Joseph And His Dream Of Many Colors Series

Dream Builder’s—Joseph and his dream of many colors

All the circumstances said, “No way.” God said, “No, this way!”

Halfway through the second grade, Mrs. Sergeant, who lived up to her name, sent a note home to the young boy’s parents. It was added onto his report card and therefore entered into his permanent record. It said, “Your son day dreams too much. He is always looking out the window and his mind wanders far from the task at hand.”

What a blow to his future—what a stain on this young boy’s academic career. What if he could never stop this dreaming? What would become of a boy who dreamed of something more—something magical—something so much greater than the task at hand?

Well, be sure our world is crowded with dreamers like this little boy. Some go on to accomplish great things. Others have their dreams eventually pounded out of them. Some have chapters of the Bible written about them and others, like that little second grader, become your pastor and encourage you to discover your dreams together.

This morning we begin a 4-week series on Dream Builders--people who have seen God’s dream and made it their own. We’ll look at three big dreamers, Joseph, Daniel and Peter and conclude with potentially the biggest dreamer of all—you.

We’ll get up close to them all and listen intently as they whisper in our ear. We’ll follow their stories. We’ll examine their faith. We’ll share their struggles. We’ll sit with them as they stare out the window and we’ll look at what God revealed to them. We’ll take time to read the notes that were written in their permanent record. This morning, let’s get close to one of them--Joseph—let’s get close enough to him to hear him whisper our name.

Now, Joseph is a pretty popular name in the Bible. One Joseph was Jesus’ step-dad. Yet, another Joseph loaned his tomb to the Lord that first Good Friday night. But the Joseph we want to look at today—the Joseph we want to hear from is Joseph the Dreamer. Joseph--a young man with a dream that became his reality - in fact he’s the star of one of the greatest success stories of all time. His is a story filled with mystery and intrigue—passion and betrayal—secrets and jealousy--injustice and reward. His is a journey from special son to slave and back again. His is a journey from a palace to prison and back again—from home to exile to honor—from one of 12 to an orphan to a leader of a nation.

This roller coaster life was held together by one consistent thing--he had a dream--a dream from God that held him close to God—a dream bigger than his circumstances. Joseph had an enormous dream and an enormous God to accompany it. All the circumstances said, “No way.” God said, “No, this way!”

God’s dream for us is a seed waiting to blossom.

We might catch ourselves talking about a dream house, a dream job, even a dream relationship.

And several times a year, we can hear ourselves talking about a dream vacation.

Dreams help hold the fragile pieces of life together! Everybody has a dream…or used to.

What’s your dream—what does God have in store for you? Who are you? Whose are you? What’s your dream? Some dreams may seem silly or serious. But,

God’s dream for us is a seed waiting to blossom.

Joseph discovered how a God-given dream can be the over-arching purpose for his life. A dream can sift through your work, your play and your relationships, it can collate your responsibilities and commitments and offer the potential in them all back to God. A good dream can keep bringing you back to the important after a difficult season of chasing the urgent.

Dreams are more than just your subconscious activity when you sleep – and they’re more than just your imagination or a distraction when you’re awake

Pursuing God-given dreams is the cornerstone to discovering your divine purpose in life. Your dream boldly answers the question: “Why am I here?” You know God’s general purpose is for you to grow, to worship, to reach up and out and to reproduce--a good dream, a God-given dream completes you.

Genesis 37:5-11

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."

His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.