Arks and Building the Future: A Critical Analysis of Faith and Decisionism

• Faith and the Unseen Realm 00:04:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines faith as reaching into the unseen realm to pull it into the visible, contrasting it with merely responding to what is already visible.
• Noah's Ark as a Model of Faith 00:05:15 ▶️ 📄
  > Noah is presented as having the 'anointing of the purple crayon' for building an ark by faith, obeying God regarding events that had never happened before.
• Transformation vs. Incremental Improvement 00:06:26 ▶️ 📄
  > Using Henry Ford as an example, the pastor contrasts the cultural desire for 'faster horses' with the transformative vision of the automobile, urging believers to seek transformation over mere improvement.
• Dreaming God-Sized Dreams 00:07:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor challenges the congregation to identify 'God-sized dreams' that are impossible without God's power, distinguishing them from dreams achievable by human ability alone.
• Permission to Dream 00:09:21 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor gives 'permission to dream' to the congregation, encouraging them to expand their vision beyond their current 'lane' or limitations, citing Megan's story at Southeastern University.
• Design and Connection 00:10:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that after dreaming, one must design by connecting dots, citing Noah's need for blueprints and connections to others to build the ark.
• Cross-Disciplinary Learning 00:12:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor advises reading and listening across disciplines (psychology, arts, business, technology) because 'all truth is God's truth' to expand neural connections.
• Church Planting and Multiplication 00:13:15 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor outlines the 'God dream' for Multiply Church: multiplying churches and disciples, specifically mentioning the call to plant an international church.
• Strategic Relationships 00:13:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that God often ignites dreams through specific relationships, citing his partnership with Randy Freeman as an example of connecting with 'gatekeepers' in other fields.
• Practical Action and Delivery 00:15:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor emphasizes that believers must take tangible steps ('build it one board at a time') and 'ship' their ideas rather than just dreaming, using the analogy of Noah building the ark.
• Discipline and Routine 00:17:49 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that creativity requires daily discipline and routine, citing choreographer Twyla Tharp's habit of waking at 5:30 AM, to give 'teeth to the prophetic.'
• Vision and Design 00:20:27 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the story of Walt Disney and Herb Ryman to illustrate the necessity of visualizing and designing a dream before it can be realized.
• Divine Expansion of Dreams 00:25:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that God will enlarge existing dreams, using metaphors of turning a sailboat into an ark, an ark into a ship, and a garage business into a multi-state enterprise.
• Creative and Relational Provision 00:26:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that God provides creative ideas for education and connections in sciences and relationships to fulfill these expanded purposes.
• Repentance and Salvation 00:26:45 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor addresses those who feel their 'crayon is broken' due to sin and pride, inviting them to start or restart their relationship with Jesus through a specific prayer of confession and acceptance.

• Sermon Illustration 00:01:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the story of Harold and the Purple Crayon, where Harold draws his own reality (moon, path, boat, etc.) to navigate his adventure, using it as an analogy for faith creating what is visible.
• Sermon Illustration 00:05:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Henry Ford's vision of the automobile at the turn of the 20th century, contrasting it with the cultural desire for 'faster horses' to illustrate the difference between incremental improvement and transformative vision.
• Sermon Illustration 00:08:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a story about Megan, a former vice president at Southeastern University, who was given permission by her boss to dream for the entire university rather than just her specific academic lane, leading to significant expansion.
• Sermon Illustration 00:09:53 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor mentions the 'Backpack Ministry' at Multiply Church, started by a person with a dream to give backpacks to children and feed the homeless, illustrating how dreams can lead to tangible ministry outcomes.
• Sermon Illustration 00:14:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about meeting Randy Freeman, a missionary and pastor, which led to a partnership for planting international churches, illustrating how God connects key relationships.
• Sermon Illustration 00:16:00 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Steve Jobs' quote 'Real artists ship' to contrast dreamers who never act with those who deliver results, warning against using prophetic words as excuses for disobedience.
• Sermon Illustration 00:21:20 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor tells the story of Roy Disney responding to a reporter's comment that it was a shame Walt didn't see Disney World, with Roy replying 'Oh, he did,' implying Walt saw it spiritually.
• Sermon Illustration 00:22:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts how Walt Disney worked with artist Herb Ryman for 48 hours to draw the original concept of Disney World, illustrating the need to put dreams on paper.
• Sermon Illustration 00:25:58 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the metaphor of a 'purple crayon' to represent the ability to dream and visualize God's plan, contrasting a 'little business in a garage' with the potential for God to expand it into 'buildings in other states'.
• Sermon Illustration 00:26:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the metaphor of a 'broken crayon' to describe the state of someone who has made a mess of their life through pride, selfishness, and sin, indicating they need to start over with Jesus.

• Pastoral Charge 00:07:00 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor invites the congregation to receive and apply the 'five things' or secrets of the purple crayon metaphor.
• Pastoral Charge 00:09:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explicitly gives the congregation permission to dream big, God-sized dreams.
• Pastoral Charge 00:15:22 ▶️ 📄
  > Join a group to build connections.
• Pastoral Charge 00:15:56 ▶️ 📄
  > Begin designing and delivering on one's dreams.
• Pastoral Charge 00:17:18 ▶️ 📄
  > Start building and activating the first word God gave.
• Pastoral Charge 00:25:13 ▶️ 📄
  > Stand up, take the purple crayon, and release dreams/permission to dream.
• Pastoral Charge 00:25:13 ▶️ 📄
  > Stand up and physically take hold of the 'purple crayon' as a symbolic act of receiving permission to dream.
• Pastoral Charge 00:27:12 ▶️ 📄
  > Lift hand high and verbally declare the desire to start or restart a relationship with Jesus.
• Pastoral Charge 00:27:32 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray the provided salvation prayer aloud with the congregation.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Church, isn't God good?
[00:00:02] Come on, isn't God good?
[00:00:03] Aren't you thankful that sometimes the Holy Spirit just calls an audible?
[00:00:10] Amen, amen.
[00:00:11] I'm going to preach fast.
[00:00:13] You're going to listen fast.
[00:00:16] I got to get you out of here by 11, because there's another crowd that needs this.
[00:00:23] Come on.
[00:00:25] But be nice to people in the parking lot on your way out.
[00:00:28] Come on, don't lose your blessing in the parking lot.
[00:00:34] Hebrews chapter 11, our theme verse that the Lord has given us for this year.
[00:00:38] Now faith, say faith.
[00:00:40] Faith is the manifestation of things hoped for and the evidence, the evidence of things not seen.
[00:00:48] For by it the ancients received their commendation by faith,
[00:00:52] We understand that the universe was created by the Word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
[00:01:04] 2 Corinthians 5-7 says that we walk by faith and not by sight.
[00:01:11] How many of you got your purple crayon when you walked in?
[00:01:14] Come on, wave that crayon at me.
[00:01:17] That crayon, you don't realize how anointed that crayon is.
[00:01:21] Those things have been prayed over.
[00:01:23] I got mine.
[00:01:24] I got mine.
[00:01:25] Come on, smell that crayon.
[00:01:27] Doesn't it take you back?
[00:01:29] Takes you back, doesn't it?
[00:01:31] There's a story that I came across in a kid's book that was written back in the 1950s.
[00:01:36] Anybody heard or read Harold and the Purple Crayon?
[00:01:42] It was actually made into a movie in 2024.
[00:01:45] But the story is basically this, that Harold, this young boy, doesn't wait for adventure to come to him.
[00:01:51] He draws his own adventure.
[00:01:53] And so Harold wanted to go for a walk by moonlight and he walks outside.
[00:01:57] The problem was there wasn't any moon.
[00:01:59] No problem for Harold.
[00:02:00] Harold drew the moon.
[00:02:02] He wanted to go take a walk down the path but there wasn't any path so he drew the path.
[00:02:07] He started walking down the path and it was taking longer than he wanted so he drew a shortcut.
[00:02:12] Come on, how many of you would like a purple crayon that could
[00:02:15] Draw a shortcut he got hungry so he drew an apple tree and he drew apples on the tree but he just had purple he didn't have red and the apples needed to be red to be ripe for him to eat and so he couldn't eat the apples and he didn't want somebody to pick the apples before they were ripe and so he drew a dragon a scary dragon to scare everybody away from the apple tree
[00:02:36] So people wouldn't pick the apples but the dragon was so scary that the dragon scared him and so he started to shake and he didn't realize it but he drew water and he was drowning in the water and he couldn't swim and so he drew a boat and he hopped in the boat but he wasn't going anywhere and so he drew a sail and the sail took him to a far off land and the far off land he was hungry in the far off land and so he wanted a picnic and so he drew a picnic and he realized that his mom wasn't there
[00:03:03] to tell him no, so he just drew pie.
[00:03:05] Not just one pie, not just two pie, he drew nine pies, his favorite pie, and he ate all the pie that he wanted, but it was too much pie, and he didn't want the pie to go to waste, so he drew a big old hungry moose, and the moose ate the pie.
[00:03:20] But then he realized he wanted to go back home, but he didn't know how to get home,
[00:03:23] so he drew a hill and he climbed the hill but he couldn't see on top of the hill so he turned the hill into a mountain and he drew and he climbed up the mountain and he realized that he still couldn't see and he didn't know what to do and he in that unknowing he fell off the mountain but no worries he drew a big helium balloon and he held on to the helium balloon
[00:03:43] and Floated to Safety but he still wasn't home and he remembered this about his bedroom that his bedroom has a window so he drew a window but that wasn't his window and so he drew a building with a lot of windows and none of those windows were his window and so he drew an entire city filled with skyscrapers and windows but it wasn't his window until he remembered that oh yeah the moon
[00:04:07] He could see the moon out of his window and so he looked up at the moon that he had drawn and he drew a window around the moon and he was home and that is the adventure of Harold and the purple crayon.
[00:04:22] Here's why I tell you that story this morning because Harold didn't wait for reality
[00:04:28] To come to Him, Harold drew his reality.
[00:04:31] See, it teaches us about faith.
[00:04:34] Faith in your life, I put this on your notes, faith doesn't respond to what is already visible, it creates what becomes visible.
[00:04:45] Isn't that what the Bible is teaching?
[00:04:47] There is a seen world and an unseen world.
[00:04:49] A visible realm and an unseen and an invisible realm.
[00:04:53] And sometimes the invisible realm, the unseen realm, is actually a greater reality, a higher reality.
[00:05:00] And so that's what faith does.
[00:05:02] Faith reaches into the visible and pulls it into the invisible and pulls it into the visible.
[00:05:09] Faith reaches into the unseen and pulls it into the seen.
[00:05:13] That's what Noah did.
[00:05:15] Noah had the anointing of the purple crayon.
[00:05:18] Hebrews chapter 11.
[00:05:19] It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood.
[00:05:27] Noah obeyed God who warned him about things that had never happened before.
[00:05:35] I've titled this message this morning, Purple Crayons, Arcs, and Building the Future.
[00:05:42] I think back to people like Henry Ford at the turn of the 20th century.
[00:05:47] That's what Henry Ford did, didn't he?
[00:05:49] He built an ark, so to speak.
[00:05:51] He used his purple crown.
[00:05:53] See, at the beginning of the 20th century, the world revolved around horses.
[00:05:59] Cities were built for stables, not garages.
[00:06:02] Roads were designed for hooves, not engines.
[00:06:05] Transportation meant feeding, cleaning, and caring for animals.
[00:06:10] Most people weren't asking for a new kind of transportation.
[00:06:13] They wanted incremental improvement.
[00:06:16] Give me a faster horse.
[00:06:18] Give me stronger wagons.
[00:06:20] Give me better harnesses.
[00:06:22] But Henry Ford wasn't thinking in terms of improvement.
[00:06:26] He was thinking in terms of transformation.
[00:06:30] And I believe that that is the anointing that God wants you to walk in, that as believers,
[00:06:37] We don't just respond to the opinions of our culture.
[00:06:43] Can somebody say amen?
[00:06:45] There's a lot of opinions out there, but I don't live my life in response to what somebody else thinks.
[00:06:52] I get a vision of what God sees, what God wants, and I begin to operate in faith, by faith.
[00:07:00] I'm gonna give you five things, the secret of the purple crayon.
[00:07:04] Seeing, drawing, and building what the world doesn't even know that it needs.
[00:07:10] Number one is this, dream.
[00:07:13] Dream, what is your, let me ask you this question, what is your God-sized dream?
[00:07:21] What is your God-sized dream?
[00:07:23] You say, I have a dream, Pastor, that's great.
[00:07:25] But if it can be accomplished in your ability, with your skill set, with the amount of money that you already have in your bank account, with the degree that you already have and the relationships that are already in your life, that may be a good dream, but it's not a God dream.
[00:07:42] A God dream pulls you higher.
[00:07:44] A God dream reaches deeper.
[00:07:46] A God dream in your life will...
[00:07:49] Listen, you're not called to do hard things.
[00:07:52] You're called to do impossible things.
[00:07:54] You need a dream that is so big, that is so large, that without the power of God, you will fall and you will fail because that causes us to reach a little bit deeper in our lives.
[00:08:08] I've got two friends down at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, Nick and Megan.
[00:08:14] And Nick, who actually now is a pastor out in the state of Washington, but he was the vice president over an entire area at Southeastern University, and Megan was just working in the academic sphere.
[00:08:26] She had a leadership position, but it was limited to that lane, that academic lane.
[00:08:31] And she tells the story that when her boss, when Nick walked up to her one day and said, Megan, what is your dream?
[00:08:39] What is your God dream for the entire university?
[00:08:42] And she says this,
[00:08:43] She said, I didn't even know that I had permission to dream for the whole university.
[00:08:50] She said, I was planning in my one little area.
[00:08:54] She said, but when my boss gave me permission to dream, I opened up my mouth and it just started flowing.
[00:09:00] God is using her to this day an incredible way to expand to grow that university and this is one of the things I felt so deeply in my spirit that I was going to be preaching to people this morning that maybe somebody in your life maybe nobody in your life has ever given you permission to dream
[00:09:21] Maybe you tried when you were younger and somebody looked at you and just kind of rolled their eyes or maybe somebody dismissed the idea of maybe you're you you worked a job where it's just kind of the the goal of the job was to clock in and clock out and you do your job and you stay in your lane but don't think beyond I want to give you by the power of God the ability I give you permission to dream permission to dream
[00:09:48] I think of ministries that have been started at Multiply Church.
[00:09:53] One of the ministries that is operating right now through the Dream Center is a ministry called the Backpack Ministry.
[00:10:00] And they give away backpacks to children that need them.
[00:10:03] They feed the homeless community.
[00:10:04] They're out there on the streets praying with people.
[00:10:07] That ministry that is growing, that is expanding, that's doing amazing.
[00:10:11] It wasn't started by a pastor.
[00:10:13] It was started by a person with a dream.
[00:10:16] Multiply church permission to dream.
[00:10:19] Permission to dream.
[00:10:21] Permission to dream of new ministries.
[00:10:23] Permission to dream of new groups.
[00:10:26] Permission to dream of new areas in our lives that God wants to expand in and through you.
[00:10:32] Permission to dream.
[00:10:35] But we can't just stop with the dream we have to design.
[00:10:40] Design.
[00:10:42] The question here, the first question under dream is what is your God-sized dream?
[00:10:46] The question here is how does God want to connect the dots in your life?
[00:10:52] Design is all about connection.
[00:10:56] Noah's vision, the vision, the God-sized dream that God downloaded to Noah was build an ark.
[00:11:04] The vision's great, but how many of you know Noah needed a plan?
[00:11:09] God yet yes and yes and God yes to the dream and I need some people that have a hammer God yes to the dream and I need some blueprints I need some steps in that in that I believe let me get let me just make this really really practical in your life because I think there were two very practical things this is where the
[00:11:36] The dream, this is where faith becomes very, very practical.
[00:11:40] So connection for Noah was you had pieces of wood.
[00:11:44] Noah probably knew like, okay, yes, I'm going to build this thing out of wood.
[00:11:48] But God showed Noah how to connect the boards.
[00:11:53] And then Noah didn't build that thing all by himself.
[00:11:57] He needed to be connected to other people to help him build.
[00:12:02] Let me give you two very practical things in your life, how you can take the dream in your heart and expand it.
[00:12:07] Number one, you need to begin to read and listen to podcasts and learn across disciplines.
[00:12:16] Can you hear your pastor's heart on this?
[00:12:18] If you want to grow spiritually, you got to read more than Max Licato.
[00:12:24] Allah Allah of them he's anointed he's powerful but you got to read psychology and you got to read stuff in the arts and you got to read some business books and you've got to read things about technology you've got to begin why because is God the God of science is God the God of technology is God the God of the human mind of course he is and so there are thinkers
[00:12:45] All truth is God's truth.
[00:12:47] Chew the meat, take the meat, spit out the bones.
[00:12:50] You've got to begin to expand the connections that God wants to do in the neurosensors of your brain, the synapse connections in your brain.
[00:12:59] You've got to begin to expand those connections.
[00:13:01] The second thing is in the area of relationships.
[00:13:04] Perhaps there are some of you that have a God-sized dream that you're one relationship away from that dream igniting.
[00:13:12] Let me give you an example of that several years ago.
[00:13:15] So at Multiply Church, here's the God dream.
[00:13:17] The God dream is that we multiply churches and multiply disciples.
[00:13:22] The God dream is that we plant churches and that those churches plant more churches and that we make disciples and those disciples make more disciples.
[00:13:31] And so in that, one of the things that we felt very called to was planting an international church.
[00:13:37] We felt like God wanted us to plant international, build an ark.
[00:13:41] Like, God, yes and?
[00:13:43] Say yes.
[00:13:45] Say and.
[00:13:47] God, yes and, how do we do that?
[00:13:49] we didn't want to just drop into a country and oh here we're the Americans we know how to plant a church in your country no like we wanted to come alongside and partner with the people that are already there and who are the people of peace in that town that God is already raising up and I'll never forget that verb so Verb Coffee who is in our lobby and a couple other locations around Concord when they started off as Groundwork Common in downtown Concord I remember meeting a missionary and a pastor there
[00:14:18] by the name of Randy Freeman and we sat down together and Randy started talking about the ministry that God had already birthed in his heart.
[00:14:26] Urban tribes, planting churches,
[00:14:28] Internationally working with missionaries working with the local church raising up people from within and Randy and I and he started talking about gatekeepers and and not just raising up people that were gonna be good church people but they were going to be influencers in the area of business and education and technology and the arts and government on all of these things i'm like god are you kidding me this was the connection that we needed
[00:14:53] Today, as we plant churches in Zambia, as we plant churches in Rennes, France, as we plant churches in Vinhuc, Africa, that was because God started connecting key relationships.
[00:15:05] I believe God's going to connect relationships in your life.
[00:15:09] But can I give you, can I be even a little more practical?
[00:15:14] So you pray, God, I need, I need connection.
[00:15:18] Join a group.
[00:15:22] This is the both and, right?
[00:15:24] We need to be prophetic people that reach so high into the heavenlies that we are grabbing ahold of dreams that if we were to say the dream, that it would make us look crazy?
[00:15:36] and we need to do simple, tangible, practical things in our lives.
[00:15:42] Taking a step.
[00:15:43] How do you build an ark?
[00:15:44] I don't know, but we gotta build it one board at a time.
[00:15:47] You gotta cut down the first tree.
[00:15:49] Don't ever stop the largeness of your dream by taking a small first step in your life.
[00:15:56] You gotta begin to design and then deliver.
[00:15:58] And then deliver.
[00:16:00] I love this quote by Steve Jobs.
[00:16:02] He says, real artists ship.
[00:16:06] Real Artistship Here's what that means because sometimes you meet people that are dreamers and you meet them and they tell this amazing idea and wow it sounds incredible and then you meet them a year later and you say well how's that dream going and they tell you about another idea that they have and it's this huge it's even bigger than the first idea and then five years later you say hey how are those ideas going and they're talking about this new idea no no no that's like that's great but Real Artistship
[00:16:35] In other words, they put feet to the original thing.
[00:16:40] Let me explain it through Noah.
[00:16:42] Noah got a word, but at the end of the day when the rains came, how many of you were thankful that Noah still wasn't just walking around saying, thank the Lord for that prophetic word?
[00:16:56] If we're not careful, you understand where I'm going with this.
[00:17:01] We're going to dive into more of the prophetic than we ever have at Multiply Church, but if we're not careful, we'll get addicted to the prophetic and we'll need another word to confirm the word that God already gave us, and then another word through somebody else, and it becomes an excuse for disobedience in your life.
[00:17:18] If you want a new word, start activating the first word.
[00:17:22] what did God tell you to do and begin to build that thing and then watch how God begins to activate more and more in your life we deliver we deliver what does that how do we deliver number four it takes discipline pastor go back to dream i liked it when you were talking about dreaming no it takes it takes discipline
[00:17:49] Speaking of reading cross-disciplines, I am in the middle of it.
[00:17:55] I am reading Twyla Tharp.
[00:18:00] Anybody know Twyla Tharp?
[00:18:01] She is a choreographer and probably the most famous choreographer and dancer in the last 60 or 70 years.
[00:18:08] So things like the Royal Ballet, New York Ballet, American Ballet Theater.
[00:18:13] She choreographed Moving Out, the Billy Joel musical, Singing in the Rain, Ragtime, Amadeus.
[00:18:20] I know you think that I know a lot about dance, but I don't.
[00:18:28] So this is stretching me beyond.
[00:18:31] But I love the title of her book says it all.
[00:18:36] Her book is The Creative Habit.
[00:18:40] The Creative Habit.
[00:18:42] Twyla Tharp is 84 years old and she began today the same way that she began her day 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 50 years ago, every single morning, 5.30 in the morning for two hours she's at the gym.
[00:18:59] Tiny little dancer deadlifting more than I can deadlift.
[00:19:04] she is in that gym and she says this she says if we're not careful like creatives and artists can live for these uh can live for these lightning bolt moments and i just need creativity and i need a moment of inspiration and what she says is that creativity and seeing the birthing of the dream seeing the birthing of the creative idea that god has put in your heart and mind and in your spirit it takes daily discipline
[00:19:31] That you're writing when you feel like it and you don't.
[00:19:34] You're painting when you feel like it and you don't.
[00:19:37] You're building something out of wood when you feel like it and when you don't.
[00:19:41] She says this in her book.
[00:19:42] The real secret for creatives is that they do it every day.
[00:19:46] In other words, they're disciplined.
[00:19:48] The routine is as much a part of the creative process as the lightning bolt of inspiration, maybe more.
[00:19:56] And this routine is available to everyone.
[00:20:01] We need systems, and structure, and schedules, and those things are not anti-prophetic.
[00:20:09] They give teeth to the prophetic.
[00:20:12] We need work ethic.
[00:20:13] We need office hours.
[00:20:15] We need prayer time.
[00:20:16] We need 21 days of prayer because we form our habits and then our habits form us.
[00:20:22] We form our disciplines and then our disciplines form us.
[00:20:26] And here's the final thing.
[00:20:27] So we need a dream.
[00:20:29] We need a design.
[00:20:30] We need to deliver.
[00:20:31] We need to deliver through discipline and we need to draw.
[00:20:36] We need to draw.
[00:20:38] So the story in 1971, Roy Disney, Walt Disney's brother was walking.
[00:20:46] It was a grand, grand opening of Disney World.
[00:20:48] In Florida and that land that had been just a swamp a few years before a few years before here's all of these buildings and here's these rides and reporters were gathered around and families were coming and it was this amazing opening day of an amusement park a theme park like people had never seen before and a reporter was walking beside Roy Disney and the reporter said because Walt
[00:21:14] This was 1971 and Walt had passed in 1966 and the reporter just simply said this.
[00:21:20] The reporter said, boy, wouldn't it have been greater?
[00:21:23] It's a shame that Walt never saw this.
[00:21:27] And Roy reportedly said this.
[00:21:30] Oh, he did.
[00:21:31] He did.
[00:21:33] He did.
[00:21:33] So in order...
[00:21:35] In order for you to understand the context of what Roy was saying about Walt, you have to go back to 1953.
[00:21:44] So remember Disney World, or there was Disneyland before there was Disney World, and again, there was nothing like it.
[00:21:50] There were carnivals, there were amusement parks, there were things like that, but Disney was dreaming about this immersive experience that wasn't just a ride, it was a story, and that people would be drawn into the imagination,
[00:22:03] People would experience the story and families would be able to come together and and nobody had ever done this thing before and so he met he met with one of his here's another connection he met with a guy by the name of Herb Ryman
[00:22:18] Herb Ryman was one of Disney's most trusted artists and so Walt went to him with an unusual request and the request was not draw me a building or draw me a ride or draw me something that already exists but Disney said to Ryman, he said, I need a drawing of a place that only exists
[00:22:37] in my mind and so there were 48 hours there's this famous weekend that Walt Disney spent with Herb Ryman and and they say that he was just pacing back and forth and Disney was just describing he was describing business buildings and he was describing rides and he was describing streets and he was describing story and he was describing these experiences and everything and Ryman was just he was drawing and he was drawing and he was drawing
[00:23:02] because he began to put on paper, and I think that we have a picture of those original drawings.
[00:23:08] Those original drawings just sold at an auction for $750,000, three quarters of a million, which is exactly what it costs for your family to go to Disney World and experience all of this.
[00:23:24] But it started, it started with a dream.
[00:23:34] God, I didn't physically lay my hands on every one of those purple crayons, but I prayed for them this week.
[00:23:44] I prayed for you this week.
[00:23:46] And this is what I prayed.
[00:23:47] I said, God, we got 14 days of 21 days of prayer left.
[00:23:52] I said, God, unleash dreams.
[00:23:56] Unleash dreams.
[00:23:59] I pray that God gives you a picture
[00:24:04] Maybe you're not the best artist in the world, but maybe you're gonna draw a picture of what you're believing that your family dinner table is gonna look like next Thanksgiving.
[00:24:16] People that are gonna come home and relationships that are gonna be healed.
[00:24:19] Maybe you're stuck in a job and you're like, God, thank you for this provision.
[00:24:26] This isn't my dream.
[00:24:28] Maybe you'll just draw a little picture of a degree and a diploma with your name on that diploma.
[00:24:35] Maybe there's a backpack ministry or a dream center ministry or something that you feel like God has birthed, a new group, a new tribe that you feel like God is birthing in your heart.
[00:24:46] I don't know what it is for you, but I'm telling you,
[00:24:49] I'm praying over those purple crayons this week I'm praying over those purple crayons but it's not the prayer that has already been prayed it's the prayer that you're gonna pray and it's just praying and asking God God give me a dream God what's your dream what's your dream for my life God give me a dream that's bigger than me God give me a dream that's a little bit scary God give me an ark size purple
[00:25:13] Crayon dream that I can step into and that you have built me for so that my life will have greater purpose than I've ever had before would you would you just stand all across this auditorium if you've got that purple crayon would you just take it in your hand God I really I release dreams in this house permission to dream
[00:25:35] Permission to dream.
[00:25:36] Permission to hear from God.
[00:25:38] Permission for the prophetic move of the Holy Spirit.
[00:25:42] Some of you already have a dream.
[00:25:44] God's gonna make it bigger.
[00:25:46] He's gonna enlarge it.
[00:25:48] You're thinking a sailboat, but God's building an ark.
[00:25:51] You're thinking an ark.
[00:25:52] God's gonna build a ship.
[00:25:54] You're thinking a house.
[00:25:55] God's gonna draw an entire business.
[00:25:58] You're thinking
[00:25:59] A little business that's going to start in your garage, and that may be the way that it starts, but you better start drawing buildings in other states because God's going to expand that business into other states.
[00:26:11] Some of you, God is going to give you creative ideas in the world of education that you're going to teach algebra in a different way.
[00:26:19] God is going to give you connections in the sciences.
[00:26:23] In the name of Jesus, God's going to connect relationships.
[00:26:26] God's going to connect things
[00:26:27] In your mind, God, I pray, I pray ark-size dreams in this house with heads still bowed and eyes still closed.
[00:26:38] Maybe somebody's in the house today and would say, Pastor, I want a dream.
[00:26:45] But I need to start with Jesus.
[00:26:48] Pastor, I don't even have a relationship with Jesus.
[00:26:51] I'm doing my own thing.
[00:26:52] My crayon is broken.
[00:26:54] I've made a mess of my life.
[00:26:56] I've been prideful.
[00:26:57] I've been selfish.
[00:26:58] I've been sinful.
[00:26:59] I've been running.
[00:27:00] I've been a prodigal.
[00:27:01] And I don't want to be any of those things anymore.
[00:27:03] I want Jesus.
[00:27:05] I want to walk with Him.
[00:27:06] I want to love Him.
[00:27:07] I want to live for Him.
[00:27:09] If that's you, I'm going to count to three just as a point of reference.
[00:27:12] I don't want you to hesitate.
[00:27:13] When I get to three, I want you to lift your hand high and say, Pastor, I want to start or restart my relationship with Jesus today.
[00:27:22] One, Pastor, I'm not with Jesus.
[00:27:25] Two, Pastor, today that begins.
[00:27:27] Three, come on, if that's you, lift your hands high.
[00:27:30] Yeah, I got you.
[00:27:31] I got you.
[00:27:32] I got you that's so cool you can put your hands down we're gonna join all of you who lifted your hands in faith and by faith we're gonna say this out loud with you and join our faith with yours but if you lifted your hand would you pray this prayer out loud come on let's pray this prayer out loud together everybody say dear Jesus I come to the cross and I ask you to forgive me of all of my sins
[00:28:00] And Jesus, I invite you to be Lord of my life so that I can live wide awake to the love of God and fully alive to my purpose.
[00:28:15] It's in Jesus' name.
[00:28:17] Amen.
[00:28:18] Amen.
[00:28:19] Come on church, can we celebrate with all who are going from death to life today?
[00:28:24] Amen.

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Well, I hope today's service made a real difference in your life.
[00:28:31] My name is Noemi, and I just want to thank you for joining us today.
[00:28:35] It truly means so much that you chose to worship with us online.
[00:28:38] If you made a decision to follow Jesus, we are celebrating with you.
[00:28:42] That's the best decision you could ever make, and we would love to walk alongside you as you take your next steps.
[00:28:48] A great way to get connected is by downloading the Multiply Concord app and tapping Next Steps.
[00:28:53] You'll find resources, encouragement, and a team ready to support you as you begin this journey.
[00:28:59] Also, a reminder that 21 Days of Prayer is still going on.
[00:29:03] We meet Monday through Saturday at 6 a.m., both in person and online.
[00:29:08] Whether you've joined us already or are jumping in for the very first time, we'd love to have you.
[00:29:13] Thanks again for being part of today's service.
[00:29:15] We can't wait to connect with you soon.