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Dream Now Small Groups 2025 02 18 Small Groups V3

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    - Welcome to week one of
    our Dream Now small group.
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    I am so glad that you're
    here with us today.
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    So thrilled that you made a
    decision to join in community.
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    To grow deeper, to build
    friendship, to let God take
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    what he's doing on the
    weekends with the messages
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    and the books that we
    have deeper into our lives
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    and to grow together.
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    I can't wait to see what's
    gonna happen in your life
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    as a result of this group.
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    Now, this is a very critical moment
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    for us as a church family.
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    We are seeing God move in powerful ways.
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    We're launching into a
    multi-year vision initiative
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    as a church, and most
    importantly, we're asking God
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    to give us his fresh vision for our lives,
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    his fresh dreams for our lives.
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    We're asking for it individually,
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    and we're asking for that
    collectively, as a church family.
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    Now, there's a couple things
    that are really critical
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    to take it deeper into our lives
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    and to get the most out
    of our journey together.
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    First of all, I would say it's critical
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    to be present every week.
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    Every time we gather together,
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    we're getting to know one another better.
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    Every time we gather
    together, we're taking deeper
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    what we've heard in the
    weekends as we talk about it,
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    and then we're being
    encouraged to stay on track
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    with the book that we received.
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    Now, I wanna also encourage
    you in addition to that,
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    to journey through this book,
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    and I wanna walk you through a couple
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    of really important
    components of the book.
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    The team did this wrote this book
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    so that you can grow spiritually,
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    so that we can get the
    most out of our dream
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    now journey together.
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    And inside the book, I wanna invite you
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    to go ahead and open it up to page nine.
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    You're gonna see on
    page nine, session one.
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    So each week, we're gonna
    journey through a different part
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    of God's dream for our lives.
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    We're gonna start individually
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    with God's dream for our life.
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    And then next week, we're gonna talk
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    about God's dream for our family.
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    And the third week, we're
    gonna talk about God's dream
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    for our church.
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    And the fourth week we're
    gonna talk about God's dream
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    for our community.
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    And then the last week we're
    gonna talk about God's dream
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    for our world.
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    Each week, you're gonna see an opportunity
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    to check in with your small group.
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    You're gonna see an opportunity
    to catch up on your week,
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    and then you'll also see a little bit more
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    about the big theme for the
    week as such as God's dream
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    for your life this week.
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    In addition to that, as you
    turn the page, you're gonna see
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    that there's a QR code that
    you can scan for a video.
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    Now that's the video that
    you're watching right now.
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    Every time the video
    is shown in your group,
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    you're gonna hear me
    talk about the subject
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    or the content of the week.
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    And then at the end of the video,
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    you're gonna get the questions
    to discuss in your group.
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    Today, I am gonna give
    you three questions.
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    Now these three questions are gonna apply
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    what we've learned to our lives.
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    You'll also see a place that
    you can write down some notes.
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    So you might write down
    some notes as I'm talking,
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    you might write down some notes
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    as somebody else in the group
    says something brilliant.
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    Or if you say something brilliant,
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    you might wanna write that down too.
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    So you've got discussion notes.
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    Then you're gonna turn to the
    next page, which is page 12.
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    And on page 12, there's a note.
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    So each week, there's gonna be a note
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    about the Dream Now offering.
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    This week you're gonna read
    about God's dream for your life
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    and how the offering is tying in
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    to helping our whole
    church dream fresh dreams
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    for our lives.
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    As you look at this, one of the things
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    that you're gonna notice
    is this is leading us
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    towards the end of our time together
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    where we're gonna have
    a commitment weekend.
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    We're all gonna bring
    our commitments together
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    and make a commitment
    of what we plan to give
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    above and beyond our regular giving
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    over the next three years.
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    I'm gonna ask you to bring a commitment
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    with a one-time gift,
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    and we're gonna start
    talking about that more
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    as we go along throughout the group.
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    But each week, that page will describe
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    some very important
    components of the vision.
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    So I wanna encourage you to read that
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    and make sure that you
    got it in your heart
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    as we're journeying.
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    You'll also see a place
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    where you can write down prayer requests.
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    So there'll be time in the
    group to share prayer request
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    and pray for one another.
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    This is a very essential
    part of a great group,
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    is praying for one
    another as we're gathered.
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    Now, finally, you're gonna
    see our daily devotions.
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    And every day, there's
    gonna be a short devotional
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    with an opportunity to write down insights
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    and what you sense God is
    trying to speak into your life.
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    So I wanna encourage you, go through
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    there's five days a week,
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    and then when we come back
    in the following week,
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    we can share some of the
    things that we learned
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    through our time alone with God
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    as we journey through the book.
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    This book will help you
    as we're walking through.
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    Now today, as we're in week one,
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    we're gonna talk briefly
    about Moses again.
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    If you heard the message
    this last weekend,
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    you'll remember me sharing
    a bit about Moses' life,
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    how he goes from being in Egypt,
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    being raised in Pharaoh's household,
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    and then having a moment where
    he actually kills an Egyptian
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    and runs into the desert.
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    Now, his murder of this
    Egyptian comes out of anger
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    and frustration because the
    Israelites, Moses's people,
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    were being oppressed by the Egyptians.
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    He goes into the desert and
    on the backside of the desert,
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    after 40 years, he has
    an encounter with God
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    that changes his life.
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    He sees a burning bush, he
    walks over to the burning bush,
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    and God speaks to him
    from within the bush.
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    Now this bush was different.
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    It was not burning up.
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    So it was burning but not burning up.
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    And as Moses has this
    conversation with God,
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    God gives him a dream.
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    God gives him a vision.
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    The dream and vision
    that God gives to Moses
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    is to go back into Egypt
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    and bring the Israelites
    out of their oppression,
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    to bring them out of their slavery.
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    Now, God says something very important
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    and interesting to Moses.
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    He says, "I have heard,
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    I have seen the misery of my people.
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    Their cries have reached my ears."
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    So God is burdened by this.
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    God's heart is consumed with the reality
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    that his people are being
    treated this way by the Egyptians
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    and he wants them to be free.
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    Same way God wants you to be free today.
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    Spiritually, emotionally, relationally.
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    God wants his people to be free.
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    And he's choosing Moses
    to be his messenger.
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    He's choosing Moses to go back into Egypt
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    and bring the people out.
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    Now, God's dreams start
    with God's burdens.
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    That's really important.
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    God's dreams begin with a burden
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    that God puts on each of our hearts,
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    and he's wanting to put a
    fresh burden on your heart.
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    He's wanting to give you something
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    that he deeply cares about.
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    Now, there are so many
    things that God cares about.
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    None of us can care about all the things
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    that God cares about,
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    but all of us can care about something.
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    And every time there's a what
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    that God wants to
    accomplish on planet earth,
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    he always chooses a who.
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    God puts dreams in
    individual people's lives.
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    Sometimes, it's a dream
    to start an orphanage.
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    Other times, it's a dream
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    to be a better dad, a better husband.
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    There are people that are
    gonna get dreams for businesses
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    or the business that
    you lead to be focused
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    and led on purpose to share
    the good news of Jesus
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    with the people around
    you, at your place of work.
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    Others of you, perhaps you're
    gonna get some kind of dream
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    when it comes to making a
    difference in your community
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    or your neighborhood.
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    But all of us, God wants
    to give us a fresh dream.
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    And you wanna pay
    attention to those things
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    that break your heart, the
    things that are on God's heart,
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    that you sense an internal stirring.
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    Now for me, I remember
    when I was in middle school
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    and high school, as I'm beginning
    a relationship with God,
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    starting to follow Jesus,
    there was this unique burden
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    that God put on my heart.
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    That was to share my faith
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    with my friends who didn't
    know the love of Jesus,
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    who didn't have a relationship with God.
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    That unique burden became a
    call to vocational ministry.
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    So I'm standing here today out of a burden
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    that God put on my heart to be a pastor.
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    It became a dream to let God use my life.
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    Now, God gives dreams
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    to people not just vocational
    ministers of his good news.
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    He gives it to anyone who
    opens their heart to him.
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    So we're gonna wrestle
    through what are those burdens
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    that God is wanting to put on your heart?
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    Now, there's another component of this.
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    When he gives you that burden,
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    most of the time, it's bigger than you.
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    Most of the time, it stretches you.
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    And Moses, you see, even from this passage
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    that we looked at on the
    weekend, Moses says to God,
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    "Who am I?
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    Who am I to go back to Pharaoh
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    and tell him, 'Let's
    take the people out'"?
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    And God, he speaks to Moses
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    and he says, "Moses,
    hey, here's your sign.
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    Here's your sign.
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    Actually, you will know
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    that I told you to go back
    when you get back out here
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    and you worship with the
    people at this mountain
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    that you're standing on right now."
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    Now, when you think about that,
    that's kind of a funny sign.
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    Like Moses, here's how you'll know.
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    You'll know when you know.
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    And God actually is
    asking Moses to trust him,
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    to take a step of faith, to move forward
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    knowing that God will deliver him
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    and he'll stand back on that mountain.
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    Now, as we keep reading through Exodus
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    and Moses' writings, you see he got back
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    to that mountain and he worshiped.
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    But there was a period where
    he had to operate in faith
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    with a vision that God
    had put in his heart.
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    God's dreams stretch your faith.
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    Now, I love to think about
    dreams with this big question.
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    What is the thing that you would do
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    for God if you knew you would not fail?
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    And sometimes, the
    reason we don't step out
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    is 'cause we're afraid of failing.
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    But if you can just
    take that off the table
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    for just a moment and wrestle through,
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    what's the thing that you would do for God
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    if you knew you wouldn't fail?
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    In just a moment when we
    jump into our questions,
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    we're gonna wrestle through
    that question in particular.
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    Now, there's one final part of the message
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    that I wanna bring back to the forefront,
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    and that's the question
    of what's in your hand.
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    Now, God, he very specifically,
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    has this conversation with Moses.
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    And Moses is coming up
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    with all these reasons
    why he can't go back
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    and why he's not equipped
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    and why he doesn't have the abilities.
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    And then finally, there's one
    last moment where God says
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    to Moses, he says, "Hey,
    what's that in your hand?"
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    Now it's kinda funny.
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    Moses looks back at God
    and says, "It's a stick."
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    Now, think about that for just a moment.
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    40 years in the desert,
    he doesn't own any sheep.
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    He's tending to his father-in-law's sheep,
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    and all he has is a stick.
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    Imagine him like kinda
    even thinking about him,
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    like looking at the ground.
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    "I got a stick.
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    Here's my stick, God.
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    What can you do with a stick?"
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    Maybe you feel like that,
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    like maybe you feel like
    when you look at your life,
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    what can God do with my life?
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    Ordinary life.
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    I feel like that's so often.
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    That I really don't have
    a whole lot to offer God.
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    Well, the good news is a
    stick in the hands of God,
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    it becomes the rod of God.
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    And when he lays it down,
    it's turned to life.
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    It becomes powerful.
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    In fact, God tells him to lay it down
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    and then pick it back up.
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    And God uses that stick in Moses' hand.
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    Now it's called the rod of God.
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    And all throughout the story
    of Exodus, we're gonna see
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    how God calls Moses to
    use that stick to lead
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    the people of Israel out of Egypt.
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    You have something in your
    hand that when you lay it down,
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    all of a sudden it takes
    on a whole new life form.
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    And I wanna encourage
    you to wrestle through,
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    what's in your hand?
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    What's the thing that
    God has given to you?
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    There are talents, there are passions,
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    there are relationships that
    you have influence with.
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    And all of those things are things
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    that God has placed in
    your hand to be stewarded.
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    There are possessions
    that God has given to you
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    that perhaps maybe you
    hold onto them so tightly
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    and they're not being used by God.
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    You're not getting fresh dreams
    for those areas of your life
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    'cause you're holding them so tightly.
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    So I wanna encourage you,
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    as we wrestled through this last weekend,
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    to really strongly consider
    what's the thing in your hand?
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    And perhaps today, God could
    use this as a moment for you
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    to lay it down, to surrender it.
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    Now, as we wrestle
    through these questions,
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    I'm gonna go back through
    what is the burden
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    that is on the heart of God
    that he's asking you to carry?
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    That's the first question.
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    Second, what's the thing
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    that you would do if you
    knew you would not fail?
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    And then third and final
    question is, what's in your hand?
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    What's the thing that God is saying,
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    "I wanna use that to
    give you a fresh dream,
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    to make a difference through your life."
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    I am so excited about
    this moment right now
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    because you're about to shut me off.
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    I'm not gonna be talking anymore.
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    You're gonna get in your group
    and you're gonna converse
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    and have great conversations.
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    But what's gonna happen is
    the fulfillment of the promise
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    that God gave in Acts 2.
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    he's gonna keep pouring out
    his spirit on us, his church.
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    He's gonna give us fresh
    dreams and fresh visions.
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    And as a result of that, there's
    gonna be so many miracles
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    that we see God do in
    and through our lives,
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    and I can't wait to join together.
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    All of our campuses are gonna
    have these premier nights
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    where we're gonna roll out big vision
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    for the next several years of our church.
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    I wanna encourage you
    to make sure you join us
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    for one of those premier nights
    to really wrestle through
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    and hear where is God leading
    us as a church family?
  • 13:24 - 13:27
    But for today, I wanna
    encourage you just to pause
  • 13:27 - 13:29
    and to ask those three questions.
  • 13:29 - 13:31
    And before we do, I'm gonna pray over you
  • 13:31 - 13:34
    as you go back into
    discussion and your group.
  • 13:34 - 13:36
    God, I thank you for our groups
  • 13:36 - 13:38
    that are joined together
    all over the world,
  • 13:38 - 13:40
    literally today.
  • 13:40 - 13:44
    Having conversations about your
    fresh dream for their lives.
  • 13:44 - 13:48
    I pray that you would give
    fresh vision, fresh dreams
  • 13:48 - 13:51
    to every person that is talking right now,
  • 13:51 - 13:52
    that is having these conversations.
  • 13:52 - 13:55
    And that as a result, you
    would give fresh dreams
  • 13:55 - 13:57
    to us as a church family.
  • 13:57 - 14:00
    Bless them as they talk right now,
  • 14:00 - 14:04
    and use it to change their
    lives in Jesus' name, amen.
Title:
Dream Now Small Groups 2025 02 18 Small Groups V3
Video Language:
English
Duration:
14:21

English subtitles

Revisions