A Child's Dream

A refrigerator full of ice cream. In preparation for this sermon, I tried to remember some of my earliest dreams and most or most fun dreams as a child. This was a real challenge for me because I honestly tried to think back what was like some of those most fun, exciting, adventurous, hopeful dreams that I had as a child. I struggled to think of and remember what some of those dreams were.

I don't know if it's something to go or happen as we age. Maybe you can think back to some of those dreams better than I can. But I really couldn't think of very many. Now, I remember a lot of my dreams now. It's about stress. It's about my job. It's about running sound at the Feast of Tabernacles in Lake Geneva. I've dreamt that one a lot over these past few weeks.

Leading up to camp, I dream about camp, what's going to happen there, and which of the troublemaker wolf kids are going to cause me problems. They're right here, by the way. That's why I saw them and I had to point them out.

But sometimes, as we become adults and we grow up, our dreams change, don't they? Our dreams sometimes have scary elements to them, stressful elements. We still have hopeful dreams. We have weird dreams. But thinking back to a child, I was struggling to come up with, what were those dreams that I dreamt as a child? I couldn't remember one. The setting is in my old childhood home. I was a kid, of course. I was hungry. I woke up. I was the only one at the house. I went down to the refrigerator. I remember opening the fridge part, because it's a dream, right?

It's those weird ones. I opened up the fridge and the whole fridge was full of nothing but different flavors of ice cream. I could have whatever I wanted. Then reality hit and I woke up. Isn't that how those weird dreams go? Then you're like, I didn't even get to try any of it. It makes no sense, because ice cream should have been in the freezer, but it was in the fridge part. Also, nobody was home. My mom would stock a full fridge. We had told a story of my mom last night.

Do you think she's going to stock a full fridge of ice cream? We had some treats, but not a full fridge. Maybe a psychologist would say I was imputing or shifting my dreams or thoughts into some day when I'm an adult. I can buy whatever I want and have whatever I want. I can fill my fridge with ice cream. I don't know. Maybe I just walked through the grocery store too many times and I saw the full case of ice cream. I'm like, could you imagine having this in your house? When I become rich someday, when I get my first real job, I'm going to get one of these freezers and I'm just going to fill it with every flavor of ice cream.

I don't know. But as a child, I also remember coming to the Feast of Tabernacles and hearing of this better time to come when these issues and problems of the world will be fixed. Now, I'm going to try something here in a minute I've never done before. The preteens that are here, those of you between ages 9 and 12, I'd like you to think about if you would like to come up front and sit here on the stage because I'd like to ask you some questions and that the audience would be able to hear and to understand and to hear about why you are excited to be here at the Feast, what you are excited about when Jesus Christ returns, and what would it be like to have a wonderful life with God's way on this earth.

So that's what I'm going to ask you some questions about. So think up if you have the courage, those of you maybe between the ages of 9 and 12 when I ask you to come down, if you want to come on down when I ask and sit on the front of the stage and I'll come down and meet you, okay? So think about that as I continue on for just a minute. While you're thinking and if you're brave enough to do it, I'll share a couple of additional thoughts about why we are here today.

God has called us to this Feast of Tabernacles so that we may focus on the return of Jesus Christ. This is such a special series of days because we will hear over and over how wonderful this time is to come. And the part that God himself is inviting all of us to play and to be involved with in his return. Open your Bibles with me to Leviticus 23, verse 34.

Leviticus 23, verse 34. Here's where we have the Holy Days captured in Leviticus 23 and in verse 34. God specifically gives instructions about this Feast of Tabernacles that we are observing. God says, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord.

On the first day, there shall be a Holy Convocation. That is what we are doing right now. He says, You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. And on the eighth day you shall have a Holy Convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

Verse 39, it says, Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the Feast of the Lord for seven days. On the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest, and on the eighth day a Sabbath rest. You shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of the palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and the willows of the brook. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days of the year. You shall be a statute forever in your generations.

You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell and boost for seven days, and all who are native Israelites shall dwell and boost. That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell and boost when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. This week God has provided us a temporary accommodation to enjoy while we are gathered here in Lake Geneva. He's given us temporary places to eat this week. And other than the person that lives, I guess, ten minutes away, I'm not aware of anyone else who lives that close to here, to Lake Geneva.

Is there anybody who actually lives in the city of Lake Geneva that is with us? I'm just kind of curious now. I don't want to make assumptions. I don't think, I don't see any hands. Well, one person is from here in Lake Geneva.

Okay, well, I guess you just ruined my whole sermon. No, I was just teasing. Well, the majority of us, except for one person, these are temporary dwellings for us. This is not our backyard. This is not where we're familiar with. The restaurants here are going to be, probably for some of us, the first times we've ever eaten at these restaurants. And so God has made this a temporary location that you and I are keeping his Feast of Tabernacles. I don't know about the rest of you, but I do not have an indoor water park at my home in Michigan. Now, for you kids, that might be one of your dreams, right?

We're talking about dreaming today, right? You're like, that would be awesome. I've got an indoor water park in my backyard. I could play in it all winter long. It doesn't matter how much it snows out. I've got an indoor water park. But we don't have those things, right? So even our water park is a temporary aspect that we get to enjoy for these next seven days here at the Feast of Tabernacles together. What else is temporary? Is this exact arrangement of people sitting here right now, starting this day? Most likely never occur again in our lifetimes, right?

This exact group of people. The next time that we'll all probably be together at the Feast of Tabernacles, this exact arrangement will be when we're spiritual beings with God and the Kingdom, and we're all together again. But then it won't be this group. It'll be a whole bunch of more people joined in with us, right? Even this setting of us sitting here and spending these days is temporary. It's not permanent. And while God invites us all to be here today, He invites us to also set aside as much as we can with our physical situations back home, and to step into a vision, or a dream, if you will, of what the future time to come will be like.

This is a large part of why we are so excited to keep the Feast of Tabernacles together. So, preteens, this is your part to play. Those of you who are 9 to 12, if you are brave enough to take me up on the offer, come on down. And why don't you have a seat here on the front of the stage, and I'll come join you in a second. I'm looking around to see if I have any takers. I got a few.

I might have to broaden out the age range a little bit, because there should be about 10 of you guys here. They're nice questions. They're easy, fun questions. Okay, we've got three. Maybe a couple more from the back. Cool. Well, thank you guys for coming forward and trusting me with this. Maybe I'll see you at camp someday, and you can trust me further. We'll have to see. Okay, we've got maybe four. Do any 8-year-olds want to come up? Boy, we're going to keep going down until we get to the two-year-olds, right?

That's when it'll get interesting. Okay, cool. We'll go with what God has provided, right? Thank you for coming up. And I want to turn to one more scripture. Let's go to Deuteronomy 16 and verse 13. Deuteronomy 16 and verse 13. Now, for the kids here up front and for all the kids in the audience, this is the part where they read to me when I was like your age that I'm like, this is fun, because it talks about rejoicing.

Are any of you guys doing rejoicing this year? Some of you? Kind of? Well, we'll talk about that more with you in just a minute. Deuteronomy 16 and verse 13. It says, Now, let's see what I can accomplish now. Let's see, are we on? Okay, we're on here. Cool. Hi. So, I know some of you. Can I get everybody's name? Dexter. Lincoln. Sadie. Anna. Joseph. Great, thanks for joining me down here. So, I've got some questions, because part of what we're doing here at the feast this year is dreaming of what the kingdom is going to be like.

Envisioning what it's going to be like when Jesus Christ returns, and he fixes a lot of the problems. And we just read a passage about rejoicing. Are there things that you're excited to have fun with and to do here at the feast this year? Anything like fun plans? Sadie, you had something. Did you want to share? What are you excited about? I love animals, so I'm excited to ride the horses, and I'm also kind of just excited to get a break off of school, to be honest. Hey, you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. I felt the same way.

Anybody else excited to rejoice? I'm excited because our hotel has a big water park. I know. I did not ever have a water park when I came to the feast, because they just really weren't things that people had, but they had swimming pools. And I didn't have a swimming pool, and that was so much fun to come to the feast and go swimming.

Oh, you want to? Okay, Anna? I'm just glad I'm getting off my multiplying two digits. That's really hard. It's the little things in life, right? Yeah. No more two-digit multiplications. Dividing three digits. Yeah, that's no fun either. You know what? I bet everybody out here is in agreement with you guys on that one.

So you guys have been in Sabbath schools and different things at different feast sites, and I'm sure you've heard about what God is going to do in the millennium. Is there anything that you're excited, like when Christ returns, that you will be invited to do and to maybe see? Maybe it's a cool animal that you can play with or something else that you want to do? I'm excited to ask questions and ask questions and ask questions. It's going to take probably a year to ask him all the questions I have. Okay.

We're just going to sit down and chat. You're just going to sit down and chat. Well, there's going to be a long line because I think everybody here probably feels a lot like that, Sadie.

Anybody else excited about the millennium when Christ returns? I'm so excited to play with the animals that are like crazy. Does anybody have a fun animal that you think will be so cool to have as a pet? If you had to pick a favorite animal? An American bison. An American bison? Boy, where are you going to put that guy? Have you seen one in real life? Okay. It's like the size of your car. Okay. Anybody else have a fun animal? Jaguars. They're my favorite kind of big cat. Jaguars. They are beautiful animals. God was so thoughtful when He made them. I like lions. They're so cool. Lions? Another one.

Sadie, what's your favorite? I really like Arctic foxes. Arctic foxes. Sea turtles. Sea turtles? Oh, wow. I remember being a kid and thinking it would be so cool to play with a tiger. And then a couple years ago when I was in Mexico for the feast, I actually got a hold and pet a baby tiger. And it was so cool.

But you realize how little time until they're a big tiger and then it's like you don't want to pet a big tiger, right? That's one of the cool things. God's going to change even the nature of the animals so that they're not dangerous anymore and that we can have a lot of fun with them. What do you think will be best about Jesus Christ ruling on this earth, the changes from what we have today? What will be awesome about Jesus Christ's reign?

Peace and prosperity. Yep. Peace and prosperity. Not everybody has that right now. And even where we do have what we think is peace, it's not completely peace. Anything else? We'll be different with Jesus here? No. Like, World War 700. No more World War, you're right.

No more fighting. No more people that think, like, I have to hurt you, to, like, reign over you or to control you. Anything else that you think will be different about the millennium? That Jesus Christ will come back? Because I'm going to share some ideas, too. So if you don't have them all, that's okay. Nobody will get sick. Yep. No more illnesses from, like, a lot of, like, pollution and a lot of things like that. Because God will even fix that.

The rules that we follow today pollute our world a lot in a lot of different ways. And so He'll fix that as well. Sadie? Um... Fffff... Eh... I have a good answer, but I can't find a good way to put it. Okay. You want to think for a minute? Okay. What do you guys think it'll be like for everyone to learn God's way?

What will be different when kids like you, because you're being taught God's way by your parents and your pastors and your family, what will be different when everybody is taught God's way? Any ideas? Um... You don't have to explain to people, like, why you do this, why you do this. And people are going to understand you, they're also going to understand God. They're going to be like, this is why we do this.

Now I understand. Yeah. Yeah. We're not going to... Sometimes we kind of feel like the strange ones, right? Because we go to church on the Sabbath, we keep the feast and things, and someday everybody will be like, yeah, this is what makes sense. What else do you think will be different? Everybody will be nice to everybody. Yep. Yep. Everybody will be nice to everybody. We won't have any people hurting other people anymore.

We won't have people stealing. Nope. No more stealing, right? Because God's going to say, this is not how I want you to live with one another. My mom had her tricycle stolen. Like... In August. In August? Yes. Some teenagers stole it. I'm sorry. And then we're driving around blasting music out. Oh. And this has been a really rare one. Yeah. Sorry. Those things happen sometimes, and they even happen to God's people sometimes. You can make friends easier. Yeah. Why do you think you can make friends easier?

Because everyone will be kinder, because they know God's way. Yep. Yep. So I'm going to ask one more question. Do you guys have any dreams about the kingdom?

Because sometimes you have dreams about maybe the toy you're going to get at the feast, or maybe something you're going to do that pops in your head in a dream. Do you have any dreams or anything that you're dreaming about with the kingdom? I'm going to get a spy drone. You want to get a what? Spy drone. A spy drone? Okay. Hey, everybody has their things, right? A few years ago, just a couple years ago, I bought a big Lego set at the feast. So, hey, we all have our things. Anything else you dream about when you think about the feast that might be like a dream or a vision? At night, I dream about when the kingdom comes, finally, there will be no more wars, it will be peaceful outside. We won't have to be afraid. And God's not going to put any more natural disasters out there, so that we don't get harmed. No, you're right. No more things to be afraid of, right? No more things to be scared of. Dex, it looks like maybe you might be the last one. Everyone believes the same thing. Yep. Yep. That's what we look forward to, right? God's going to fix all these things. We're not going to have people teaching people false things. We're going to talk about that a little bit about truth. And sometimes we don't have truth in this world. But thank you guys so much. You guys are so brave. I don't know if I could have done what you guys did when I was your age. So thank you. Can I give you guys high fives? Thank you, guys. You can go back to your seats now. Thank you. That went awesome. Oh, I love that. Thank you, guys, for doing that.

As a child, I grew up in the church as I shared last night. And it's so easy to recall some of these fun stories that they shared. I remember my parents buying us feast gifts. I remember going to places that I've never experienced before. I remember even my teachers. First, they were kind of like, you know, like you parents who got your kids out of school, and the teacher looks at you when you're two weeks in, three weeks in the school year, you bring them that little piece of paper from your pastor that says, these are the holy days we keep. And they're like, we just started back. And you're like, I know. But I'm going to be going, and I'm taking my kids out. And they're like, okay, so where are you going? Just like your church, like someplace local. And you're like, no, we're going to Colorado. We're going to Wisconsin. And they're like, okay. And look at us like we have this horn growing out of our head or something.

But then, as some of the teachers recognized, and my parents would share where we're going, some of them would even make comments like, your kids are going to get to see things in real life that everybody else in this classroom has only read about in books. And they would share that the majority of the kids in our city would never probably leave the city or leave the state in the majority of their lifetime, much less travel to Wisconsin, travel to South Dakota, go to Colorado, Hawaii. You guys know where the places you have been and the sites that you've been able to see through God's blessings of diligently saving your tithe and then the planning that goes in so that you can travel to these different locations. Growing up in the church and being at the feast, I met people who believed like I did, like some of the kids shared, that they went to church on Saturdays, they played sports that they could that wasn't on a Friday night, and we'd sit around and we'd talk about how great it is that we can be at the feast and make friends. We would talk about what camps we're going to be going to. Are you going to SCP? How many have been to SCP back in the day? A lot of hands, yeah. And now how many have been to UIC, our United Youth Program? We talk about, we come to the feast and we're like, where are you going to camp next summer? What's your plans? And it's just so much fun to be at the feast on that level and to be able to share these things and to spend time with family, to spend time riding horses, as I think it was Sadie who mentioned, she wants to ride some horses while she's here. This is an amazing experience that God has blessed us with to be here at his feast and to be able to accomplish and do so much of what he wants us to enjoy. An aspect we may not always consider in relation to the Feast of Tabernacles, but an account I think has meaning for these days is found in Mark 10 and verse 13.

Mark 10 and verse 13.

If you children and the preteens in the audience think that the Bible is only stories about old people and adults, notice who's the center of attention here in this story and this account with Jesus Christ. Mark 10 and verse 13. It says, Then they brought little children to him. That's something that, can you imagine if Jesus Christ was alive today, you kids, and we were at the feast and he was there, and then Jesus welcomed you to come and join him and to interact with him. How amazing that would be.

These children had this opportunity to come and for Jesus to talk with them. But there was a little bit of a problem. It says that they brought little children to him that he might touch him. But there's a little bit of problem. The adults kind of got in the way. It says, But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. They were probably saying, Oh, Jesus is too, he's too busy. He's got a lot of teaching. He's got to do. We're here to learn from him. We're here to understand.

Some may even say, I've got this disease that I need him to heal. Like, this is a bigger deal, my life. What I have going on, what I need from Jesus. But verse 14, it says, When Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them, Let the children come to me, and do not forbid them.

For of such is the kingdom of God. Jesus himself said, The kingdom is God is set for an attitude and behavior like children. He said, assuredly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, will by no means enter it. And he took them up in his arms, and he laid his hands on them, and he blessed them. One of the joys I have had as an adult, and especially as a parent, is coming to the feast and watching our children play together.

It is, these kids, most of them don't know each other. They show up, and suddenly they start making brand new friends. They have new coloring books, maybe some new pencil, colored pencils to share. They may even have a Lego set that they want to share, some Hot Wheels, and they'll go up to another boy or girl who doesn't have that same toy, and they'll say, Do you want to share, and do you want to play with me?

And the real little ones, they can't even talk yet, but they just use their face, right? They use their hands, they give hugs, and then they share things, and they see if they're going to get it back. They're going to keep my coloring book. I'm not sure I want to give it away. But they come together, and they're so excited to be here.

They're wanting to share, they're wanting to rejoice. They're not worried about their jobs back home. They're not worried so much about school, other than the homework that they may have to bring with them, right, Sadie? That two-factor multiplication, or two-digit? I know your dad, he probably can't do it either, so don't worry. John and I go way back. I'm going to pay for that one when I come on.

I'm going to stay here all day now, because I am going to have to meet up with John later on. But they're just excited. They can't wait to play in the water park. They can't wait at the water park when they run into the friend that they met here at services. And then they're like, hey, do you want to go play? It's so much fun, because it's unbridled joy to be here and to be together.

It's unbridled joy to share with one another everything that they're here to enjoy, that you've done, to bring them here, to set up this situation, to, again, save your tithe diligently so that you can be here and bring your children with you. It is so much fun to see our children play. There are also aspects that Jesus is referencing here about humility, because children are naturally humble, right? Sometimes there's that attitude, right?

But they recognize, I can't do everything myself. I can't cook all my own meals. I can't drive to the feast. I need other people's help. There's honesty with kids. There's innocence with our children. And the way that children are is what we are to be an example of as we observe the feast. Relating to this message, we should all be dreaming and capturing a vision of this wonderful time to come when Jesus returns and Satan is removed from the world. So I invite you to go back to being a child with me and experience the joy and excitement of childhood dreams. For those who like sermon titles, this message is entitled, A Child's Dream. Dreaming is such an odd phenomenon.

We are asleep and resting when dreams normally occur, unlike the rest of our days when we're conscious. We're awake and aware of what's going on. Dreams come out of nowhere, and sometimes they make no sense at all, or sometimes events we experience during the day show up in our dreams at night. But when we close our eyes, we never know what we're going to dream about. We don't know how that dream will go, but each night, most nights, they occur.

From a Google search, this is from Google AI, when I asked it to explain to me the phenomenon of dreaming. It says, dreaming is considered odd because the brain creates conscious experiences and complex worlds disconnected from our walking reality, often in illogical or bizarre ways that are difficult to remember or understand.

Despite being a daily universal experience, the exact purpose of dreaming remains unknown, with theories suggesting it helps with memory consolidation, emotional processing, or even subconscious wish fulfillment. Phenomena like false awakenings, intense emotional reactions, and the seemingly random nature of dream content contribute to the oddness of the dreaming experience.

Then it went on to explain why dreaming feels odd. I'd like us to consider these aspects as it comes to the vision God wants us to capture during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Why do dreams feel odd? Independent brain activity is one of those reasons. It says, the brain generates a complete world of conscious experiences and sensations, even when disconnected from external sensory input.

This is one of those aspects of dreaming that God wants us to do while we're here. He wants us to have these conscious experiences, what feels like a conscious experience about His kingdom and the changes that will come when He comes and reigns on the earth. And those dreams and that reality, because it's not reality as the kids demonstrated, we don't live in a world without war right now.

We don't live in a world where everybody tells their truth or that they don't hurt one another. And so we have to dream and envision a time when this will come. Another odd why dreaming feels odd, it shared emotional intensity. Dreams are often emotionally charged with strong feelings that can linger even after waking, a process linked to how the brain consolidates emotional, significant memories. So our dreams that we have at night are often emotionally charged. God has put that within us to be emotional beings, and He wants us to have emotion about the kingdom. That's why we're excited. That's why I'm kind of a little bit goofy up here, right? Because I'm excited that this feast is something that He has invited us to be part of, and I can't help but to let some of that joy out. He wants us to be emotionally connected to what He is going to bring to this earth. He wants us to envision and to feel in our core of who we are, the better world to come, and the way that things will be fixed for our children, for our grandchildren, for our great-grandchildren, for society as a whole. He wants us to be able to emotionally connect to those things, and we'll look at a few in some of these other verses. Another aspect of why dreams feel odd is that it says, vividness and forgetting. Dreams can be incredibly vivid and feel real, yet they are often forgotten with only the most impactful or emotionally significant ones being easily recalled. We know how vivid some of our dreams can be. We can see and experience. It's almost as if it was real. We wake up and we're like, Oh wow, that felt so real. It just wheats away, that feeling. I've had dreams where they were so emotional that I woke up in tears because of what I was dreaming about, and it had an impactful spot on my heart. I've had dreams where I woke up and I'm like, this is going to be a good day. I'm off to a good start already. That was such a beautiful dream. God wants us to vividly imagine what the kingdom will be like, but unlike the dream state, he doesn't want us to go and then forget what this is going to be like. He doesn't want us just to leave here or to leave here in seven more days and go home and just be like, well, that was a nice vacation.

Or we had fun at the water park. He wants us to carry this vivid dream, this vivid vision with us back home and to keep it close to our heart as we go through the next year.

God has built into mankind the ability to dream, an ability that we still, as humankind, do not fully understand. But regardless of our understanding of why or how dreams occur often in our lives, as children, many of our dreams are those fun and encouraging, those refrigerators full of ice cream.

Many times, children's dreams are innocent. They're uplifting. They're joyful. They're exciting. And separate from what we dream about when we sleep, we have thoughts and dreams about our future, especially children. What will you be when you grow up? Sometimes our children dream about their future careers and what they want to be.

Children's thoughts or dreams may even include getting married someday and having children of their own so they can tell them what to do.

We are here at the Feast of Tabernacles to live and experience part of the dream or vision that God wants us to have of a better time to come in the future.

And He wants us to realize today what we can do to bring this dream to life this week. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9. I think for some of us who've grown up in the church, we may take this passage for granted what God has done in our lives because I don't remember feeling differently than what is described here.

1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9. But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the hearts of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. While He invites us to dream and to have a vision of this better time to come, He says, you can't even fully get it. You can't fully grasp it because even your wildest dreams of having your own indoor water park in your house is not even close to what I'm going to bring to this world and bring to your lives.

He's saying you just can't wrap your mind around it. But He goes on in verse 10, and this is the part that I think I sometimes even still today might take for granted. He says, but God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. And we know that as when we're baptized, we have God's Spirit dwelling within us. But prior to baptism, as God's calling and working with us, His Spirit is still leading and guiding us more on the external, more in helping us as we go through our day, just as He's leading our children.

It says, God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. And He says, for what man knows the things of man except the Spirit of man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

And then He says, now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

We are such a blessed group of people that God has not only called us and shown us a better way, but He says, let me give you a peek into the future.

Let me give you a peek into what I want to bring and to do in the world. And let me tell you what your role is going to be. And then you're like, tell me. And He goes, you've got to have to wait for a little bit. But I'm going to tell you a whole bunch of other aspects that it's going to paint a picture and you know what you're going to do. You're going to help make this world better.

And so God has opened our mind to see this and growing up in the church, you know what, I probably do take this for granted too many times.

Because He has put this into my heart as a child because I got to do what some of the children who sat on the stage do, to keep these days and to observe them. To begin building a dream and a vision of His time to come.

When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables, He gave them this answer. And you can put it into your notes. Matthew 13, verses 11, and then 16 and 17. I'll just reference. You can turn if you want, but I'll just reference. Because they were confused. Why do you speak in parables, Jesus? And He answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus said, because it's been given to you, to His disciples, and in turn to us, to know these secrets, to know these mysteries about the coming kingdom of heaven. But to them, He says, it has not been given. He says, but bless your eyes, for they see in your ears, for they hear.

For assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

So, a question for us all to consider. What is the dream or vision that you want to capture for this week?

This is one of those big questions of the week, right?

You may not be able to maybe write it down exactly in your notes right now, but I want to challenge you to start thinking about this dream or this vision that you want to take home with you from this feast.

Maybe even write some aspects on the top of your pages that you can then flip back and forth as the week goes on, because the other men who will share messages have also been inspired by God.

We've talked about them, and there's a lot of wonderful content that's going to come through the messaging here, because God is the author of it. He's the one that's inspired it.

On the top of your pages, you may make notes as the week goes on that will modify and create this dream or this vision that you want to take back home with you this year.

But what is that dream? What is that vision that you want to capture?

I want us all to really consider this question, because like all dreams, we will eventually wake up and begin our morning again. Get back into our real life.

The Feast of Tabernacles, as great as it is, will come to an end. We'll return to our homes, except for one person in Lake Geneva. She'll just skip home or something.

I'm sorry. You don't have a big commute. The rest of us have a little bit of a drive home. But we're going to get back to our lives. We're going to get back to our jobs. We're going to get back to caring for our children at home.

We're going to get back to homeschooling. We're going to get back to making sure our kids are up and dressed and fed before they head out for school in the day.

We're going to get back to our church communities. We're going to get back to how we serve our brethren, our brothers and sisters.

We're going to get back to caring for relatives, maybe our parents. We're going to get back to all of these things in just a short amount of time.

This vision that we're capturing this week may feel like a little bit of a dream when we go home because we'll wake back up and have similar things on our plates when we return.

But for this week, we have an opportunity to dream or capture a vision of what we want to keep in our minds.

Maybe you want to write a few words again at the top of your notebook, or maybe as more is shared as the week goes on.

I have my own personal dreams, and I know that you have yours as well.

Through the tremendous blessing from God, we have been able to understand the things of God.

Part of what we understand and part of the reason we are here today is to capture a vision of a much better time to come in the future.

Let's spend a few minutes considering some of the descriptions we have of this better time to come.

Turn with me to Zechariah 8, verse 1.

Zechariah 8, verse 1.

The prophet Zechariah records in verse 8, chapter 1. Again, the word of the Lord of Hosts came saying, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, I am zealous for Zion, and with great zeal, and with great fervor I am zealous for her.

Jerusalem and Zion are often used interchangeably. Jerusalem is the actual location of the city.

Zion is often viewed or used as a spiritual or symbolic essence, but they both go hand in hand. Notice verse 3 says, That's the city I want to live in.

That's the city I want to make my abode and build my house. The city of truth. Can't wait to have that. The mountain of the Lord of Hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.

Thus says the Lord of Hosts, It is, thus says the Lord of Hosts, If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of the people in these days, will it also be marvelous in my eyes, says the Lord of Hosts?

The new, living translation for verse 6 says, This is what the Lord of Heaven's army says.

All of this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God's people, but is it impossible to me, says the Lord of Heaven's army? In a more modern way, we could say, All of this may seem like a dream to you, but is this a dream to me, God asks?

Verse 7, Thus says the Lord of Hosts, Behold, I will save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the west. I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.

They shall be my people, and I will be their God, and notice in truth and righteousness.

Some of the children came up, shared that they want to be in a place where everybody knows God.

Everybody knows about the Sabbath. Everybody knows about how they're supposed to treat one another. This is part of this vision that God is bringing. He goes on to say in verse 15, So again, in these days, I am determined to do good.

I love that passage. God says, I am determined to do good.

To Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And He says, Do not fear.

These are the things you shall do. Speak each man the truth to his neighbor. No more lying, right? No more stealing. He says, Give judgment in your gates for what? For truth, justice, and peace.

He says, Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor. And do not love a false oath, which means lying or sharing half-truths. He says, For all of these things I hate, says the Lord.

Verse 21, He says, The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord. The kids shared that. They can't wait until everybody has that one God that we have, and that we're praying together, and that we're worshipping Him together, and that we're all the same, and that we're all on the same page, religiously. We all have the same Father. He's saying, Everybody, let us continue to go and pray before the Lord, and seek the Lord of hosts. I, myself, will go also.

Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.

This is that city. This is that home environment God wants to bring to the earth during the millennium, where children can play in the streets, where they can play at the parks in the neighborhoods, while their grandparents watch from their front porches.

Something that we can't really do very much today, right? Even if you do have a safe park across the street, how far do you really let your children get out of your eyesight?

Do you do your work near the window so you can keep an eye on them?

Sadly, this is the world that we live in.

He also referenced that truthful speaking will spread throughout the world, and people will be able to believe and trust one another without having to consider if there is a bad motivation or if someone was trying to control the narrative of a situation.

Children are beautiful in that they are naturally trusting by nature, but sadly, this nature is tarnished as they realize that not everyone tells the truth.

I think it's one of the saddest things to see a child to develop, because they're little, they're trusting, they believe, they want the best in the people that they're interacting with. These people, they'll do what's nice for me, and then to see that get tarnished as they live life and they go through and then they realize not everybody's telling the truth.

I just got taken advantage of. And I'm not talking about the, where's your nose? You know, like grab their nose and they're like, what? I'm talking about like hurts.

And then they realize, huh, this is part of life.

And then you realize they're changing, and it hurts, our hearts, to see that someone beautiful and innocent is now realizing that they have to be, I guess, wise as serpents.

And then also learn how to be harmless as doves as they continue to live this life.

Can you dream or envision a time when this will no longer be the case? Can you dream or envision a time like Zechariah shared here in Zechariah 8?

Our children have this vision. We heard them share that with us today. Can we turn with me to Ezekiel 36 and verse 24?

Ezekiel 36 and verse 24.

Oh, boy. I'm running out of time.

Ezekiel 36 and verse 24.

Ezekiel 36 and verse 24.

Ezekiel 36 and verse 33.

Ezekiel 36 and verse 24.

Let's build parks. Let's build better schools. Let's build better places for people to live. Houses that are protected and well built and new. Let's move these funds around. Let's shift this over. And Jesus Christ is going to be the chief one in charge of this rebuilding, this restoration project. But He's going to say, I need your help. Talking to our audience here. I need your help to do these things. So I need these people over here and I need you to help guide these people. And you know what? I need preachers. How awesome will it be when every street corner has a church? Because everybody's going to need a place to go. And so we're going to have to be preachers. We're going to have to be teachers. We're going to have to be helpers. We're going to have to guide. We're going to be involved in this rebuilding. We're going to be involved in this rebuilding project that God is promising. And this is part of that dream that He wants us to have this week. There's other aspects that we're going to look at this week. I'll skip through a few. But it talks about where the ground is going to be restored. And the pwahmen will overtake the reaper because the abundance will be so large. And it will be so fast that by the time they're ready to harvest, it's like it's time to plant again. There will be this continuity of food that will just never perish or go away. And He just continues to promise more and more blessings for mankind. So as we begin to conclude, I ask again, what is the dream or vision that you want to capture this week?

Write it down and add it to your prayer list this week. Ask God to give you the vision He wants you to take home with you from this feast. What we have read today is just a sampling of the Scriptures God has given us of a much better time to come. He Himself wants us to capture a vision of this wonderful time. And He wants us to enjoy a beautiful dream of the things He has in store for the world.

We heard from the children themselves what their vision is of the kingdom. The things that excites them. The things they can already see in their mind.

Turn with me for the final passage in Micah 4 and verse 1.

Micah 4, verse 1 through 4.

Micah 4, verse 1. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain and the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow to it. I love that word flow. It's like that fresh brook. It's like the new stream, pure water. And it's just flowing freely. And God is going to bring that type of restoration, that type of water. And people gravitate towards bodies of water that are beautiful, pristine, clean, because of everything they provide. And He's saying, just like this pristine river, people will flow towards God. What a beautiful imagery He has captured for us.

Many nations shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off, because the adults are going to have a hard time giving their way over to God.

And He's going to say, I'm going to have to humble you to bring you down to like little children, so that you can inherit the kingdom I want you to have. And He says, They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up swords against nations, neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under His vine and under His fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.

I love this part, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

May we each capture the vision of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, and may we each have a child's dream.