#51 The Positive Power of One DREAM!(16/11/02)

By Dr. Robert A. Schuller

It was on August 28, 1962 when Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King ascended the steps of Lincoln Memorial and looked upon a sea of faces as far as the eye could see. Then he spoke the words that immortalized Dr. Martin Luther King:

What is the positive power of one dream? What things can change in your life, in our community, in our world through the positive power of one dream? Dreams ... visions ... prophecies ... understanding of life ... a calling - whatever we call it, there is incredible positive power of one dream.

An interesting story takes place in the book of Acts. It happened after our resurrected Christ in one of His appearances, appeared in the Upper Room to His apostles who were hiding. There He gave them an opportunity to put their fingers in his nail pierced hands and His scarred side. Christ had come, walking through doors, almost like an apparition, but in physical form. And then they watched in awe as their leader and Lord disappeared in the clouds and ascended into heaven.
But the apostles were still scared to death. After all, the news was out that there was this sect called Christianity, and their leader, Jesus Christ, had been nailed to a cross. They were rid of Him, now surely His apostles should also be wiped out. The word was out. There were wanted posters throughout Jerusalem. So it was no surprise that the apostles remained in hiding, afraid for their lives, in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost.
Now the day of Pentecost is a tremendous time of festivities. It is a harvest festival much like we celebrate here at this time of year across the nation. People have gathered from all over the world to come to Jerusalem. They have come from Phrygia and places with such common names like Egypt and Africa. They have come from all over the world and the city has exploded with a great population. People are living in tents all over the city. It is a very exciting time. This is Pentecost!
It is at this time that the Holy Spirit of God, promised by Jesus Christ, comes and enters the Upper Room to touch the apostles with an incredible gift - the gift to be able to speak in a foreign language. To speak in the languages of all the people who have gathered from so many nations in Jerusalem. And then most amazing of all, the apostles receive the gift of courage to leave their room of hiding and go out into the streets. Now they are ready to share, with all those who are visiting Jerusalem, the experience that they have had with Jesus Christ. And in the book of Acts, we read that Peter, the rough fisherman, begins to preach with eloquence. The first words he spoke were those from the prophet Joel:

As Peter continued to preach, people began to believe and at the conclusion of his message the scriptures reports that three thousand people were baptized and believed (Acts 2:41) Having received that message, many of them in their own language, they returned to their homes.
Instantly the gospel of Jesus Christ was spread around the world and nothing could extinguish the dream ... the vision ... and the hope that we have today, 2000 years later. Ultimately, all the apostles were arrested and killed, but the gospel of Jesus Christ lives on today.

The positive power of one dream:

1) sees the invisible
2) believes in the incredible ... and ...
3) achieves the impossible.

It begins with the understanding of seeing the invisible. Andy Stanley Tells a beautiful story of a couple of children who came running into the beach house, to their mother and said, "We're going to find some shark teeth on the beach, Mom." And their mother laughed and said, "There aren't any shark teeth on this beach. I've walked this beach every day of my life since I was your age. I've collected all kinds of shells and all things that float ashore, driftwood, etc., you name it. Shark teeth? There aren't any shark teeth on this beach!" But she patted the children on their heads as she said, "Go, have fun and I'll see you later."
Later that afternoon guess what the kids came home with? They came home with about a half dozen-shark teeth. As they looked for them, they found them among the shells in the sand. You see, sharks have an incredible and unusual process that happens with their teeth. They regenerate teeth, not just once like humans do, but they lose them and re-grow them over and over. They go through hundreds of teeth in a lifetime. When they lose their teeth, they simply grow more teeth. Isn't that wonderful? [1]
So, sure enough, the young boys came back with shark teeth. Why is it that their mother never found any shark teeth? She walked up and down that beach every day of her life and the only reason she didn't find them is because she never looked for them. She never believed they were there.
And how many people never receive the bounty of God's goodness and grace in their lives because they don't believe ... so they never look ... and they never find!

The positive power of one dream:

1) sees the invisible
2) believes in the incredible ... and ...
3) achieves the impossible.

When I was ordained in 1980 and began my ministry, the thought of world peace was really a joke. The Cold War coming to an end - impossible. That could never happen!

Later that decade I was reading a magazine which was very popular at that time. It was Life magazine. It was a large magazine. If you're old enough, you can remember seeing and maybe subscribing to Life magazine. And I think anyone over thirty probably can. Well, I remember thumbing through that magazine and I saw a picture of Armand Hammer. I had never heard of Armand Hammer, but they were describing his life and there was this picture of him lying on his bed watching three televisions. Studying that picture, the thought crossed my mind, what does a man of this significance and wealth ... (they said he was one of the wealthiest men in the world) ... what does a man like that read? So I looked at the books on his nightstand next to his bed. The picture was large enough and clear enough to read the title of the books ... and on top was Guideposts. Guideposts is a publication by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.
When I saw that, I called my father and said, "Dad, Norman Peale is going to be here in a few weeks. Armand Hammer is a fan of Norman Peale. You need to call Armand Hammer and invite him to come to the Cathedral. Guess what? My dad did ... Armand Hammer came ... and the meeting took place. That was the beginning of incredible and impossible accomplishments Armand Hammer did for this ministry.
I remember one lunch with Armand Hammer in my father's office. We asked him, "What are your dreams? What are your goals? What does a person who has accomplished everything and now is in his nineties ... a person with your power and your ability do? What goals could you possibly have?"
You know what his answer was? "World peace." An impossible dream, an impossible goal. "World peace," he said.
We listened to Armand Hammer share how he had met with Gorbachev only a few weeks earlier. He said, "When I met with Gorbachev, I told Gorbachev, 'Lenin told me,' (he didn't mean John Lennon, he meant the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution.) 'Communism will not work.'" Armand Hammer told how in a few weeks, he was meeting with Ronald Reagan to tell him what Lenin said, and he, Armand, could arrange for Reagan and Gorbachev to meet together to end the Cold War. Not long after that, these power leaders met. And in 1989 the wall between East and West Germany came down. In that same year, Armand Hammer took my father and mother to Communist Russia where my father spoke on Channel One Television, covering that nation with the first positive message of Christian faith. That was the open door to our ministry in Russia that today is changing lives in that once atheistic country.

THE POSITIVE POWER OF ONE DREAM:

Today the Holy Spirit of God is planting the seed of dreams and visions, not just for a select few. Not just for the privileged, nor the elite. God's spirit is for all people. God uses little people, people without any particular credentials, but they have a dream. They see the invisible, believe the incredible, and then they achieve the impossible things in their lifetime.
Yes, our sons and daughters will see the invisible.
Our young men will believe in the incredible.
And our old men will achieve the impossible.
God wants you to receive this message. The Holy Spirit of God is the Giver of life. He is in the business of restoring life ... restoring the dreams and the visions of His children around the world.

Only God can count the power of one dream. So hold onto your dream, hold onto the future ... and as you hold onto the future you will see the power of God. He uses the least of us to accomplish the most for our world.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you that You are alive today. Pour Your spirit on me to help me see the invisible. You are my God. May I continue to have the faith to keep my dream alive to accomplish Your will for my life. Amen.