Pursue Your Dream

Pursue Your Dream
Genesis 37:5


Today marks a special moment in the life of the many young graduates of our community. Permit me to be one of the first persons to congratulate you and bid you Godspeed. The entire Tabernacle family salutes you and prays for you God’s richest and choicest blessings. Your accomplishments are nothing short of a milestone. Thank you and we are all extremely proud of you. In a few days you will all walk across a stage and receive a diploma. That special moment will mark the end of your high school/college chapter. The next chapter is up to you. You have the wonderful privilege of being the one to title the next chapters of your life. Each of you have God-given talents, abilities and visions that will cause you to be major contributors to the success of our community, state and nation. That’s why I have entitled my message on today “Pursue Your Dreams”.

No doubt the major and monumental question is when do I start? Many people live their lives from day to day, allowing others to dictate what they do and how they do it. They never try to discover their true reason for living. Others know their purpose, yet never act on it. They’re waiting for inspiration, or permission or an invitation to get started. But if they wait much longer, they’ll never get going. So the answer to the question “when do I start?” is NOW. I look into faces of young people today who are blessed with the intelligence of Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver and Albert Einstein.

The business knowledge of John Johnson, Bill Gates and Michael Jordan .
The grace and poise of Coretta King and Jackie Kennedy.
The imagination of Maya Angelou and Walt Disney.
The heart of Mother Teresa and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The patience of Tiger Woods and Job.

Pursue your dreams. Joseph, the man of our text helps to provide meaningful instructions to help with our dream pursuits. Joseph, like many of you, was only a teenager when he dreamed his dreams. At the tender age of thirty, some thirteen years after he dreamed his dream, it came to pass. During the thirteen year intermission, God was taking Joseph through a learning process (college) in order to prepare him for his destiny. Young people, never be afraid to dream and be labeled a dreamer. Dreams do not always take place during the times we are asleep. Dreams often come when we are awake, in classrooms, at the office, riding and talking to friends, at work and during a moment like today in church.

The poorest man in the world is the man without a dream, and the most frustrated man in the world is the man with a dream that never becomes a reality. Every one of us has a dream of some sort. Dreams are visual manifestations of our purpose, seeds planted in the soil of our imagination to provide us a glimpse of our purpose in life and to activate the hidden ability within each of us.

Joseph had a dream. I see young men and women today who have dreams. Believe me when I tell you that dreams DO come true. But you cannot hesitate and wait for your dreams to become reality. You must pursue your dreams with passion. One of the first things that we learn from Joseph is knowing what he/she is willing to give up in order to go up. Many of you have already given up on hanging out with those who refuse to do something positive with their lives. Many of you have decided that your dream requires you to give up an additional 4 to 8 years of your life to devote yourself to additional studies, learning and training. It is only when you see your dreams that you will be disciplined enough to give up in order to go up. It may mean moving away from some friends that cannot imagine, nor support you as you pursue your dream. Refuse to allow anything or anyone but God to dictate your future success. Dreams will cost you….how much are you willing to pay to become the person God created you to be? Joseph gave up a lot in order to pursue his dreams.

Secondly, in the pursuit of your dreams, set goals for yourself. Only those who are too lazy or not dreaming at all do not set goals in life. Every one of us, young and old alike, should have a dream and be trusting in the Lord for something bigger and better. It is a sin not to want to live the life God has destined us for. If someone asks you today, “where are you headed in the next 10 years?” or “what are you working toward over the next 5 years?”….what would be your answer? I would be ashamed to say “nothing” and I hope you would too.

Every person alive should have goals, short-term goals, mid-range goals and long-term goals. After all, we have to be working toward something. If not, our lives have very little meaning. Jesus said in Revelation 3:8, “See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.” Joseph recognized the open door before him and he pursued it. Graduates, God has intentionally placed before you a door of unlimited possibilities and opportunities that no one, no government, no politician, no black or white person or anything or anyone has the ability to close. The sky is the limit and your best days are ahead of you.

Thirdly, don’t spend too much time trying to get those who have no dream to understand yours. Joseph’s brothers hated him and did not want to see his dreams become a reality. They did everything possible to prevent his dream and to discourage him. Visionaries are never intimidated by others who have great visions and dreamers are perfectly comfortable around other dreamers. The only people who have a problem with dreamers are those who are bankrupt of dreams themselves. Remember Joseph was not afraid to stand alone. Graduates, you don’t need to be in the club, the clique or group….you can stand by yourself. As we dream, our dreams should give us hope for the future, and it should also bring us power in the present. Your dream will provide you with a reason to go, a path to follow, and a target to hit. Graduates, going to the top takes a dream and a strong commitment. The greater the journey, the more committed you have to be to take it. As you prepare to continue on your success journey, make a commitment to yourself to find your dream and follow it. The road that lies before you is one that requires commitment. You won’t make it without commitment.

As I close today, allow me to share a humorous story. A Canadian bird decided that it was too much trouble to fly south for the winter. He said to himself, “I can brave a winter; a lot of other animals do it. It just can’t be that hard.” So all the other birds flocked away toward South America, and he stayed behind and waited for winter. By the end of November, he was having serious thoughts. He had never been so cold and he couldn’t find any food. Finally he broke down and realized that if he didn’t get out of there soon, he wasn’t going to make it. So he started flying south all by himself. After a while it began to rain and before he knew it, the water was turning to ice on his wings. He knew he was about to die, so he glided down and made his last landing, crashing to the ground in a barnyard. As he lay there stunned, a cow came by, stepped over him, and dropped a plop right on him. He was totally disgusted. Here I am, he thought, freezing to death. I am about to die. I’m on my last breath and then this. What an awful way to go. So then the bird held his breath and prepared himself to die. But after about two minutes, he discovered that a miracle was happening. He was warming up. The ice on his wings was melting. His muscles were thawing out. His blood was flowing again. He realized that he was going to make it after all. He got so excited and happy that he began to sing a glorious song. At that moment, the farm’s old tomcat was laying the hayloft in the barn and he heard the bird singing. He couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t heard anything like this in months and said to himself, “Is that a bird? I thought they had all gone south for the winter.” He came out of the barn and, lo and behold, there was the bird. The cat crossed over to where he was, pulled him gently out of the cow plop, cleaned him off and ate him.

There are 3 morals to this story.
1. Not everyone that drops a plop on you is your enemy.
2. Not everyone who takes a plop off is your friend.
3. If someone does drop a plop on you, keep your mouth shut.

The same can be true for you as you realize your dream. Some people you consider your friends will fight your success. Others will support you in way you didn’t expect. But no matter which people criticize you or how they do it, don’t let them take your focus off your dream.

Pursue your dream with passion, God bless you.

A Loving Church

A LOVING CHURCH
1 Corinthians 13

Love is long-suffering, helpful, generous, humble, tactful and selfless.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5

A. Love is not easily provoked. (1 Corinthians 13:5) Genuine love does not allow irritability or bitterness to creep in and mar its motivation or expression. Love looks beyond a person’s sin and reaches out to meet his/her needs. (James 5:20; 1 Peter 4:8)

B. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered (1 Corinthians 13:5c). Love does not record or store up wrongs committed against it, unexpressed resentments over offenses suffered will lend to a devious relationship filled with bitterness and devoid of love. (Matthew 18:21-35). In such an atmosphere fellowship cannot thrive, much less exist. Forgiveness must occur before fellowship can be experienced.

C. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness. (1 Corinthians 13:6a). Christian love neither finds pleasure in nor sympathizes with the wickedness done by other. Love is wounded and grieved when sin performs it s work of destruction (Ephesians 4:29 –31)

D. Love rejoices with the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6b) Love and truth are close companions. One cannot exist without the other. When people sincerely love each other they are honest and open about their thoughts and feelings. Truth spoken in love can sometimes be difficult to handle. (Proverbs 27:6). It’s better to be bruised by the trustworthy words of a caring friend than to be flattered by deceitful compliments of a self-serving friend.

E. Love bears all things – (1 Corinthians 13:7A) Bears means to cover, so as to protect, shield or support something. Real love withstands the blows and attacks of others. A relationship glued by love does not suffer irreparable damage when one does not return the love given.

F. Love believes all things (1 Corinthians 13:7b). Love is trusting not suspicious or narrow. Love gives people the benefit of the doubt; makes every allowance for their failure.

G. Love hopes all things (1 Corinthians 13:7b). True love anticipates and seeks the best in others. It never gives up. Has confidence in God’s ability to change people.

H. Love endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7c) Love has the determination and courage to press on when facing humanly insurmountable obstacles. Love refuses to quit or retreat.

Ancient Greeks expressed the three levels of love by three different words: 1. Eros 2. Philia 3. Agape

Eros is a getting or gimme kind of love. Normally only a baby does all the taking, but he must take before he can give. This kind of love demands the spotlight. Decisions must go your way. His/her emotional needs must be satisfied no matter who gets hurt. Don’t overlook this group. Isaiah 49:15. He/She will destroy your church.

Philia love is the level of give and take. Friendship usually, not always functions on this level. Each person ministers to the needs of another person and is ministered to in return. Husband and wives recognize mutual obligations in their physical relationships. 1 Corinthians 7:3 - 6. Much church membership functions on this level. Members appear at church; their appearance has status value to the church. They deposit an envelope in the plate, the amount may bear no relationship to their income, but it fulfills an obligation. When they leave church, the minister greets them by name. His pleasant greeting strokes their egos. They meet a friend, more ego strokes. They leave and their church life ends for another week. (Job 19:9; Micah 7:5)

Agape love finds satisfaction in loving without limit. It does not measure giving. Agape love stands ready to serve without thought of return. Those who need receive, those who have give. Romans 15:1; John 15:12-13; Romans 5:8