WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:00.640 Amen. 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:02.879 We're making room for more, church. 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:06.000 How many believe God has more for your life? 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:08.480 Like you kind of believe it, or you really believe it. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:10.400 How many of you guys kind of believe it? 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:13.199 How many of you guys really believe God has more? 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:15.359 Come on, that's what I'm talking about. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.559 We are making room for more and excited about the construction that is going on. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:25.519 If you could see inside the building next door, it looks like a bomb's gone off. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:36.799 It is a construction site, and we've got poles being ripped out and elevator shafts being put in and rooms being expanded and hallways being created. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:42.479 We are making room for more, the next generation to know Jesus. 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:47.840 And so thank you for partnering with us in that endeavor. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:53.439 Part of making room for more isn't just what we do physically, it's also what we do spiritually. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:58.079 And we're on the eighth day of 21 days of prayer and fasting. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:00:59.679 How's your fast going? 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:07.040 All right, listen. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:15.040 Where are all the people that have made a decision to fast maybe caffeine and sweets? 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:15.680 Where are you at? 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.519 Let me see your hands. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:20.079 I really need to know who to pray for. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:28.879 Because when you start fasting those things, it can get on you a little bit and you might lose it on somebody. 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:33.920 And I just want to know who really, really needs uh some extra prayer covering. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:38.799 No, we're we're eight days into 21 days of prayer and fasting, and I hope it's going great. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:40.000 God's stirring. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:44.319 I just want to remind you of the resources that we have made available to you. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:46.159 There's a prayer guide in our four years. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:48.719 If you haven't picked up one of those, pick up one of those. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:52.000 It's a great resource for you to guide you through these 21 days. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:54.159 And if you haven't started yet, that's okay. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:55.519 It's never too late to start. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:58.560 Make it a 14-day fast rather than a 21-day fast. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:01.680 How many guys know it's never too late to start with God? 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.079 So join with us. 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:19.840 There's uh resource guides, as I mentioned, there's also, if you haven't signed up to receive our daily devotional emails, we're sending out a daily email alongside these 21 days, and it's from you. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:27.520 Members of our congregation have written these 21 days uh devotionals, and they're phenomenal. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:30.400 How many of you guys are getting those and would agree? 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:31.439 They're phenomenal. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:32.479 That's right. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:36.560 Some of you guys are really sharp. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:38.000 It's amazing. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:39.759 Those those emails are great. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:55.840 And then I want to point your attention to something that uh we didn't mention last week, and I do want to mention today is out to my left, to my right, to your right in the cafe, we have a very, very large God has more 2021, 2021. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:57.840 I'm five years late. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:01.199 Um, 2026 dream again banner. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:02.960 Everybody say dream again. 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:05.840 That's our theme for this year. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:08.560 And there's a banner out there with markers. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:27.039 And over these 21 days, as God speaks a dream into your heart or reminds you of a dream that he gave you years ago that you may have forgotten or even laid down, but you believe that he's gonna resurrect it again. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:32.159 I want you to take one of those markers and write that dream on that banner. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:38.879 And it's gonna serve as a testimony to our congregation all across 2026. 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:43.680 And as God answers that dream, I want you to go back to that banner and I want you to circle it. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:57.919 And circling the dream is gonna be an indicator that God has resurrected something that was dead in your life, and so we can all celebrate collectively God's activity in our lives. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:03:58.960 Amen. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:03.680 Well, before we jump in the word today, I have a dad joke or two. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:06.080 How many of you guys would like a dad joke this morning? 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:11.919 And I'm our our theme, as I said, is dream again for all of 2026. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:15.120 And that's the message series that we're kicking off this year with. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:21.439 And and I thought that with that being the theme, we might do some dreaming dad jokes today. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:23.920 So, so here's here's the first one. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:28.959 Did you hear about the guy who dreamed he was a muffler? 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:32.399 Did you hear about the guy that dreamed he was a muffler? 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:33.759 You know what happened to him? 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:36.000 He woke up exhausted. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:41.120 Exhaust, get it? 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:41.759 Exhaust. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:44.319 Pretty good. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:45.439 Pretty good. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:46.879 I'll be here all day. 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:47.759 Thank you very much. 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:49.360 Here's number two. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:55.839 I, this is me, I I keep I keep having the same dream about eating Indian cuisine. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:57.360 I keep having this same dream. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:04.079 I spoke at our Indian fellowship last night, and all night long I kept dreaming about eating Indian cuisine. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:08.480 The problem is it's this recurring dream. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:15.279 Is that pretty good? 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:16.319 It's pretty good. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:16.959 Where is it? 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:18.240 It's right, it's good. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:19.759 I'll be here all day. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:25.199 Um, my friend, I have a friend, I don't know if any of you guys have this. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:30.000 I know actually some of you may, that that is a professional sleepwalker. 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:35.439 What's amazing about his life is that he's living the dream. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:40.160 Are those three pretty good? 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:41.839 It's pretty good, it's pretty good. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:42.959 Pretty good. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:47.439 I've got one more. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:50.959 It's a new year. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:53.519 Here's the last one. 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:54.560 A guy dreamed. 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:59.920 I got dreamed that he started a bakery, started a bakery in his sleep. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:07.439 And what was amazing about starting this bakery in his sleep, his ideas, they just kept rising. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:11.519 This is pretty good. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:14.000 Everybody guys would say that's enough. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:19.360 Stand with me where you are as we read God's word together today. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:24.879 Our theme for the year is dream again. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:26.399 Everybody say dream again. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:30.079 It's time to dream again. 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:36.480 Our key text for this year, our theme text for this year is Psalms 126. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:48.000 And it reads this way When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:56.800 We were like those who began to experience the hope of the future. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:03.199 We were like those who began to imagine the possibilities of what could be. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:07.439 Again, we were like those who dream again. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:14.720 Anytime God restores something in us, it always awakens other things in us. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:17.279 Dreamed again. 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:21.360 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:27.439 Then it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:38.160 I'm gonna prophesy over your life this morning that people around you are gonna declare over you this year, look what God has done for them. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:43.519 Because what God does in us is always bigger than us. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:50.879 It always serves as a testimony to the faithfulness of our God. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:55.519 Verse 3, the Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:59.920 Verse 4, restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:06.160 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:09.199 Anybody sowed any tears in the house this morning? 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:13.839 Anybody in their past have sown some tears in your life? 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:23.439 I declare in 2026, the tears that you have sown in your past are going to be returned to you in shouts of joy. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:38.080 Those who go out weeping, carrying seeds to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:39.039 What are sheaves? 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.720 Sheaves are the harvest. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:49.600 Anybody sowed any seeds in your past that you have yet to reap the fruit from. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:10.159 I'll remind you what I mentioned to you last week. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:16.799 The number 26 in Hebrew is the name Yahweh. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:23.519 This is the year that Yahweh does what only Yahweh can do. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:25.279 I declare that over your life. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:32.879 Church, this is God's word and the title of my message this morning is this. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.120 Delay is not denial. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:41.600 Delay is not denial, it is development. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:47.279 Delay is not denial, it is development. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:48.799 Say that after me this morning. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:53.600 Delay is not denial, it's development. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:59.840 Turn to your neighbor and say, delay is not denial, it's development. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:06.559 Turn to the other neighbor and say, delay is not denial, it's development. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:14.480 Turn around to the person behind you and say, delay is not denial, it's development. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:16.799 In Jesus' name. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:18.960 Father, we thank you for your word. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:22.639 Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light into our path. 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:25.759 Shows us the way to go and how to arrive there safely. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:31.039 Pray this morning that we wouldn't just be hearers of your word, but that we would be doers of it. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:32.559 In Jesus' mighty name. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:34.480 Everybody said, Amen. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:35.600 You may be seated. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:37.039 Thank you, Caleb. 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:57.440 In Scripture, dreams are more than nighttime visitations. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:24.960 Dreams, according to Scripture, are vehicles that God uses to give us divine revelation, divine direction to help us to understand the destiny that God has over our lives. 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:31.360 We need to understand that dreams have divine significance. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:42.960 Dreams aren't just the byproduct of eating pizza late at night or eating something that doesn't set well with you. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:59.919 From beginning to end, scripture indicates that dreams are an avenue that God uses to help open us up to the possibilities of what can be. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:09.360 It helps open us up to really what God may want to do in our life and through our life. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:14.799 Sometimes the only way he can speak to us is when we're asleep. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:16.480 Somebody say amen to that. 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:26.399 Sometimes the only way that he can get a message to us that we get a hold of is to get us to shut up and be quiet. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.440 Anyone know what I'm talking about this morning? 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:35.440 Dreams have divine significance in our life. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:50.159 They awaken us, they awaken our imagination, our creativity, our vision for what God may have in store for our lives. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:58.639 And no person in Scripture more exemplifies the power of a dream. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:14.399 The power of a dream to chart a destiny, to help us understand the journey from the birth to the fulfillment of a dream than the life of Joseph. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:21.919 The Bible gives us 13 chapters on the life of Joseph. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:27.600 And these 13 chapters from Genesis 37 through Genesis 50. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:47.600 The Bible helps us to see the impact, the power, the transformational ability of a dream to chart a destiny, to see something from its birth to its fulfillment. 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:55.519 So this morning, I want to walk us through the life of Joseph. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:01.759 Because Joseph's life shows us there are five stages. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:03.279 Everybody say five stages. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:07.039 Five stages of a dream. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:12.080 And every dream walks through these five stages. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:16.879 And you are going to find yourself in one of these stages today. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:28.159 You've probably experienced multiple stages, but at a very minimum, every person in here is at one of these stages. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:40.879 And it will help us to understand where we are, where we're going, and what God wants to do in us and through us in 2026. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:42.320 So here's stage one. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:43.759 Everybody say, stage one. 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:47.120 Stage one is the birth of a dream. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:53.200 The first stage of a dream is its inception. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:56.240 It's the birth of a dream. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:00.799 And I want you to go to Genesis chapter 37 with me this morning. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:04.080 Genesis 37 helps us to understand. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:08.879 It lays out the birth of the dream in Joseph's life. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:13.919 And we're going to read just the very beginning part of this story. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:20.799 Now, many of you are probably familiar with the story of Joseph. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:26.080 But I'm going to ask you to do something a little different as we read this story. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:32.559 I want you to read this with me as if you've never read it before. 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:37.440 I want you to read this story as if you don't know the conclusion of the story. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:42.960 You don't know how it has unfolded and how it has been fulfilled. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:47.200 I want you to read it this morning with me with fresh eyes. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:51.600 Like, I don't know what's going on. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:16:09.039 Like this is just a random story about a 17-year-old kid that is trying to figure out what God's plan for his life is about. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:11.600 Anybody ever been there before? 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:16.240 Genesis chapter 37, verse 1. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:24.159 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:28.480 And this is the account of Jacob's family line. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:50.080 Joseph, a young man of 17, everybody say 17, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Belilah and the sons of Zilpath, his father's wife, and he brought their father a bad report about them. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:54.639 Let me translate that for you this morning. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:56.799 He was a tattletale. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:41.440 Listen, we had a saying when I was growing up about tattletales. 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:45.440 Snitches get. 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:48.559 I'm just saying. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:53.839 Let's say that again for some of you that don't know what that's about. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:59.279 Listen, I I know listen, I've been on both ends of that equation. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:03.119 Snitches get right. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:06.400 I'm just a piece of advice for you today. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:15.519 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.240 This just keeps getting better. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:25.200 He's a tattletale, and now the Bible tells us he's daddy's favorite. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:30.240 And because he had been born to him his own age. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:31.680 And then it gets even worse. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:37.039 He made an ornate robe for him, a robe of of many colors. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.000 So this kid is a tattletale. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:51.119 His dad loves him more than all the others, and it's evident because his dad is doting on him more than his other siblings. 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:54.000 How much do you love Joseph right now? 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:05.359 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:08.480 And some of you really resonate with that verse today. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:10.799 Verse 5. 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:23.440 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it, when he told him, we had a dream, and and and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:26.319 He said to them, Listen to this dream I had. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:36.480 And when suddenly my sheav rose up and stood upright, and your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:42.079 So now we've got a tattletale who is loved more than his other siblings. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:49.039 Everybody knows it because dad dote to him, and now Joseph has had a dream that his brothers are going to bow down and serve him. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:53.680 How much do you love Joseph right now? 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:54.960 Let me ask this better question. 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:57.599 How much would you love Joseph if he was your brother? 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:02.640 His brothers said to him, Do you intend to reign over us? 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:04.000 Will you actually rule us? 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:07.440 And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:09.440 Then he had another dream. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:11.279 One's not enough. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.839 And he told it to his brothers, Listen, I had another dream. 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:22.319 And this time the sun and the moon and the eleven stars, by the way, he had 11 brothers. 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:25.440 Eleven stars were bowing down to me. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:28.960 And then he didn't just tell his brothers about his dream. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:36.079 He goes and tells his parents, his father, as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, What is this dream you have had? 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:41.039 Will your mother and I and your brothers actually came and bowed down to you? 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:43.440 Will we actually serve you? 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:44.319 Verse 11. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:50.480 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept this matter to himself. 00:20:51.599 --> 00:21:05.440 If you read this story without understanding the full ramifications of it and the fulfillment of it, Joseph, listen, I'm gonna be honest with you. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.279 I don't want to be around Joseph. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:09.680 I don't want anything to do with Joseph. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:11.440 Anyone with me this morning? 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:13.119 Let's just be real today. 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:17.920 Joseph is not somebody that I want to hang. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:41.519 He's arrogant, he's spoiled, he's conceited, he's got this air of superiority about him, and yet in that context, God gives him not one, but two dreams about his destiny. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:46.079 Why would God do that? 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:53.599 He's trying to show us how dreams work in our lives. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:22:00.960 And here's the key that we have to understand during the birth of a dream. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:08.960 God often gives the dream early so it can shape who we're becoming. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:17.680 Just because you have received a dream doesn't mean you're ready for the dream. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:26.079 The dream is pure revelation about what God wants to do in your life and through your life. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:28.000 It isn't readiness. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:36.480 As a matter of fact, the dream always comes before you're ready for the dream. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:38.720 Why would God do that? 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:46.880 It's God's way of prophesying us into the future that He has for us. 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:56.799 It's His way of calling us forward, beckoning us towards the destiny that He has for our lives. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:04.640 It's God's way of giving us a picture that we can begin to paint our life toward. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:11.440 I am so thankful that God doesn't wait till we get there to give a vision for there. 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:38.400 No, instead, in the midst of all of our issues, in the midst of all of our failures, our mistakes, and our shortcomings, God gives us a dream about our future that is far beyond where we are as a way of calling us to it. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:42.079 Let's remind ourselves a little bit about the nature of our God. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:43.920 What does the Bible say about God? 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:50.480 The Bible says he's the God who calls the things that are not as though they are, and then they become that. 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:56.400 God said, Let there be light and light became, right? 00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:59.200 Let there be an earth and earth became. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:29.519 God sees people as they can be and calls them forward to that. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:38.640 We see them as they are, not as they can be, and we tend to scoff at the dream. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:46.960 We disguise it as realism. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:25:00.640 Maybe you've had it happen in your life, maybe you've done it, maybe you've had it done to you, but somebody shares a dream that they have for their life. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:07.359 And you look that person up and down and say, Really? 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:17.279 I don't see how that can be based on what I see today. 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:21.039 See, we operate from the physical. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:30.079 Moves us. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:34.240 Can I just tell you, stop being Debbie Downer on people's dreams? 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:46.720 Stop pouring water on the fire that God has deposited in somebody. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:53.920 Stop, stop, stop putting out what God has ignited. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:26:02.720 Stop being someone who looks at somebody as they are and says, Yeah, that will never happen. 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:05.039 I don't know how you're going to do that. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:10.480 You've got all these issues, you've got all these shortcomings, you've got to do X, Y, and Z. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:12.559 You've got to do all of this. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:21.599 The point of the dream isn't about where they are, it's about where they're going, and it's giving them a vision for the future. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:35.359 If there's a people on the planet that should be the wind in people's sails, it should be the people of God. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:44.799 Do you know the fundamental purpose of the gift of prophecy is to encourage, it is to strengthen, and it is to comfort. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:46.720 It isn't to tell the future. 00:26:46.880 --> 00:27:00.000 No, it's to have the ability to say whatever God is stirring in your life, He is able to bring it to fulfillment through your life if you'll faithfully follow Him. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:04.000 We should be the most encouraging place. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:13.359 We should be the place where dreams of impossibility become possible. 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:23.359 We should be a place that we believe beyond what we think or ask or imagine because that's who our God is, church. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:35.759 You need to understand it's not about your readiness that has caused God to give you the dream, it's your destiny. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:46.000 And the way God moves you towards your destiny is by giving you a dream beyond where you are. 00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:53.039 And then all of a sudden, I've got something to begin to move towards. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:05.759 I've got something that is now charting the course of my life. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:14.480 Don't ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever discount the magnitude of what God wants to do in your life. 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:17.359 As a matter of fact, I would say this. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:26.640 If your dreams aren't bigger than you, they're too small for God. 00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:36.000 If it's not bigger than you, why do you need God's help? 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:46.960 If it's not beyond your ability, if not beyond your connections, it's not beyond your intellect, it's not beyond your education. 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:51.519 If it's not beyond you, why would God want to get involved? 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:56.480 Maybe, church, we're dreaming too small. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:06.799 Maybe the reason you're not seeing God's activity at the level you want in your life is because you're living according to your life rather than his life. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:25.039 Maybe God's waiting on a people that will dream an impossible dream without divine intervention. 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:28.160 Hear me, church. 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:32.559 Just because you've received it doesn't mean you're ready. 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:37.279 Of course you're not ready, but now you have a reason to live. 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:44.480 This is the birth of a dream. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:53.119 And the number one test you're gonna face in the birth of a dream is opposition to that dream. 00:29:55.359 --> 00:30:05.200 You're gonna face opposition to that dream, that people are gonna look at you and they're gonna measure you up and say, there's no way. 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:06.640 That's the point. 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:09.759 That's the reason that God has given it. 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:11.519 So, so get ready. 00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:16.640 Opposition is not everybody is gonna be an encouragement to your dream. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:22.079 Not everybody is gonna say, you can do it, but the people of God should do that. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:24.480 That's how we should operate. 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:28.160 But not everybody is gonna operate that way. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:33.039 You're they're gonna look at you and say, uh, there's there's no way you're just not enough. 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:34.400 That's the point. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:36.480 I need God's help. 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:45.759 You're gonna have opposition because when you begin to dream, God-sized dreams, you know what it does in other people's life? 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:49.440 It it causes them to become unsettled. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:59.359 It unsettles them because many times it reminds them of dreams that they've let go years ago. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:17.279 Dreams that God may have deposited, given, invested, and they didn't have the courage, the faith, the family, the support to be able to pursue it. 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:27.359 Don't let man's opinion of what you can do limit God's activity in your life. 00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:35.440 This is the birth of a dream. 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:38.880 Joseph receives these dreams. 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:40.400 He's obviously not ready. 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:41.680 I showed it to you. 00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:45.680 He's arrogant, he's conceited, he's spoiled, he's superior. 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:49.599 But God gives him a dream anyway, beyond where he is. 00:31:49.680 --> 00:32:00.160 And that and that dream begins to propel him towards his destiny, but it doesn't propel him in a way that he is prepared for or a way that he could imagine. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:12.640 The Bible tells us that his brothers are so infuriated by his dream that they concoct a scheme to sell him in slavery to Egypt. 00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:20.400 Their opposition to him, their hatred, their jealousy of him is so strong that it cannot be contained. 00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:28.960 They grab him, they throw him in a pit, there's a caravan passing, and they sell him into slavery in Egypt. 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:32.960 And to Egypt he goes. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:38.160 And this begins stage two of his dream. 00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:42.480 And stage two of the dream is the development of the dreamer. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:46.559 Everybody say the development of the dreamer. 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:52.799 This is the long middle portion of the dream. 00:32:53.599 --> 00:33:08.720 This is the portion, if you're not really, really careful, the development of the dreamer, that God wants to develop some things in you, that He wants to, He wants to transform you from the inside out in preparation for the dream. 00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:11.039 And it can take a while. 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:18.000 And if we're not careful, in this developmental phase, the dream can die. 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:27.839 We can get tired and we can get weary, and we can wonder if God has forgotten us. 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:47.839 Wonder if God has forgotten what he said to us for 13 years, from 17 to 30, Joseph lived in the developmental phase of the dream. 00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:54.160 And there were two places that helped to develop him in the dream. 00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:58.400 One was in Potiphar's house, the other was in prison. 00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:02.720 In Potiphar's house, Joseph served faithfully. 00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:06.079 And the Bible says that everything that he touched prospered. 00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:10.559 And God was with him, and Potiphar put everything over his control. 00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:16.559 And Potiphar's wife took a liking to Joseph and he resisted and she lied about him. 00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:20.079 And when she lied about him, he was sent to prison. 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:29.760 I did a little research this week trying to figure out what these seasons look like for Joseph. 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:39.119 And most theologians believe that he served in Potiphar's house for about four to five years of that 13-year period of time. 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:42.719 He was probably in prison for six years. 00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:49.119 It was here that God began to develop his character. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:50.559 You need to know something. 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:57.760 Before God ever promotes you publicly, he first develops you privately. 00:35:00.960 --> 00:35:09.840 There's first some things on the inside of you that God wants to develop. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:11.599 There's some character traits. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:33.039 Come on, somebody. 00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:41.760 If we're not careful, while we're in the developmental phase, we can think that God's out to destroy us. 00:35:42.719 --> 00:35:47.760 He's not out to destroy us, he's out to destroy some things in us. 00:35:49.360 --> 00:36:02.159 There was some pride, there was some arrogance, there were some things in Joseph that needed to be destroyed in order for him to walk in his full purpose. 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:09.519 And the developmental stage was to serve that purpose. 00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:18.239 Another way of thinking about it is this way: God takes us through the developmental phase to free us from the very things that can hold us back. 00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:25.280 Joseph needed to be freed from pride. 00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:31.039 He needed to be freed from his superiority complex. 00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:36.880 He needed to be freed from his arrogance and his conceitedness. 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:41.039 He needed to be freed from being spoiled. 00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:43.920 He needed to be freed from being the favorite. 00:36:44.239 --> 00:36:56.320 There were some things in him that had to get out of him if he was going to walk in the full purpose that God has for his life. 00:36:56.719 --> 00:36:58.960 You need to hear me this morning. 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:03.039 Don't grow weary in the developmental phase. 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:14.960 God is developing you on the inside so that when he puts you in a place of prominence, you can stand and survive. 00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:36.159 Can I tell you the real thing you wrestle with in stage two of the dream? 00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:48.960 You really wrestle with having to be faithful when you think God's not being faithful. 00:37:51.039 --> 00:37:54.159 This is not what I had planned for my life. 00:37:54.559 --> 00:37:57.840 This is not how I thought it was going to unfold. 00:37:58.239 --> 00:38:01.920 This is not what I signed up for. 00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:11.119 And it's year after year of sowing, it's year after year of serving, it's year after year of working. 00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:16.719 And you're wondering all the while, God, where are you? 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:19.920 Where are what you promised? 00:38:20.079 --> 00:38:25.599 I thought you said there would be something more than this in my life. 00:38:25.840 --> 00:38:29.599 Anybody ever been in a wondering phase in your journey? 00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:32.079 Wondering, God, where what am I doing? 00:38:32.159 --> 00:38:33.440 And where are you? 00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:39.280 And this is the developmental phase where God is testing your faithfulness. 00:38:39.440 --> 00:38:43.679 Will you be faithful even when it looks like he's not? 00:38:44.239 --> 00:38:50.320 I think there's times and seasons that we walk through where God almost pulls back a little bit. 00:38:50.639 --> 00:38:57.599 It's not that he's not protecting us, it's not that he's not engaged, it's not that he's not aware of what's going on. 00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:01.679 He's really testing our heart and he's testing this. 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:05.679 Do you love me or do you love my things? 00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:10.880 Are you in love with my heart? 00:39:11.039 --> 00:39:14.000 Are you in love with what my hands provide? 00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:34.400 And it's there in that season of development that the things that that may have been in our hands before begin to fall to the side, and we've got nothing but a heart that says, God, though you slay me, I'm still gonna serve you. 00:39:35.679 --> 00:39:39.519 And that's where Joseph is in the second stage of the dream. 00:39:40.719 --> 00:39:42.320 He's having to be faithful. 00:39:42.400 --> 00:39:44.559 And the Bible says that he was faithful. 00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:50.480 He kept serving, he served Potiphar, and everything in Potter's house prospered. 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:54.480 Then he goes to prison for a crime that he did not commit. 00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:59.760 And and he's there no time, and all of a sudden, the warden of the prison puts him over. 00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:01.280 For the whole prison. 00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:03.840 I don't think we would approve of that today. 00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:08.320 The prisoners are running the place. 00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:10.320 That's not really what we want. 00:40:11.519 --> 00:40:18.960 And yet the warden entrusts Joseph to the prison. 00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:23.760 And two things happened in this developmental phrase phase for Joseph. 00:40:24.559 --> 00:40:30.880 Humility is developed in his heart, and faithfulness is developed in his hands. 00:40:33.039 --> 00:40:43.599 And when humility is developed in his heart, and he's proved faithful with what God has given him in an instant. 00:40:44.239 --> 00:40:51.599 The Bible says in a day, he is promoted from the prison to the palace. 00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:59.440