Pastor James

Summer 2010 Sermon Series

God Meant it for Good:
A Look at the Life of Joseph

In a world where faith is fading and integrity is rare, the life of Joseph in the Old Testament shines like a brilliant star in the nighttime sky, showing us that following God brings hope even in the worst of circumstances. In this story God reveals to us a man buffeted with the same kinds of problems we face today-or worse-whose tenacious faith in God ultimately won him great honor and achievement. No family today is more dysfunctional than Joseph's. No one today faces greater temptation than Potiphar's wife offered Joseph. No faith today is challenged more severely than was Joseph's on death row in an Egyptian prison. Yet Joseph stood firm, modeling for us what is possible when ordinary people maintain their connections with God.

We will trace the life of Joseph from his birth to his father's famous gift of a multi-colored coat, through the jealous rage that prompts his brothers to sell him into slavery, to his astounding rise to a position of national power. We will follow Joseph through temptation and imprisonment until he redeems himself by explaining the meaning of the king's dreams, revealing a grim and threatening future and proposing a plan for saving the nation. The king, greatly impressed, puts Joseph in charge of all Egypt where his brothers, who rejected him, are terrified when they stumble across him once again. Will he repay their cruelty with the death they deserve...or with unwarranted forgiveness?

Nowhere in history is there a story more compelling than Joseph's. It reads like an epic novel, filled with intrigue, tension, temptation, and torrential emotions. And it touches us deeply because we can see ourselves facing the same kinds of difficulties as this man, and winning.

Series begins June 6.

"Adapted from Charles R. Swindoll's book Joseph: a man of integrity and forgiveness."

Pastor James' hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM.

He can be reached by phone at 436-6750 or by email at revwooster@embarqmail.com.