A Bad Beginning Series

Joseph¡¦s Journey

How Dreams Come True

Pt I ¡V A Bad Beginning

It was the Spring of 1988 ¡V I was sitting in an elementary school lunchroom ¡V that was converted every Sunday into a place of worship. Pastor Dave Smith was preaching ¡V and honestly I have no idea what the sermon was about. I was a pharmacy student at the Medical College of Va. at the time planning on a long career in pharmacy ¡V I had applied and been accepted to be one of the two first trac in students in the Dr. of Pharmacy program. But God had other idea¡¦s. Sitting in that service on Sunday morning God spoke to my heart ¡V and gave me a dream. A dream very different from anything I would have ever chosen for myself. He called me to be a pastor. What is interesting is that He also called me to pastor the church that I was attending at the time. I didn¡¦t understand it then ¡V but through many travails ¡V I became the pastor of that church in 1991. I never planned to leave it but then in 1995 God called me here to Hughesville ¡V and the dream continues.

This morning and for the next few weeks I want to share with you about How Dreams Come True ¡V a study in how God shapes and molds our lives into His plan ¡V through the life of Joseph. We pick up the story when Joseph is 17 years old. He is the 11th of Jacob¡¦s 12 sons ¡V and he is his father¡¦s favorite.

Genesis 37:1-28

1) Joseph has a dream ¡V but God has a plan ¡V Joseph is a favored son in a dysfunctional family. Some of you may remember the story of Jacob¡¦s family. Jacob gets tricked by his uncle into marrying Leah, then he works more to marry his true love Rachel. The problem is that Leah has children and Rachael doesn¡¦t. So then we get into the whole business of Rachael¡¦s maid having children and Leah¡¦s maid having children ¡V then finally Rachael has a son ¡V her first born and they name him Joseph. He was the child that Jacob had waited for. Jacob treated Joseph like his mother had treated him. He was special and everyone in the family knew it. His brothers hated him ¡V in fact the scripture says they couldn¡¦t say anything nice to him. This is not a really happy family. As if that¡¦s not bad enough Joseph rats out his brothers for not doing their jobs well. While he¡¦s home dad makes him a tunic ¡V a robe of many colors. Into the midst of this dysfunctional family ¡V God sends Joseph a dream ¡V in fact sends him two dreams ¡V both single him out in God¡¦s plans for his family. Joseph has a dream and God has a plan. What is God¡¦s plan for Joseph? Does God have a plan for the rest of the boys? You better believe he does. He only reveals Joseph¡¦s part in the plan ¡V but these boys would be the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel that would inhabit the land. Each one would play a part in the preservation of the promise given to Abraham. That is our first lesson about how dreams come true ¡V You need to understand that God has a plan for you. It may be spectacular like Joseph¡¦s or ordinary like Issachar ¡V but God has a plan for you.

„« Jeremiah 29:11 says ¡§I know the plans that I have for you,¡¦ declares the LORD, ¡¥plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.¡¨

„« Psalm 139:15-16 says My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

„« Psalm 100 says Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

I have said this many times ¡V each one of you is a unique unrepeatable miracle of God and He created you with a purpose. I am surprised by how many people live life without an understanding of purpose. I planned to be a pharmacist ¡V trained to be a pharmacist ¡V but God made me to be a pastor. Anything else I could be would be a waste of what God made me for. It would be a failure of plan and purpose. What has God made you to be ¡V a mother, a salesman, a CEO, a security guard, a ditch digger, a construction worker ¡V what? The truth is that if it is what God made you to be ¡V He will use you in His plan. What is God¡¦s plan for your life?