Talk by Alan Taylor at Ivy Manchester

Genesis 21:1-7

 

Sarah called her son Isaac because what they heard from God seemed so ridiculous to her, she laughed at the idea.

Abram was promised a family, though his wife could not conceive.

He would have lived in a place with a lot of stars out every night. His descendants would outnumber them.

What do our dreams look like when they are fulfilled?

It may be you’re in a hard time, struggling to hold on to your dream – hold on! God wants us to dream along with him, a good dream, a big dream – that brings joy to our hearts.

When you read the Bible, ask;

1) Where does this story fit into the bigger story?

2) Where do I fit in this story?

God’s dream for Abraham and Sarah was way bigger than a family, it was for them to be blessed to be a blessing – a family on mission. That’s our story now. We carry that too. Called out to bless the world.

Isaac was laughter – good news that brings joy.

Q. What dream would bring you joy?

And who else would be blessed by it?

Is it so big that if you shared it, it would make someone laugh at the thought of it happening? If so – that’s a dream worth getting God involved in!

How do we carry a dream like that?

 The Bible says ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick…’

How do we stop that happening?

Remember – it’s GOD’S idea. His initiative, it’s about His glory. His power at work. Jesus died and rose again. Resurrection power is in working in us! Because the resurrection happened, all the rules have changed. New life has broken in now.

Do you remember when it hit Blockbusters that the world had changed? They were living in an old world format. They missed the future that was shaping their present.

We are surrounded with signs of God at work miraculously every day.

Q, What miracle/ miracles needs to happen, to have your BIG dream – that will bring joy to the world – come true?

Miracles don’t ‘just happen’ – God wants us to join in with him. Jesus loved to see his disciples play along with him.

God says to Abraham, ‘You’re going to have to family.’

So – what do you have to do to get a family?

They’d have had to have a level of intimacy between them – they had to have sex!

God is saying ‘BIGGER’ to your big dream.

And he’ll take you through some things that are uncomfortable, to bring you closer to him. You get close to him that way. You learn to worship in the waiting. Connecting to his goodness and who he is.

MLKjr famously declared– ‘I have a dream…’ 

a big dream! He didn’t see it fulfilled.

We may have not seen it fulfilled yet. Don’t give up! Are you waiting for a guarantee? Awake the dream! Move toward it.

Sarah never dreamed that she would be part of the story that would have Jesus in it- the Saviour of the world. She thought a baby was big enough a miracle.

Don’t let the dream die. Dream again. It’s time for us to dream bigger.