(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Upgrade to Unlimited to remove this message.) What do you associate with summer? You were asked that at the entrance if you went to the umbrella and didn't immediately stop for the cocktails, which is totally fine. But the question was, what do you associate with summer? Of course, I don't know what you personally answered. Your answers are now hanging there nicely under the umbrella, and you're welcome to take another look and see what others have answered. But note: last week we asked a different question. Don't be surprised why there are things listed that don't fit the question: What do you associate with summer? I associate summer with a feeling of lightness. I think I'm much more adventurous in the summer than in the winter. I'm always happy when it rains again and think, great, then I can watch Netflix and don't even have to go outside. In the summer, I'm more likely to be inspired to do something. I'm also more likely to get more steps in the summer. For me, summer has something lighter about it. And I believe that summer is also a good time to dream. Honestly, I don't do what I'm about to say very often, but I have that image in my mind. Summer, you're lying on a meadow, maybe in the green center—I don't have to go far. When the grass is so high, you lie there and somehow look up into the blue sky and dream. I somehow associate that feeling of summer with the idea that summer is a good time for dreaming. And today, dreams are what we're talking about. Not by chance, but because I believe summer is a good time for dreaming. At the same time, I know that not all of you probably associate dreams with positive things. There are also nightmares. There are dreams that scare you. Dreams where you don't say, "That was absolutely beautiful, summer, sun, meadow," but perhaps dreams about something bad happening to a loved one. So, nightmares, negative dreams. And you can also describe dreams as negative as crazy ideas. Oh, it's just daydreaming. It's just nonsense. Today, I'm going to evaluate dreams positively, or talk about the nice, good, positive dreams. For me, dreams also have a lot to do with achieving goals, or even having goals in general. I dream of getting somewhere. In response to the question, what do you dream of? I dream of publishing a children's book. That's a goal, something you want to achieve. And then, if you look in the Bible, there's at least one more category of dreams. And I don't find it so easily. And that's the category Petra just read about. Because in this story of Jacob, it's about Jacob experiencing God in a dream. God speaks to him. He dreams that heaven opens, a ladder to heaven is there, and angels are walking up and down, and at the top of the ladder, so to speak, God is there, speaking to him. This is an encounter with God, an experience with God in a dream. And we find this in several places in the Bible: that dreams are a place for experiencing God, for encountering God. On the one hand, that's absolutely beautiful. But I also notice that I really have problems with these kinds of dreams. Or when I read Bible texts like these, I feel a bit jerky and twitchy inside. And I think, yes, but. I don't know anyone personally, but I think we all know these stories—or rather, they're not stories, but realities—where people do really bad things because they believe God told them something. Where people say, "God told me in a dream that, in the worst case scenario, I should kill people." I say that because I think there's something really beautiful about meeting God in a dream. But for me, there's also a danger, because it's so hard to judge: did I just do that, or did the person imagine it, or was it really God? We always have to ask ourselves that. When we ask for something and then it happens, we can say, thank you, God. We can say, maybe we're just lucky. But when we dream that God is telling us something, I think there's a certain latent danger that it might not have been God. That's why this sermon today isn't a plea for us all to dream of God, like Jacob on the ladder to heaven. Instead, I want to encourage dreaming with God. I don't mean to disparage what Jacob experienced, or if you experienced it. Great, I don't want to say it doesn't exist or that it's bad. I'm just saying, I'm becoming increasingly cautious because it's so difficult to assess. And this other thing I want to talk to you about isn't difficult to assess; it's much simpler and clearer, and that's why I'm talking about it. What do you dream of? In the Mentimeter survey, I think the biggest thing in the middle was peace. What is greatest is what most of you have mentioned. If you dream of peace, then dream of peace with God. If you dream of publishing a children's book, then dream of achieving that goal with God. So when I say dream less about God and dream more with God, I mean that we bring him into our dreams, that we let him become part of our dream, that we say, 'God, this is my dream, I want to achieve it with you.' Perhaps the most well-known Christian person when it comes to dreams and dreams with God is, I believe, Martin Luther King. I have a dream. One of the most famous speeches about this is about Martin Luther King, who says he had a vision of a different society in his mind. He said, "I have a dream of how our society could be better." It wasn't a crazy idea; it was possible. Honestly, it wasn't easy, and it wasn't like everyone was saying, "Yeah, sure, we'll do this tomorrow." It wasn't a crazy idea. It was a dream in the sense of a goal. It was a dream in the sense of, "I have an idea of ​​how our world could be better," and Martin Luther King lived this dream with God. He essentially brought God into the picture. He didn't say, "I had a dream and God told me to do this or that." Instead, his faith in God completely empowered him to work toward this dream. He felt empowered that this dream was in God's will. That's what I mean by dreaming with God. And if summer really is a good time for dreaming, as I've claimed, then I believe summer is also a good time to dream with God. Because it's here and now, today is a good moment to dream with God. My dream, which immediately came to mind when I was asked, is a dream. So, Trixi and I, I said last week, we've been together for, I think, six or seven years. It's been eight or so. I got a little one from Trixi later. Listen, we've been together for much longer. So, about eight years ago, we met, and Trixi asked me what I dreamed of, what I was up to, and I said, roughly, that I dreamed that when I retired, I'd be at a house by a lake with lots of children running around me. Grandchildren, my own children. As a point of comparison, maybe Peter Fox's song "Haus am See" (House by the Lake), if you know it. Yes, it doesn't have to be 20 or whatever they say, but I have this image in my mind that when I finally reach retirement age, I'll have a vibrant family all around me. And that's really my dream. But I still have a while to work, it'll be a while before I get there. But this dream is affecting my reality in the here and now. Simply put, the less I care for Trixi and myself, or prioritize our son Leo, the higher the likelihood that my dream won't come true when I reach retirement. Because, of course, if I neglect them now, the likelihood of us being a happy family and romping around in retirement decreases. I say this because dreams may be far away, but that doesn't mean they don't have a profound impact on our here and now. You may dream of something that's truly only attainable in the distance, but that doesn't change the fact that it changes something in your here and now, or at least can change something. There are a few things that, I think, sometimes prevent us from dreaming. One reason is that it's too far away. I prefer to think in shorter, smaller steps. Sometimes it's my own doubts or worries, or insecurities. Often, it's other people who might say, "What kind of dream is that? Learn something decent and stop daydreaming about things you can't achieve anyway." There are many things; it could be our fault, it could be external influences. But I believe there is one who doesn't stop us from dreaming, and that is the God of the Bible. I believe that the God of the Bible initially approves of dreams, for the simple reason that dreams are almost always the beginning of positive change. I believe that dreams are incredibly important for us personally, but also for us as a society, because dreams are the starting point of change. Martin Luther King, for example, saw what is, but also saw what could be. That was his "I have a dream" and it led to a pretty big, drastic, positive change. Now, I don't think we're all Martin Luther King, so we don't all have to change the world, but when we look in the Bible, I read about a God who wants a very good world. Jesus calls it the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, and Jesus comes into the world and says, "People, the Kingdom of God is near." And then some people ask, "Is that later for me?" or "When will that be?" and Jesus clarifies and says, "It's already here." The Kingdom of God is not something that will happen sometime when Jonah reaches retirement age. It is not something that we live here now and someday the Kingdom of Heaven will come. Instead, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God already exists and I believe that is similar to Jacob's ladder to heaven. Because as Jacob imagined it, dreamed it, or as it is reported, there is a connection between heaven and earth. In this one place a piece of heaven on earth is created. And that is exactly how I believe Jesus means that the Kingdom of Heaven can already pop up here and there, wherever a very good world is created, or wherever a more good world is created. God creates the world and says it is very good. Then something happens in the Bible, which the Bible perceives as sin, that it is no longer very good and Jesus says, but God did not give up on the plan. He did not say, yeah, that's a shame, let's just have an okay world for now. Instead, God's goal is a very good world, and dreams are the beginning of change so that there is a more good world. That's why I believe God has a great interest in us dreaming. Yes, sometimes perhaps big, sometimes perhaps too big, but it's better to dream too big than not to dream at all. And that's why I believe that when it comes to dreams, God has a great interest in our dreams because he wants to create a more positive world with us. For me, dreaming with God means perceiving dreams as a place of encountering God, though perhaps not always like Jacob did in a very direct, personal experience of God, an encounter with God. Rather, dreams are a place where God encounters our hopes and longings, or where we allow them to encounter God. In our dreams, God encounters what is truly important to us. That doesn't mean everything will be fine or even perfect, but it does mean I'm no longer alone with my hopes, with my longings, with what I dream of. Dreaming with God means I dream of the Kingdom of God. I dream that in my world, too, a kind of ladder to heaven will descend, and the angels will walk up and down, and a piece of heaven will become a part of earth. Dreams with God aren't an escape from our own reality. And they don't blind us to what is, either, but they make us more courageous to create what isn't yet. We've only read a brief excerpt here from Jacob, but the whole story is that Jacob really messed up. He's on the run, essentially betraying his family. That's not really the highlight moment or the highlight story. Jacob is actually pretty much at the end of his rope, and in this situation, he experiences his own heavenly moment, and God meets him and says, "I'm with you, I have plans for you, I have something in store for you." And I do believe that we can also take away from this story that if God encountered Jacob in these moments, then he will also encounter us in all our moments when we think, "Definitely not now." So, now is definitely not a good time to dream. I'm too weak, I've messed up too much, I don't have the strength. I believe that God encourages us, even in dreams, precisely in those moments when we think to ourselves, "I'll dream again next summer." Perhaps you're sitting on a dream, perhaps you brought one with you, perhaps you just wrote something and thought, "Okay, I'd write something different now that I know what it's about." Perhaps today is a good moment to dig up this dream within yourself and say, "Here, God, this is my dream." It's not about informing God; of course, he knows what you're dreaming about. Just as we don't pray to inform God, we don't have to tell him what's going on. Instead, we enter into a relationship and say, 'I want to dream this dream with you.' Ideally, you've all been given a bubble machine, a manual bubble machine, and the idea is that Akemi will play and Trixi will sing right from the next song. You can sing along, but maybe you can also use the music for your own personal dreams. And yes, it's just an image, but the soap bubbles are a symbol of you bringing your dreams to God and saying, this is my dream, these are my dreams. It's just a symbol, soap bubbles bursting and then I don't know what you do with the image, but it's about what lies dormant within you, what you dream of, for you personally, for us as a congregation, for us as a district, as a city, as a country, as a society, that you dig out your very own "I have a dream" and bring it to God. Because I believe there is no better place, no better contact person than the God of the Bible when it comes to making this world a better world. And dreams are the beginning of a better world, dreams are the beginning of a much better world. And when you dream of having moments like Jacob's Ladder, then I believe it starts with focusing less on dreaming about God and more with him. With that in mind, dream with God! Dream, and you will become an active part of what the Bible calls heaven on earth. In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, it says that heaven will come to earth at some point. It doesn't say that the earth will pass away and then there's a pop, or that we'll ride in the Hyperloop somewhere to another brave new world. Instead, the Bible says that there will be heaven everywhere on earth. And Jesus says that it won't be like that, but that heaven will develop bit by bit on earth. And that's why it's not for nothing, or isn't it perhaps a waste of time if each of you dreams about this very good world, even if it's just a small part of it. So this is a big plea, a big invitation, to use the time now to bring your dreams to God and to say, I want to have more of a very good world on this earth with you. Amen! Now you can get out your manual bubble machines, and we'll also be supporting us with the automatic bubble machine. Feel free to sing along, though. We'll sing more. (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Upgrade to Unlimited to remove this message.)