Your Dream Is Not for Sale: Navigating the Seasons of Life
Dr RJ Sing, 54 min
Originally preached as “Sunday Message, 11 May 2014”
Sermon outline
Life moves through seasons no one can rebuke away, so hold your course in winter, seize the opportunities of spring, nourish and protect in summer, and expect your harvest, because your dream is not for sale.
Main text
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Opening
The service opens as a Mother's Day celebration, with Pastor Zubeda praying a blessing over the mothers, followed by songs and items. He then calls Brother Dickie to share how a visiting lady who had suffered a stroke was healed when he laid hands on her the previous Sunday, his birthday, and says that when we celebrate what God does, he multiplies it. He introduces a short message on the seasons of life, saying Ecclesiastes 3 has newly opened up to him.
To everything there is a season
God created the seasons, and life moves through them too. If Jesus faced a storm on the lake, his followers will not be exempt from storms. The ant prepares in its season, while the sluggard, which he explains as the procrastinator, keeps putting off what God has given him until poverty arrives. Many Christians sell out to the devil and the world because they think their dreams are for sale, but they are not.
Illustration: The procrastinator who has an idea from God but keeps saying maybe next year, maybe 2017, maybe 2020.
“Your dream is not for sale.”
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
- Luke 8:22-25
- Proverbs 6:6-11
1. Learn to handle the winters
Winter represents challenges, and no amount of faith, prayer or holy living exempts anyone from it; winters come as sickness, sudden death, broken relationships and changes at work. You cannot change the season, but you can change yourself: hold your course, adjust your attitude, set your sail and grow wiser and stronger. Every winter has an end date, so do not make rash changes in it, and do not celebrate other people's winters but pray for them.
Illustration: Imagine someone rebuking winter in Jesus' name: winter will still come. And everything you buy and store in the cupboard has an expiry date, which should remind you that your winter has an expiry date too.
“You can't change your season but you can change yourself.”
- 1 Peter 1:13
2. The magic of spring
Spring follows winter and is a time of divine opportunity and new beginnings, personally, as a family and as a church. Recognise your windows of opportunity and capitalise on them, because every person you meet and every transaction is an opportunity. If the battles of winter have blurred your vision, borrow someone else's eyes: lean on people with a greater perspective, celebrate other people's springtime, and sharpen your vision with books, tapes and DVDs.
Illustration: The lady healed of a stroke came into church in her winter and left in her spring. He also shares that when his faith runs low he listens to his wife, who encourages him and pushes him.
“She came into church with the winter, she left with spring.”
3. The work of summer
Summer is the time of abundance, so do not waste or neglect it: nourish like a mother and protect like a father whatever God has given you, and help others succeed. Serving God is a wise decision and your life is read by people. Beware the thieves within, doubt and unbelief; know when to brake and when to accelerate; guard your integrity; build on the rock; and protect your garden from the pests that try to eat away what God has given you.
Illustration: A car has a brake pedal and an accelerator: accelerate on the open road and brake at the bends. A garden has to be tended and guarded against bugs and intruders all summer.
“Nourish like a mother but protect like a father.”
- Galatians 6:7
- 2 Corinthians 3:2
- Matthew 7:24-27
4. The joy of harvest
Those who have been faithful will see their harvest in due season, so keep planting, do not become cynical, and remember that for every person who hurts you God has many more who will bless you. Learn to celebrate your successes and applaud yourself instead of living in cycles of regret. Change is good, and the church is climbing while the world is drifting. Anything the thief steals must be restored sevenfold.
Illustration: A man's daughter phoned him long distance and had his granddaughter clap for him, in case nobody had applauded him that day. He also lists the church's recent wins: the family day, the leaders' team building and the healing of the stroke patient.
“The world is drifting, but we are climbing.”
- Galatians 6:9
- 1 John 4:4
- 2 Corinthians 3:18
- Philippians 3:12
- Proverbs 6:31
Putting it into practice
- In a winter season, hold your course, work on your attitude and remember it has an expiry date.
- Pray for people going through winter instead of celebrating it.
- Recognise your windows of opportunity and act on them before they close.
- Nourish and protect what God has given you, and guard your integrity.
- Celebrate and applaud your successes instead of living in regret.
Closing
He reads an email from a woman in the United States whose household and church were changed by the Faith Chronicles devotional, especially a page on healing, and tells the church that God loves them and so do their pastors. He declares that their season is changing and prays for those in winters at work, at school and in their relationships. He adds that in his own winters he prayed and fasted for them to end, but learned he only needed the grace to get through them, then urges everyone to get and study the Faith Chronicles and moves to an invitation to receive Christ.
Declarations he led
- Your dream is not for sale.
- Your season's about to change.
- You will win.
- I am in there too, Lord.
In his words
- “Your dream is not for sale.”
- “You can't change your season but you can change yourself.”
- “Your winter time has an expiry date.”
- “Nourish like a mother but protect like a father.”
- “All I needed was the grace to get through the winter.”
Every scripture in this message
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
- Luke 8:22-25
- Proverbs 6:6-11
- 1 Peter 1:13
- Galatians 6:7
- 2 Corinthians 3:2
- Matthew 7:24-27
- Galatians 6:9
- 1 John 4:4
- 2 Corinthians 3:18
- Philippians 3:12
- Proverbs 6:31