January 27, 2008 Sermon Notes

Pastor Marty Grubbs -- January 27, 2008
“Dream Big!”
You Were Made for This – Discovering God’s Dream for Your Life, Part 4

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.  By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” -Hebrews 11:7

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place … obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” -Hebrews 11:8

Two things you need to know about dreaming big dreams:

1.      You are never too old to dream.

2.      God-given dreams always impact others.

Questions for dreamers …

1.  Your dream or God’s dream?
“He (Noah) walked with God.” -Genesis 6:9

2.  Faith or fear?
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for.” -Hebrews 11:1-2

3.  Your way or God’s way?
“Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” -Genesis 6:22

The pathway to the “BIG DREAM” …

·         Focus on the possibilities not the problems,

·         Accept responsibility.

·         Get wise counsel.

·         Pray.

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” -Theodore Roosevelt

 

 

A morning thought...

“Hope is a projection of the imagination; so is despair. Despair all too readily embraces the ills it foresees; hope is an energy that arouses the mind to explore every possibility to combat them. In response to hope, the imagination is aroused to picture every possible issue, to try every door, to fit together even the most heterogeneous pieces in the puzzle” [Thornton Wilde, quoted in Ben Patterson’s The Grand Essentials].

As we seek God’s will for our lives and at times dream for the reality of a future that is greater and brighter than the present, we must place our hope and trust in our heavenly Father who orchestrates this mighty universe. In Him, all things are possible. “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” [Romans 8:24-25]. What is your dream?

—George Skramstad, 2008