Genesis 41:1-49
WELCOME: Welcome to week two of Detours with Joseph: If you’re new with us, joseph is a big deal in the bible first book genesis (he get’s more scripture time than any Genesis hero) and we’re looking at his life because joseph he took a lot of detours in life. Some of you are on a detour right now; it could be financial or relational or just in your spiritual journey. The problem with detours is sometimes you just feel stuck and joseph’s life gives us a model of how to come out the other side of the detour better than when we went in. So if you’re new to us welcome to Central, i hope you have a great Biblical experience. If you’re new watching online, look i get it i yelp restaurants before i go to the restaurant, so hope to see you soon here at the building for worship together. We’re going to be in genesis chapter 41. Now last two weeks we were in genesis chapter 37 & 39 and I shared from Joseph’s life a few big truths,
REVIEW: New Definition of Detour: A change in our plans God uses to develop our character and competency, so we can arrive at a better destination.
GOD CARE’S FOR US DURING DETOURS: God is never far from us. He never allows us to remain to stay on the detour longer than we can stand. And when we have gone through the twists and the turns of live avoiding the temptations along the way, God will have brought us to a better destination.
Numbers 12:3 “… Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” KJV
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” Mt 11:29
“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth”
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
So he says I cannot do it but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” Genesis 41:16
Genesis 41:39-44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”
Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”
1 Peter 1:13-16
Therefore, preparing your minds for action,[b] and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
A few years ago, Denzel Washington was interviewed by a major magazine and one of the questions was this:
“How do you deal with fame?”
And he replied: “It ain’t about me. The one thing for me, understanding how I understand God, is that it keeps me humble. Keeps the pronouns out of the picture. I’ve been given certain abilities, and I look at it this way: What are you going to do with what you have? Who are you going to live your life for?
https://www.christianpost.com/news/10-powerful-christian-celebrities-in-hollywood.html
GENESIS 50:20 – As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20
Who Will Follow Jesus?
“Daddy’s Money” by Ricochet
“She’s got her daddy’s money, her momma’s good looks.
More laughs than a stack of comic books.
A wild imagination, a college education.
Add it all up it’s a deadly combination.
She’s a good bass fisher. A dynomite kisser.
Country as a turnip green.
She’s got her daddy’s money. Her momma’s good looks, and look who’s looking at me!”
WELCOME: Welcome to week two of Detours with Joseph: If you’re new with us, joseph is a big deal in the bible first book genesis (he get’s more scripture time than any Genesis hero) and we’re looking at his life because joseph he took a lot of detours in life. Some of you are on a detour right now; it could be financial or relational or just in your spiritual journey. The problem with detours is sometimes you just feel stuck and joseph’s life gives us a model of how to come out the other side of the detour better than when we went in. So if you’re new to us welcome to Central, i hope you have a great Biblical experience. If you’re new watching online, look i get it i yelp restaurants before i go to the restaurant, so hope to see you soon here at the building for worship together. We’re going to be in genesis chapter 39. Now last week we were in genesis chapter 37 and I shared from Joseph’s life a few big truths,
REVIEW: New Definition of Detour: A change in our plans God uses to develop our character and competency, so we can arrive at a better destination.
“What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all (pause) he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” Genesis 37:26-27
“The LORD was with Joseph”
You see it in vss. 2, 21, and 23.
Genesis 39:5 says “From the time (Potiphar) put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.”
“The LORD was with (Joseph); he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” Genesis 39:21-23
“I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).
“…the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him…” 2 Chronicles 16:9.
Psalm 34:15 assures us that: “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry”
Romans 8:28 declares: “…we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
“There’s something suspect about a faith that has never been tested.
An army going through basic training is not ready for battle. Not until soldiers have faced the battle, and been under fire do they consider themselves proven, hardened, worthy.
A ship cannot prove that it has been sturdily built as long as it stays in dry dock. Its hull must get wet; it must face a storm to demonstrate genuine seaworthiness. (Joel C. Oregory, Growing Pains of the Soul
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. – Genesis 50:20
“The HAMMER is a useful tool. But the nail, if it had feeling and intelligence, could present another side of the story. For the nail knows the hammer only as an opponent a brutal, merciless enemy who lives to pound it into submission, to beat it down out of sight and clinch it into place.
That is the nail’s view of the hammer, and it is accurate except for one thing:
The nail forgets that both it and the hammer are servants of the same workman. Let the nail but remember that the hammer is held by the workman and all resentment toward it will disappear.
The carpenter decides whose head shall be beaten next and what hammer shall be used in the beating.
That is his sovereign right. When the nail has surrendered to the will of the workman and has gotten a little glimpse of his benign plans for its future, it will yield to the hammer without complaint.
The FILE is more painful still, for its business is to bite into the soft metal scraping and eating away the edges till it has shaped the metal to its will.
Yet the file has, in truth, no real will in the matter, but serves another master as the metal also does.
It is the master and not the file that decides how much shall be eaten away. What shape the metal shall take and how long the painful filing shall continue.
Let the metal accept the will of the master and it will not try to dictate when or how it shall be filed.
As for the FURNACE, it is the worst of all. Ruthless and savage, it leaps at every combustible thing that enters it and never relaxes its fury till it has reduced it all to shapeless ashes. All that refuses to burn is melted to a mass of helpless matter, without will or purpose of its own. When everything is melted that will melt and all is burned that will burn then and not till then the furnace calms down and rests from its destructive fury.” (A.W. Tozer “The Root of the Righteous”)
19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. – Gen 39:19-21
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/11/growth-trauma
CLOSE: Country song about an Unpleasant little Detour: Carrie Underwood – Jesus Take the Wheel
She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati on a snow white Christmas Eve
Going home to see her mama and her daddy with the baby in the backseat
Fifty miles to go, and she was running low on faith and gasoline
It’d been a long hard year
She had a lot on her mind, and she didn’t pay attention
She was going way too fast
Before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn’t even have time to cry
She was so scared
She threw her hands up in the air
Jesus, take the wheel
Take it from my hands
‘Cause I can’t do this on my own
I’m letting go
So give me one more chance
And save me from this road I’m on
Jesus, take the wheel
It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder
And the car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat sleeping like a rock
And for the first time in a long time
She bowed her head to pray
She said, “I’m sorry for the way
I’ve been living my life
I know I’ve got to change
So from now on tonight
Jesus, take the wheel
Take it from my hands
‘Cause I can’t do this on my own
I’m letting go
So give me one more chance
And save me from this road I’m on.”
Oh, Jesus, take the wheel
Oh, I’m letting go
So give me one more chance
Save me from this road I’m on
From this road I’m on
From this road I’m on
Jesus, take the wheel
Oh, take it, take it from me
Oh, why, oh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lydBPm2KRaU
Bottom Line: JESUS CAME TO GIVE US A BETTER STORY, NOT A HAPPY STORY.
Focus Scripture: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
Bottom Line: HAPPINESS DEPENDS ON CIRCUMSTANCES.
JOY TRANSCENDS THEM.
Focus Scripture: Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. 2 Cor 6:10 NLT
Bottom Line: THE PATH TO A BETTER STORY IS RARELY AN EASY PATH.
Focus Scripture: Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
Bottom Line: USING POWER TO SERVE OTHERS IN LOVE CREATES A BETTER STORY FOR EVERYONE, INCLUDING YOU.
Focus Scripture: Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an
example that you should do as I have done for you. John 13:14-15
Bottom Line: YOUR STORY IS EITHER MOVING TOWARD LOVE OR AWAY FROM IT.
Focus Scripture: The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives;
Here is also a Recent Message from our Cuban Family in Christ
“Las herramientas que ustedes dejaron cuando vinieron nos han ayudado mucho. Les estamos muy agradecidos por toda la inversión que hicieron en su viaje, por los equipos y herramientas. También se mantiene la cocina que construyeron. Tenemos otros proyectos así que les esperamos pronto. Dios les bendiga rica y abundantemente.” – Tony Fernandez
WELCOME to CENTRALCHURCH OF CHRIST: Not a place, but a people connected by a common bond of Christ our Savior with a common mission to show HIS love, tell HIS story, and be HIS people! We’re on our last week of an expository sermon series this week that I’m calling the “ROMAN ROAD.” Expository means we learn from the text, and bring out it’s points, rather than topical, which is where we have a point and use the text to support it. So here we are digging in for a while in the beautiful letter to the Romans from Paul.
“…I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” Romans 9:3-5
“Did God reject his people?” (The Jews) Romans 11:1
“Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?” Romans 11:11
“I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” Romans 11:1
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” Matthew 23:37
“I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Romans 11:4
“Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ‘Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.’” Romans 9:27 Quoting Isaiah 10:22
“In that day, I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever. (Micah 4:6-7)
“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.” Joel 2:32
2 Chronicles 16:9 “…the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him…”
“So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.” Romans 11:5
“You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in. Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief…” Romans 11:19-20a
“And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!” Romans 11:23-24
“(Israelites) were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.” Romans 11:20-21
“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” Hebrews 2:1
“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
“… they (Israelites) were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.” Romans 11:20-23
ROMAN ROAD: That restoration process is listed throughout the book of Romans to bring us toward salvation.
1. The Human Problem (Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, and Romans 6:23).
The first part of the Romans Road confirms the state of every human as sinful and the state of God as holy.
After establishing that “all have sinned,” the first half of Romans 6:23 explains the depth of this problem and its consequences.
“For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a)
However, the second half of the verse hints at the hope sinners have for salvation through Jesus.
“…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)
2. Humanity’s Hope in Christ (Romans 5:8).
The second part of the Romans Road further explains the hope we have in the love of God expressed through Christ.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
3. The Sinner’s Response (Romans 11:20, Romans 10:9-10, Romans 10:13, Romans 6:3-5).
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
WELCOME to CENTRALCHURCH OF CHRIST: Not a place, but a people connected by a common bond of Christ our Savior with a common mission to show HIS love, tell HIS story, and be HIS people! We’re on week 6 of an expository sermon series this week that I’m calling the “ROMAN ROAD.” Expository means we learn from the text, and bring out it’s points, rather than topical, which is where we have a point and use the text to support it. So here we are digging in for a while in the beautiful letter to the Romans from Paul. I’m thankful for Patrick and Joelah filling in for me while I invested time with my family in the Harding Lectureships and visiting God’s natural beauty around the country.
ILLUS HAYDEN: For example, the great classical composer Joseph Hayden, was criticized because his church music was too cheerful (and you thought “contemporary music” was a tough sell).
He replied: “I cannot help it. I give forth what is in me. When I think of the Divine Being, my heart is so full of joy that the notes fly off as from a spindle. And as I have a cheerful heart, He will forgive me if I serve Him cheerfully.”
Romans 7:25a “THANKS BE TO GOD— through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
“But THANKS BE TO GOD that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.” Romans 6:17
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But THANKS BE TO GOD! He gives us the victory (over death and the grave) through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:51-57
ILLUS PAUL IN PRISON: This legend tells of a wealthy merchant who had traveled to Rome to find this preacher he’d heard so much about. In his search, the merchant found Timothy… and Timothy arranged a visit.
At the time, Paul was a prisoner in Rome. Stepping inside the cell, the merchant was surprised to find a rather old man, physically frail, but whose serenity and magnetism challenged the visitor. They talked for hours.
Finally the merchant left and outside the prison, he asked Timothy “What is the secret of this man’s power? I have never seen anything like it before.”
Did you not guess?” replied Timothy. “Paul is in love.”
The merchant looked bewildered. “In Love?”
“Yes,” the missionary answered, “Paul is in love with Jesus Christ.”
The merchant looked even more bewildered. “That’s it. That’s all?”
Timothy smiled and then replied, “Sir, that is everything.”
https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/25819-paul-the-apostle-in-love
“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replies “I suppose the one who owed the greater debt.”
”You are correct” says Jesus
Then Jesus turned to the woman and said
“Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven— for she loved much.
But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7:36-47
Romans 7:25 Paul says “THANKS BE TO GOD— through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
“Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” Ac 22:16
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners— of whom I am the worst.” 1 Timothy 1:15
“But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” 1Timothy 1:16
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Mt 6:19-20
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God— through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 7:24 – 8:2
In a moment, we’re going to sing the song TRUST and OBEY. The hymn was inspired in 1886 when the composer of the music, Daniel B. Towner (1850-1919), was the music leader during one of Dwight L. Moody’s famous revivals
“We were in Brockton, Massachusetts, and I had the pleasure of leading singing. One night a young man rose in a testimony meeting and said, ‘I am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.’ I just jotted that sentence down, and sent it with a little story to the Rev. J. H. Sammis. He wrote the hymn, and the tune was born.”
Invitation: If you are thankful for the salvation that Jesus brings, if you are saying along with me, “Thanks be to God!” Then the next move after thankfulness is trusting and obeying.
“Trust and obey—for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”