I am a dreamer. I like to dream big dreams. I have dreams for my life. I have dreams for my marriage. I have dreams for my kids. I have dreams for our church. I am always dreaming about something.
And here’s the deal. No matter how big our dreams, God is able to do way more than we can even imagine. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” God is able to do immeasurably more than we can even dream or imagine.
This Bible verse has a very special meaning to me and our church, Graystone Church. It was the theme verse for our one and only a multi-year capital campaign that we titled, “Imagine the Possibilities”. When we began the campaign, our young church was meeting in a rented warehouse facility on Grayson Industrial Parkway. We had purchased 11 acres of land on Ozora Road in Loganville, and our dream was to build a 12,000 square-foot permanent church facility.
As our building team was drawing up plans with an architect, the size of the church building doubled to 24,000 square feet. I remember secretly thinking to myself, “That’s way too big of a building.” It was over three times the size of our rented warehouse facility that we were currently holding worship services. During our planning stages, the land adjacent to the church property came available for sale. We couldn’t afford it at the time, but we had a family in our church mortgage their house and secure the property for us. We eventually bought it from them and expanded our church property to 18 acres.
When we moved into the brand new 24,000 square-foot church building on 18 acres of land, over 1500 people showed up for our grand opening. Even though we had two Sunday morning services, we were out of space in the worship auditorium, children’s area and parking lot. God was able to do immeasurably more than we could even imagine.
Then we decided to become a multi-site church, and we bought an old car dealership in Monroe on Highway 11. It had 22,000 square feet of buildings on 6 acres of land, and we renovated 15,000 square feet. This piece of property became Graystone’s second permanent church facility. Then, God gave us 10 acres of land and a 14,000 square-foot church building in Oconee County, which is 100% debt-free. Our original dream was to build a 12,000 square-foot church on 11 acres of land. Graystone Church now has 57,000 square feet of buildings on 34 acres of land across 3 counties. God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.
Where do you need God to do more than you could ask or imagine? Is it in your marriage? Or is it through your finances or career? Or is it with your health? Or do you have prodigal son or daughter that needs to come home?
Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” God can do more than we can imagine through his power in us. We cannot do it on our own. God can do more than we can imagine through His power that is at work in the life of a Christian.
The same power that spoke creation into being, the same power that parted the Red Sea, and the same power that rose Jesus from the grave, lives in us. Where do you need God to display his power in your life? Where do you need a miracle? Turn it over to God. He is able to do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine.
Jonathan Howes has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from Jacksonville State University and a Master in Divinity Degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the lead pastor for Graystone Church. Locations include the Ozora Campus: 1551 Ozora Road Loganville, GA 30052, the Walton Campus: 723 N Broad St Monroe, GA 30655 and the Oconee Campus: 1275 Lenru Road Bogart, GA 30622.
Phone: (770) 466-3159
Email: info@graystonechurch.com
Website: GraystoneChurch.com
Blog: http://toliveischrist.cc
Twitter: @JohnnyHowes
