(Text from message delivered at Harvest Life Church in MidWest City)
Wow. What an honor to be with you today! Pastor Kent and Kelley and the entire Tucker family have become very dear friends of mine and I know that you realize what a great blessing that they are. Earlier this morning, Pastor Kent spoke for us at Fellowship Church and I might add that he did a great job and represented you very well. Come on let’s show him how much we all love him!
Well this is Columbus Day weekend! It’s a day when our nation honors a great visionary leader. A man who faced a long, hard journey through wind and rain and several near death experiences in a belief that his dream of a land on the other side of the ocean was real. Have you ever thought about how in that one year the world was changed forever?
As I was praying about what God would have me share today I couldn’t help but recognize how much the world has changed for a lot of us, even from just a year ago.
A year ago, my friends list on Facebook was smaller because I didn’t know many of the leaders of this great church. What a difference a year makes. A few weeks ago I was speaking with someone here who said, “If I am being honest, it’s been a really rough year...things are just really tough at home...”
That story isn’t isolated is it? So many of us are worried about our homes, our retirements, our kids - our jobs.
One thing is for certain....
When the worries of the world get big, our dreams have a tendency to get small.
For some, the last 12 months have almost completely deflated our dreams.
Financial Dreams:
That dream of Retirement is all but gone.
That dream of that college fund....gone.
Home ownership...gone.
Relational Dreams:
Stories of marriages that aren’t surviving.
Kids that are buckling under the pressure.
The dream of “The Perfect Family” - washed away.
The Single person who had dreamed of being married by 30...still searching.
The couple who dreamed of being pregnant...still waiting.
This morning I want us to look at two men who felt like many of us have felt this year. Each of these two men had given up everything to follow a dream and it wasn’t turning out so well. Two men who had to battle through the wasteland of their past, navigate the troubled waters of their present all in an effort to catch a glimpse of their future.
(Matthew 4:18-20 NIV) “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.”
Have you ever wondered why they just dropped their nets? What was it about those words spoken by this man that caused them to walk away from their business?
To understand what was really happening here we need to look at the culture that these men were involved in.
All jewish boys, once weened would go to Torah school where they learned the five books written by Moses. By the age of 9, a jewish boy would have been able to quote the entire Torah and would then graduate to Septuagint school. By the age of 13 a jewish boy would be able to quote the entire Old Testament and would then be quizzed by the Priests.
The quizzes of the Priesthood were not like our quizzes today where we are judge by how well we can answer questions that are asked. In the jewish tradition, the true test of knowledge was shown by how well of a question you could craft. That’s why in
Luke 2:46-47 we see Jesus astonishing the teachers with both his responses and his questions.
Once the priests had heard enough to make a decision they would then share with the jewish boy their finding. If the priest did not choose the jewish boy as an apprentice, the boy would return home to learn the trade of his father. But, if they saw in the boy someone that they believed could one day become a minister in the court of the Lord, they would say, “Come, follow me.”
Those three words were a young boys ticket out of the class structure he was born into. It’s was the validation that they were more than just average.
The fact that Jesus finds Peter as a fisherman, means that Peter had faced this rejection. He had been told by someone else that he was nothing special - that he was average at best. When compared with the others, he was told that he didn’t cut the mustard.
When Jesus said, “Come follow me!” he was saying to Peter, “you have the potential to go from a humdrum life following your dad around in a fishing boat with no dream beyond what you have known to the carrier of a dream!”
So when he hears those words, “Come, follow me” - the words he had waited 13 years to hear - he jumped at the chance.
In one day, Peter went from Nothing Special, to the chaser of “The Dream.”
Do you remember the moment, that day, that hour, that class, that interview when the dream of your life came alive in your heart?
I remember in 1995, when Shandra and I were spending a weekend shopping at Grapevine Mills Mall in Grapevine, Texas. While shopping I recognized across the freeway a church whose materials I had been receiving in the mail for years. The building looked nothing like a church which just enticed me even more. I found out that they had a Saturday night service so we decided to go and visit.
We didn’t realize how important this single accidental event would become in our lives. I will never forget setting in what felt like an auditorium and completely loving the service. Then when the pastor stepped up at the beginning of his message and said, “Welcome to Fellowship...” something hit us both like a ton of bricks. In those few moments a dream was birthed in us. And part of that dream would be to stand up and someday say, “Welcome to Fellowship.”
That was the beginning of the dream that is now Fellowship Church.
Each one of us can point to a time in our lives when “The Dream” came alive in our hearts! A word, thought, email, love note, and invitation...that moment where our whole world changed because “The Dream” was now alive in us.
Well, for the next 3 years, Peter was obsessed with “The Dream” that Jesus taught about.
Jesus had a new approach to the messages Peter had learned in the priest school since childhood. This message of Jesus was challenging the old way of thinking about God and Peter was right there as one of the 3 closest people ever to Jesus on Earth!
Imagine the late nights around the campfire dreaming about what it would be like one day! They were dreaming and planning....strategizing day in and day out about what life would be like when Jesus “established His Kingdom!”
Peter has a Front Row Seat to this dream. He saw Miracles and crusades. He ate with the most famous people in town. He graduated from the boat away from the masses to being a person of fame and prestige. I mean, he’s living the dream!!!!!
We can relate to that too, can’t we?
For several years, maybe even decades, many of us knew what it was to go Head-On into our dreams! We gave it everything we had! We sacrificed, we worked, we pushed, we plotted, we strategized. We laid awake at night with our spouse talking about it & dreaming about “The Dream.”
Then, all of a sudden, things began to shift.
Jesus starts talking crazy about “The Dream.” For Peter, it wasn’t an all of a sudden thing, but just every now and then Jesus would start saying weird stuff. Stuff that didn’t match the picture Peter had built up in his head about the dream! Jesus started talking about “having to die” & “laying down his life.”
(Matthew 16:21-22 NIV) “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Can’t you just see Peter standing there and going, “Jesus, stop all that. That’s crazy talk. ‘The Dream’ happens differently!”
One thing about having a dream is that those who are drawn to you because of your vision may try to steal it.
They will try to tell you what to do as if they know the dream better than you.
That’s what Peter is doing to Jesus. It’s no longer Peter messing with the dream of Jesus....Now Jesus is messing with Peter’s dream.
Do you remember 2005 when everyone was saying that 35% gains in Real Estate were the new normal?
Some of us remember when our boss promised us that our job was secure. Our 401(k) was going up 25% a year! We remember when the doctor said that the treatment had a “very high” success rate. Or when that relationship looked so positive. But somehow, over time, it’s like it started to erode, did it?
The next thing you know, the ball drops.
Peter finds himself in this Upper Room celebrating the Passover - this Jewish Meal that symbolized a lamb being sacrificed for the sin of the people.
(Matthew 26:26-28 NIV) “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.’ ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”
Can’t you just hear Peter thinking, “Why is he talking like this whole thing is about to end???”
So they sing a song & then leave to head out to this vineyard and the entire time, Peter’s thinking, “What is happening to ‘The Dream’? It’s not supposed to go down like this. Jesus is supposed to be The King & we’re supposed to be beside Him!”
(Matthew 26:31-35 NIV) “Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me...’ Peter replied, ‘Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
Peter has had enough and is like, “No Jesus! Stop it! This is not the way ‘The Dream’ is supposed to play out! Stop it before you ruin everything!”
‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’ But Peter declared, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the other disciples said the same.’”
Peter is not willing to let this thing go down without a fight! This is ‘The Dream’ and he’s hanging on with all of his might!!!
Have you ever done that?
Ever wanted something so badly that you were willing to fly in the face of Greater Wisdom in an effort to not let it go? Desperate times call for Desperate Measures!!!!
So they go to a garden to pray & they get invaded by armed soldiers who seize Jesus, and check out what Peter does...
(Matthew 26:50-52 NIV) “...then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.”
Peter is like, “No....You will not take my King...you will not take MY DREAM away from me!” To which Jesus responds...
“‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.’”
In other words...We’re not going to play that way
With that, they whisk Jesus away to be tried and crucified....
Imagine being Peter....Imagine giving your life to someone who had painted an amazing picture of ‘The Dream.’ Imagine how you would feel watching him be dragged away and tried illegally. Imagine seeing him be whipped 39 times the next morning and his beard and flesh being ripped off his body!
This is the same guy who just a few weeks earlier had been talking about “When he entered his kingdom...” and now he’s having his entire life stripped from him! Can you imagine that???
Many of us CAN imagine that because in the last year, The Dream of our lives has been ripped from us! We have watched The Dream we worked so hard for whittle away, or fall away, or walk out, or miscarry, or slip through the cracks....
Is it really that surprising who Peter did next....
(Matthew 26:69-70 NIV) “‘Now Peter was sitting in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee,’ she said.’ But he denied it before them all. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said.”
In other words, “I don’t know ‘THAT’ man.” That’s not the man I spent 3 years of my life with.”
And Peter stood there and watched His Dream slip away.
By morning the false trials are over and all that’s left is the sentencing....
The Bible records that they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha...and they crucified him...it was nine in the morning when they crucified him.”
(Matthew 27:57-60 NIV) “As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.”
With the placement of that stone, ‘The Dream’ died.
Some of us have had a Stone rolled in front of us this year.
The Foreclosure stone. The Lost Job stone.
The Laid-Off stone. The Miscarriage stone.
The Disappointment stone.
The Divorce stone. The Break-Up stone.
The Lost Fortune stone. The Disability Stone.
The Depression stone.
The Separation stone. The Downsize stone.
The Cancer stone. The Flunked Out stone.
The Death stone.
With the placement of that stone, ‘The Dream’ of our lives has died.
When Peter’s future laid in a cave behind a big stone, he became a prisoner - a prisoner locked up inside by the chains of ‘Why’ and ‘What if’. With his future gone he became trapped in the present dealing with the voices of his past that said, “see...there’s nothing special about you. You are just average.”
And with that...Peter hid himself away.
The book of Revelation records the story of another disciple who’s life also didn’t turn out like many of us would have expected. In fact, we see him in the upper room with Peter.
While the disciples were arguing amongst themselves as to who would set next to Jesus when He established His kingdom, this disciple...the teenager of the bunch...was setting next to Jesus with his head upon Jesus’ breast.
There was such a connection there. This disciple even describes himself as the “one who Jesus loved.” Not the one who loved Jesus. See that’s where some of us are yet today....trying to love Jesus. But John, the teenage disciple understood it’s much better to be loved by Jesus.
There was something so profound about his display of affection to the Master. Perhaps that is one reason why John was the only disciple to die of old age.
Some of you here today ... you are trapped just like Peter. Your dreams are dead to you. Your past pounds in your head and crushes your heart. But God has sent me on a mission today...to tell you...YOU ARE LOVED!
Revelation 1 finds John trapped on an island bound in chains. Hidden away ... a slave ... forgotten by the world ... God shows up to speak to John and remind John that he is loved. In that moment John who was in chains writes in verse 10, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and heard him speak to me from behind.”
Some of you have been trapped way to long...forgotten way to long...In fact it’s been so long you wonder if God has forgotten you but if you will open your heart again to the Spirit that is in this place...the spirit that is breaking your heart right now...you will hear him speaking life to you again!
This visit from the Father for John came with a clear directive. We find it verse 19.
(Revelation 1:19 NIV) “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place after this.”
Three zones that John is suppose to hit. The things which were (Past), the things which are (Present) and the things that will take place after this (Future).
You can take the approach of study of Revelations and find that chapters 1 John wrote about the things which were. Chapters 2-3 john wrote about present things when he wrote letters to existing churches. But when it came time to write about the future....we find this in Revelation 4:1
(Revelation 4:1 NIV) “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
In other words, you got to come up higher.
You have exhausted you study of the past...you understand the reality of the present but if you are going to gain the answers to the real questions of your life....If you are going to get a glimps of what is yet to come ... if you are going to get the answers to those high questions ... you are going to have to change your location...you are going to have to come up higher
For those who feel like the stone has rolled over the dream of your life....for those who want desperatly to find a vision that gives life to your heart...for those who have asked God about your purpose on this earth...I have had a word burning in me for a month for you and God’s answer to those who are trapped in the present and tormented by the past because your future seems to have vanished...
YOU CAN’T SEE IT FROM WHERE YOU ARE!
Your dreams are to low. Your talk is to low. Your faith is to low. Your commitment is too low. Your vision is too low.
If you want me to answer questions about your past and help you to understand the issues of your today then you can stay right where you are
BUT
If you are going to uncover the key to your destiny...if you want to catch a glimpse of what you can achieve for me...If you want to look over the chasim of fear and peer through the binoculars of vision you’re going to have to realize that you can’t see it from where you are.
Just as Peter once receiving the invitation of Jesus stepped out and walked on the water and as John was invited to a new realm where he saw the future so the Spirit is inviting use today to release the pain of our past and break the bonds that keep our vision on our present steps and soar to new realms of faith and fullness in the Spirit of God.
Are you ready? Some of you there is building tension in side of you. You are just waiting on the word go to leap to your feet and run to this altar but others are battling the thought that the pain of the past and the disappointments of the present are just to big to overcome. How can you reach for a fresh encounter with God when the issues before you are just too big?
(Mark 16:1 NIV) “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb?”
Here were two devoted followers, going to honor the body of their leader one last time....they have stepped out ... walked down the road and never thought to figure out how to move that stone...that really big stone...till now?
Maybe in your life you look at the things that are in your way and wonder how in the world am I going to get beyond this. Who is going to move this out of the way?
BUT WHEN THEY LOOKED UP ....
(Mark 16:4 NIV) “...they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
There are things that have rolled up dead in your life and you are wondering how you are going to get beyond them. You are looking for people to move them...someone to open a door...someone to be the answer to your prayer...someone to move the stone that separates you from your destiny...
But I serve a God who still moves real big stones!
(Mark 16:6-7 NIV) “‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples AND PETER, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
In other words, Go tell Peter ... The Dream ... is still alive ... and Peter ... your included!
(Luke 24:9, 11-12 NIV) “When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.” “But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”
DON’T MISS THIS
“Peter, however, got up and RAN TO THE TOMB.”
If there is a chance that this dream is still alive. If there is still a chance that I have not waisted three years of my life. If there is still a possibility that I am more than I thought I was...I have to know. I have to find out.
And in that moment, The Dream was resurrected and Peter’s hope was restored.
Peter didn’t know what all this meant. He didn’t have it all figured out. He didn’t even know what the future would hold for him, but what he did know was there was a chance the dream could still be alive and he was not going to see it from where he was ... he had to run towards the dream.
I believe the same thing is true for us today. We may not know what the future holds. We may not know all the details of how God is going to do it. We may not understand why everything had to happen this way, but his much we know...
We serve a God who still moves big stones and we have to go higher in God to rediscover His dream for us.
It may not look like we think it was going to. It may not turn out like we thought it was going to. All the details might not be the same as we had hoped, but ...
The God of our salvation is the God of our Dreams and He’s still in the business of moving big stones around!
So if you’ve had a Big Stone pushed in front of your life this year, I want you to know that God is in the “Stone Moving Business!!!”
And His dream for your life is still alive!!!!
*Special thanks to Pastor Matt Keller for his insight into Peter through his message.
A man who faced a long, hard journey through wind and rain and several near death experiences in a belief that his dream of a land on the other side of the ocean was real.
Posted by: cheap supra shoes | May 06, 2011 at 06:51 AM
This is a wonderful message from God and it has encouraged me a lot this morning. Thank you for listening to God and giving this message not only to your church but to others that will go and read it. May God bless you and Shandra and your family. You two were great friends to me while I was in college. Thank you for all that you did and all the advise that you gave me. :)
Posted by: MaKayla Pearl Glass | October 20, 2010 at 08:20 AM
Wonderful message!
Posted by: Connie McCray | October 19, 2010 at 11:41 AM