When Dreams Become Reality is what I’ll call a milestone post. We all have those very memorable moments in life. Most of you know that EquipUs just celebrated our 5th birthday (anniversary). And the very first thing in our 6th year is a dream that has become reality. It has to be seen. So, It’s all in the video and I’m so excited to share it with everyone! Please feel free to do the same!!!
The Video
When Dreams Become Reality – Transcript
(video time stamps) Hello, I’m glad you’re here and I want to talk to you today about dreams becoming reality. There are many ways to express this thought, but we’ve all been through something in our lives where we’ve worked really hard and maybe we got a degree, we graduated, or maybe we got the promotion that we worked really hard for.
And other times I think of someone who is very creative. Maybe you work really hard on something that is, you know, sewing or needle point, something like that. We actually teach some of those skills in our mission endeavors with EquipUs. And then other times it’s when you build something. Maybe you’re building a project in your yard – sometimes I do that for my wife. Other times we’re just bringing a project together, and It’s always work until that moment when you realize that it is finished. And then you have that satisfaction of seeing. You can look with your eyes and see what was once a dream is now reality. And so we can identify with (1:17) those moments, whatever shape or form they may take.
Behind me is one such thing. I want to show you this, but I want to do it in a way that lets you know two things. A – that something we have (1:32) worked on for a long time has reached the point of being usable for the Kingdom. Second, that as important as our dreams are or the projects that we may complete, there is something that is much more important.
God’s Plans Become Reality
The book of Ephesians teaches us – chapter two, verse 10 specifically – that God has appointed good works that we should do them. It says that God appointed them beforehand. So God (2:01) has laid out good works for you and me as His children to do. And once we understand that, daily living becomes something of an adventure and a surprise. It’s as if I can begin each day because (2:17) literally I can, and say:
God, show me the things that are appointed for me today.
One way dreams become reality!
That’s living in the reality of what He has told us and what He has done for us. He has appointed good things for us to do. The problem is, very often we don’t know unless someone takes the time to (2:53) show us. And that’s what I want to do today because for the last few years – about four to be exact – we’ve been working on two church buildings simultaneously in Belize. And we were there just a (2:54) couple of weeks ago. Our building materials did not arrive on site in time for our local, host church to get the building in its final stages so that we could put the roof on it. Our team went (3:09) down expecting to put a roof on and we didn’t get to do that. However, none of that took God by surprise. We worked with everybody and got it ready.
Appointed Works – Now Reality
Church as we left it.
When we left Belize, this is what that (3:20) building looked like. This is a church in Dolores. It’s down in the jungle. It’s literally at the end of the road right along the Guatemalan border in southern Belize. We’ve actually had a team go (3:33) out and stay in the village a few years back and get this work started. And we’ve worked out there since then. We’ve gone back and forth and been able to do that. The roads improved some.
But work (3:45) has continued. And the reason it’s exciting to me to show you what I’m going to show you is that so many of you have contributed, many of you have gone and labored on this project as well as its (4:01) sister project which I hope to be able to show you here in just a few days. But, you know we left this building looking like this and over the next few seconds literally I want to show you a (4:14) series of pictures that will let you see what it looked like as of last week. Because even though we left it this way, we left the materials on hand, on site as I said, and we took care of hiring a (4:31) contractor and paying him to be with the local church people. They got the job done and I’m so happy for them. I am so thankful for all of you who have done what you have done to make this (4:42) possible.
Reality And Reward
And while I’m on the subject, just let me put this thought in your mind as you watch this project come together so to speak. (4:53) God waits until the end. to pass out rewards. It’s His idea to tell us that He rewards those who work faithfully for the Kingdom. It’s His idea, not mine. That said, why does God wait? Well, we don’t see the ripples in time from what we do (5:17) whenever we are sharing the Gospel and someone responds favorably to the Lord. We don’t know what the Lord is going to do with that life. And so our work of sharing the Gospel continues to bear fruit (5:33) forward in time through the life of that person who came to know Christ.
See more dreams become reality!
And one of the most vivid examples of that that I can possibly cite is a man who witnessed, shared the Gospel with a young (5:48) boy who was in his Sunday school class. Little did that man know that when he shared the Gospel he was sharing the Gospel with one of the greatest evangelists of our day, really of all time. He was (6:02) sharing the Gospel with a little boy named Billy Graham. And so the ripples of that, the fruit of the work that man did, (6:14) moved forward. Now, God accounts for all of that and the rewards are at the end of time. And so, as satisfying as it is for me to see what I’m going to show you, and as excited as I am to show it to you, I want you to understand that the ministry that takes place in this building will have effects going forward and that God is rewarding His faithful servants who enable the Kingdom to advance.
God is a debtor to no man
And (6:42) when He does that, God is taking note of every effect, of every impact. God is a debtor to no man. So, you know He rewards us faithfully and justly and in the righteous and perfect ways that (6:59) He does all things. So I just want to encourage you with that and I’m going to stop talking now and let you see this. Once you see the building completed, which will only take a few seconds, the video (7:14) will end and I just appreciate you being here. Thanks for stopping in. I hope this blesses you. Here we go!
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