight – we need to pursue those dreams to see them become a reality!
CLOSING: Think about the dreams God has put in your heart. If you don’t know what dreams He has for you, take a moment and ask Him. Then, begin to pursue those dreams!
I. Finding Our Founding Dream
Charles A. Lindbergh said, “We actually live today in our dreams of yesterday and living in these dreams, we must dream again.
II.
In “Winnie-the-Pooh,” Pooh and Piglet take an evening walk. For a long time they walk in companionable silence. Finally, Piglet breaks the silence and asks, “When you wake up in the morning, What’s the first thing you say to yourself?” “What’s for breakfast?” answers Pooh. “And what do you say, Piglet? I say “I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?” Small expectations yield meager results. Unhealthy visions produce sick community and nation.
What kind of vision do we have?
III. Posing A Possible Dream
· We Must Dream Again
· We Must Dream the Impossible…because Jesus says: “All things are possible if we only believe
· Or Proverb 25:7 As a man thinketh in his heart so is he
·
· Langston Hughes, a black poet wrote these words: “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” If we don’t dream we will die
Jesus had a kingdom dream. Over 80 times in the Gospels, Jesus Spoke of His dream of the “Kingdom of God.” His dream was to redeem all mankind from the power of sin, to reconcile the world to God, and to bring the kingdom of God to rule in men and women, boys and girls heart and spirit.
1. We must dream for a better life
2. We must dream for a better society where there is less crime- domestic tranquility
3. We must dream for better educational system where our boys and girls are dependant upon the FCAT, ACT AND SAT
4. We must dream for affordable health care and medicine with the cure for cancer, AIDS and sick-a cell.
5. We must dream for peace in the land where there would be no 911 and war in Iraq.
6. We must dream that one day America will come to know that it is America and THAT ALL MEN IS CREATED EQUAL
7. WE MUST DREAM
8. WE MUST DREAM FOR ETERNAL LIFE