Let Us Empower Our Dreams

We need to be burdened with a dream which brings fire to our faith and glory to God

John Wesley once said about his preaching, I set myself on fire, and others come to watch me burn.

Can you characterize you Christian faith as a fire; burning with excitement, purpose, meaning, always glowing, always reaching upward, and extending outward?

Or, is your Christianity better compared with ice: Cold, hard, difficult to grasp, slowly melting away, with little comfort, or little movement?

I. To inflame our faith and bring glory to God we must be burdened with a vision, a purpose, a dream that will bring glory to God.

A. Vision gives a destination for our faith!

I. To inflame our faith and bring glory to God we must be burdened with a vision, a purpose, a dream that will bring glory to God. A. Vision gives a destination for our faith! B.Great men of the Bible had big dreams for God

I. To inflame our faith and bring glory to God we must be burdened with a vision, a purpose, a dream that will bring glory to God. A. Vision gives a destination for our faith! B.Great men of the Bible had big dreams for God C.Great vision comes from God

I. C. 1. Moses received his vision from the voice of God. The LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. Exodus 3:7

I. C. 2.Nehemiahs vision came from a burden for his people and Gods Temple

I. C. 3.We need a God given vision.

a. It can come out of burden on the heart

I. C. 3.We need a God given vision. a. It can come out of burden on the heart b. I can come from a God given, or spiritual gift

I. C. 3.We need a God given vision. a. It can come out of burden on the heart b. I can come from a God given, or spiritual gift c. It can come from a burden for a particular people group

D.Corporate vision grows out of individual vision. I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, "Let us arise and build." So they put their hands to the good work Nehemiah 2:18

II. Communicate your dream! A. If I simply dream dreams I a dreamer. But if I communicate the dream and include others in the dream I become a visionary

B. Hindrances to communicating your dream.

B. Hindrances to communicating your dream. 1.Feeling of inadequacy. Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." (11) The LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? (12) "Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say." (13) But he said, "Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will." Exodus 4:10-13

B. Hindrances to communicating your dream. 1. Feeling of inadequacy. 2. Fear Then Moses said, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.'" Exodus 4:1 Nehemiah – the cupbearer or the King.

B. Hindrances to communicating your dream. 1. Feeling of inadequacy. 2. Fear 3. The commitment required of the vision.

C.To whom do we communicate our vision?

1. To those whom we need approval or support. Nehemiah went to the King, and to the governors. Nehemiah 2:1-5 And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. (2) So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart." Then I was very much afraid. (3) I said to the king, "Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?" (4) Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. (5) I said to the king, "If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it. Nehemiah 2:9 Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

C.To whom do we communicate our vision? 1. To those whom we need approval or support. 2. To those who we need help to do the work. Then I said to them, "You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach." Nehemiah 2:17

III. We must be committed to lead others with the vision.

A. Calculate the work required to fulfill the dream. Nehemiah 2:12-16 NASB And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. (13) So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon's Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire. (14) Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. (15) So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned. (16) The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.

III. We must be committed to lead others with the vision. A. Calculate the work required to fulfill the dream. B. Know the risk. Nehemiah 2:10 NASB When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. Nehemiah 2:19 NASB But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said, "What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?"

III. We must be committed to lead others with the vision. A. Calculate the work required to fulfill the dream. B. Know the risk. C. Formulate a plan of action. Nehemiah formulated a plan of action on how to approach the King. Nehemiah formulated a plan of action on how to rebuild the Temple

IV. We must be the people God requires to fulfill the His vision.

A. Nehemiah was a man of proven integrity. 1.He was trusted by the king. 2.He was respected by the people

IV. We must be the people God requires to fulfill the His vision. A. Nehemiah was a man of proven integrity. B. We should (must) be people of integrity. 1. God is as concerned with the instrument of the work as He is with the work itself. 2. This doesnt mean that God wont use the task to train us. 3. Prepare yourself for the task.

IV. We must be the people God requires to fulfill the His vision. A. Nehemiah was a man of proven integrity. B. We should (must) be people of integrity. C. Areas that might need some development. 1. Competence 2. Know yourself. a.Your strengths – build on these. b.Your weaknesses 1) improve areas of weakness 2) delegate where you cant (exp. Moses and Aaron). 3. Be Persistent. If God has given you the vision dont quit. 4. Work on Moral integrity

IV. We must be the people God requires to fulfill the His vision. A. Nehemiah was a man of proven integrity. B. We should (must) be people of integrity. C. Areas that might need some development. 2. Know yourself. a.Your strengths – build on these. b.Your weaknesses 1) improve areas of weakness 2) delegate where you cant (exp. Moses and Aaron). 3. Be Persistent. If God has given you the vision dont quit. 4. Work on Moral integrity

Is your faith like fire or like ice?