I'm sure you've watched several commercials and read newspaper ads already, promising a "new you" for the new year, providing great deals on gym memberships, meal plans, and the like. After all, it's the new year, and resolutions are made by thousands and thousands of people in January. The question, however, is "Do people keep the resolutions they make for themselves?" In all honesty, I've made several resolutions and have failed to follow through or fulfill them; yet, I've found benefit in the desire to "re-solve" issues which have beset me the previous year (coming up short on personal goals). Why is it that many of our resolutions remain unchanged? Why is it so difficult to follow through, persist and endure in order to meet these personal goals?
Maybe our "failure" in keeping resolutions reminds of the sobering reality that we are fallible, broken creatures, unable to perfectly fulfill every dream we've ever concocted for ourselves. Ultimately, friends, God never asked us to dream our dreams and work to meet goals so that our dreams would be accomplished (though there's nothing wrong with setting personal health/financial/relational goals); instead, the LORD's dream, the Kingdom of God, is the dream God shares with his people, in order that all might find hope, joy, justice, and deliverance!
Robert Dale communicates this truth in his book "To Dream Again...Again!" Dale. a leader-coach, formerly served as an executive at the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, founded the Center for Creative Church Leadership, and served as seminary professor and local church pastor. The wealth of his experience is exposed in this book as he implores local churches to never stop asking the following questions about their purpose in local church ministry: “Why are we here?” “What is God calling us to be and do now?” and "Who are we in God’s kingdom?” His book is broken down into four major parts: 1) A Model of Congregational Health; 2) Healthy Congregations; 3) Unhealthy Congregations and; 4) Cultivating a Healthy Dream. In each of these sections, Dale, building off the foundational energy of a God-shaped dream, seeks to flesh out what the theological and practical tasks of the church must be if it is thrive and adapt throughout the course of its ministry. Dale is acutely aware of the power of vision, and that God’s vision for local churches is the kingdom of God; therefore, God’s vision must be our vision, and we must acknowledge God’s biblical reasons for dreaming and planning accordingly. At the heart of Dale's hope for the church is the joy of dreaming God's dream again! Dale insists that healthy dreaming and visioning must arise from proper theology found in scripture (e.g. 1 Cor. 12, John 15, Matt. 13, and Matt. 26:36-46 [to name a few]) so that churches can demonstrate keen signs of life to their specific communities (p. 15-18). Congregations must be alive, missional, and willing to incarnate the love of Christ in the culture with which they’ve been placed. And if a congregation is to remain healthy, it must have ministers who draw those with doubts to a renewed sense of vitality: dreaming, beliefs, goal-setting, and structures. Dale’s focus (consequently, the church's, too) is always centered on the dream of Christ: his Kingdom. He says, “Jesus’ ministry dream calls us—we believers will live the reign of God on earth as it is in heaven” (p. 30). Along the way, Dale informs readers that churches are apt to plateau, forget the dream, and experience conflict/polarization. Yet, the hope is always to dream again! Dale offers this optimistic response: “God’s redemption has sturdy foundations. The kingdom of God is always coming, always bringing heaven to earth. God redeems us every day—past, present and future. Believers affirm: ‘I have been redeemed. I am being redeemed. I will be redeemed.’ We and our churches are always works in progress” (p. 120). Perhaps that's a good reminder to us all--we are always works in progress. And we are called to progress, together, along the Kingdom journey God marked out for us long ago, his dream, to be lived out and executed in the particular church context in which we've been placed.
How does Dale encourage church/ministry leaders to dream again? Most of that is encouraged during the time of worship: "Worship is the most obvious public arena for proclaiming the dream and raising the consciousness of the entire congregation. Sermons, testimonies, and other types of presentations can define and undergird a congregation's health cycle" (p. 136). Dale recommends for pastors/leaders to preach/teach the Parables as they speak to God's dream: the Kingdom. In addition to other biblical areas of preaching, Dale validates the personal testimonies of church members which serve to support and strengthen the dreams/hopes of the congregation. Creating Kingdom-based ministry initiatives and mission events also provide unity, fellowship and renewed vision. A healthy church, Dale believes, is always focused on hope (God’s kingdom vision) and ready to mobilize leadership in order to execute the goals/structure/ministries that support the dreams/beliefs of the specific congregation.
Therefore, as we move into 2019, we move together as one church body, united in Christ, to pursue his dream for us as United Baptist. We retain and revisit our hope in Christ, trusting and supporting the Jesus in one another, and asking the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom in the days ahead. We must aware of spiritual warfare, speak truth in love, and celebrate the redemptive work of God in the midst of Satan's relentless attacks. As your deacon leadership continues to meet to flesh out the mission, vision, core values and strategic plans, every person's input and gifts will be required to move forward together, as one unified body. Let us remain vigilant in dreaming God's dream...again! And may the LORD's dream, the Kingdom of God, compel us to live as joy-filled servants of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ!
It's God's dream, and he has called us to dream it again, afresh and anew, in the new year.
“Why are we here?”
“What is God calling us to be and do now?” "
Who are we in God’s kingdom?”
And let us never, ever forget, that God's dream was implanted in us before we were ever born. Jesus tells us in Luke 17:21: "For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" (NKJV). The Kingdom of God, the dream itself, is within us! We have only to look to Christ, the King of this Kingdom, and learn from his justice, his lovingkindness and his humility (Micah 6:8). When we learn of the King and participate in the truth of the Kingdom dream, we are who God called us to be.
I can't think of any other place I'd rather be than the Kingdom of God, experiencing its healing, restorative power, and welcoming all to partake in the rescuing, saving power of Jesus. This is the dream we get to live every day, not just in 2019, but every day the Lord Jesus Christ gives us breath. It's a Kingdom-dream worth living.
Who's with me, friends?
It's God's dream, and we are invited to join it.