Vision Sunday 2025

Amen.

Good morning, church family.

Happy New Year.

You guys recognize the presence of the Lord is especially present here this morning.

I just need to tell you right out the gate, you need to get ready.

Some dead things are coming to life in Jesus' name.

Some things are going to come out of the grave.

That you're in the right place at the right time.

And I believe that we are moving into a season in which God is going to sovereignly do what only God can do.

How many of you guys know if God doesn't build the house?

We labor in vain.

It doesn't.

It matters what we do.

Don't misconstrue what I'm saying.

What we do matters.

But what we do is never enough.

We have to have God's presence and his activity in our lives.

And how many of you would say with me this morning, I need more of God's presence and activity in my life?

I believe we're going to experience that together today.

I have been looking forward to this day for probably a couple of months now.

It was back earlier in the fall that God just dropped into my spirit what our theme would be for 2026.

And the theme for our year is dream again.

I want you to say that after me this morning.

Dream again.

Turn to your neighbor and say, dream again.

Turn to your other neighbor and say, dream again.

I want to say very clearly out the gate, there's some dreams that have died in you.

Some promises that you have dismissed because they have been delayed.

But God's about to resurrect them.

There's some things, some hopes and some desires that you've set on a shelf because you've been discouraged by the delay.

Those things are getting ready to come off the shelf.

They're getting ready to be placed in your hand because there's a purpose and there's a destiny upon your life that is greater than what you can possibly imagine or fathom.

And I believe with everything inside of me, we're moving into a year and into a season where we're going to see God do what only God can do.

And I would say amen to that.

God do what only you can do.

Amen.

So today I want to preach about the theme Dream Again.

Actually, the whole month of January.

We're going to explore this topic that has been stirring in my spirit for a couple of months now.

But before we get there, it being the new year, I have to do a dad joke.

I have to.

Don't you agree that I that I have to?

Sorry.

Everybody that thinks you need a dad joke, just say amen for me this morning.

See, that's that's what I thought.

I'm not gonna give the other group an opportunity to respond.

Because we don't need any Debbie Downers in here today.

Amen.

Alright, so here's a here's a couple of dad jokes to get it started this morning.

Why, why, why do you need a jeweler on December 31st?

I heard somebody say it, say it loud.

To ring in the new year.

Good job.

It's pretty good.

It's pretty good.

Here, here's what's a spider's what's a spiders New Year's resolution?

That's a good question.

What's a spiders?

Well, to spend less time on the web.

As Pastor Noah said, we call that a soul fast.

And then last but not least, what's the difference?

This is gonna resonate, I think, with everybody.

What's the difference between being young and old on New Year's?

What's the difference between being young and old on New Year's?

Well, the difference is when you're young, you're allowed to stay up.

When you're old, you're forced to.

Anyone relate to that?

Amen.

Stand with me where you are before I lose everyone this morning.

Let's get to the word of God today.

As I said, our theme for 2026 is dream again.

And here is our theme text for the entire year.

It's Psalms 126, and it's six verses, and I'm gonna preach from these verses today.

Psalms 126, starting in verse 1, reads this way.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.

The verb tense actually in this passage indicates the emotion and the idea of dreams being restored, that dreams had been forgotten, but all of a sudden, when God restored the fortunes of Zion, that all of a sudden dreams began to resurface again.

That there was an impartation of something supernatural.

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations, the Lord, the Lord, He has done great things for them.

Is God done any great thing for you?

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Verse 4 restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Nineveh.

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.

I just want to prophesy over your life.

If you've been sowing tears, you're about to reap joy.

Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

I want to prophesy over your life this morning that you're just not going to reap joy.

You're gonna reap abundance in your life in 2026.

Church, this is God's word, and title of my message is it's time.

Everybody say it's time.

It's time.

Say it like you mean it.

It's time to dream again.

Turn to your neighbor and say it's time to dream again.

Turn to your other neighbor and say it's time to dream again.

Turn around to the person behind you and say it's time to dream again.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

Your word is the lamp unto our feet and the light into our path.

It shows us the way to go and how to arrive there safely.

And I pray this morning, we wouldn't just be hearers of your word, but we'd be doers of it.

In Jesus' mighty name, everybody said, Amen.

You may be seated.

Thank you, Caleb.

So the year is somewhere around 538 BC.

Anyone remember that year?

Some of you may be able to remember that year.

The year is somewhere around 538 BC.

And the children of Israel have been in exile, in Babylonian exile, for seventy years.

Seventy years ago, the hopes and the dreams of God's people fulfilling God's purpose in the earth were crushed by the battering rams of the Babylonian Empire.

The best of the best of both people and things were carted away into exile, into captivity to Babylon.

Nine hundred miles away, these people moved.

Men like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were a part of this deportation.

They walked those nine hundred miles into captivity.

What's left in Jerusalem?

What's left of the temple, what's left of the people lay in ruins.

Everywhere you look, all you see is destruction.

All you see is rubble.

I imagine they could smell the smoldering rubble for miles away as they walked into activity.

Can you imagine what it must have been like for those people to lose everything?

They lost their homes.

They lost their families.

They lost their city.

They lost their nation.

They lost their freedom.

And I dare say they lost their dreams.

See, for five hundred years, a descendant of David had sat upon the throne in Jerusalem.

And as long as a descendant of David sat upon the throne in Jerusalem, they held out hope for a better tomorrow.

See, they knew that there was a descendant of David who would rule upon the throne in Jerusalem and bring heaven to earth.

But now those dreams have been dashed.

Those dreams of heaven coming to earth lay in the ruins with the rest of the rubble.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, completely unexpected.

A word is spoken from a very unexpected person.

A pagan king, an emperor, by the name of Cyrus the Great, is moved by the Spirit of the Lord to issue a decree to all of the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem, to rebuild the temple, and to restore the worship of Yahweh.

In a single day, everything shifted.

In a day, because of a decree, all of a sudden, the hopes and the dreams that were dashed, that were dead, and were buried, all of a sudden are resurrected.

In a day.

How many of you guys know God can do more in a day than we can do in a lifetime?

In a day, a word is declared that restores, rejuvenates, re-invigorates the hopes and dreams of a people.

The hopes and dreams of a nation.

God does a lot of work in a day.

In a day, God promoted Joseph from the pit to the palace.

In a day.

David went from an obscure shepherd boy to the most famous man in the nation.

In a day, Daniel was promoted to governor of Babylon.

And in a day, specifically the third day, Jesus rose from the grave, conquering death, hell, and the grave for all time.

In a day, God can do a lot.

Turn your neighbor, say, in a day.

Can I declare over your life that in 2026, God's going to do some things in a day that you don't expect?

That in 2026, God's going to do in a day that what you've been trying to accomplish over years, possibly even decades, that it's suddenly going to happen in a day because no man can resist God.

He's going to do it in a day.

God moves upon this pagan king.

Don't miss this.

I think this is beautiful.

You got to remember, Cyrus the Great, he didn't know God.

He didn't worship Yahweh.

He wasn't an Israelite.

Yet God still moved upon him in such a way that he responded to the spirit of the Lord.

Can I tell you, God can do in a day what we cannot because he's able to use anybody he wants to use?

He moves men's hearts.

As a matter of fact, the Bible says that the heart of the king lies in the hand of God.

And he can direct it as a watercourse wherever he so chooses.

God can use whoever he wants to use, and he does all the time.

Aren't you glad you don't have to earn it or deserve it, but God still can use you?

I believe in 2026, some suddenly days are going to happen in your life.

It's going to come from unlikely and unexpected people.

People that you could have never imagined are going to be moved by the Spirit of the Lord to intercede on your behalf.

And in that intercession, there's going to be a shift that's going to promote you to the destiny that God has for your life.

See, we operate from a perspective where I have it all figured out.

And only God can use this person or that person.

And so I've got to get next to the right people.

Can I tell you, it's not about the right people that you get next to, it's about the right God you get next to.

And when you do that, He's able to move you in a way and orchestrate things in your life that you could have never imagined, you couldn't have never comprehended.

And so this is what Israel is experiencing for 70 years.

Their dreams have been buried and dead.

And in a day, a word is spoken from an unexpected person in an unexpected place that literally suddenly shifts the trajectory of the nation.

And the Israelites return to Jerusalem.

And when they return, they write Psalms 126.

This psalm was written by the exiled captives who had returned suddenly to the land they never thought they would see again.

The psalm began to well up in their heart.

It began to reverberate in their spirit.

It was a psalm of rejoicing as they ascended Mount Zion, as they ascended to the city of Jerusalem.

There was a song that began to erupt as God restored their fortunes.

I want to prophesy over your life this year.

There's going to be a song arising from your life.

Look what God has done.

Let's look at these verses.

Verse 1 says, When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.

We were like those who all of a sudden began to imagine the possibilities.

We were like those who had been sick, but now have been restored to health, and now life holds hope for us.

We had no hope.

We had no dreams.

We had no promise.

They were all dead, buried, and gone.

And all of a sudden, because God spoke a word through an unexpected place.

Dreams began to be restored again.

You know, those who returned to Jerusalem never thought that they would see the holy city again.

Those who were born in captivity could have never imagined returning to Jerusalem and seeing it.

They had heard the stories, but the dream of seeing it was never dreamed.

So they return.

And as they return and they see the restoration of God's people, we were like those.

We were like those who who dreamed again.

Some of you, maybe some of us, have lived with disappointment so long that your dreams may feel dead.

Life doesn't work out the way you think it should.

In the time you think it should, delay often leads to disappointment that produces discouragement.

And discouragement is the thief of dreams.

This is actually a pattern we see in scripture, it's a pattern that we see in life.

It's a pattern that you need to be aware of because it's a pattern the enemy wants to employ to get you to settle for less than God's best in your life.

And this is the pattern.

I I gave it to you, but I want to make it clear for you this morning.

This is the pattern the enemy uses.

It's the pattern he employs to get you to settle for less than God's best in your life.

You have a dream, and then you have this desire, and it's God imparted, but then there's a delay in that dream.

And for a period of time, you hold out hope.

You wait, you pray, you believe.

But as the hours turn into days, and days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months, and months turn into years, and you don't see the dream become a reality.

That delay produces disappointment.

And the longer you're disappointed with that dream not becoming a reality, you become discouraged.

And eventually that discouragement causes you to bury a dream.

You lay it down, you put it on a shelf, you ignore it, you forget about it, you quit praying about it, you quit telling people about it.

You begin to think, I guess that was me and not God.

And the reality of it is, church, we've all done it.

We all have dreams that are God imparted, that we haven't se fulfilled, in the time that we thought they should be fulfilled, in the way we thought they should be fulfilled.

And what we do when that happens is we set them aside.

We bury them.

We forget about them.

We say things like, I guess this is as good as it's gonna get.

I guess this is as good as it's gonna get in my marriage.

I guess this is as good as it's gonna get in my career.

I guess this is as good as it's gonna get in my finances, in my relationships, and and all of a sudden, before we know it, we began to walk through life dreamless.

And when we do that, the enemy steals from us the very destiny of God for our lives.

And if you don't get anything out of this message this morning but this, I want you to get this.

Two things for 2026.

God has more, and it's time to dream again.

It's God has more.

I don't care what the situation looks like, I don't care how long you've been waiting, I don't care how long the delay has been, how discouraged or disappointed you are with how things have played out in your life.

If you're not dead, God's not done, he has more, it's time to dream again.

There's dreams that he has deposited in your heart, there's dreams that he has deposited in your mind, there's things that he wants you to do to bring heaven to earth in your world, and it has to flow through you, and it only flows through you when you dream again.

We've got to learn how to dream again and believe that God is faithful to do exactly what he promised he would do.

I want you to know this morning that God hasn't forgotten what he put in your heart.

He divinely deposited it for a purpose.

Israel returns after 70 years of exile, when dreams were dead and buried and gone, and all of a sudden, in a day, everything shifted.

And when they returned, they were like ones who dreamed again.

And verse 2 says, And when they began to dream again, our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them.

The Lord has done great things for us.

We are filled with joy.

Can I translate that to modern times?

We used to sing a song.

Every now and then we still sing it.

It's called Look What the Lord Has Done.

Anybody remember that song?

Some of the old folks do.

Some of the old that were around in 538 BC remember that song.

And it goes like this.

Look what the Lord has done.

What he healed my body, he touched my mind.

What else?

He saved me.

Look what the Lord has done.

Can I say that's what they're doing in Psalms 126?

They're saying, look what God has done.

Who could have imagined this?

Who could have conceived that a nation that was carted 900 miles off into captivity?

The city was burned, the temple was destroyed, we were scattered.

Who could have imagined that God would restore our fortunes?

It's beyond our belief.

And joy begins to return to their spirit.

Dreams begin to dwell up in their heart, and they begin to declare, look what God has done.

I declare over you that 2026 is going to be a year that you declare, look what God has done.

How he's healed your body, how he's healed your mind, how he's delivered you from addiction and problems, how he's restored relationships, how he's promoted you.

This is going to be a year that you look back on for years to come and say, only God could do that.

Only God could do that.

Look what the Lord has done.

This is a year that you move from surviving to dreaming again.

Hear me.

I want everybody to lean, lean, get it, kind of get your back off your seat and lean to me.

I'm gonna talk.

My dad does this to me every now and then, and I know I'm in trouble.

Hear me.

God didn't design you to just survive.

Survival is not the design.

As a matter of fact, the New Testament says that in Christ Jesus we are more than conquerors.

You're not designed for survival, you're designed for conquering.

Come on, somebody, you're gonna get this.

Listen, we weren't designed to hold the fort, we were designed to take territory.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 16, when Peter declares, You're the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus said, Peter, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly father has, and the gates of hell will not be able to stop you.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

See, church, we weren't designed to survive.

We were designed to thrive, we were designed to conquer, we're designed to take territory for the kingdom of God, we're designed to bring heaven to earth.

It's time to dream again, it's time to imagine what God placed in you and release it.

How do we do that?

Verse four tells us restore our fortunes, Lord.

How?

Restore our fortunes, Lord.

Like streams in the Negev.

Now notice this.

This is interesting.

There's two sides to this.

Their fortunes had already been restored, but they're asking for more restoration.

They had already returned to Jerusalem.

Let me say it this way.

They were back, but everything was still broken.

So more restoration was needed.

See, just because you get back to the place doesn't mean the work is done.

There's more that is still required to be done.

And so that's what they begin to pray.

God, restore, restore, restore our fortunes.

Like streams in the Negev.

How, how, how, how, how, how really, can I tell you the question isn't how dreams and fortunes are restored, but the real question is who restores?

Who are they asking to do the restoration?

The Lord.

God, you restore.

God, you do it.

God, you, it's not by might, it's not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.

See, God has to do it, right?

Unless God builds the house, we labor in vain.

Pastor Noah was talking about this just a moment ago.

We were singing about this today.

It's not about earning, it's not about deserving.

It's by the blood of Jesus.

Come on, somebody.

Aren't you thankful today?

It's all by the blood.

I got to thinking about this and praying and studying and looking.

And okay, God, how do you how do you restore?

And I'm looking at the year of 2026 and then the I I love being curious with scripture, and I encourage you to get curious with scripture and ask a lot of questions.

And it's I wonder, I wonder what the number 26 means in Hebrew.

Because numbers mean something in Scripture, right?

The number three is the Trinity, right?

Right, right.

The number six is the number for man.

Number seven is perfection.

Number 10 and 40 have to do with times of texting.

Numbers matter.

Now you can take that to an unhealthy extreme.

We don't want to do that.

But I so I'm like, okay, well, I still wonder what the number 26 means in Hebrew, because in Hebrew, every letter has a corresponding number.

And do you know what the number 26 adds up to?

Look at this.

The number 26 is the numeric value of God's divine name, Yahweh.

26 is the numeric number of God's divine name, Yahweh.

So I started just looking at this and trying to figure, okay, what does that mean?

So 26 could prophetically symbolize the year of God's activity.

A year marked by God's presence being restored among his people.

A year marked by God's character being made known again, a year marked by God-centered dreams being reawakened.

We are stepping in to divine activity in 2026, where God is going to do what only He can do.

And I say, God, do it in Jesus' name.

How many of you are facing some situations today where you just need God to intervene?

You need God to move.

You need God to be God and all his enemies to be scattered.

That's the year that we are stepping into.

Like streams in the Negev.

Like streams in the Negev.

Well, what's interesting about this is the Negev is a desert in southern Israel.

The vast majority of the year, the desert looks like this.

Not a place that you want to live.

It's not a place that you want to spend much time.

It's uninhabitable.

It's barren.

It's desolate.

It's a dead place.

But twice a year, everybody say twice a year, twice a year, sudden, unexpected rains come.

And this barren place becomes filled with streams.

And when these streams come, suddenly and unexpectedly, the desert all of a sudden shifts to look like this.

In a day.

In a day.

In a day.

When the streams come.

In a day.

Water in Scripture is always representative of the Spirit of God.

In a day when God pours out his spirit, barren places begin to flower.

In a day when God pours out his spirit, uninhabitable places become habitable.

Unprosperous places become prosperous.

Sick places become healthy.

Unfaithful places become faithful.

In a day when God pours out his spirit, everything suddenly shifts.

In a day, turn to your neighbor, say, This is the year of a day.

What this is declaring is God, what they're saying in Psalms 126, God, we can't do it.

We've tried, we've done our best.

But we're worn out, we're tired, we're weary.

We may have even buried some dreams, but we believe that if you'll pour out your spirit, if you'll release rivers of living water, dead places can live again.

Dead places in me can live again, dead places and families can live again.

Dead places and destinies can live again.

God's resurrecting dead places in 2026.

God restore the fortunes like the Negev.

How many of you would say this morning, I've got some dead places that need to be touched by the streams of living water?

It's interesting.

Seed already had to be in the ground.

Ancient farmers in Israel had this strange habit of sowing seeds in the desert.

Because they knew not when or how, but that it would happen.

Streams would come and life would burst forth.

Some of you have been sowing seeds and you've been wondering, God, when is there going to be fruit?

Some of you have been tithing and wondering, God, when are you going to come through in our finances?

Some of you have been working on your marriage and you haven't seen the changes that you want to see, and you're wondering, God, when is it really going to shift?

Some of you have been sacrificing and serving and working diligently for that promotion that hasn't materialized, and you're wondering, God, is it worth it?

And I'm here to tell you that the seeds that you have sown up to this point in your life, that in 2026, God's going to pour out streams and you're going to eat fruit from that harvest.

They conclude the psalm this way in verses 5 and 6.

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.

And those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

The seed was already in the ground.

It was just awaiting the outpouring of God's Spirit.

You've been sowing faithfully, and you're about to reap bountifully.

You stand with me where you are this morning.

There's been some stirring in your heart.

There's some things that God promised you years ago that maybe you've even forgotten, all of a sudden you begin to remember.

You may feel like you've been in a desert land yourself.

But your life has been barren, broken.

It's a wasteland of disappointment and discouragement.

And you've wondered, God, have you forgot me?

God, have you forgot what you promised?

And I'm here to tell you, at the beginning of 2026, God hasn't forgotten a single promise that he gave you.

He's just been waiting on the right time to pour out his spirit to release it in your life.

He's been waiting on you to get ready.

And I believe that 2026 is a ready year.

And he's getting ready to release his streams.

It's gonna happen suddenly, and it's gonna happen in a day, and everything is gonna shift.

And all of the discouragement and the disappointment of yesterday is gonna be washed off.

Your life as you walk fruitfully and bountifully into the new season that God has for your life.

How many of you would say, Pastor, you're speaking to me this morning?

I've got some dead dreams.

Just raise your hand right where you stand this morning.

Yeah, I got some dead dreams that need resurrected.

There's some things that God has deposited in me that I have forgotten about, I thought he had forgotten about, and it's time to reawaken those dead things.

How many of you would say, Pastor, my life is a wasteland, and I just need, I just need streams of living water.

I just need a fresh outpouring of his spirit upon my life.

If that's you, just raise your hand right where you stand.

Yeah, yeah, I see hands.

Yes, absolutely.

I need, I need the streams.

The Bible says there is a river that flows from Emmanuel's veins.

And that wherever that river goes, life bursts forth.

I'm declaring over you this morning that there's a fresh river flowing over your life, and life is getting ready to burst forth in your life.

Worship team is gonna lead us in a song.

And if you need God to resurrect some things, you need fresh streams of the living water poured out on your life.

I'm gonna ask you to take a step of faith today and get out of your seat and come to one of our prayer team members.

We want to pray with you.

We want to agree with you that 2026 is a year in which you begin to dream again with God.

Where God does something deep on the inside of you that doesn't just posture you, but it propels you towards the destiny that He has for your life.

Will you just stretch your hands towards heaven as they begin to sing?