Music: A million dreams

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INTRODUCTION

This song from The Greatest Showman: Reimagined takes us into a world where we can imagine that anything is possible, without limitation. This session explores what it means to be a dreamer of dreams, and what we can do with that.

As you begin the session, invite the young people to share some of their best or perhaps funniest dreams. Talk about the young people’s experiences as a light-hearted introduction to this session and explain that today we will be looking at different types of dreams: those we have for ourselves and those that God gives us.

LISTEN AND DISCUSS

Play the track and provide copies of the lyrics for the group to follow, perhaps even having a sing-along if they already know the song.
Ask:

• Can you relate to what the singer talks about in this song?
• What does it mean to be a dreamer, like the singer?

Check whether the young people have seen The Greatest Showman, then talk about the character of Barnum and how he was a real dreamer. This song describes the way he dreamt of a better future for himself and his family that was not constrained by reality. This approach to life left him wide open to criticism, yet he had the confidence to act on his dreams and make the changes he wanted to achieve.

Talk about what it means to be a daydreamer and how this is often used as an insult to those who seem to be caught up in their imaginations. Explain to the group that, despite the perceived insult, being a dreamer can be very positive and healthy. When we imagine a different future, we can, like Barnum, take positive steps to change the world around us.

Distribute Bibles and ask the group to look at Acts 2:16-18, briefly summarising the context before and after these key verses. In the speech Peter gives he is talking about the way God shows his people glimpses of the world as it could be. Just as P!nk sings: “I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see.”

Spread out a huge sheet of paper and distribute pens. Explain that you are going to play the song again and, as you do so the young people should take some time to draw or write key words that describe the world they long to see, just as they believe God would want it to be.

As you draw the session to a close, gather the young people around the shared artwork. Talk about some of the dreams that have been shared here before challenging the young people to think about what they could do to begin realising some of these dreams. Pray together for the young people as dreamers of dreams that they would be equipped by the Holy Spirit to turn these dreams into reality.