WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:21.760 Awakening, 13 years. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:29.679 It's official, we're a teenager. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.920 Alright, alright, teens, here we go. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:40.159 And some of you may be wondering why in the world does a church have a birthday party and not an anniversary? 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:41.840 That's a bit strange, isn't it? 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:43.679 Now, for two reasons. 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:49.359 One is we believe 13 years ago God birthed something. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:56.560 He birthed a new movement, a new community that exists to awaken this generation to new life in Jesus. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:57.439 Amen? 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:02.880 Secondly, birthdays are just way more fun than anniversaries. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.719 I don't know about you, but I love birthdays. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:07.920 I love celebration. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:11.439 And celebration is actually a spiritual discipline. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:17.840 It's one of our values as a church to celebrate the goodness of God. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:31.599 Now, I'm a pretty sentimental person, and so as we've been leaning in and gearing up for our birthday, I've gone back through my photos and looking at the very first years of awakening. 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:34.959 This is actually the very first service. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:41.840 It was in the theater, and uh here we have the elders of Westgate, the pastor Steve Clifford. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:48.879 Uh they were commissioning Jenny and I to lead this new church, uh, ordaining us, passing on the mantle of leadership. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:51.680 It was a powerful moment, really special. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:55.920 My dad and mom got to be a part of that, which was super sweet. 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:59.359 Um these photos are out of order. 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:01.439 No, no, no, hang on, hang on. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:04.000 Oh my goodness. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:05.840 Take that off. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.280 These photos are way out of order. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:12.159 All right. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:14.159 Thank you. 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:19.680 Oh well. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:20.800 Hey, have a good day. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:21.919 We'll see you later. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:23.520 That's all I had. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.840 Um we started off in the theater. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:32.639 I obviously should have, it's my fault, I should have reviewed these before we got going. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:39.680 In the theater, we kind of bounced back and forth between the theater and here, but we outgrew the theater, then we moved to the cafeteria. 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:44.080 If you find this picture with the cafeteria, and notice like how it was. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:57.439 We started on the floor, we had no lights, a small little sound system, and as we grew, we actually needed to get a better sound system and create more space here together. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:10.080 One of the things that I love as a church, when we started here at Del Mar, and we've been at Del Mar for 13 years by God's grace, amazing, is we said it's more than a place to meet, but a people to love. 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:14.319 And we started that just by simply doing serve days here on this campus. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:20.000 And uh, if you can find the picture where people are scraping gum, we scraped a lot of gum in those early days. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:21.199 My goodness. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:24.560 Um, there should be one in there somewhere scraping gum. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:25.120 Okay. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:28.800 Um just trust me, there was scraping gum. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:31.280 You're not gonna believe me, but there was lots of it. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:36.560 Um and then we just spent these days helping serve this community. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:55.759 Now, um, I was looking for a picture and I couldn't find it of a moment that happened right before uh we launched, and we went downtown and uh we went downtown to um do a prayer walk. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.719 And it's a prayer walk is just simply what it sounds like. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:03:59.919 You walk and you pray. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.039 It's that simple. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:06.719 And we had this uh, there was this nightclub that closed called Angels. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:10.080 We thought maybe that could be the place where we're meeting, right downtown. 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:20.560 So about seven or eight of us went down there, we went to pray, and as we got out of the cars, about to gather them and show them um, you know, like, hey, we're gonna walk, we're gonna pray this area. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.959 I see somebody like stumbling towards us. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:28.240 I was like, what's going on with that dude? 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:48.959 And his eyes were like hollow, empty, and his face was pale, and then somebody else was there, and then another person was there, and then all of a sudden we found ourselves engulfed by hundreds, hundreds of zombies. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:50.160 Can you go back to that? 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:50.879 Thank you. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:53.199 This was kind of what it looked like. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:58.399 I apologize for the gruesomeness, and the reveal was totally revealed so early. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:02.879 Oh well, you're supposed to be shocked and aghast. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:04.319 Um, yeah, thank you. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:05.759 One of you, you're like, oh. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:10.000 Um I thought it was so, I mean, so strange. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:17.360 We were going down to pray for awakening, and we found ourselves among the walking dead. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:20.000 You can take that off. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:20.879 You can take that off. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:21.680 Thank you. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:26.160 Um, and I've never forgot that moment. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:35.040 In fact, I look back on that, I just remember that because I think so often that's a picture for me when I think about the value, I think about us. 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:38.480 Because not many of us would say, yeah, we're zombies. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:43.519 But I think a lot of us would say, yeah, I I feel dead inside. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.519 I feel like I'm just eking my way through life. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:53.199 I feel like I'm just existing, but I'm not really living. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:00.160 I feel like maybe I'm just sleepwalking, I'm not fully awake. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:02.959 Yeah, you're alive, yeah. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:07.519 You wake up, you go through the motions, you go to campus, you go to work. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:10.639 Something's missing. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.839 And so we busy our lives, don't we? 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:24.800 We numb ourselves with entertainment and streaming and our phones, we keep our calendars filled so we don't have to think. 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:29.279 And yet there's this aching, there's this longing, there's these questions that haunt us. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.319 Is this really all there is? 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:35.680 There's gotta be more. 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:38.639 Don't I have a purpose? 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:49.680 How do you live and how do you experience and embrace a God-sized dream for your life? 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:53.839 How do you live for something bigger, more fulfilling? 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:56.639 Something that's filled with meaning. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.240 So many of us live by default, don't we? 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:01.199 Not by design. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.160 We drift, we react, we settle. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:07.519 But what if you didn't just have to drift through life? 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:11.439 What if your life could be drenched with purpose? 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:17.360 Every decision, every relationship, every step marked with eternal significance. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.439 How do you live a life drenched with purpose? 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:27.600 Today we're kicking off a brand new series called Dreaming Wide Awake. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:38.720 Over in the next seven weeks, we're gonna discover how do you move from just existing, eking our way through life to actually living fully into God's dream for you. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:45.839 To do that, we're gonna follow the story of one person who on papers, the most unlikely, improbable candidate. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:52.560 In fact, he was the 11th of 12 brothers from an obscure part of the ancient world. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:56.879 Literally, his family put the fun in dysfunction. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:00.800 We're only covering a little bit of the dysfunction today. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:04.160 Circumstances stacked against him. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:09.839 If it could go wrong, it did, and it often went from bad to worse. 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:18.079 And yet, his life didn't just impact, save his family, it actually rescued nations. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:23.279 This is the life and journey of Joseph. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:26.240 The sermon titled today is Dare to Dream. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:27.199 Would you say that with me? 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:28.639 Dare to Dream. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:32.320 And we're going to pick up the story of Joseph in Genesis chapter 6. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:33.200 It's in your notes. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:36.159 You can open your Bible, or Genesis chapter 37, rather. 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:38.399 It's in your notes or in your Bibles. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:41.519 It's on the screen. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:46.000 Beginning in verse 2, it says, This is the count of Jacob's family's line. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:09:02.720 Joseph, a young man of 17, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the son of Bela, that's his mom, those are mothers, the son of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:07.279 Okay, so a little context about the dysfunction here, just so you're aware. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:09.679 Joseph is one of twelve brothers. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:15.360 He's the 11th, but these are 12 brothers from four different women. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:20.159 Yeah, talk about complicated, dysfunctional, messy. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:29.519 He's actually the oldest born of his mother, Rachel, but he is the second to youngest of the brothers. 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:34.879 And so we got this just tension already, and he he's a tattletale on his brothers. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:35.759 We see this already. 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:36.559 Verse 3. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:45.679 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age, and he made an ornate robe for him. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:48.240 Some call it a technicolor robe. 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:49.679 That's not in the text. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:57.600 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word for him. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:04.639 So now we see favoritism bringing such great division to an already messy situation. 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:13.600 And because Joseph is the oldest born of Rachel, Jacob's treating him as the heir apparent. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:20.000 This robe is this robe of royalty, a robe of the distinguished favored son. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:31.519 Jacob has said, you know what, I may have uh ten older sons, but I prefer and I choose you to be my heir apparent. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:46.480 And he every time he walked into the room with this robe, his brothers just reminded them of what a threat he was to them and why they hated him. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:49.679 Verse 5, Joseph had a dream. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.120 And when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:55.519 Well, they hated him, now they hate him all the more. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:57.759 He said to them, Listen to this dream I had. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:06.559 We're binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it. 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:10.240 He didn't have a lot of discernment this Joe. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:16.000 His brother said to him, Do you intend to reign over us? 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:17.840 Will you actually rule over us? 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:20.480 And they hated him all the more. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:26.639 Wow! Animosity upon animosity because his dream and what he had said. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:28.639 Now, a little note on dreams. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:35.039 In the ancient Near East, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Canaan, uh, dreams weren't just brushed off as random or meaningless. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:40.720 They were believed to carry significance, often understood as messages from the divine. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:42.720 The Bible reflects that belief. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:45.840 God actually speaks through dreams throughout the story of Scripture. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:47.679 God gives Jacob a dream. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:50.320 He appears to Solomon in a dream, granting wisdom. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:58.879 He speaks through dreams to Daniel in exile, and even as later on in the text we'll find he speaks to Pharaoh in a dream. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:03.840 So when Joseph dreams, his family doesn't think, oh, he had some bad pizza. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:06.480 They take it seriously. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:08.879 This could very well be God speaking. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:12.639 They realize not every dream was automatically divine. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:13.759 They knew that. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:18.639 But culturally, dreams carried weight, and this is why Joseph's brothers hated him all the more. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:25.679 So when he shares his dream, it's not just him sharing his imagination, which would be annoying. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.639 But if it's from God, it's threatening. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:30.399 Goes on. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:35.840 He says, uh, then he had another dream, confirming the first dream. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:37.440 And he told it to his brothers. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:38.879 Why does he keep doing this? 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:40.000 Joe, stop. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.000 Joe, come on. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:45.440 Listen, he said, I had another dream. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.960 And this time the sun and moon and 11 stars were bowing down to me. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:53.519 When he told his fathers as well as his brothers, he couldn't keep silent about this. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:57.279 Apparently, his father rebuked him and said, What is this dream you had? 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:02.720 Will you and uh will your mother and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you? 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:08.159 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept this matter in mind. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:14.559 How do you embrace a God-sized vision, a God-sized dream for your life? 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:19.759 A life drenched with purpose, filled with meaning, and is fulfilling. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:22.960 There are three core convictions. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:28.879 Three truths we must embrace in order to live dreaming wide awake. 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:35.279 The first truth, the first conviction is simply this. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.679 God has a dream for your life. 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:44.960 God has a dream for your life. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:53.120 You are not an accident, and you are not accidentally here wherever you are. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:58.399 You were created for a purpose, and you are here on purpose. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:03.279 So many of us don't believe this. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:10.240 That maybe God has dreams for other people, he has dreams for them, but how could the God of the universe have a dream for me? 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:14.879 Psalms 139 says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:25.279 Jeremiah 29, 11 says, For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:30.960 Not to harm you, but to give you a future and a hope. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:34.960 And you're like, well, Ryan, that's the Old Testament, and that was actually for Israel, not for me. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:36.960 Fantastic, Ephesians 2.10. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:48.960 For you are God's workmanship, you're his handiwork, you're his masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which he prepared in advance for you to do. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:53.840 God created you on purpose and for a purpose. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:57.360 God has a dream for your life. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:14:58.639 We must embrace this. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.679 It's not for special people, perfect people, the right people. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:07.120 Your past, your trauma, your family dysfunction do not disqualify you from God's dream for your life. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:12.480 You're not too young and you're not too old to embrace a God-sized vision or dream for your life. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:14.000 Joseph was 17. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.399 Can I hear my teenagers? 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:17.039 No. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:30.080 By the way, teens, college students, when God wants to do something significant in history, he often chooses and uses teens to accomplish that purpose. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:31.840 He chose Joseph. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:32.480 Amen. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:33.919 Yeah, we can clap for that. 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:34.879 Amen. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:41.120 David was a teenager tending the flocks. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:45.519 Unlikely, least in his family, anointed to be king. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:46.799 Overlooked. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:57.039 Esther, a teenager, who saved the entire Jewish people from genocide and rose to queen of Persia. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:01.120 I mean, you can just go through history and look at it. 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:03.840 The disciples, by the way, were in their teens or twenties. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.519 Mary, who carried the son of God, was a teenager. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.759 God often chooses and uses teens. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:16.080 And by the way, if you're not dead, so if you're over 17, God's not done with you either. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:20.000 God has a dream for your life. 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:21.279 Can you say that with me? 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.159 God has a dream for your life. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:30.320 And so, God is the source of dreaming wide awake. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:45.120 Don't we look to so many places, so many things, to be the source that will fulfill, that will bring purpose, that will bring life. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:48.879 We spend our lives chasing, don't we? 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:53.919 And at the end of it, all we do is we find ourselves out of breath. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:57.279 These counterfeit sources. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:05.759 Find meaning in your success, your money, or how many followers or influencers. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:10.799 Silicon Valley says build something, disrupt something, prove you're a somebody. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:18.079 If I can just find the right relationship, land the dream job, get into the right school, then I'll be fulfilled. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:20.079 But here's the deal. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:29.759 If the source of your dream is wrong, it will not support your life, the weight of your life. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:36.079 If the support, the source of your dream is off, it will not support the weight of your life. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:39.039 It will ultimately leave you wanting. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:45.920 In fact, Saint Augustine, he was a North African uh church father. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:53.440 He is famous for many things, but one that he wrote the very first autobiography that we have recorded in history. 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:55.119 It's called The Confessions. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:59.119 In it, he talks about his journey for purpose. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:06.319 And that he tried everything: sex, pleasure, experiences, traveled the world, did it all, and found it wanting. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:08.240 And he came to this conclusion. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:15.920 He said, Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:22.160 God is the source of dreaming wide awake. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:28.160 Three convictions for us to live dreaming wide awake, to live out our God-given purpose. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:33.759 First, you have to embrace, you have to know God has a dream for your life, and then here's this: this is even better. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.240 God's dream is better than your dream. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:38.319 We don't believe that. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:39.440 Let's be real. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:43.279 Why is it that we think we know better than God? 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:44.400 Think about this. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:48.319 The God of the universe, this is amazing, has a dream for your life. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:19:05.680 The God who's all-wise, all-knowing, all-loving, all good, who designed you, who created you, who knit you together in your mother's womb, who said, I have a plan, I understand how you're designed, and I've placed you in a particular place and time, and I want to use your life in significant ways. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:07.359 And we go, Yeah, that's fine, that's fine. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.119 I I think I got it from here. 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:12.799 Don't we do that? 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.079 I've done that many times. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:20.079 See, the first thing we have to embrace is God has a dream for your life. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:26.480 The second is that God's dream is actually way, way, way better than your dream. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:31.759 Let me ask you, what's your dream for your life? 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.720 What do you chase after? 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:47.279 I've talked to a lot of people that say, you know what, making a lot of money, being financially free, being wealthy. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:51.119 I've had people just look me in the eye and just go, Ryan, I just want to be rich. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:52.480 Okay. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:57.759 To be able to experience all this world has to offer. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:00.559 Experience is my dream. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:01.839 I want to travel. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.680 I want to just taste, touch, feel, pleasure. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:08.960 I want to be a somebody. 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:11.279 I want to have influence. 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:13.839 I want to make my mark. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:16.160 I want to leave a legacy. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:19.359 I want to have a family. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:20.799 I want to own a home. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:23.279 I want to retire young. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:25.359 I want to enjoy life. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:28.160 What's your dream for your life? 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:32.000 And what if the dream you're chasing is too small? 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:37.519 What if it's not a bad dream? 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:41.839 What if it's just not a big enough dream? 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:57.519 Think about Joseph, and just obviously he gets this dream, uh, and the way he understands it in this moment as a 17-year-old kid, as I would understand it as well, as the entire family understood it, is that he's going to rule over his family, right? 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:00.559 He's like, hey, that's pretty good. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:04.640 Number 11, moving up to number one, here we go. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:05.519 All right. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:08.799 My brothers were jerks to me. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.839 I can't wait until I'm in charge, baby. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:12.960 Here we go. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:18.400 God said that's a little bit of it, but that's not the full picture. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:25.599 So you have a dream for your life, but God's dream is to rescue a nation and his family. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:34.400 Like I'm gonna place you in a position of influence, not for yourself, not for your sake, not so you can lord it over. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:50.480 I'm gonna place you in a position of influence so that you can be a rescuer and a redeemer, so that you can use the gifts and skills that I've given you to save a nation and your family from certain death. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:53.599 Ooh, that's a dream. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:59.759 What if God's dream is way, way bigger than? 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:01.759 Than your dream. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:03.440 See, here's what happens. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:10.559 When we place, when we place our dreams in the hands of God, we begin dreaming wide awake. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:18.240 When we take our dreams, the dreams that we have, those things, and when I ask, what is your dream for your life? 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:22.960 What I'm asking you to do is not just say, like, I don't ever want that to happen. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:26.000 What I'm saying is surrender and place it in the hands of God. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:37.359 Because I'm going to trust that your dream is bigger, better than whatever I could dream. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:45.759 I've had a few people ask me this question, Awakenings 13. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:52.000 Are we where you thought we would be at 13 years of age? 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:55.359 And my answer is kind of like yes and no. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.960 I thought we'd be in a like a long-term location that we didn't have to set up and tear down. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:05.119 I'm really grateful we have Del Mar for 13 years. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:07.759 Here's the funny part. 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:15.200 So in my 20s, and really we planted this church when I was 31, so you can do the math, I'm 44. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:19.920 But I'm so old. 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:20.720 Wow. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:21.680 Wow. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:23.039 Wow. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:29.759 And it's true. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:33.839 But here's what's fascinating. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:36.400 I had some nevers. 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:39.440 And maybe you have some nevers too. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:42.880 I never wanted to lead a church. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:47.759 And I never wanted to plan a church. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:49.680 Ever. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:51.839 And here's the fun part. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:56.960 My wife didn't want me to ever lead a church or plant a church either. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:04.240 In fact, the very first time we were asked to plant awakening as a church, we said no. 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:19.680 It took a little over a year process of God working on our hearts to get us to the point to saying yes to planting awakening as a church. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:21.279 And here's the thing. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:25.519 I am so grateful that he did, because I never would have wanted to miss this. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.720 I never would have wanted to miss this. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:38.160 I mean, when we planted 13 years ago, literally our prayer is just like, God, if one person comes to know Jesus, it's worth it. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:40.079 Like honestly. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:44.160 And I we get back to that, God, just one person. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:48.799 Over 13 years, we've had well over a thousand people come to know Christ here. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:57.440 We've had hundreds of baptisms. 00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:59.519 We're going to celebrate baptisms today. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:00.400 I'm so excited. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:02.559 We do it every birthday. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:14.720 It's the greatest picture of our vision of awakening this generation to new life in Jesus, where you're died to Christ and you're buried in Him, going under the water, and you're raised to new life in Him. 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:24.880 We practice something at awakening called spontaneous baptisms because for some, for some, you're in a place you've never been baptized. 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:29.279 And today's the day where you say yes to Jesus and you step into the waters of baptism. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:31.680 We have extra shirts and extra towels for you. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.720 You can come forward at the end of the sermon and talk to me. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:47.359 But here's the deal: God has a dream for your life, and God's dream is way, way bigger and way better than your dream. 00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:52.640 And then finally. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:57.200 And this is the reason we kind of opt out on God's dream for our life. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:00.480 This is where we struggle. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:06.960 God's not in a hurry and his timing's perfect. 00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:12.880 God is not in a hurry, and his timing is perfect. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.000 Now here's the thing. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:20.880 We rush everywhere. 00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:28.319 We live in an instant culture, and so we think our formation should be instant. 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:31.440 God is a God of formation, and so he is not in a hurry. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:41.359 He moves at the pace of our soul, and so he shapes us slowly over time because he's far more concerned with your character than your accomplishments. 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:44.559 God is not in a hurry with you. 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:49.039 Some of us are rushing and wondering, God, catch up to me. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:51.119 And God's saying, No, slow down to me. 00:26:53.279 --> 00:26:55.519 Slow down to my rhythms of grace. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:58.160 Slow down to my pace. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:03.039 And the frustrating part is God is never early. 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:05.680 He isn't. 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:07.359 He's never late. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:09.599 But he's never early. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.079 Sometimes it feels like he's almost late. 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:16.160 But his timing's perfect. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:19.119 Let me give you the arc of Joseph's life. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:24.640 The arc of Joseph's life, we remember it, it began with his family dysfunction, right? 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:29.599 His first 17 years, favoritism spoiled, his dad's passive, jealous brothers. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:33.119 It's like, okay, that's not a good start. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:37.440 And then he moves into a period what I call formation detour. 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:42.480 You have a dream, he placed a dream on Joseph, and then it's not like, oh, let me step into this. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:43.599 There's a detour. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:48.640 It's a formation detour from 17 years of age to 30 years of age. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:52.640 Now his older brothers who hated him wanted to kill them. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:56.000 There is one brother that spoke some, you know, census in them. 00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:59.359 And so instead of killing Joseph, they sold him into slavery. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:03.440 He ended up in Potiphar's home where he was a slave. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:08.400 He was unjustly, wrongly accused, and eventually imprisoned. 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:13.920 Does that sound like the ground, like the foundation of a God-sized dream? 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:17.359 Thirteen years. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:20.559 Here's the interesting part. 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:26.319 When we're in the family dysfunction stage, we tend to think God can't use me. 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:31.920 Look at my past, look at who I am, look at what I've gone through, look at what's been done to me. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:36.079 When you're in the detour stage, what we tend to think is God has forgotten me. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:40.480 What we'll find, and next week we're going to talk about the death of a dream. 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:48.480 But what we'll find is in that stage we see this repeated line for those 13 years. 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:50.880 Joseph sold into slavery. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:55.599 Joseph, a slave, unjustly, wrongly accused, imprisoned. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:56.480 This line. 00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:00.160 And God was with Joseph. 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:08.160 See, some of you are in the family dysfunction stage, and you need to know that God has a dream for your life. 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:14.319 And some of you are in this formation detour, and you've been wrestling, and you're wondering if God has forgotten you. 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:19.039 Not only has he not forgotten you, he is with you and he is forming you right now. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:24.480 And then at age 30, fulfilled destiny. 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:27.680 30, and he lived a good long life, by the way. 00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:30.559 To 110, Pharaoh's dream. 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:31.759 Pharaoh has a dream. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:35.680 Joseph interprets it, he becomes second command, he saves his nation and family. 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:43.279 And when you step into your destiny, you realize, and this is the only thing you can like really realize only with hindsight. 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:45.839 God was with me the whole time. 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:48.880 God was with me the whole time. 00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:56.480 And as you look back on your life and you look back during those formation detours, you'll say something along this line. 00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:02.400 Though I'd never want to go through it again, I wouldn't change it because what it produced in me. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:08.240 I wouldn't change it for the world because of what God did in me and where I'm at today. 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:17.680 I wouldn't wish it upon anybody else, but I'm so grateful looking back at how God formed me in this season. 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:24.000 How do you live dreaming wide awake? 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:28.880 God has a dream for your life. 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:30.880 His dream's better than yours. 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:41.759 So here's what I want to ask you. 00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:46.480 Would you dare to dream with God? 00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:51.519 Would you dare to dream with God? 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:54.240 Did you walk in dead inside? 00:30:57.039 --> 00:31:03.039 Did you walk in just feeling like, yes, I'm sleepwalking through life? 00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:11.440 And you've been running after so many other things. 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:18.319 And would you turn today to Jesus, the sources, source of life, and go, get Jesus, you actually have a dream for my life. 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:20.000 In fact, you are life itself. 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:24.240 And today He wants to fill you with meaning and purpose right now. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:26.480 Not like later one day. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:29.279 Your yes to Jesus, your yes to life. 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:34.640 He says, in this moment, I want to fill you with purpose and peace and life and hope. 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:37.519 And some of you have never trusted Jesus. 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:39.200 And today is your day. 00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:40.480 Say yes. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:48.720 Some of us are just in that formation detour, aren't we? 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:56.000 And there are some dreams that God put on your heart. 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:07.519 And you've honestly lost sight, maybe in the chase, in the valley, in the pursuit, maybe just through tired. 00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:11.920 You know, I've heard people say, like, I don't want to get excited. 00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:17.119 I don't want to dream, Ryan, because I don't want to be disappointed. 00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:20.640 I get that. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:25.119 I mean, life's hard. 00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:28.640 Things come at us fast. 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:35.039 Biblically, hope is not wishful thinking. 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:44.720 The word hope literally means to have a confident expectation that a better tomorrow awaits. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:51.039 As followers of Jesus, we don't have empty hope. 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:56.720 Hope the economy, you know, is great. 00:32:56.880 --> 00:32:58.960 I hope my job works out. 00:32:59.119 --> 00:33:01.920 I hope my marriage, we don't have empty hope. 00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:11.119 We have a risen, resurrected Savior who conquered the grave, so there is no more fear of death. 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:21.680 And who promised, I am going to return and restore and make all things right. 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:29.119 And so we lean into the future because we have a Savior who has called us and who is already there, calling us forward. 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:35.599 Ten years ago, one of our dear friends, Judy, who's a prayer warrior. 00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:41.680 This church wouldn't exist without Andre and Judy, their prayers and their encouragement and their support all these years. 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:45.039 She would write these three by five cards. 00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:49.200 They would be prayers, they would be encouragements, little prophetic words. 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:51.440 I kept them. 00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:58.559 Sermon title comes from a three by five card she wrote to me a decade ago. 00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:01.359 On the top it says, dare to dream. 00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:05.759 I want to invite you. 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:08.639 I want to speak this over you. 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:11.280 Would you dare to dream? 00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:14.880 Would you dare to trust God with your life? 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:19.440 Would you dare to simply ask him if you don't know that he's real? 00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:24.639 Would you dare to say, God, if you're real, reveal yourself to me? 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:28.880 Would you dare to feel like you're walking through, eating through life? 00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:33.360 Say, God, I believe you have a dream, or I want to believe you have a dream for my life. 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:36.559 Would you show me your dream for my life? 00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:39.119 Would you pause long enough? 00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:45.599 Pursue his heart because when you pursue his heart, he puts a dream on yours. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:49.199 She writes this. 00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:53.199 Your dreams are not too big. 00:34:54.079 --> 00:34:56.000 They're not unrealistic. 00:34:56.880 --> 00:34:58.559 They're God-given. 00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:02.800 He's given you dreams even bigger than you realize, much bigger. 00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:04.639 You cannot imagine. 00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:08.559 Your mind cannot contain all the things he has for you. 00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:14.480 He's anointed you for great things as David was chosen out of a line and anointed for great things. 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:21.360 People may question it or scoff at the dreams, but that doesn't touch the reality or truth of God's truth. 00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:29.840 Doesn't change the reality of the dreams he has given you, what he has for you, what he is doing, and what he will do for you. 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:31.360 Be blessed. 00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:36.559 Walk in him and with him in the confidence of his great love for you. 00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:39.039 He has confidence in you. 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:42.159 He chose you because he made you for this. 00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:48.000 Your role and anointing have been planned and set into motion at the beginning of eternity. 00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:54.239 What God has done, no one, no one will undo. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:01.920 I just want to invite you to dare to dream with God. 00:36:02.960 --> 00:36:05.440 We have these prayer journals for everyone in a group. 00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:07.039 You can grab them on the way out. 00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:11.760 We have some guiding discussion questions for our groups. 00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:15.199 But would you pause? 00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:20.719 We're gonna worship in a minute, but would you just pause? 00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:25.039 Remind yourself. 00:36:27.360 --> 00:36:28.800 God has a dream. 00:36:29.039 --> 00:36:30.719 It's better than my dream. 00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:34.239 He's not in a hurry, he's actively working right now. 00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:36.480 And then would you ask? 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:38.239 Simply ask. 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:40.239 I dare you. 00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:45.840 Remember as a kid on the playground? 00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:47.119 I dare you. 00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:50.079 What comes after I dare you? 00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:52.400 I double dare you. 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:55.199 What comes after double dare? 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:58.079 I triple dog dare you. 00:37:04.800 --> 00:37:07.760 I dare you to take God up on his word. 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:11.760 I dare you to take God up on his promises. 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:14.000 I dare you. 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:17.360 I double, triple, dog dare you. 00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:22.400 If you don't believe God is real, call out to him right now. 00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:25.920 Call out, and he will reveal himself to you. 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:32.159 In fact, my story, I almost walked away from the faith. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:40.480 I was studying to be a pastor and went through a deep night of the soul, a dark night of the soul. 00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:43.519 And it was at my last wit in. 00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:50.400 I showed up into a coffee shop and I said, God, if you're real, I need you to show up, and if not, I'm done with this. 00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:52.800 And I opened my Bible and he showed up. 00:37:55.119 --> 00:37:56.239 He'll show up for you. 00:37:56.400 --> 00:37:59.119 I dare you to dream with God. 00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:03.039 Oh God, would you make us a church? 00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:12.400 Make us a church that believes our best days are not behind us but before us. 00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:27.199 Make us a church that takes you at your word and claims your promises as ours. 00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:32.400 May we dare to dream with you. 00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:36.800 Would you fill each person with your dream for their life? 00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:41.760 And may we live it out so that this world might know you. 00:38:44.400 --> 00:38:46.000 In Jesus' name. 00:38:46.559 --> 00:38:48.880 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:38:49.039 --> 00:38:53.519 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:38:53.679 --> 00:38:55.760 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:38:55.920 --> 00:39:01.840 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.