Purpose in the Pause
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
INTRODUCE MYSELF
INTRODUCE MYSELF
TEXTING IS MY PREFERRED WAY TO COMMUNICATE
THE ELLIPSIS
is a series of dots that indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. It also can be used to imply a pause.
CAN I CALL YOU…
HOPE YOU’RE HAVING A GOOD DAY…
OKAY… SOUNDS GOOD…
That one little pauses changes everything doesn’t it?
HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE YOUR LIFE WAS ON PAUSE?
EXAMPLES OF LIFE ON PAUSE
INTRO THE STORY OF JOSEPH
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. 9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
FORESHADOWING OF THE STORY OF JOSEPH
In this moment Joseph probably thought he was made for something great.
Think about if you kept having these very vivid dreams like this
Now his brothers… they didn’t like the dreams all too much
18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” 21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing—24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
[SERVANT] SOLD TO POTIPHER
POTIPHER WIFE (HOTIPHER — REAL HOUSEWIVES OF EGYPT) TRIES TO SLEEP WITH JOE. THEN ACCUSES HIM OF TRYING TO SLEEP WITH HER. HE’S THROWN IN JAIL
[HAVE YOU BEEN IN A PAUSE LIKE THIS BEFORE]
YOU FELT LIKE GOD PROMISED ______
YOU ASKED AND PRAYED FOR ________
YOU HAVE DONE EVERYTHING THE "RIGHT" WAY
THERE ARE OTHERS WHO ARE DOING THE WRONG THING AND GETTING WHAT YOU PRAYED FOR
Because during the pause is when people most often stop walking by faith. They start walking by sight.
AND THE BIGGEST REASON IS THIS: WE WANT TO CONTROL THE OUTCOME. It's almost a instinctual response. Things are going wrong, I need more control. We want to control the outcome. BUT OUR JOB IS NOT THE OUTCOME.
GOD'S JOB IS THE OUTCOME, OUR JOB IS OBEDIENCE.
NO MATTER WHAT THINGS ARE LOOKING LOOKING LIKE.
INISH UP JAIL STORY OF JOSEPH. He's in jail for 5-6 years. and about 4-5 years in Pharaoh has a dream that he wants interpreted. And Joseph knows all about dreams.
SUMMERIZE THE DREAM
JOSEPH PROMOTED TO 2ND IN COMMAND
ALL THIS HAPPENS 7 GREAT YEARS. THEY PUT FOOD BACK.
FAMINE STARTS AND EGYPT IS DOING GREAT. NO WORRIES FOR THEM. AND IN FACT THEIR ECONOMY IS BOOMING BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE COMING FROM ALL OVER TO BUY FOOD FROM THEM
8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
WHEN YOU FOLLOW JESUS NOTHING IS WASTED
I can’t promise you when the wait will be over and you’ll see what it was all for. Could be tomorrow, a month from now, a year from now, 10 years. IT MAY NOT BE THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HANGS IN THE BALANCE OF YOUR SIMPLE DECISION TO BE OBEDIENT AND FAITHFUL DURING THE PAUSE
JESUS IN THE GARDEN — GOD IF THERE’S ANY OTHER WAY — BUT WHAT YOU WANT OVER WHAT I WANT — HIS OBEDIENCE LED TO OUR SALVATION
God’s feelings for Joseph never changed — thoughts never changed — plan never changed — Even when everything is going wrong, even when everyone seemed against him God still had a plan and the same is true for you — THERES MORE TO THIS STORY
YOUR SITUATION (YOUR PAUSE) MAY BE THE VERY THING THAT GETS YOU EXACTLY WHERE GOD WANTS YOU TO BE