Sermon Tone Analysis

Star Wars…without having seen the first 6 films

So it is with the Bible.

If we want to understand the teachings of Christ, we must start by understanding the faith of the people to whom he was teaching.

This was the covenant community of Jews.

Engage

Settle for good…when great is available?

Focus on the wrong thing???

Wanting longevity instead of legacy.

Tension

Desire to survive, prevents us from thriving

Truth

Exodus - sequel to Genesis.

Covenant is vital to understanding the Bible.

A Covenant is more than an agreement, it is a relationship.

Covenant was God’s ongoing agreement with Israel:

“And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; / Then I will say to those who were not My people, “You are My people!” / And they shall say, “‘You are my God!’ ”

“And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; / Then I will say to those who were not My people, “You are My people!” / And they shall say, “‘You are my God!’ ”

Covenant is key to understanding God's relationship with the people he has chosen, no matter how imperfect they are.

And God seems to like using imperfect people.

It all started in the garden.

Adam and eve were created to be in relationship with God…they were a living covenant.

But the fall disrupted that relationship.

Then Noah was promised a covenant after he was delivered in the ark.

Rebellion had brought about a deliverance and a new covenant.

Then we have Abraham who God told: Get out of your country, / From your family / And from your father’s house, / To a land that I will show you.

/ I will make you a great nation; / I will bless you / And make your name great; / And you shall be a blessing’

What did Abraham do? he left.

He was faithful to God…but still no children.

Then when he was 99, God came to him and promised him again.

“Behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.

No longer shall your name be called Abram; but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations”

“Behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.

No longer shall your name be called Abram; but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations”

Absurd?

Yes, Abraham thought so.

When the angel told Abraham this, he fell down on the ground laughing.

The angel came to announce it a second time, and Sarah laughed.

Responding to her laughter, the angel says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?

At the appointed time I will return … and Sarah shall have a son” ().

And He did, and she did.

Absurd?

Yes, Abraham thought so.

When the angel told Abraham this, he fell down on the ground laughing.

The angel came to announce it a second time, and Sarah laughed.

Responding to her laughter, the angel says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?

At the appointed time I will return … and Sarah shall have a son” ().

And He did, and she did.

Scripture puts it cryptically, “The Lord did to Sarah as He had promised” (, RSV).

A son through whom He would continue to fulfill His covenant was born.

His name was Isaac.

Isaac had a son named Jacob, and Jacob had a son named Joseph.

It was this favored son of Jacob—Joseph—-who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers.

God continued to move in a mysterious way.

By the time famine arose in the land of Jacob and all his family was starving, Joseph had gained favor in Egypt.

In fact, he had become a kind of prime minister of the nation.

Pharaoh, through Joseph, invited Jacob and his people to come to Egypt and enjoy the “best of all the land” ().

His name was Isaac.

Isaac had a son named Jacob, and Jacob had a son named Joseph.

It was this favored son of Jacob—Joseph—-who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers.

God continued to move in a mysterious way.

By the time famine arose in the land of Jacob and all his family was starving, Joseph had gained favor in Egypt.

In fact, he had become a kind of prime minister of the nation.

Pharaoh, through Joseph, invited Jacob and his people to come to Egypt and enjoy the “best of all the land” ().

Joseph saw God at work in this and invited his brothers to come, so they did.

OF course they had to because there was a Drought in the land and they had no food.

But Joseph saw God at work in this.

Hear what he said:

Gen 4

‘I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life … to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance’

‘I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life … to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance’

Then in the next chapter of Genesis, Jacob prays and receives a vision from God to not fear Egypt, that God would make him a great nation there.

Look what happened in our text today.

God had answered the promise.

It is expected that what began as a group of 70, 400 years later, had become some 2 million Jews in Egypt.

Truly a great nation.

This is the first thing I want us to see in the text today.

God was working to bring about the fulfilment of his promise, regardless of the situation his people found themselves.

God can work through seemingly impossible situations to accomplish his will.

Yesterday we celebrated Rev Dore’s life.

We know him as a compassionate pastor.

But did you know that he didn’t even know his parents?

He never knew who they were.

Normally when a child never knows his parents, he doesn’t have much hope, but God saw to it that Bill Dore would be much more than what was expected.

There are some of you here today who are in situations that don’t seem to be very hope giving.

It may not be a famine, or you may not be an orphan, but regardless of your situation, God is at work seeking to bring about the best for you, that you might know him and bring glory to his name.

That’s God’s desire for bringing us through the difficulties, to bring Glory to his name.

That’s the way Jesus described it in the NT when the blind man was healed.

Have you had a circumstance that you shouldn’t have gotten through, but before you knew it, it all worked out?

Often times we want take credit for it, credit it to our craftiness or our abilities, when it reality it was God’s grace.

Jesus opened the door for us to enter into relationship with God.

His promise to us now is to never leave us nor forsake us; to work all things for the good of those who love him; to continue to seek out the lost, the least, and the broken.

That brings up the second thing I want us to see today.

As God continues to seek out the lost, the least, and the broken; he restores us, bringing us into a relationship with him.

So often times,

God uses imperfect people to accomplish his purpose as they answer his call.

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, which says a lot about their character, but there was more.

Reuben, the oldest was guilty of incest.

Simeon and Levi were two of the cruelest men of the time, Judah had questionable morals.