Sermon Central
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Keep The Vision
Contributed by Vonnie Elisha James on Jan 2, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: This sermon is an encouragement for everyone to have faith and keep their dream alive.
Intro: “If You have the vision, anything is possible”
St. George’s University
30 Years of Higher Learning on the Island of Grenada
Three decades ago St. George’s was founded as a School of Medicine. Since that time the University has added a School of Veterinary Medicine and School of Arts and Sciences which includes an internationally focused MBA program. Today, over 6,400 doctors and more than 300 other SGU graduates have taken the school’s philosophy of global education and applied their education around the world.
It all began with a vision.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said let there be light and there was light (it was so).
Friends, tonight I want to let you know according to the word of God that before God speak those things into being, there was a thought process .In other words God as its is, is a God of thoughts. The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 31:17 "There is hope for your future," declares the LORD, "And your children will return to their own territory.
Church if we have the vision, anything is possible! There is hope for us as a people.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand.
God vision for man:
God’s vision for man is to fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth. To subdue everything and have dominion. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." King James Version, Genesis 1:28
Therefore as the year 2007 draws to a close, and the year 2008 commences, let us remind ourselves that we are people of vision.
We may have failed in many areas of our personal lives, our work, our responsibilities at church, but God who is rich in His mercies towards us, is saying “keep the vision, for without a vision, the people perish!
Indeed there may be lot of hurts in our lives. There maybe pain in our marriage relationships. Some of us here tonight maybe even regretting that they have accepted Christ into their life. Other are walking around with mask, not even their closest friend no the secret struggles they are having, but God is asking us to hold on to the vision.
Without a vision the people perish!
Genesis 37-48-Joseph: As a youngster, Joseph was overconfident. His natural self-assurance, increase by being Jacob’s favorite son and knowing of God’s designs on his life, was unbearable to his ten older brothers, who eventually conspired against him. But his self confidence, molded by pain and combined with a personal knowledge of God, allowed him to survive and prosper where most would have failed. He added quiet wisdom to his confidence, and won the hearts of everyone he met-Potiphar,the keeper of the prison, other prisoners, the king, and after many years even those ten brothers.
Perhaps we could identify with one or more of these hardships Joseph experienced: he was betrayed and deserted by his family, exposed to sexual temptation, and punished for doing the right thing.
The life of Joseph depicts someone who was a dreamer, but also was a visionary. Joseph BELIEVED in his vision. He saw himself as one day being the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrower, prosperous and not poor. (Deuteronomy 28)
Francis Frangipane said “We do a disservice to people when we tell them, "Give your life to the Lord and He will keep you from trouble." That is not true. We would be more honest to say, "Give your life to Christ, and He will empower you to overcome trouble and adversity." Yes, He will take care of you. But He will not do so by putting you in a harmless world void of problems; rather, He will perfect virtue in you by developing character and by requiring faith--all of which creates the spiritual shelter of a transformed life.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Friends the Bible declares that those who live Godly, must suffer persecution-
(2 Timothy 3:12).But the Lord promised the following:
