1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,920 Thank you so much for listening to Riverbend Churches podcast. 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,560 Riverbend Church exists to bring people to Jesus, grow 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,280 generations in Jesus, and send disciples for Jesus. 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,320 We hope that you enjoy this message. 5 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:25,000 We have been in a series called Joseph, and we've been walking 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,720 through the life and the narrative of a guy whose story 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,040 is given to us in the book of Genesis, God by the name of 8 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:34,720 Joseph. If you call Riverbend home or 9 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:37,160 you've been with us throughout this series, whether in the room 10 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:40,240 or online, you've been journeying with us throughout 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,920 these weeks. We got this week and we got next 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,000 week to where we'll be closing out our Joseph series. 13 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:50,200 We didn't go into this in our into our 930 service, but I'll 14 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,400 tell you as 11:00, our next series is called The Unseen 15 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,080 World to where we're going to be talking about spiritual warfare. 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,320 So it's something that you most definitely do not, do not, do 17 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,920 not want to miss. But let me go ahead and kick 18 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,600 things off, ask you just to contemplate a question really 19 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,320 quick. Has there ever been a time, a 20 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:13,640 situation, a circumstance in your life to where there was 21 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,680 deep pain, there was a lot of hurt, but then the more that 22 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:21,920 situation or circumstance unfolded, the beauty that came 23 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:26,480 out of that caused all the pain and the hurt to pale in 24 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,000 comparison. Now let me go ahead and tell you 25 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,120 as a guy, as a dude, you're guy's men. 26 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,600 We, we got to think a minute for that to to the ladies, 27 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,640 especially the moms in the room. You know exactly what I'm 28 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:40,600 talking about. You know exactly what I'm 29 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,400 talking about. Like if just thinking back to 30 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:48,440 the birth of that little baby, you know, thinking about maybe 31 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:53,160 the, the weeks or months of, of morning sickness or just the, 32 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,600 the restless nights just struggling to get comfortable 33 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:01,240 or, or, or the pain, the overall pains involved in labor and 34 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,960 delivery. And if you're a guy in here, do 35 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,640 not say I had bronchitis once. So I know what it's like. 36 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:12,160 Because ladies, if you want to slap them, that's pre forgiven. 37 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:18,040 So, but I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, mom's like the moment 38 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:22,080 that they handed you that newborn baby, man, everything 39 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,040 changed, right? Everything paled in comparison. 40 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,120 Like it, it doesn't mean that it doesn't mean that you weren't 41 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,000 sick all those mornings or all those days. 42 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:35,000 And it doesn't mean that that that you were well rested and 43 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,280 that you were comfortable for all those months. 44 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,400 And it certainly doesn't mean that you didn't go through a lot 45 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,160 of intense pain during labor. It just means that when you held 46 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:49,160 that newborn baby, the, the, the joy and the blessing of holding 47 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,760 that baby caused all the pain to pale in comparison, right? 48 00:02:53,760 --> 00:03:00,080 And I wonder, I wonder if you and I, I wonder if we together, 49 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:05,240 if there's some things that we were, were holding on to the, 50 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,160 the points of pain and the points of, of hurt and trauma 51 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,080 that keep us from living in what God has for us today. 52 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,680 You see, I firmly believe that that God wants to provide 53 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:19,920 breakthrough for every single one of us. 54 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:22,200 And that's going to look different for every single one 55 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:23,440 of us. But I firmly believe that God 56 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,400 wants to provide breakthrough for every single one of us. 57 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,840 But pain, isn't it true that like, pain has such a loud voice 58 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,160 and it has such a loud voice in our mind to where it almost 59 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,920 becomes all-encompassing and there's such a gravitational 60 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:45,680 pull backwards to relive that source of pain over and over and 61 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,480 over. So, you know, one of the things 62 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,280 that we've been talking about is there are certain things in our 63 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:57,640 lives that threaten to break us. And I would say that giving into 64 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:02,720 those loud voices to revisit yesterday's pains, to live 65 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,440 there, to set up shop there is actually one of the greatest 66 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:11,000 deterrents from us living in the blessings that God has for us 67 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,640 today. Or if you've been with us 68 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,560 throughout the series, this the the big idea, the truth that 69 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:18,880 we've been revolving around throughout the series will sound 70 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,640 familiar to you. If you're new to the series and 71 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,840 you're taking notes with us here, it is One of the things we 72 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:26,920 commonly come back to throughout the series is what can easily 73 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:28,720 break you, God turns in to breakthrough. 74 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:31,520 What can easily break you, God turns in to breakthrough. 75 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:33,360 And here's what I would tell you. 76 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,960 Nothing threatens there's nothing that threatens our 77 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,400 living in the breakthrough that God has for us today. 78 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:45,840 Then giving in to the voices of yesterday's pains and, and, and 79 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:50,520 not only revisiting those, but setting up shop and living in 80 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:56,320 the midst of yesterday's pains. So how do we as a people, how do 81 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:02,040 we as a people, how do we, I wouldn't say ignore, how do we, 82 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,560 how do we kind of tune out the voices of yesterday's pains in 83 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,120 order to live in the blessings that God has in front of us 84 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,560 today? Well, if you've been with us 85 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:14,600 throughout the series, we've been going through the life of a 86 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,280 God by the name of Joseph. And if you have a Bible with 87 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:21,880 you, I encourage you to find Genesis chapter 41 with me, 88 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:26,400 Genesis chapter 41. And in Genesis chapter 41, we're 89 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,880 going to be looking at just two verses this morning. 90 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:34,840 Genesis 41 verses 50 and 51, verses 50 and 51. 91 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:39,080 Here's what Genesis 4150 says. Before the year the famine came, 92 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,760 two sons were born to Joseph. As an act, the daughter of 93 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:46,080 Potiphar, priest of own, bore them to him. 94 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:50,560 Joseph called the name of the first Manasseh, for he said, God 95 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,480 has made me forget all my hardships and all my father's 96 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,240 house. So what in the world did these 97 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:02,520 two verses, these two seemingly random verses, what in the world 98 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,720 did these have to do with us moving forward in what God has 99 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,440 for us? Well, if you're new to this 100 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,280 series, we've been really kind of walking through the life of 101 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:16,800 Joseph asking and these different passages asking 3 102 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,000 primary questions. What does it tell me about 103 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:20,440 Joseph? What does it tell me about God? 104 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:22,280 And what does this tell me about me? 105 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:24,120 Let's tackle that first one first. 106 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,880 If you're taking notes with us, what this tells me about Joseph 107 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:31,120 is #1 Joseph's current blessings far outweighed his past pains. 108 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:36,720 His current blessings far outweighed his past pains. 109 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:40,640 His current blessings far outweighed his past pains. 110 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,160 Now, I think it's probably really important for us to have 111 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,600 some historical background in what's going on here. 112 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:50,040 You see in Joseph's day and in his age, it was very, very 113 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:56,240 common that a parent would name their child on the basis of a 114 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,480 situation or circumstance of what that parent was going 115 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:04,600 through at that time. So for example, Jacob, who we 116 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:09,280 know is Joseph's dad, Jacob had ten other boys before Joseph was 117 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:12,000 born. Joseph, Jacob named Joseph, 118 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:17,880 Joseph because Joseph literally means increaser or God will add. 119 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,880 So it doesn't take a rocket scientist to go, hey, listen, I 120 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:23,920 got 10 other boys, we'll name them Joseph. 121 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,040 That means increaser. God's going to add 1. 122 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:28,560 That's why Joseph was named Joseph. 123 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,360 God. God called Adam Adam because 124 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:37,160 Adam literally means man or mankind or humankind. 125 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:39,760 Our oldest son, we have three kids. 126 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:42,320 Our oldest son, Landon, we named Landon. 127 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:46,120 Landon because Landon literally means my parents are dirt poor. 128 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,440 My dad has never changed a diaper in his entire life, but 129 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:49,800 he's about to get a lot of practice. 130 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:57,840 So Landon for short, you see, names in that day and age had a 131 00:07:57,840 --> 00:07:59,440 lot of significance. They had a lot of weight. 132 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,160 As a matter of fact. You ever been reading through 133 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,640 the Old Testament and you come up on a passage or a verse or or 134 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,400 chapter and you're like, man, I have no idea how to even 135 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,240 pronounce that name. I will call him Bob. 136 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:16,560 And Bob saith unto the Lord. I'll tell you something that's 137 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,240 pretty fascinating. If you ever like as you're going 138 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:20,800 through the Old Testament, as you're reading through the 139 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,280 Bible, when you come up on some like really weird sounding 140 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:28,080 names, if you look up what they meant in Hebrew, it is 141 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:30,760 fascinating. You'll get much more of a depth 142 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,240 of what's going on in the background. 143 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,360 So Joseph had Joseph had had two sons born to him. 144 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,600 The first one, the oldest ones named Manasseh. 145 00:08:41,799 --> 00:08:47,920 So what does Manasseh mean? Manasseh means God has caused me 146 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:52,320 to forget. God has caused me to forget. 147 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:57,360 Now, the way that that word forget is used here, it doesn't 148 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,720 mean that through all of Joseph's past, his pain, his 149 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,800 hurt, his trauma, his betrayal, all of it, it doesn't mean that 150 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:10,160 God wiped his memory of it. It doesn't mean that God erased 151 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:12,720 his memory of all of that that happened to him. 152 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:18,080 What it does mean is that that that all that God had blessed 153 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,320 him with, that everything that he had gone through, man that 154 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:25,080 paled in comparison. It completely paled in 155 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,520 comparison. So he named his son Manasseh. 156 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,600 But here's the thing, I don't think that that came easy for 157 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,280 Joseph. I don't think that it, it came 158 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,040 easy for Joseph because like we talked about last week, and as 159 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,760 we've been reminding ourselves throughout this series, Joseph 160 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,640 was a real man with real feelings, real emotions, real 161 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:44,560 hurts, real pains, all the above. 162 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:47,120 He wasn't some fictitious character. 163 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,920 He was a real man. So I don't think that it came 164 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,520 natural for Joseph just to look at all of his current blessings 165 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,360 and sit there and go. God has caused me to forget. 166 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,120 You see, I think that there was a lot of intentionality behind 167 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:01,000 it. Let me show you what I mean. 168 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,520 Second thing that we learn about Joseph is this. 169 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:06,360 He embraced the blessings in front of him rather than cling 170 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,760 to the pains behind him. Joseph embrace the blessings in 171 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,040 front of him rather than cling to the pains behind him. 172 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:20,120 Like we said, God did not erase Joseph's memory of his pains. 173 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:26,400 So for example, it is 1000% true that is a 17 year old Joseph was 174 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,840 beaten, betrayed, thrown into a pit, and sold into slavery by 175 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:31,720 the very brothers that he once looked up to. 176 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:37,800 It is 100% true that Joseph was was falsely accused of sexual 177 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,960 misconduct by his master's wife and thrown into prison. 178 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:47,720 It is 100% true that Joseph was forgotten about in prison, and 179 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,200 it's probably sinking to those emotional depths. 180 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,360 But it's also 100% true that God protected Joseph every step of 181 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,160 the way. It's also 100% true that God 182 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,800 prepared Joseph every step of the way for what he had prepared 183 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,440 for Joseph. It's also 100% true that God 184 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:06,640 through Joseph, interpreted Pharaoh's dreams. 185 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,640 And Pharaoh exalted Joseph to not only being over the warden 186 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:14,160 of the prison and Potiphar and his lying wife, but over all the 187 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,880 people of Egypt except for Pharaoh himself. 188 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:21,480 And it was also true that Joseph, while in Egypt, he had a 189 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:23,200 wife. God gave him a wife, and God 190 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,320 gave them sons. He had a family of his own. 191 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:34,600 Listen, Joseph only had enough bandwidth to live in one day. 192 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,640 He could have lived in his yesterday, or he could have 193 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:43,840 lived in his today. Joseph chose to intentionally 194 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,240 embrace the blessings in front of him rather than cling to the 195 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:51,000 pains behind him. How did he do that? 196 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,320 You know how we said that Manasseh literally means God has 197 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,600 caused me to forget? Do you know that there's also a 198 00:11:57,600 --> 00:11:59,960 different translation for Manasseh? 199 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:02,120 Manasseh can also be translated a different way. 200 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:04,560 It's not only God has caused me to forget. 201 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:11,000 It is also not only God has caused me for to forget, but to 202 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,560 let go of something. Manasseh literally means to let 203 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:20,160 go of something. Listen, not in a not in some 204 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:25,560 like Bible superhero way at all. Not in an uncompassionate way at 205 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:29,760 all, but Joseph realized that he only had enough bandwidth to 206 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:32,440 live into one, live in one day. He could live in yesterday's 207 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,720 hurts and pains, or he could live in today's blessings. 208 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,080 So in order to live in today's blessings, he had to let go of 209 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,320 yesterday's hurts and pains. So that's what it tells us about 210 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:43,600 Joseph. Here's the second question. 211 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,320 What does it tell us about God? These two seemingly random 212 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,760 verses, verses 50 and 51 of Genesis 41. 213 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:52,720 First thing it tells us. God's plans for me are always 214 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,640 for my good. God's plans for me are always 215 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,520 for my good. God's plans for you are always 216 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:00,520 for your good. God's plans for us are always 217 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,840 for our good. Not because I'm good, not 218 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,800 because you're good, not because we're good, but because God is 219 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:08,520 good. OK. 220 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:13,400 God's plans for you are for good, not because you're good, 221 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:18,000 but because he's good. Don't fall into the trap of 222 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,280 determining or trying to distinguish if God is good or 223 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:23,600 not based off of your personal experiences. 224 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,720 How easy is it to go? Man, life is good, God is good 225 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:31,840 or man, life is tough? I'm not so sure about God's 226 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:36,320 goodness anymore, man. That that's some shaky sand that 227 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:39,000 you're building your theology and that you're building your 228 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,240 faith and that you're building your life on. 229 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,080 You may say, well then it doesn't seem like God is good. 230 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,440 At this particular time and moment in my life. 231 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:55,240 I get it, I really do. If you're a parent in the room, 232 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,400 I'm not going to ask that you raise your hand or anything like 233 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,400 that, but see if you can track with me. 234 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,840 If you're a parent in the room, you know that the best thing for 235 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:09,320 your kid is not just to allow them to eat junk food. 236 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:14,080 The best thing for your kid is to establish a bedtime for them. 237 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:18,480 The best thing for your kid is to to make them go to school and 238 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,760 if you're the parent of a middle schooler, the best thing for 239 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,240 your kid and the best thing for all of us is make them take a 240 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:32,760 shower pack out of pulse. Now listen, if it was up to your 241 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,600 kid, if it was up to your kid, your, your kids going to just be 242 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:41,200 eating like Cheetos and drinking Mountain Dew and staying up all 243 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,560 hours of the night online or, or playing video games. 244 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:46,200 And they certainly don't want to go to school. 245 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:47,840 So they so they won't go to school. 246 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,640 And for whatever reason, middle schoolers don't like taking 247 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:52,480 shower like they're allergic to water and soap. 248 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,200 But listen, as a parent, you desire ultimate good for your 249 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,520 kid. So you establish these 250 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:04,880 boundaries right now, what you know is established for the 251 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,800 ultimate good of your kid. Your kid doesn't always see it 252 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:09,840 that way. Your kid doesn't feel it that 253 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:14,480 way. But as a, as a, as a good loving 254 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,680 parent, you know that it's for their ultimate good. 255 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:20,560 Here's the point. Did you know that God will call 256 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,920 us to do hard things and He will guide us through hard seasons 257 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:28,720 that may not seem good, may not look good, smell good, feel 258 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:33,080 good, but it doesn't mean that He is not good and that He 259 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:37,160 doesn't desire good for us. There are ways in which God, as 260 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:42,400 a perfect heavenly Father, is working all things for the good, 261 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,320 even when we can't quite comprehend it, and even when we 262 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:51,360 don't quite like it and when we don't quite feel like it. 263 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,640 God is always working things for the good. 264 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:00,880 He desires our ultimate good, for our good and for His glory. 265 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,600 Second thing that we know about God is God alone has the power 266 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,880 to redeem my deepest wounds. God alone has the power to 267 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,600 redeem my deepest wounds. Give you a moment to jot that 268 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:14,800 down. Then I want to unpack that. 269 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:24,560 You know how we're able to look and to read about the life of 270 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,480 Joseph from start to finish. If you were to start at the very 271 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,160 beginning, you can turn to Genesis chapter 37 to where 272 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,680 you're introduced to a 17 year old Joseph. 273 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,560 And you can read all the way from Genesis 37 all the way to 274 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,880 Genesis 50. And you can see how God's hand 275 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,000 was with him and how God guided him. 276 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,360 And we're, we're able to not just to have a 30,000 foot view 277 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,120 of Joseph's life, we're able to have like Joseph's life, we're 278 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:54,920 able to see it from start to finish. 279 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,080 And that's a complete game changer while we read the 280 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:00,800 different portions of Joseph's life, right? 281 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:05,240 So, for example, our hearts could be broken for a 17 year 282 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,480 old kid that he's betrayed by his brothers and sold into 283 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:11,400 slavery by them. However, our hearts may be 284 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,160 broken, but that broken heartedness is still tempered by 285 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,400 the fact that we're able to read ahead and go, hey, Joseph, hold 286 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,839 on man, because God is going to use this for your good and for 287 00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:26,200 his glory. He's going to elevate you to the 288 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,800 palace in Egypt. Or we can read about how Joe 289 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:36,080 Joseph was falsely accused by his master's wife about like 290 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:41,360 when she pursued him, when she hit on him and he didn't 291 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:44,640 compromise. And because she was offended and 292 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:48,640 because she was hurt and because she wanted to save face, she 293 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,320 made-up a lie and twisted the whole narrative and said, no, it 294 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,120 was Joseph that hit on me and made improper advances towards 295 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:56,880 me. And nobody would listen to him. 296 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,200 And there was no recourse. He was actually just thrown into 297 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,280 prison. And we can just get angry at the 298 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:05,080 injustice of that, but our anger at that injustice is still 299 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:09,160 tempered by the fact that we just want to almost say, man, 300 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:13,000 just hold on, Joseph, hold on. God is going to use the prison 301 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,040 to prepare you for, for the palace that he has prepared for 302 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:20,160 you. Or you know, how sad is it that 303 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:26,120 Joseph finally encounters 2 guys from the Royal Court, a Baker 304 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:30,240 and A and a cupbearer and he tells them he goes hey listen 305 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,680 would y'all just just just remember my name, Remember my 306 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:36,600 name and remember my case because I was unjustly brought 307 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,160 here. I'm in justly imprisoned here. 308 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,120 And the cupbearer, he gets into the palace and the next thing we 309 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:46,360 hear about that guy's, he forgot about Joseph. 310 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,840 And Joseph there in a, in a prison cell for two more years, 311 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:51,960 forgotten. But our heart still goes out to 312 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,120 him because we're like, hey, Joseph, just hold on, man. 313 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:57,440 God is preparing you for what he has prepared for you and he's 314 00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:59,040 about to elevate you to the palace. 315 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,600 Why are we able to do that? Because we know the whole story, 316 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,040 right? We'll think about it this way. 317 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:10,320 Because God exists out of what we think of as space and time. 318 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,040 He's able to look at my life and your life and our lives the same 319 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:17,120 way that we're able to look at Joseph's life in totality. 320 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,240 That's not meant to confuse you. It's actually meant to comfort 321 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:24,760 you that there are certain things that God will allow into 322 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:29,440 our lives to prepare us for what He has prepared for us, and He 323 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:35,000 wants to take past hurts and pains and and trauma to redeem 324 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:37,160 those things. Here's what I mean by that. 325 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,480 Who else do you think could be most powerfully used by God to 326 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,800 speak hope into the life of someone who has lost their 327 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,080 spouse than someone who has lost their spouse? 328 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:51,560 Who else do you think could be more you? 329 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,960 Most you powerfully used by God to speak hope into the life of 330 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:58,960 someone who's struggling with addiction than someone who has 331 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,800 been freed by the chains of addiction through the cross of 332 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:07,000 Jesus. Who else do you think could be 333 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:11,400 used most powerfully by God to speak hope into the life of 334 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:16,200 someone who has experienced abuse than someone than a 335 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:22,400 daughter or a son of God that has walked that painful path but 336 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,000 has found healing by the blood of the cross? 337 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:30,600 You see, our past pain, our past hurt, our past trauma, It 338 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,440 doesn't have to be wasted. God never calls us to forget it. 339 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,760 God never calls us, hey, just like move on from it. 340 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,880 He wants to redeem it. So this is what it tells us 341 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,760 about God. What does all of this? 342 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:50,040 What are these two verses? What does it tell me about me #1 343 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:53,520 I cannot move forward in what God has for me while clinging to 344 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:58,680 my past. I cannot move forward and what 345 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,960 God has for me while clinging to my past. 346 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:02,240 Give you a moment, jot that down. 347 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:09,120 Let then let me unpack it. This does not say you just need 348 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:12,760 to get over it. This does not say you'll ever 349 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,480 seen the bumper stickers like let go and let God or let God 350 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,000 and let go. It doesn't matter the order. 351 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:24,000 Both of them are really bad theology and very unloving and 352 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,720 in compassion uncompassionate. So uncompassionate or in 353 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:31,280 compassionate we don't know. Both of them are wrong and 354 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:39,440 unloving. Cannot move forward and what God 355 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,200 has for me while clinging to my past. 356 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:46,400 It does not mean that we do not have past hurts, pains, traumas, 357 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,480 wounds and scars. It just means that we refuse to 358 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,400 be defined by those things. You see, there's some of us in 359 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,760 here we are experiencing even now in this moment. 360 00:21:58,160 --> 00:21:59,720 It could be the passing of a loved one. 361 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:01,320 It could be the betrayal of a friend. 362 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,920 It could be a lot of doubts. It could be anything, 363 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:06,520 everything. There could be a lot of anger. 364 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,200 There could be a lot of fear. There could be a lot of doubt in 365 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:10,560 your life. It could be anything and 366 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,320 everything from your past, the voices of the past. 367 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,360 That gravitational pull is pulling you back. 368 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,240 And here's where I would tell you is if you have given those 369 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:24,240 areas of your life, those pain points of your life over to 370 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:30,000 Jesus, said Jesus, and you know that I'm struggling so mightily 371 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,600 in this way. Would you meet me at a place 372 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,120 deep within my soul that only your Holy Spirit can go? 373 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,880 His answer every single time is a resounding yes. 374 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,880 And here's what that yes means. That means that through the 375 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:50,120 blood of Jesus, He has already won the victory. 376 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:54,600 You see, when we fight against those voices that pull us 377 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:59,120 backwards to define ourselves by the past hurt, pain, and trauma, 378 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,640 we're not fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory 379 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,120 because Jesus has already won the victory. 380 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:06,560 It doesn't mean that we don't fight. 381 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:08,200 It doesn't mean that we don't grieve. 382 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:09,800 It doesn't mean that we don't cry. 383 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:11,280 It doesn't mean that we don't weep. 384 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:12,880 It doesn't mean that we don't weep. 385 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,120 We don't have a lot of pent up emotions about. 386 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,240 It just means that we don't allow that past pain, hurt, and 387 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:23,720 trauma to define us, to define us. 388 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:28,600 And just like Joseph, did you know that you and I, we only 389 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:30,800 have enough bandwidth to live in one day. 390 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,400 We can live, we can choose to live in today and all that God 391 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:39,880 has ahead of us, or we can choose to be trapped by the 392 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,200 past, by yesterday. We cannot live in both. 393 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,000 We cannot live in both today and yesterday. 394 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:49,920 So maybe today jotted this note down. 395 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:55,000 Maybe today as we're talking about Manasseh, your Manasseh 396 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,240 prayer goes something a little bit like this. 397 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,360 God, I need to let go of my past so that I can move forward and 398 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:06,640 all that you have for me. It doesn't mean letting go of 399 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:08,200 your past. It doesn't mean, hey, you just 400 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:09,880 need to get over it. You just need to move on. 401 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,120 God, I need your blood, the blood of the cross to cover my 402 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:15,160 past. I don't want to. 403 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,040 I don't want to allow my past to define me anymore. 404 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:20,800 God, I know that you desire good for me. 405 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:24,640 And if you can use my past hurts, pains and trauma for the 406 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,000 good, for my good and for your glory, God, I'm all yours. 407 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,960 Second thing that this passage tells us about Joseph is this is 408 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,840 I'm living for the day when I can look back and say it was 409 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,680 worth it all. It was worth it all. 410 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:50,200 Listen, even in this room, our 930 service was full of men and 411 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:54,960 women that are experiencing a lot of hurt, a lot of struggle. 412 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:57,960 You've been praying for years and years and years. 413 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,240 You may, you may find yourself in here this morning like we had 414 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:06,040 people in the 930 service in the room and online that you're 415 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,000 struggling. You're fighting those chains of 416 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,640 addiction. You're struggling like with all 417 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:15,440 that is within you, to walk in alignment with God's will and 418 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:21,400 his ways and his word. You're struggling to fight for 419 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:26,440 your family that you're walking and God's will for your family. 420 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,320 And here's what I would tell you, don't give up. 421 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,160 And the struggle is worth it. As your pastor and as your 422 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:37,920 friend, I want to remind you of something. 423 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:42,680 Two things actually, in one sentence #1 the best is yet to 424 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,520 come. The best is yet to come. 425 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:51,320 And it will all be worth it. It will all be worth it. 426 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:57,280 I cannot wait for us to experience all that God has for 427 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:01,040 us and to look back over all that we've been through. 428 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,880 And we can reminisce over past hurts and pains and trauma 429 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,960 together, but to look together at that and go, you know what? 430 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,360 It was worth it all. God, you did something so 431 00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:20,280 amazing out of something so hard and so gross and so evil, but it 432 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,600 was worth it all. Look at all the glory that you 433 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:27,840 get from this. So maybe your Manasseh type of 434 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:32,840 prayer is God. Would you give me the strength 435 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:38,680 and the faith to discover? Would you give me the strength 436 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:45,400 and the faith to discover that the that the blessings that you 437 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:50,640 have in front of me make the pain that you have behind me all 438 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:54,280 worth it? Would you give me the strength 439 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,800 and the faith to discover that the blessings that you have in 440 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,520 front of me are greater than the pains that you have behind me? 441 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:04,680 If you've been with us over the past several weeks throughout 442 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,360 this series, one of the things that we do at the end of our 443 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:10,440 time together is we kind of turn it to the personal. 444 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,400 We walk through three key questions together as a church 445 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,520 and I basically just challenge you, Hey, I want you to think 446 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,920 about these three key questions. Pray about them in your, in your 447 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,120 time, where you are right now. And then respond. 448 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:26,600 Here's what we're going to do. If you look at the bottom of 449 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:29,360 your note sheet there, there are some key questions there. 450 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:32,320 And I want to just invite you, take this, take this note sheet 451 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,160 home with you. And I I pray that you would pray 452 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,480 through these questions that you would you would invite the Holy 453 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:42,480 Spirit into these three questions to reveal to you what 454 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,760 needs to be revealed to you to grow you where you need to grow 455 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,320 through these three key questions. 456 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,320 It just in your time alone with God this week. 457 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,880 But I want to circle back to that last light, Manasseh type 458 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,720 of prayer, the one to where we say, God, would you give me the 459 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:04,240 strength and the faith to discover that the, that that the 460 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:07,880 blessings ahead of me are far greater than the pains behind 461 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:12,080 me, that it was worth it, that God is, is, is is going to be 462 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:15,440 worth it all? I'm going to spend a little bit 463 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,520 of time on that one because did you know when, when we go into a 464 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:22,280 heart posture, an attitude of our heart, an attitude of our 465 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,360 mind, when we go into that type of heart posture, do you know 466 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:30,000 that we're closely walking in the footsteps of Jesus and the 467 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,200 heart posture that he put on at the very end of his life? 468 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:38,520 Remember how Jesus, right before he was betrayed by one of his 469 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,880 best friends, Judas, he goes out and he prays in the Garden of 470 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,160 Gethsemane. And, and, and it's not just like 471 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,720 this kneel prayer, like God bless the gift and the giver. 472 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:53,200 You know, some like rote prayer. The Bible tells us that he's 473 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:59,000 praying so intently that like he begins to sweat drops of blood 474 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,320 that it actually burst the capillaries in his forehead, 475 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:06,280 which is a real medical condition under mass distress. 476 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,360 And what what was this prayer? If you grew up in church, you 477 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:14,680 know that essentially his prayer was Father, if there's any other 478 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:19,480 way, let this cup pass from me. In other words, Father, I know 479 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,080 what's about to happen. But if there's any other way 480 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,760 that could happen in any other way, please let it be made 481 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:27,000 known. But that's not where he stopped 482 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,840 his prayer. He ends it with but not my will, 483 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:35,840 but your will be done. I want to show you something 484 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:40,640 about the cross of Jesus and it comes to us from the book of 485 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:42,720 Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2. 486 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:44,880 Check out what the writer of Hebrews says. 487 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:48,000 He says as we look to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our 488 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,760 faith, who for the joy that was set before him endure the cross, 489 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,680 despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the 490 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,640 throne of God. Here's what this means. 491 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:02,720 For the joy that was set before him, endure the cross. 492 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:07,840 What in the world is that about? It doesn't mean that the the the 493 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:12,360 the crown of thorns didn't hurt. It doesn't mean that, as he had 494 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:16,600 nails driven into his wrists and into his ankles, that they did 495 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,520 not hurt. It doesn't mean that as he was 496 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:24,000 laughed at and scoffed at and spit at and he was hung, 497 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,920 humiliated for just the entertainment of anybody that 498 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,600 wanted to walk by hanging on a cross. 499 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:32,440 It doesn't mean that none of that hurt. 500 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,680 What it does mean, however, is as he is seated at the right 501 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,280 hand of the throne of God, because we know that Jesus 502 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,600 didn't stay dead. He was resurrected from the dead 503 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:44,600 three days later. He is seated at the right hand 504 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:47,560 of the right hand of the throne of God going, it was all worth 505 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,040 it. It was all worth it. 506 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,680 And I love how we get a picture of the resurrected Jesus to 507 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,720 where he appears to his disciples and especially Thomas. 508 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,080 And he goes, Thomas, put your hand in my wrist. 509 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,960 In other words, the resurrected Jesus still maintain the scars. 510 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:08,760 And I think the scars are there as a reminder. 511 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,080 It was all worth it. It was all Jesus went through, 512 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,960 everything that he went through so that your sins and my sins 513 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,360 can be forgiven and so that we can be made right with God. 514 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:23,000 It was all worth it. So when we begin to pray, God, 515 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,200 give me the faith and give me the strength to discover that 516 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,040 the blessings that you have ahead of me are far greater than 517 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,720 the pains that are behind me. In many ways, we're following in 518 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:37,280 the footsteps of Jesus. So in just a few moments we're 519 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:42,120 going to partake of the Lord's Supper together to where we we 520 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:44,640 we take of the bread and we take of the cup. 521 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:47,920 But before we get there, I want to show you something that the 522 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:52,360 apostle Paul warns us about and taking the Lord's Supper. 523 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:54,680 This is in First Corinthians Chapter 11. 524 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,560 Paul wrote, Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup 525 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:02,160 of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning 526 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,280 the body and the blood of the Lord. 527 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,560 Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread 528 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,040 and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks 529 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,120 without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 530 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:14,760 So Church, here's the big question. 531 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,640 How in the world do we make sure that we're not about to take the 532 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,920 bread and the cup in an unworthy manner? 533 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:25,520 Well, it has everything to do with we have to examine ourself. 534 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,840 So here's what I want to invite you to do before we take the 535 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,400 bread, before we take the cup, I just want to invite you just 536 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:34,400 across the room. If you would bow your heads and, 537 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,320 and close your eyes. And this is not some religious 538 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,800 sacred posture. It's not that, you know, we get 539 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:42,080 heaven's attention when we bow our heads and close our eyes. 540 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:44,640 We bow our heads and close our eyes to be able to tune out all 541 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:47,600 distractions around us. And I would just, I would just 542 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,400 say make every effort not to move during this moment because 543 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:53,280 you don't want to distract the people around you. 544 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:59,640 But with your head bowed and with your eyes closed, it's just 545 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:01,520 a picture. It's just, it's just you and God 546 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:07,360 in this moment. And I want you to ask God. 547 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,640 Take a few moments to ask God. God, is there anything in my 548 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:12,240 life that is not pleasing to you? 549 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:17,240 Is there anything in my life that shouldn't be in my life? 550 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:25,320 Give Him access to every part of you, the deepest parts of you, 551 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,600 the darkest parts of you. Listen, He already knows them 552 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,400 anyway. Give Him access to those deep 553 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,880 parts. God, would you reveal to me any 554 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:36,320 part of my life that is displeasing to you? 555 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:37,840 That's not an alignment with you? 556 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:46,560 And when He reveals those things to us, when He causes those 557 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:50,000 things to rise to the surface of our minds, he's not doing it 558 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,720 because he's angry with you. He's doing it because he's 559 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:56,280 calling you to confess those things to him as sin. 560 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,640 If you were with us last week, we talked about how the the two 561 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:04,320 ways in which we fast track our relationship with God is being 562 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:06,960 quick to forgive and practicing regular confession. 563 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,280 God's not revealing these things to you about you because He 564 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,000 hates you. He's revealing these things to 565 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:20,199 you, about you because He loves you and He's pointing out to you 566 00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:25,040 spiritual cancer in your life and confession to Him is the 567 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,480 only cure. So confess it as sin before Him 568 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:40,650 and ask Him to forgive it, and then ask Him to cleanse you. 569 00:34:43,489 --> 00:34:47,330 God, I don't want to take the bread in the cup in an unworthy 570 00:34:47,330 --> 00:34:50,290 manner. God, whatever it looks like for 571 00:34:50,290 --> 00:34:55,159 me to take the bread in the cup in a worthy manner, God, the 572 00:34:55,199 --> 00:35:08,490 answer is yes. God, we thank you for knowing 573 00:35:08,490 --> 00:35:12,850 everything that there is to know about us and still choosing to 574 00:35:12,850 --> 00:35:17,810 love us anyway. Because God, we understand that 575 00:35:17,810 --> 00:35:21,570 your love for us is not based on who we are or what we do. 576 00:35:21,810 --> 00:35:28,840 It's based on who you are. So God, as you have revealed 577 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:33,240 things to us about us this morning, God, would you remind 578 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:36,680 us that they're not because it's not because you hate us, It's 579 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:39,960 actually because you love us. And you've brought these things 580 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:43,800 you, you've caused these things that are inconsistent in our 581 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,240 lives, inconsistent with who you are and what you would have for 582 00:35:47,240 --> 00:35:50,400 us. You brought sin to the to the 583 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:54,440 top of our minds so that we can hand that sin over to you and 584 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,840 call it what it is, sin and ask that you take it and ask that 585 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:01,680 you forgive us and ask that you cleanse us and clean us from the 586 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:06,680 inside. God, I pray that you would over 587 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,920 the next few moments as we take the bread, as we take the cup, 588 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:14,800 God, that you're to remind us of your incredible love for each 589 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:18,680 and everyone of us, and not just your love for us, but your love 590 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,480 for the people in which you, every single person that you 591 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:27,240 bring into our lives. So God, I pray that you would 592 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:32,000 focus our hearts, focus our minds, focus our lives on you 593 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:35,280 during these moments. And it's in Jesus name that we 594 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:43,280 pray, Amen. So the Bible tells us that on 595 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:47,600 that night, the Passover night, Jesus disciples, they met with 596 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,520 Jesus in the upper room and these guys, they've done the 597 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:53,000 Passover meal couple times already. 598 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,160 But there was something different about this night. 599 00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:03,960 On this night, Jesus took the bread and it said that he broke 600 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:06,920 the bread. And as he broke it, I can 601 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,680 imagine he looks around the room, probably looks at every 602 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:12,880 single one of the people in that room that night, straight in the 603 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:17,200 eyes. And then he said, this is my 604 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:34,600 body, which is broken for you. And even though I'm sure that in 605 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:40,360 the moment, just as disciples, they didn't quite get what he 606 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,520 was talking about, they had no way of knowing what was just a 607 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:47,920 few hours away. But before they departed that 608 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:54,280 room, Jesus took the cup. And I can imagine these guys, 609 00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:59,680 they had, they've been a part of this Passover meal for years. 610 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:03,360 And for the past couple years they've been a part of the 611 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:08,080 Passover meal with Jesus. And the person over the meal, 612 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,000 they would take that cup and they would hold this cup up and 613 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:12,920 then they would go through the Passover rituals. 614 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:15,480 But again, there was something different about that night. 615 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:21,560 That night Jesus took the cup and I believe that he looked 616 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:26,440 them in the eyes and he said, this is my blood which is given, 617 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:40,160 which is poured out for you. God, in times like this, we are 618 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:43,240 so aware of how inadequate our words are. 619 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,880 But God, from the deepest parts of us, from those guttural parts 620 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:55,200 of us, Lord, we say thank you. Thank you for dying in our 621 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,680 place. Thank you for sending your son 622 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:01,360 into this world to die in our place. 623 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:08,360 Everything that he went through for me, everything that he went 624 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:15,040 through for us, God, we thank you. 625 00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:20,720 God, we pray that you would continue to challenge us to live 626 00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:25,040 differently because of it. Got to keep our eyes focused on 627 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:30,920 you and your love for us and how that changes everything, and 628 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:33,960 your love for the people around us and how that changes 629 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:37,520 everything. God, we pray that you would 630 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:46,200 continue to guide us, to grow us, to use us, and to prepare 631 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:48,720 us. God, I pray that you would 632 00:39:48,720 --> 00:39:54,760 redeem our deepest hurts in our past for our good and for your 633 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:57,680 glory. Can I pray that you will 634 00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:00,720 continue to guide us. And it's in Jesus name that we 635 00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:02,160 pray. Amen. 636 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,960 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 637 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:13,320 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 638 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,680 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.