Let Go Of Our Painful Past—Part 2

A Dream in Your Heart

Like young Hero in this tale, I assume you know a little of what it’s like to have the King place a dream in your heart. And not just any dream—His dream. Being able to dream God’s dreams for us is a marvelous privilege.

This is not the same as personal dreams for a bigger house … a better job … more acclaim. God’s dreams for us involve service—valorous service on behalf of His Majesty. What dreams has God placed in your heart?

• Maybe you were first in your family to meet the King, and you dreamed of sharing this experience with all those you loved. Or …
• You dreamed of studying the Bible and someday being able to share its marvelous truths with people in need. You could picture yourself giving of your faith and delighting the Lord with your love for Him. Or …
• You dreamed of starting a youth group where “King’s love” could be experienced by guys and girls who were looking for it in all the wrong places. Or …
• You dreamed about helping plant a church in a growing subdivision where you purchased a new house. Or …
• You wanted to establish a new congregation in the inner city. I dreamed that dream once. In my mind I could see a church of whites and blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans, all worshiping together, modeling the oneness in the body that Christ prayed for. Or …
• Maybe your dreams concerned another country. Your aspirations might have been so expansive that they required others to work alongside you.

How have you responded to the dreams God has given you?

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Let Go Of Our Painful Past—Part 1 

 Hero was afraid.

He watched the Ranger hold a burning torch to the ring of stones that circled the place of the Great Celebration. The Sacred Flames ignited with a w-o-o-0-0-0-SH, lifting the hems of the blue robes of the protectors of Great Park, who stood as sentries around Inmost Circle. The silver insignia of the Rangers caught the light and flashed in the outer circle around the rim of fire.

Tonight he would leave these friends, leave Mercie and Caretaker, leave these woods, these dear fields, leave everything in the world he had come to love. Well, almost everything, he reminded himself: What he loved most in the world was the King and to be a King’s man and to do the King’s work.

And the voice of that King, the most beautiful of men, had spoken inwardly only this morning: It is time. It is time to begin the restoration of the Kingdom. I need a King’s man with a hero’s heart. Will you come?

This is how my wife, Karen, and I begin the Gold Medallion Award-winning book, Tales of the Resistance. It’s written for children of all ages to enjoy. I’ll use sections from these tales to develop the themes of the chapters which follow in this book I’m turning into blog posts.

Far off, Ranger horns sounded from the watchtowers that guarded Deepest Forest. Croi-croi! Come-come!Croi-Croi! Come to Inmost Circle! Come to the solemn assembly!

Hero watched as the people he loved made entrance, passed through the Sacred Flames and became real. He watched Amanda step into the fire a ragtag tomboy and step out a beautiful, graceful princess. He watched the unhappy woman who had been the orphan keeper’s assistant become someone with a mother’s smile for all the children, who ran to hug her. He saw Caretaker become Ranger Commander.

How can I ever go? thought Hero. How can I leave all this? But he had heard the voice of his King: Come, Hero. It is time. And he knew he must go.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Breaking glass? That’s what the industrial psychologist said. It’s amazing that even now as I write, I can still feel the tension of that moment. Why take time to explore what isn’t reality? I questioned. This new territory is out of bounds for me. My host didn’t give up. He reasoned, “Maybe the overseas market is the key to future growth for you.” I didn’t want to hear that.

“Maybe overseas expansion could resolve your money problems,” he continued.

I knew it wouldn’t. Missions projects only added to the expense column.

“Can we at least talk about it?” he wondered.

Silence.

“Well, now, are we going to break glass or aren’t we?”

“OK,” I finally acquiesced. “Let’s go for it.”

An hour and a half later we were at another “glass-breaking” juncture, another ceiling to be shattered, and another jumbling up of all my familiar thought patterns.

Finally it was lunchtime. Thank the Lord! I’d try to get my head reoriented and think through the ramifications of what was being discussed.

Half an hour after lunch we came to another glass ceiling that needed to be shattered. So why not, I thought—let’s bust it out! But, fifteen minutes later I had a headache built for a rhinoceros!

“I need to stop,” I confessed. “My normal thinking circuits are so hopelessly rewired I can’t function without great strain.”

“Then I suggest we quit,” the psychologist said. “This has been a good day. I believe I’ve given you a great gift. It happened faster than I thought it would. So I’m pleased. Again, thank you for letting me exercise my gift.” I’m glad I’ve made him so happy, I thought, recognizing the irony in the situation.

But, looking back on that meeting, I realize it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I’ve been involved in a lot of brainstorming sessions, but this one literally changed my life.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

Share and Enjoy