Dream Small: The Secret Power of the Ordinary Christian Life

by Seth Lewis

Overview

We are all looking for significance and meaning in our lives. The world tells us that this comes from dreaming big, achieving personal success and making a big impact. But the Bible says that self-worth is found in knowing our Creator, and contentment is found in discovering his purpose for our lives.

This book reminds us that when we know Jesus, we are free from the world’s definition of success. We can listen to God’s word and direct our dreams towards the things that he says matter most, even if they are small and unimpressive in the world’s eyes.

Celebrate the dreams God has for us: serving others, investing in individuals and living faithfully. Although these things seem small, their impact will be bigger, and their rewards will be better, than anything we could dream for ourselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784987725
Publisher:	The Good Book Company
Publication date:	09/01/2022
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.04(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.43(d)

About the Author

Seth Lewis is the pastor of Carrigtwohill Baptist Church on the south coast of Ireland and is involved in a variety of ways in a partnership of local Irish churches who are working together to plant new churches, provide Bible training through Munster Bible College, and run youth camps through Munster Christian Camps. Seth and his wife Jessica have three children, a turtle, and a small garden. Seth is the author of Dream Small: the Secret Power of the Ordinary Christian Life and The Language of Rivers and Stars: How Nature Speaks of the Glories of God. He also writes weekly at sethlewis.ie.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Big Dreams, Big Frustrations
Chapter 2: It’s a Small World After All
Chapter 3: Size Matters Not
Chapter 4: A Small Part, a Big Story
Chapter 5: The Upside-Down Ladder
Chapter 6: Small People, Big Value
Chapter 7: Big Dreams Need a Small Foundation
Chapter 8: Small Choices, Big Changes
Chapter 9: Small Dreams, Big Rewards

Editorial Reviews

Dream Small is a needed antidote for our age. Seth Lewis re-centers us, reminding us that the great life is the faithful life. Reading this book was like spending an afternoon with a kind friend who brings you back to what’s good, beautiful, and true. I love Lewis’s writing style and stories and, most of all, his exhortation to be faithful in the small things, to love God and to love neighbor, to find freedom in dreaming small. If you have ever wondered, Am I getting this life right?, this book is for you.

Jen Oshman (Author

Seth has written a very helpful meditation on the nature of true success, as defined in the Bible. I finished his book more excited about the value of small daily acts of mundane faithfulness and more wary of the tyranny of striving to achieve non-biblical dreams.

Matt Fuller (Senior Pastor of Christchurch Mayfair

Dream Small, is a quiet little volume brimming with overlooked greatness that peels back for us the delights of being an underwhelming collaborator with the true Hero, who, in the field of his epic tale, has hidden for you to find, as Seth writes it, “the mustard seed kingdom that grows in the ordinary things of ordinary life.” I found his entreaty to step into this truer kind of freedom compelling and I’m sure you will too.

Soteria Thompson (Visual artist and cross-cultural worker

This book took hold of me in chapter one and tightened its grip until, by the end, I was compelled to take up the challenge to ‘Dream Small’. I invite you to join me. (Bible Teacher

There is a deep and lasting satisfaction in seeing our dreams come true if, and only if, they are Christ’s dreams for us. Dream Small gives us the opportunity to realign our life and hopes towards the goals that God has for us rather than those our ego, upbringing or culture thrust on us.

John Hindley (Pastor of BroadGrace Church

At its heart, the Christian faith demands a transformation of our values: "Deny yourself"... "the first shall be last"... “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” While Christians know these things, so often we fail to live by them. This little book by Seth Lewis is a powerful reminder of their importance and a needed call to value supremely what ultimately matters to the God who made us and gives us every ounce of strength. In some ways, it is an easy read. But if we listen to what the Spirit is saying through this book, it is tough, for it demands being counter-cultural, even within the Church. Hoping this book gets a wide reading.

Michael A.G. Haykin (Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality

Fresh, invigorating, and liberating. May it be a blessing to all of us ensnared in idolatry of the big.

Christopher Ash (Writer-in-Residence

In an age of the cult of the big and spectacular, this book summons the reader to a radical reversal of common values. If, as a Reformer once said, wisdom consists in the knowledge of God and of ourselves, then the author has built upon that premise and provided a surefooted guide to life and the future. In a doctrinally imaginative and biblically rooted way, Seth Lewis argues compellingly for a reassessment of dreams, priorities, and perceptions. This is a great book to give to anyone thinking about the meaning of life and what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Edwin Ewart (Principal

"Dream Small" is a gift. With an engaging conversational style, Lewis shares his own struggles and gently leads the reader to consider the deep questions of life. What is important? How do you know if your life is successful? What do you do when you fear your life doesn’t measure up? How do you even know what measure to use? "Dream Small" considers all of these and encourages the reader to embrace God’s design, his evaluative measure for our lives, and the ways in which we can live rich, meaningful, and satisfying lives whether they are big or small in the eyes of others. Humble, wise, insightful, and deeply personal, "Dream Small" is an excellent guide to the complex questions of life, giving sound answers grounded in the gospel.

J. Michael Thigpen (Provost and executive vice president

It’s rare in today’s world to find anyone genuinely content with the conditions of life. There always seems to be more or something better just around the proverbial corner. Scripture is replete with instructions on how “our dreams” must find their genesis in contentment—being satisfied with who we are, what we have, and where we’re going. “Dream Small” isn’t an injunction to begrudgingly “settle” but to pursue those things that bring lasting joy and ultimately glorify God. If contentment eludes you, let this small book encourage you to evaluate and refocus.

Dustin W. Benge (The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies)

Fresh, invigorating, and liberating. May it be a blessing to all of us ensnared in idolatry of the big.

Christopher Ash (Writer in Residence

There is a deep and lasting satisfaction in seeing our dreams come true if, and only if, they are Christ’s dreams for us. Dream Small gives us the opportunity to realign our life and hopes towards the goals that God has for us rather than those our ego, upbringing or culture thrust on us.

John Hindley (pastor of BroadGrace Church

Fresh, invigorating, and liberating. May it be a blessing to all of us ensnared in idolatry of the big.

Christopher Ash (Director

It’s rare in today’s world to find anyone genuinely content with the conditions of life. There always seems to be more or something better just around the proverbial corner. Scripture is replete with instructions on how “our dreams” must find their genesis in contentment—being satisfied with who we are, what we have, and where we’re going. “Dream Small” isn’t an injunction to begrudgingly “settle” but to pursue those things that bring lasting joy and ultimately glorify God. If contentment eludes you, let this small book encourage you to evaluate and refocus.

Dustin Benge (Associate professor of biblical spirituality and historical theology

At its heart, the Christian faith demands a transformation of our values: "Deny yourself"... "the first shall be last"... “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” While Christians know these things, so often we fail to live by them. This little book by Seth Lewis is a powerful reminder of their importance and a needed call to value supremely what ultimately matters to the God who made us and gives us every ounce of strength. In some ways, it is an easy read. But if we listen to what the Spirit is saying through this book, it is tough, for it demands being counter-cultural, even within the Church. Hoping this book gets a wide reading.

Michael A.G. Haykin (Chair and professor of church history and director

Seth has written a very helpful meditation on the nature of true success, as defined in the Bible. I finished his book more excited about the value of small daily acts of mundane faithfulness and more wary of the tyranny of striving to achieve non-biblical dreams.

Matt Fuller (Senior Minister

There is a deep and lasting satisfaction in seeing our dreams come true if, and only if, they are Christ’s dreams for us. Dream Small gives us the opportunity to realign our life and hopes towards the goals that God has for us rather than those our ego, upbringing or culture thrust on us.

John Hindley (Author