Dream Again – 8

Subject – When We Dream Together

by Rick Welborne

Proverbs 13:12 (NLT)
¹²  Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. 

Psalm 105:17-19 (NLT)
¹⁷  Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them— Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
¹⁸  They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar.
¹⁹  Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the LORD tested Joseph’s character. 

--The last several weeks we have been talking a whole lot about these three things in Joseph’s life. Today we are going share with you the dream God has given me for Life Church…Dreaming for One Thousand.

1. It is not so much about us as it is about “them”.

2. It is about the timing of God.

3. It is about the test…the test of our character. 

--This year I was very excited about going to GC because many of the people I follow and admire in the ministry were going to be there…Mark Batterson, Rob Ketterling, George Wood, and many others.

--I not only went there to see men of God but I also went there hungry for whatever God had for me…I want my latter years of ministry to be greater than the earlier.

--Every session I went to, it was like God’s presence was extremely strong and I found myself weeping because of how near God was and how He was speaking to my heart. It was good to get away from the pressure.

--He began to speak to me about the series I was preparing to preach when I returned from GC…Feast or Famine: Trust in the Lord!

Proverbs 3:5-10 (NKJV)
⁵  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
⁷  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
⁸  It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
⁹  Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
¹⁰  So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine. 

--Almost every speaker…actually every speaker talked about trusting God with everything inside of you even in the face of great adversity and trouble…all of them had been thru it…do you suppose that is part of the process?

--Holy Spirit would ask me as the preachers were speaking…are you trusting Me with all your heart for your prodigal, are you trusting Me with all your heart for your family (your marriage). I would say yes, Lord!

--Are you going to trust Me with all your heart with your finances…with Life Church’s finances…Yes, Lord! Are you going to trust Me with all your heart for your health and with your latter years of ministry and life. Yes

--Will you trust Me if I ask something of you that is bigger than what you have been thinking…that one made me a little more nervous but I said Yes, Lord! I wanted my response to be like Mary:

Luke 1:34-38 (NKJV)
³⁴  Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"
³⁵  And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
³⁶  Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
³⁷  For with God nothing will be impossible."
³⁸  Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

--It seemed as if God had finished His initial questions and tests about trust and then He became much more specific. I have, for many years, wanted to plant another church or campus…the timing never seemed right.

--You see, it is not only about the God given dream, it is also about the timing of God. About them…the lost!

--The emphasis began to change at the GC and the mood, at least to me, became sober as I listened to speakers I admired, talking about growing God’s Kingdom thru multiple campuses. I said Amen to them! Good for you!

--God has taught me through 40 years of ministry to rejoice with those who are blessed by God and those seeing multiplication in their ministries…being critical will never help the kingdom of God. Don’t like it. Don’t watch!

--It does make sense that one of the most effective ways of growing God’s Kingdom is to plant churches in areas where they are needed…where there is a large population of lost people.

--Although that has always sounded good to me…it has almost sounded impossible because of the finances, property, and staffing (more finances). In the middle of one of the pastor’s sermons God spoke to me.

--It is time to have a campus in the Villages…my initial thought was one of shock…like where did that come from…I tried to convince myself that it was just me wanting to be like these other guys…but it was strong.

--The next speaker…It is time to have a campus in the Villages…Ok! The next and the next…same thing. Then, it became so strong that there was no getting away from it.

--Then I started asking God questions…what about money? He said money is not the problem…just trust me with all your heart. What about property in the Villages?

--God forgot how expensive things are there and I had to remind Him…He said thanks! He said again the money is not a problem. Trust Me with all your heart! I’ve got this! Reminded me of this building!

--He spoke something very interesting to me at this point…the people of Life Church have not been stretched to do anything great, except for Missions, over the last several years.

--Lord, I do not want to hurt our missions program at Life Church…this will not hurt the missions program but will only enhance it…imagine a strong church in the Villages giving to missions. My heart got excited!

--Rick, He did not call me pastor, imagine supporting 300 missionaries instead of 166? My heart got very excited and the potential of the gospel going further than ever before. What potential! More souls!

--I reminded God about the Villages being a gated community and He was again glad I told Him. This really bothered me because I wanted the campus there to be golf cart accessible. The gates kept bothering me.

Isaiah 45:1-6 (NLT)
¹  This is what the LORD says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again.
²  This is what the LORD says: “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.
³  And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness— secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.
⁴  “And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.
⁵  I am the LORD; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me,
⁶  so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the LORD, and there is no other. 

--Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again…this was like a Ramah Word to me to stop worrying about the gates and stop worrying about the cost!

--This is what the LORD says: “I will go before you, Cyrus (Rick), and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.” I am a little slow but God was so specific in what He spoke.

--Again God amazed me: And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness— secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.

--Two things…two interpretations…treasures hidden in the darkness…souls for God’s Kingdom and the other, in regard to supporting missions…secret riches to support more and more missionaries. 

--The Lord asks a great question here in Isaiah: “And why have I called you and equipped you for this work?” I love His answer:

--So all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the LORD, and there is no other. 

Did you hear it? So all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. 

--Do we have any prospects for a building or property…Yes! First Baptist Church in the Villages has built a new building on HWY 42 and they possibly will be selling their other sanctuary. 13 years old. Ten acres.

--Pastor Mark and I toured the building and it is beautiful…probably will seat 350 – 400 and is in tip top shape.

Big stage. Parking lot and property…immaculate. Has a gate for golf cars to enter. 

--Big kitchen area…big foyer…big classroom…area perfect for a coffee bar…baptismal tank and storage. Carpet is the only thing that either needed cleaning or re-placed.

--How would we do two campuses…live streaming or satellite church…Many are using this technology already. 1^St Baptist Leesburg, The Springs, many others. We have been preparing for this opportunity.

--Life Church – Fruitland Park and Life Church – the Villages would co-ordinate services for the message to be presented at the same time. Staff would be on campus to lead and to minister to people at the altars.

--LC Villages would have a pastor or pastors on campus to meet, greet, and lead the services. These pastors would still be under the umbrella of LC Fruitland Park…would meet weekly with lead pastor.

--We would have live worship, need ushers, greeters, and all the other individuals needed to have church…to be the church…we will be one church with two locations. I could alternate between the two campuses. 

- If 1^St Baptist building is not the one…God will find another…He knows what we need and where it is.

--No one needs to approach me at this point wanting to do any of these things…that will only cloud the process because of where we are…we have to discern if this is God, find property, and set up the process of communicating the message…we have been livestreaming for several weeks getting ready. 

--If you know me well or know me at all…the more you push me, the less chance there is that I will use you…if God doesn’t build the house, all those who labor, labor in vain. What we need is prayer…it must be God.

Psalm 127:1 (NKJV)
¹  Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. 

--What I am looking for are people who discern what God is up to and makes themselves available to serve. If God is in this, He will place His hand on certain individuals to do the work…God gives gifts of the Spirit to the Church (the people) sovereignly as He wills. 

--Note: We cannot (Constitution and Bylaws) buy or sell property without the church’s consent or their vote. We have not voted to buy and First Baptist has not voted to sell, so this is all in process. What is God’s will?

--What do you need, Pastor Rick or what can we do? Don’t be afraid to ask questions but what I need you to do is be is Circle Makers…say what?

--In the 1^st Century BC there was a devastating drought that threatened to destroy a generation…the generation before Jesus. Miracles were only a distant memory and it seemed God was nowhere to be found.

--But there was a man, a sage, who dared to pray and believe God anyway. His name was Honi. He believed that even though people could not hear God, he believed God could still hear them. 

--Honi was known for his ability to pray for rain and today was going to be his big opportunity (huge)…with a six-foot staff in his hand, he began to turn like a math compass in a circular movement…very methodical.

--Without looking up he turned 90 degrees, then 180 degrees, then 270 degrees, 360 degrees as the crowd looked on…After what seemed like hours but had only been seconds, Honi drops to his knees.

--With his hands raised to heaven and with authority like the prophet Elijah when he called fire down from heaven, Honi called down rain:

Honi – Lord of the universe, I swear before Your Great Name that I will not move from this circle until You have shown mercy upon your children.

--This prayer was not just a prayer of his voice but a prayer from the depths of his soul…Those who were nearby and heard the prayer were impacted by the authority in which he prayed.

--His prayer was resolute but humble, confident yet meek, expectant but unassuming. Then, it happened as the prayer ascended into heaven, raindrops began to fall as the people gasp. 

--While all heads were looking upward, Honi’s head was still bowed because he was not yet satisfied with a few drops from heaven, his voice raised above those who were celebrating:

Honi – Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain that will fill cisterns, pits, and caverns. 

--History tells us that eyewitnesses said there were not drops of rain smaller than an egg in size…so much rain that the people had to run to the Temple Mount to avoid the flash floods…what a picture.

--Honi has not moved outside the circle and again raises his voice with another bold prayer:

Honi – Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain of your favor, blessings, and graciousness. 

--The day before the day it had been difficult to believe it could be possible but the day after the day, it was impossible not to believe. 

--So what are you saying, Pastor Rick? I am asking you to draw a circle around you today and pray boldly that the dream God has given will come to pass just like the rain fell for Honi.

1. It is not so much about us as it is about “them”…the lost.

2. It is about the timing of God…pray in your circle until God breaks through.

3. It is about the test…the test of his character…test of our character…do we care about the lost? 

--Can we embrace the dream?