Actually, I prepare for every sermon with utmost diligence, just like a chef preparing a meal with care. The most important thing in life is a dream; without it, one cannot truly thrive. Today's topic is Paying the Price for Dreams. In Genesis, many figures paid a price for their dreams. A Christian's life is vibrant only to the extent they have dreams. Without dreams, a person merely exists.

1. Review of Last Sunday: Constant Renewal

Is everything being renewed? Science has its various disciplines, skills have their various techniques, and knowledge has its various forms. If someone claims to be able to do everything, they are likely proficient in nothing. For instance, during a job interview, if the interviewer asks what you can do and you reply, Everything, they will know you are capable of nothing.

This morning, I spoke with a brother who observed that all the people on earth are children of God. In this competitive era, what is needed is not a jack-of-all-trades but a specialist—someone with a clear direction and a dream. Today, we must realise that not every skill needs to be equally high; this era requires skills that are an inch wide and a mile high. We all need to sort ourselves out: Where exactly does your direction lie? Without a dream, there is no incentive to strive.

Once you have a dream, you have a long-term goal, and it becomes clear what you should and should not do each day. A person cannot thrive without a dream. Even conjuring up a daydream is acceptable. On a train journey, I met an elderly woman who said that she was poor in the past but had a goal. Today, she has money but feels her life is meaningless – because she lacks a dream. My mother used to have a dream: to pay off her debts, which gave her a sense of purpose. I also had a fulfilling childhood because I dreamed of communism.

Today, I encourage everyone to start having dreams and to pay the price for them. I have a deep dream that liver problems, which seem almost unsolvable, can be healed. I have heard of brothers and sisters whose livers were healed through my prayers. My dream is to be a blessing to many. To achieve this dream, I have paid a heavy price—do not think that declaring healing is just a word. Before that declaration, I had invested a lot.

To be like Jesus, I deeply desire to do things as Jesus did. The price I have paid is often tearful. I once had a dream that many would be blessed through me. I do not know how to live a meaningless life. Today, I am fortunate to be Chinese. China will become a nation that missionaries, a strong nation and a prosperous nation. We must constantly renew ourselves, focusing our renewal and efforts on our dreams. We are constantly renewing ourselves, and our renewal is now centered on our dreams. Countries that spread the gospel develop greatly. China must become a prosperous nation, and the Chinese people must bless this era. Let us now open the Bible. The Bible records many individuals who paid a heavy price for their dreams.

2. Scripture: Genesis 37:18-20

They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” (Genesis 37:18-20)

4. Background of the Scripture

What does this story tell us? It is about a boy named Joseph, the eleventh son, who had ten older brothers. His father was Israel, formerly Jacob. He received blessings through his father's elder brother. His father obtained the blessing of the firstborn, and God spoke with him.

The Bible tells us: Dreams should be spoken out. We must now continuously transmit dreams. We have to pay the price when we speak out our dreams. If we have a dream, we must believe that it can come true; if we believe we can pay the price, it is a way to realize dreams. People without dreams or Mingding Doctrine will persecute those who have dreams and Mingding Doctrine. But we believe that our dreams will come true. Live a wonderful life with dreams! We must pay the price for our dreams now. To achieve something, we must first pay the price. What does the ending of the story tell us? God is with those who have Mingding Doctrine.

Having dreams requires sacrifice. Jack Ma once said that many young people consider thousands of paths at night yet walk the same path in the morning. This is very true because they are unwilling to pay the price. Do not dwell on the process of doing things. Focus on the outcome. No matter how good the process, a bad result is futile. We must pay the price for our dreams. Share the dreams with others. It does not matter even if we are persecuted for the dreams.

What is the end to the story? Joseph did not die because God was his helper. What is there to be afraid of? One sister shared how she was healed; that is my dream. Bear in mind, the ending of an affair is better than its beginning. The ending of Joseph's story is that he became the saviour of his family. Nobody can take away our dreams. God blesses those who have dreams and pay the price for those dreams.

We must uphold our dreams regardless of the circumstances. The environment might be desolate. Still, we must bear in mind that hope lies in our dreams. We must have the characteristics of Joseph and Jacob of upholding dreams.

We must learn from people in the Bible who possess dream-upholding characters. Although we are engaged in various works in the world, still, we can realize our dreams. Believe that if we dream a dream loved by Jesus Christ, it will come true.

If we believe and claim to have received something, you will get it. I long to be like Joseph and Jacob. As someone, who wants to have a fantastic life, I know deeply that people must have dreams because a person without a dream cannot thrive. Although we work hard, we will no longer be weary because of the vision inside us.

The revolutionary martyrs who founded the People's Republic of China threw their heads and shed their blood because of their dreams. They paid a heavy price for establishing the People's Republic of China. We should learn to appreciate our predecessors. People of that era had dreams, and that made them happier than people today who do not have dreams. The ending is most important. Let us not complain. We believe that everything around us will drive us forward.

6. Do You Have Joseph's Dream Inside?

I met a brother who asked me: I cannot dream like Joseph. What should I do? Can I still have dreams? This is a very practical question. We cannot control our dreams. Many people do not dream. What should we do if we cannot dream? His question inspired me to study where Joseph's dreams came from. The result of my study greatly inspired me: Dreams arise from the longings of the heart. Abraham longed to find the meaning of life. Thus, God spoke to him, allowing him to find his Mingding Doctrine and meaning in life. This is in Genesis 12. Jacob desired to inherit the spiritual Mingding Doctrine. He stole the blessing from his father. As a result, in Bethel, God appeared to Jacob in a dream, proclaiming that all nations on earth would be blessed because of Jacob's descendants. Jacob then said: How awesome is this place!

Whether Abraham or Jacob, people who have dreams start from longings. Longing will make God appear in our dreams. People who are full of longing will accomplish extraordinary things. I aspire to study well, so I study well. I desire to do things well, so things are done well. My heart is filled with various desires. If you are not a longing person, you can decide. Decide to become a longing person.

Find or seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. If you seek around, you will find it. You will receive God's revelation if you aspire to become something; if you aspire to become the saviour of your family, God will show you a dream about your family. If you aspire to find the law of periodical table, God will reveal it to you. If you aspire to get your Mingding Doctrine, God will reveal your Mingding Doctrine to you.

Dreaming starts from longing. Because I was longing for it, I began to receive God's revelations and dreams. Some people say that they have been yearning for a long time but they still do not dream. I say: Can you make up a dream? This will do. With that, you are in the most desired state. Even if God does not appear in my dream, I will make a dream. I closed my eyes and imagined that I saw a ladder to heaven. God came to me and said you should bless all the nations. Does it matter? It does not matter! We can do so. He is gracious to people who yearn to have dreams. Whatever we do, including healing and deliverance, speaking in tongues in prayer, all start from longing.

Some emphasize the passing of anointing. In fact, the passing of anointing also starts from longing. How did Elisha obtain Elijah's anointing? Before Elijah was taken up by God to heaven, Elijah was followed everywhere by Elisha. It was not the passing of anointing that achieved the effect, but Elisha's longing. Dreamers, their dreams stemmed from an intense desire, from Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David, to Apostle Paul. People who live an exciting life, possess desires. If you are spiritually wooden, thinking like I am who I am, you will not get dreams.

In the past, I shared a topic to all of you, namely Living out the Passion Inside. Passion and dreams are like fire and firewood. If a person wants to live a good life, he must first spark the dream inside him. If a person wants to have a breakthrough, he must start longing for it. Longing is very important. Dream is too. Should you fail to have any dream, how about inheriting Abraham's and Joseph's dreams? Most people have the same dreams, but this does not matter. If we have faith in Jesus Christ, we will enter Abraham's blessing of having Mingding Doctrine. Then, we shall inherit Abraham's dream. This is the gospel that we preach that is related to Mingding Doctrine.

If you want to live a spiritless life, you do not need dreams. But if you want to live life with fire, you must be longing. God's blessings will come down from above.  After Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, his disciples gathered at the Upper Room, longing for the Holy Spirit. For seven days, they kept uttering: Be filled with the Holy Spirit but they did not know when the Holy Spirit would descend. But strangely, they were not annoyed. As a result, on the day of the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit indeed descended.

A person had a friend, but did not have anything to treat his friend with. Thus, he went to his neighbour, seeking to borrow some loafs of bread. The neighbour had already slept. He was not willing to give the bread. He kept beseeching. As a result, Jesus said that because he was a friend, the neighbour would not give him the break, but the neighbour would fulfil his desire due to his persistence. As to dreams, we shall desire and beseech in the same way. God will give you that thing. God is a God who realizes dreams. God would like to bestow on him such a dream. God wants to turn you into a great nation. God wants to bless you, blessing all nations in the world through you. We would like to become such a person.

7. The Bible Is Full of Stories of People Who Dream

I aspire for one thing: the stories of the time when I am alive should be recorded in heaven. Our tearing, sweating, and being wronged do not matter because that is part of our story. Without these stories, where is the excitement? If the same thing is being repeated everyday, what is the point? Instead, your story is written in blood and tears. Joseph's story is nice and his story has inspired countless people. I said: Lord, may the story of mine be documented in heaven as Abraham's story. May you remember the price that I paid for realizing my dream. I am serious about it. I am not just playing. I will cling tightly to my dream. Lord, you are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. May you be my God too. Whether Tamar or Rahab, regardless of whether they are male or female, as long as the stories are about people who dream, their stories will be documented in heaven.

Yesterday, one brother said we all are Abraham. I challenged him: Do you have Abraham's traits? Joseph, who dreamed of becoming the saviour of his family, eventually became the saviour of his family. It does not matter whether he had to shed blood, sweat or tears as there was support of dreams. People without dreams cannot carry on.

God is a faithful God. God is a God who can be experienced. God is very real for people who have dreams. I hope our brothers and sisters are playing it for real, not a lie. Even if we have been sold to Egypt, we should not allow our dreams to be extinguished.

8. Summary

Do you want to have a great story? Start composing your story from your dreams. Jacob and Joseph talked about the many stories of him getting the rights of a firstborn son. Start embracing, sharing and paying the price for your dreams, passing on your dreams and flames to others. Start sharing your dreams, letting more people be infected by you, turning them into dreamers. For the land of China so that the Chinese can be blessed. In the past, many Westerners came to the land of China to preach the gospel, paying with blood. Today, we who have been blessed by the gospel shall follow their stories of sacrificing blood, continuing to write even more fantastic chapters.

The stories we write must be even more amazing than the ones written by Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Wesley because God wants to restore the truth of the gospel in this age and do even greater things. It is our honour to be a Chinese in this era because this is our era as the Chinese nation to preach the gospel. People who have been blessed by gospel shall continue to write even greater stories. I was lucky to believe in the Lord at about twenty years old, experiencing God's grace and God prepared me to be a blessing to others. You shall pay the price for your dreams God bestowed on us if you desire such dreams. Amen!