Dare To Dream!

Sermon Notes

February 7, 2010

Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor

Sun Lakes United Methodist Church

9248 E. Riggs Road, Sun Lakes, Arizona 85248

(480) 895-8766

Genesis 12:1-8 NRSV

1Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  2I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  3I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

4So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.  Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  5Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan.  When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh.  At that time the Canaanites were in the land.  7Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”  So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.  8From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and invoked the name of the LORD.

 

A.  Introduction

    1.  Booker T. Washington

        a.  Booker T. Washington had a dream.  He wanted to go to college.  However, the year was 1872 and Booker T. Washington was an African American.  Despite the Civil War being over, and despite the freeing of the slaves, few colleges would admit blacks.  Washington heard of the Hampton Institute in Virginia.  They might admit blacks.  So Booker walked the 500 miles from West Virginia.  He slept out of doors and took odd jobs along the way.  Finally, he arrived at the Hampton Institute and spoke to the lady who was the Dean of Admissions.  He would later write:  “Having been so long without proper food, a bath, and change of clothing, I did not make a very favorable impression upon her, and I could see at once that there were doubts in her mind about the wisdom of admitting me as a student.”  This Dean of Admissions delayed her decision about Booker, while she admitted other students.

        b.  Finally she asked him to do a task that was discriminatory, because clearly she did not ask the white students to do this chore.  The woman said, “The adjoining recitation room needs sweeping.  Take the broom and sweep it.”  Booker the optimist saw the possibility in this and said to himself, “It occurred to me at once that here was my chance.  Never did I receive an order with more delight.  I swept the recitation room three times.  Then I got a dusting cloth and I dusted it four times.”  He, also, cleaned the walls and closets.  “I had the feeling,” he said, “that in a large measure my future depended upon the impression I made upon the teacher in the cleaning of that room.  When I was through, I reported to her.  She was a ‘Yankee’ woman who knew just where to look for dirt.  She went into the room and inspected the floor and closets.  Then she took her handkerchief and rubbed it on the woodwork about the walls, and over the tables and benches.  When she was unable to find one bit of dirt on the floor, or a particle of dust on any of the furniture, she quietly remarked, ‘I guess you will do to enter this institution.’  I was one of the happiest souls on earth.  The sweeping of that room was my college examination, and never did any youth pass an examination for entrance into Harvard or Yale that gave him more genuine satisfaction.  I have passed several examinations since then, but I have always felt that this was the best one I ever passed.”

        c.  Booker T. Washington not only passed that examination, but many others.  He worked as a janitor to pay his expenses, and in June of 1875 he graduated with honors as one of the commencement speakers!  Booker T. Washington was not only a man who overcame and excelled in the face of prejudice he was, also, a dreamer who backed up his dreams with actions.

    2.  Abraham

        a.  Abraham was, also, a dreamer who was willing to step out in faith.  Now we don’t know how God spoke to Abram.  Abram was Abraham’s name before he accomplished his dream, and God changed his name.  God may have spoken to Abram with an audible voice.  On the other hand it could have been the “still small voice” within the heart.  At any rate Abram knew that it was God speaking and telling him to leave his homeland and to move to a land that God would show him.  There Abram would found a new nation.  It would be a great nation that would be a blessing to the world!  What a dream!  And what a calling!

        b.  Are you listening to God’s voice speaking to you?  Are we listening to God’s voice speaking to us as a Church?  God calls us as individuals and as a Church to do great things!

 

B.  God has created you to dream great things!

    1.  A boy who dreams big!

        a.  A boy named Billy knocked on his neighbor’s door.  The lad said, “Mr. Jones, I’m collecting money to help the people of the world.  In Sunday School we prayed for all the people who are hungry and for all the boys and girls who don’t have a school.  We, also, prayed for our soldiers who are away from home and how hard it is on their families right here in our own country.  They could use some help.  So I’ve decide to collect money to help all of these people.”

        b.  Mr. Jones replied, “Billy, we must have over 250,000 soldiers overseas, and you add into that all the needy people and it must be in the millions!  Do you think you can really help a million people?”  “Yes, sir,” Billy replied, “I’ve got my little brother helping me.”  Now there is a boy who is dreaming big!  God calls you to dream big too!

    2.  Litany of Dreamers!

        a.  The people who have made a difference in this world are the ones who dare to dream!  Wilbur and Orville Wright dared to dream that they could build a heavier than air device that would actually fly, and the airplane was born!  Thomas Edison dreamed of lighting homes without using dangerous open flames.  Over and over he tried and finally he created the electric light bulb!  Today, every city across our land is lighted by electricity and the machines of industry run on electricity. 

        b.  John F. Kennedy envisioned America as the leader of the space age and made it the goal of the United States to reach the moon by the end of the decade of the nineteen-sixties.  Kennedy sadly never saw this dream being fulfilled or heard the words of Astronaut Neil Alden Armstrong when he said, “That’s one small step for a man, and one giant leap for mankind!”  Martin Luther King, Jr. saw the vision of an America taking seriously its beliefs in equality and justice for all.  And he would say, “I have a dream…that my four small 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.  I have a dream, today!”  Now there is still work to be done as far as brotherhood and equality.  But who can deny the progress that was made, because of King?  America today is a better place.

        c.  God calls each of us to dream great things.  What is God calling you to believe in?  What are your dreams for yourself or your family?  And as God’s people, what is God calling us to dream about our Church?  You can count on the fact that in all of these it is something big and glorious!

 

C.  You must step out in faith to make your dream a reality!

    1.  Robert Schuller and his Ship maxim

        a.  Robert Schuller once said, “Don’t wait for your ship to come in; swim out to it!”

        b.  It is not enough to have a dream.  You must step out in faith, and with God’s help make that dream a reality.

    2.  Walter P. Chrysler

        a.  Auto baron Walter P. Chrysler said, “The reason many people never get anywhere in life is because when opportunity knocks, they are out in the backyard looking for four-leaf clovers.”

        b.  Dreaming must be more than wishful thinking.  You can dream to play the piano, but if you don’t take lessons you will probably never master that musical instrument.  Real dreams and real visions have feet on them!

    3.  Denis Waitley  (From an article in the magazine:  “SELLING POWER”)

        a.  Denis Waitley is a well-known author, consultant and motivational speaker.  When he was a young boy his father abandoned him and the family.  Denis longed for a male role model.  He longed to have some man take him off on those adventures that men seem to crave.  So at nine years of age Denis started hanging out by the Army installation near his home.  Some of the soldiers befriended Denis and the other kids who hung out there.  The soldiers would give them candy or discarded pieces of military equipment.  Sometimes the children would do errands such as drop off a letter or pick up something at a store.  One day one of the soldiers said to Denis, “I want to take you fishing in a boat.”  Denis had never been fishing in a boat out on the ocean.  He was so excited!  Denis got up at 4 a.m., got his tackle box, fishing pole, and packed a lunch.  He then went down the street and sat on the curb where he was supposed to meet the soldier.  The soldier never came.

        b.  Denis would later call this the turning point in his life.  Though disappointed, he did not go home.  He bought a one man rubber life raft.  He inflated it and then went down to the bay.  With much imagination he launched his fishing boat.  Denis caught some fish, dug up some clams, and had what he called the most marvelous day of his life!  Denis learned an important lesson.  Dreams don’t come true by sitting on the curb.  We can’t expect others to make them happen for us.  You have to get up, step out in faith, and accomplish them for yourself.

        c.  Today is the day for you to stop putting off your dreams.  Listen to where God is calling us as a Church and you as a family or individual.  Today, get up and pursue whatever God is directing you to do.  Sign up for that college class, join the gym, start the novel, make the phone call, surf the net, buy those plane tickets, volunteer to serve, or do whatever needs to be done to take that first step!

 

D.  Conclusion

    1.  Abraham

        a.  A man named Abram had a dream:  “Go to a new land, become the father of a new nation, and be a great blessing to others!” (See Genesis 12:1-3)  Abram’s dream was from God.  And he did become the father of a great nation!  And all three branches of monotheistic religion trace their roots to him!  Abraham was willing to trust God, and to step out in faith.  Because of that Abraham found his dream.

        b.  How about you?  Are you on the way to your dream?  God will help you.  Remember:  “With God all things are possible!” (Matthew 19:26b NIV)  Now step out in faith!

    2.  Recap

        a.  God has created you to dream great things!

        b.  You must step out in faith to make your dream a reality!

Follow That Dream!

 

1.  God has created you to dream great things!

 

2.  You must step out in faith

                                                      to make your dream a reality!

Genesis 12:1-8 NRSV

1Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  2I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  3I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

4So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.  Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  5Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan.  When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh.  At that time the Canaanites were in the land.  7Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”  So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.  8From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and invoked the name of the LORD.