Sermon Central
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God Has A Dream Series
Contributed by Scott Mathews on Mar 22, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: First in the series "God has a dream." God has dreams for us we haven’t even imagined.
Adventure Christian Church
Genesis 37:1-8 (p. 27)
God Has A Dream For North Natomas
When you leave today, I want you to pray a prayer with me: “LORD, not my dream, but yours.”
There’s nothing wrong with having dreams. Dreams for our careers. Dreams for our homes. Dreams for our community. But our dreams are mere “Shadows in Shadowland.” They are only “Shafts of Glory” of something greater. God is the one who put our dreams in our heart. And yet this longing is really for something that our homes and community only give us a taste of what is to come. C.S. Lewis argues that longing for something is actually superior to having, because what we truly long for is not something we can have right now. We long for heaven—we often settle for romance (Marc T. Newman, “The Real Romance”).
God had a dream for my wife, Melissa:
- Melissa wanted a rice farmer from Arkansas.
- Instead she got a dancer from UCLA.
- Melissa was looking for someone tall, dark, brilliant, and handsome.
- Two out of four isn’t bad.
God had a dream for me:
- I wanted a Southern California Beach Babe
- Instead, God gave me a Southern Belle.
Read: Genesis 37:1-8 (p. 28).
God has a dream for me. (Ch. 37-41)
“Joseph had a dream” (37:5).
Understanding God’s Dream for me is…
• Connected to my character in the midst of life’s pain (37:36; 39:20; 41:16).
• Deeper and more significant than we realize
- “No eye has seen, nor ear has heard,
no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”- 1 Cor. 2:9).
• Confirmed by the Scriptures (Hebrews 1:1).
- In Genesis, God spoke to me through dreams (ie. Jacob’s in Gen. 28:10-12).
- not horoscopes, psychology God revealed “plans” for Joseph’s life through dreams
- Today, he has given us His Word.
- This does not mean to say that God will
Not speak to us in dreams, but they must harmonize with His Word (Acts 2:17).
God has a dream for me. - “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you”(Jeremiah 29:11-12).
Prayer: “LORD, please confirm your dream for me by your word.”
Sarah Winchester’s husband had acquired a fortune by manufacturing and selling rifles. After he died of influenza in 1918, she moved to San Jose, California. Sarah was convinced that the dead souls of the Indians who lost their lives because of Winchester rifles haunted her. Sarah sought out a medium to contact her dead husband. The medium told her, “As long as you keep building your home, you will never face death.” Sarah believed the spiritist, so she bought an unfinished 17-room mansion and started to expand it. The project continued until she died at the age of 85. It cost 5 million dollars at a time when workmen earned 50 cents a day. The mansion had 150 rooms, 13 bathrooms, 2,000 doors, 47, fireplaces, and 10,000 windows. And Mrs. Winchester left enough materials so that they could have continued building for another 80 years. Today that house stands in San Jose.
MLK- “I have a dream that my four children will one
day livein 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”
God has a dream for my home. (Ch. 42-45).
“Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep” (43:30).
God’s dream for my home is a place for an…
• Unthinkable reunion (42:8; 43:29).
• Understanding of His purpose in my life
and family (50:19-20).
> When Joseph was ready, God provided him a
wife and family (He was in his early thirties!).
- God has a dream that my home will be a place of peace and joy.
.
- God has a dream that my home will be a safe
place where my children have the opportunity to
develop character.
- God has a dream that my home will be a place
where my children have the opportunity to develop their talents and launch into a field of study for the glory of God.
Journal Entry: According to the Scriptures, what is God’s dream for my home? _____________________________________
MLK- “I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as siters and brothers. I have a dream today.”