For Haywood: Dream God's Dream

Matthew 16:17-19 gives us a glimpse into God's dream for his church.  Jesus quizzed his followers about who they thought he was, and Simon Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

Jesus blessed him and give him a nickname.  The disciple's real name was Simon, son of Jonah.  But Jesus gave him the nickname Peter (petros), which means "rock."  Jesus said, "You are Rock, and on this rock I will build my church."

Jesus continued by saying, "And the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."  Many people misunderstand what Jesus meant.  They picture the church as an unassailable fortress on a mountain.  The forces of hell gather against it, but they can't prevail. 

But that's not Jesus' picture.  Gates don't attack.  They're defended!  The picture is of the church attacking the gates of death itself. Those gates won't prevail against it!

How would the church prevail?  By using "the keys of the kingdom" Jesus gave it.  It would use those keys when it proclaimed the good news of Christ and called people to put their faith in it!

God dreams for his church to penetrate the world and transform it.  Sadly, many churches have lost grasp of that dream.  They're focused on their memories of "the good old days" of the past, when the church in America "was fab!"  

Andy Stanley once said, "When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near.  When your dreams exceed your memories, you pioneer."

For many churches today, the end is near.  They believe their best days are in the past.  But churches that dream God's kingdom dream are looking to the future.  They're pioneering, seeking and saving the lost in new, creative ways.

Greg Henderson has said that pioneering churches ask two questions: What now?  What next?  What is your church doing now to pioneer, to reach new people in new ways?  What will it do in the future?

Things may not be as good as they were in the past.  If we keep dreaming God's kingdom dream, they might be better!

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