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I want to give you a Bible verse that is one of my favorites. In fact, this verse was the one I picked to have engraved on the Walk of Faith stepping stone which I dedicated to my parents, Anthony and Jennie Schuller. For those of you who have never had the privilege of visiting the Crystal Cathedral, allow me to acquaint you with the Walk of Faith.

The Crystal Cathedral sits in the midst of thirty acres of gardens. Years ago, we made a decision to construct a garden walk that not only enhanced the beauty of the campus, but would also give inspiration to those who walked it. We decided to construct the walk with two foot by two foot granite stepping stones, each engraved with a Bible verse.

People loved the idea, and began to purchase these stones for themselves and for their loved ones, choosing the Bible verse that would then be engraved and dedicated to the chosen recipient. And so, here at the Crystal Cathedral, this walk becomes a walk of faith as it leads visitors from garden to garden and building to building.

The Bible verse that I have chosen for my parents' stone is from: Song of Solomon 2:11-12:

"For the winter is passed. The rain is over and gone. The flowers are springing up. And the time of the singing of the birds has come."

As a child, I grew up in a Christian home in the state of Iowa. I vividly recall sitting out the chill of winter, as we envisioned the coming spring with all of it's loveliness: the first of the colorful flowers breaking through the frosty ground, the first sign of a green blade of grass, and the first squeal of newborn piglets. But the highlight of spring came when my mother would rush to me in her wondrous excitement saying, "Come, Come, Come, Look, Look, Look, Come here!" And she would grab my hand and enthusiastically lead me to the window. Pointing out of the window pane, she would direct my gaze to the true sign of spring. She would exclaim, "Look! The first robin!"

The time of the singing of the birds has come. After winter comes the spring.

Why should any human being be a pessimist? Why can't each and every one of us look, with expectation, toward the day that will bring hope and life and joy? Pessimism is a negative, unscientific, and emotional reaction. It is a frame of mind that is irrational. Pessimism is ridiculous because bad times never last! The winter always melts away. Spring is inevitable.

Spring ALWAYS Returns. Night ALWAYS Ends. And the robin always returns to Iowa. The time of the singing of the birds has come.

But when do the birds come? This morning, I want to give you four signs of the time of the singing of the birds.

1. Look And Listen for Birds At Dawn: How glorious it is to rise early in the morning, before the sun. How delightful it is to hear that first, solitary note of the lark or the sparrow, as it calls out to seemingly arouse others into a chorus of song.

I often awaken before dawn to enjoy this miracle of morning. And in so doing, do you know what I have discovered? I have realized that every song I hear is an original. Never before has that song been sung by that exact bird in that exact way with that exact pitch in that exact location. It is absolutely, completely, perfectly, new and unique and original.

Also in the same way, each day for us, is different from the day that has gone before. When I hear the first bird sing at dawn I am reminded:

This Day is Going To Be Different from Any Other Day That I've Ever Lived or Ever Will Live! This Day is SPECIAL!

I can be happy! I can be excited! I can be filled with enthusiasm! I can make decisions, choose responses, design reactions, even to my tragedies and disappointments, that will bring positive hope and healing in my life and in the lives around me.

The time of the singing of the birds has come.

When Mrs. Schuller and I first came to California forty years ago, to begin this church, we had no money and no members. We organized a small church which attracted a handful of beautiful people. We started with this thought: "This is our chance to shape a church that has the potential of becoming a great church for God." We had the belief that the greatest churches in history were yet to be. And I took, as a promise from God, that I would see one of those churches begin by joining my efforts with His.

At that time, I recalled when, as a seminary student, I was assigned to resurrect a dying Presbyterian Church in Preston, Minnesota. It was my summer mission under faculty supervision from my theological school. I had been told to look up an old gentleman that would have the key to the church building (which had been closed and locked up for some time). There had no longer been any need for it. But it was my duty to reopen its doors and be creative on how I would attract prospective members (those who had no church home).

I found the man. He gave me the key and I unlocked the door. It was stuffy. It was dark. It was dreary. But the stained glass windows were treasures of art! They were Tiffany stained glass windows. And the pews were gorgeous! They were hand carved out of black walnut. The church had all of the highest marks of extreme wealth and elegance. I was amazed! I walked up into the pulpit. The Bible was open. And there, in the middle of the page before me, lay a dead June Bug. I flicked it away.

I returned to the old elder and said, "You know, this church is beautiful! It displays such wealth and artistic design. Why did it die?" And he responded, "I think that was exactly why it died." I was perplexed. Then he explained, "At the last church board meeting, we took a look at our financial statement. We had so much money that we didn't know how to spend it."

I was shocked! I didn't hide it. I gasped, "You're kidding!" He said, "Oh no, no, no very rich people left money to us through their wills and estates. People often remembered the church in their wills. We, therefore, gained such extreme monetary wealth that when the congregation received an annual financial report, they decided that we no longer needed their tithes and offerings. Subsequently, it killed the church."

I never forgot that elder's words - "IT KILLED THE CHURCH!"

Now, here we were in California, responsible for the shaping of a new church. After that recollection, I made a very sober decision. I wrote into the by-laws, a rule that said that any money donated to us from wills and estates, could not be spent by the pastor or the church board. It had to be entrusted to a separate corporation.

That corporation (called The Inspiration Foundation) would have to take the money and invest it, not in stocks or bonds or in new projects, but instead, they would have to loan it to finance new churches with a low interest construction loan. The interest paid on these mortgages then had to be spent every year to reach people who were not attending church.

The first one thousand dollars in that foundation came from a member of this church, a congressman who had been a powerful Democrat from Washington DC. He had said to me, "Dr. Schuller, I think what you are doing is fantastic! By the time the church gets to be fifty years old, it will have an endowment fund that will produce an income that can enable the message of Christ to go out to the entire world!"

That has been, and continues to be, our goal - not to have a church that would die, but to have a church that would be forever reproducing itself and its cause. (To date, however, this fund has received little endowment. It is very small.)

The time of the singing of the birds has come. When do they come? In the morning. Look and listen for birds at dawn.

2. Look And Listen for Birds At Noonday: You have received a new dream. You've seen the early stages of its success. You're half way there. You're committed. Now you run into problems that you didn't expect. You expected your job to be different. You expected your children to respond to life in a more predictable manner. You didn't expect to be hit with health problems. You are feeling the heat of noonday. But God promises to always bring new hope. Things will change. Tomorrow will be a better day. Look and listen for birds at noonday.

3. Look And Listen for Birds At Twilight: This past week, I had the wonderful privilege of attending a birthday party in Chicago, Illinois, for a wonderful friend of mine, W.Clement Stone. This Cathedral would not be here if W.Clement Stone had not made a major gift years ago. He believed in us and in our dream.

Now, many were gathered to celebrate his ninety-third birthday. During the party, I said to him, "Clem, over the past forty years I have often asked you what you really wanted to do in life. And you always answered me, ëI just want to change the world. That's all I want to do. Clem, I want to tell you something. You have changed the world. You have endorsed and supported and promoted and have given financial basis to ministries that are changing the world."

I continued, "Clem, do you know that the first nonmilitary president in South Korea was elected just a couple of years ago? He is an elder at a church which is pastored by someone I know. His pastor was influenced by your book, ëPMA, Positive Mental Attitude.' Likewise, there have been leaders in Russia, power people who came into leadership following the collapse of communism, who were motivated by you."

Then I concluded, "Clem, I had a dream of building the Crystal Cathedral. (I had heard the singing of the birds at dawn.) But I had come to the place of trusting God to raise the needed funds. (The heat of noonday was threatening my fresh dream.) But W. Clement Stone, you believed in me.(I could hear the singing of the birds at noonday). Clem, now you are in your twilight years. You are 93 years old and God put it in your heart to support me. You have changed the world more than you realize."

God will let you hear the singing of the birds at twilight. Look and listen for birds at twilight.

4. Look And Listen for Birds Even in the Darkest Night: I usually go to bed at 8:30 on Saturday nights so that I can be sure to be at my peak on Sunday morning. However, it often happens that at around 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning, I wake up, unable to return to sleep. I get up and spend an hour, maybe two, in prayer and meditation, which I did this morning. At 2:30 a.m. I went for a walk in my garden. I wanted to see the trees and enjoy the serenity. No telephones. No fax machines. No cars. No airplanes. Just the quiet of rustling leaves and an occasional hoot of an owl that had made its home in our tall trees.

But this morning, would you believe that in my garden, at 2:30 a.m., I heard the singing of a lark? It's the truth! Bright! Clear! Clean! It was undeniably a lark. It was as if God were saying to me, "Schuller, today when you talk to the people, don't forget to tell them that the birds sing in the dark nights too." Remember what Paul the Apostle said about songs that come in the night. "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." Acts 16:25

At Clem Stone's party, while speaking with his son, Norm, I was reminded of the many sad times that my wife and I have shared with the Stone family. Clem Jr., Norm's brother, had died at a young age from a heart attack. Then Donna, Norm's sister, died fifteen years ago from cancer. Her cancer was discovered at the same time that my wife's was discovered. Both Donna and Mrs. Schuller had a mastectomy. My wife has been healed, but Donna had a reoccurrence not long after the mastectomy. The cancer had gone to her brain. My wife and I joined with her in a commitment to pray. But Donna knew that her days were short.

One day, Donna called us. She said to me, "Bob, I am a Christian. And I've been baptized. But I'm in a dark time right now. If I come to the Crystal Cathedral, will you baptize me again? I just want to be wrapped up in the arms of Jesus." I said, "Of course, Donna."

On the given day, we closed the doors to visitors. The ushers and security kept people away from the private ceremony as Donna walked into the cathedral. Despite her sickness, she was dressed very classy. Her head was wrapped in a stylish scarf, swooped up into a turban style. There hadn't been a hair on her head for some time because of the chemotherapy she was receiving. That day, Donna rededicated her life to Jesus Christ and was baptized. At the close of the ceremony she said to me, "Now I am ready to go, anytime that God wants me. I'm ready, Bob. Thank you." She returned to Chicago.

About a month later, I was going through Chicago, so I called to see how she was doing. I decided to pay her a visit. When I saw her, she explained that the tumor was dominating nearly her entire brain. But she said with excitement, "But Bob, I can still talk. I can still see and hear. I can still feel. And most important Bob, I can still give! I'm starting a national movement to fight child abuse. I CAN STILL GIVE!"

This was the night time. The dark hour of her life, but the birds were singing. There was hope and joy for every new day.

The time of the singing of the birds has come.

Are you facing a dark time in your life? Are you battling depression, discouragement, disappointment? Listen. A bird will come. Unexpectedly, you will hear its song and you will feel a surge of new hope.

Hold on to hope. Never let it go! Nothing is more unintelligent than giving up on hope.

Today, decide that for the rest of your days.You will hold onto hope ALWAYS!

Prayer: O Lord, You have dreams and plans for every person reading this today. You will reveal them in Your right time. We will hear the singing of the birds. When we face the heat of noonday, motivate us to press on. And then, in the twilight, we will have pride behind us, and love around us, and hope ahead of us. And at night, O God, we will hear the singing of the birds in your garden. O God, You love us and You will be with us until the end. Thank You. Amen.