03-02-2025 Acts 7:1-16

Well, this morning, if you have a Bible turn to Acts chapter 7, we're going to be in Reading there. We covered chapter 6, last week, we made our way through it. Now we're here in chapter 7 and I'm going to read a bit of scripture. So prepare for that, this, this is God's word. This is actually at the same time, the longest sermon in the book of Acts, it is quite lengthy. We're not going to cover all of it today, but we're going to start out where the Bible starts out a bit in Genesis. So if you found it and Acts chapter, 7, please stand with me and honor of reading God's. Holy word, we're going to go through this passage together. Let's hear the word of the Lord, don't disregard this moment. This is a time to hear what God has to say. So direct your attention as we read these words, starting in verse 1.

And a high priest said are these things. So and Steven said brothers and fathers hear me the god of Glory appear to Our Father, Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in her on And said to him, go out from your land and from your kids are in Kindred and go into the land. I will show you, then he went out for the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Huron. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land, and which you are now living. Yeah, he gave him. No inheritance in it, not even a foot, links foot length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him. So we had no child. I got spoke to this effect that his offspring would be sojourners in a land, belonging to others who would enslave them and afflict them for 400 years. But I would judge that the nation they serve said God and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place and he gave him the Covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the 8th day and Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob. And Jacob of the 12 Patriarchs And the Patriarchs jealous of Joseph, sold him in the Egypt, but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and all his household. Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt in Canaan and great Affliction. In our fathers could find no food but when Jacob heard that there was green and Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers and Joseph Family became known to pharaoh and Josephson and some and Jacob his father and all his Kindred 75 persons and all and Jacob went down into Egypt and he died and our fathers. And they were carried back to shechem and laid in the Tomb that Abraham bought for some of silver from the sons of hamor in shechem. Let's pray together. Lorde. This morning are temptation. Is to turn into those that read the bhagat's to hear this history and go numb. The Lord, this is the history of your Redemption. That is beautifully, displayed in the work of Jesus Christ. This is an urgent sermon. And Lord, may we take this, it's this urgency serious this morning as we listened to your word and longed to live in those ancient words. Oh God. Help us. This morning, we can be dismayed and broken by the things that are coming at us. Help us hold fast to your word and Lord hold fast to us. I believe your promises this morning, all of the ones that have come true in Jesus. It's in his name. I pray. Amen. so, just to Jump Right In. I decided the title this. Do you even Bible and there's a reason for it. Do you even Bible? It is a slight reference to those that go to the workout facilities and do not actually participate in the exercise thereof and what someone would say to them as do you even lift bro as a way of attacking or slandering them to make fun of that do gmv, do you even lift a 10? What we have here is a scenario of do you even Bible? The conflict that has emerged in our texts is over scripture, what it means, how it's functioning its place. We have Steven who's emerged and he's the one question in our passage, but it comes from our previous passage, doesn't it where he's been hard at work disputing and arguing with those over what the Bible teaches, he cares deeply about scripture. He's been raised up to serve the church. Doubt as that as a person of maturity and in the service of the church, he's gotten opportunities in the synagogue to engage with them, over who Jesus is in regards to the Bible. This is a Bible fight. In, in fact, the apostles are arguing distinctly that the whole point of the Bible was Jesus and it's going to repeat itself and all over the place and here we have an installment and what Stephen is doing. It's very critical in this moment we we we would be tempted to not notice the urgency of it and I want to draw your attention to it because there's been something going on on repeat in our story. And I really want to get get your attention on this. If you would just pay attention over and over again, we've had an arrest in a trial, in a rest in a trial, having we will be several weeks, we've participated together. We've seen and arrest and release and then come back to trial and hear Steve. It's been a, he's been arrested and he's on trial, that's what's taking place and this mimics the same thing that we've seen happen through the through this story in the book of Acts what's happening with Jesus, but this is the last chance. This is it. Israel is putting Jesus on trial yet again.

And this is the last chance.

You know, we don't know when someone's last chance to respond to the word is, we don't know in this text. That's not what it looks like is happening. What it looks like it's happening, is Steven is about to eat it, he better be careful with his words. What actually happening in the text is this is the last time that these rulers and Israel are going to a get to examine the facts regarding Christ. Jesus In this sermon Stevens, going to stand up. And basically preach the gospel in an urgent way to them yet again and they are going to reject it and that's it all the things that they think they're going to be able to keep safe, protect for themselves, namely the temple, namely their people are going to get taken from them anyway and then they rejected their Messiah. The reason why that speaks in it, a sense of urgency, for all of us is, how many times have we heard? The gospel and become callous refused to respond? How many times have we decided to put God on trial rather than realize that we're the ones on trial? When we act that way? When we stand in judgment over what he's done in his word in the direction of it in Christ, or when we experience an Express, apathy, the way that we saw Gamaliel to from before in these trials. All of them have built up to this moment in this sense of urgency. When what Stephen is doing is he is announcing a shared history. In the Bible that they are rejecting your, somebody I really respect and I think a lot of said this about scripture. If you only believe the parts of the Bible that you like and leave aside the parts that you don't like, you don't believe the Bible, you believe yourself, you are now the authority and not the Bible. All these are true things aren't they? The difficulty with this is often, this could have been exactly what exactly what the Sanhedrin said to the apostles. And this is exactly what Stephen is saying to the Sanhedrin. This is a difficult thing that must be discerned by the spirit in a christ-centered direction that ultimately has culminated in Jesus, because Jesus rose from the dead. It has helped everyone understand the scripture. And if you can't see that you're in rejection of the truth, that's a heavy reality. And I would argue that, we need to apply that same things that are everyday living in the way things are coming out of us. We need to have a christ-centered gospel centered life as much as it needs to be christ-centered Gospel, reading of the word. This is essential for Christian Living and essential that we be equipped in such a way that we would be able to tangle and wrestle in this world. And notice very clearly when Satan comes to tempt Jesus. He didn't show up without his Bible. He showed up with the word. To get Jesus and attempt to get Jesus to vindicate himself. Avoid the cross and choose another way that the world would worship Him. Understanding scripture applying it well is essential that our life and it is dramatic and is at 8 in the pressure is great. And Steven is answering all of the accusations from this previous section. Did you see what the accusations were? How I want to remind you of them, and they're very important to keep it our head. As we move through the text, they accused him of blasphemy, Moses. And God speaking against the law in the temple, that saying that Jesus of Nazareth was destroyed this place and he's changing the Customs. Now, I talked last week, a little bit about why this is working because it hints a bit at the truth. And at the same time, it's not true. What happened is Jesus is come to fulfill these things and be the ultimate Center of their purpose. And Steven is arguing for this and he's going to answer the objections. It's important that we answer for the hope that's in us and Steven has hope even in the face of all time. Attack and is that they're going to become X at our life or we're going to be tested and will Jesus be the actual thing that sustains us or will you try to find strength somewhere else?

Look, we wrestle with the stories, we often times. It's easy to miss the point and we can be in combat for our quest for security and safety apart from Christ and its debt. That's devastating for the soul. Hear what happened with the Sanhedrin is they wanted to be king of the kingdom of the holder of their land and get God's presents at their convenience.

And this is a confrontation of sorts. A necessary one. That's worth dying for. And Jesus would ultimately be the thing that sustained Steven in his sermon despite being rejected because he's going to look like Jesus. What baldness that is. So, I want to cover this in three parts this morning because Jesus ultimately sustains Us. In the first thing that I want to notice in the first 8 verses that Jesus sustains us to the fear of the future. The fear of the future.

There's a lot of fear that happens in our life but when there's a unique fear that comes with our sense of what's going to happen in the future, most of us have have live long enough to have our life dramatically confronted with a shocking revelation. Sometimes that happens in churches, doesn't it? Where someone is not who you thought they were? Someone's is different than you thought. They were someone and it shocked us that shakes us up and it makes us since that. Everything is falling apart and the loss of relationships that we felt were the super secure and not like, not shake. Those things can destroy our sense of being in this world replacement and in what I love about the faith that God has called us to is to trust him despite being afraid. If you haven't been scared, you raise them children.

If you haven't been scared, stand up for the truth. There are reasons to be afraid and yet at the same time, have our fears cooled. And the one who sustains us and secured our future namely Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God, for those who believe in, Jesus is secure, and not in question. It is coming to you, you who endure to the end who wrestle with these very words and speak to leave and go wherever he would call, you know, that I said this confrontation to textures this up as what Steven does is he draws Israel? Back to their story and says, look at all the details, you forgotten. Look at what you've forgotten. You've found Safety and Security by squatting in the place that you are. And you think that you're going to get somewhere by not moving.

You're going to build a fence around yourself, you're going to protect yourself, you're going to keep yourself from the pain that you make Spirits with just just squat right where you are that and there's that is controlling their interpretation of scripture. In fact, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees themself have existed to enforce Israel. In obedience to the law in such a way that they would never break it and not be kicked out and go through Exile again. And so when Stephens shows up arguing with them, that Jesus is the Messiah. The first thought is this is not the kingdom that we were looking for. This is not the safety that we desired. We would like a better secured future. Here's the question, let's go back to it. Verse one and the high priest. Said all her these things. So stirring, back to those accusations, right? And Steven said, so this is Stevens response to the questioning of the high priests to do some Scholars, read this and don't think That Steven is responding to the accusations of being arrested. So Google, what else has this speech for that? Would be ridiculous and what he's doing is he saying we have a shared history and you don't get what it's about. Do you even Bible? Don't you remember what the word says? Let's look back at the word and be reminded of what the Bible says, and almost every part of it, you'll notice it as we go through it and everybody's moving everywhere, have you noticed? And God was still showing up and still present? You you deciding that you want to settle and protect this house, doesn't mean you're actually going to be able to keep the temple safe.

This is blinding you to seeing Jesus, as the full-on ultimate expression, the temple, even as Jesus himself had confronted the temple even as the Apostle's, have a car in front of the temple. And time is running out. You think you can secure your future for yourself, but you're not willing to trust and the question is are these things? So Stevens going to respond and he's going to respond with the Bible. How does he do it? Well, let's go through a brothers and fathers what a direct address. Family family shove a shared history. Hear me the same way. The Shema would call out to them hear. Oh, Israel hear me, the glory of God appear to Our Father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, not here.

Godwin found Abraham when he was in a far-off place to show him this land. That was that was the point. I noticed how this goes for all throughout the entirety of the story Abraham and he never settles in the land. And yet, he has the presence of the Lord with him. But that's the point Stevens making God has not forgotten his promises to Abraham to bless the Nations ultimately. And how is that going to happen by squatting in a place? What's going to ultimately happen? Is the true son of Abraham. Namely Jesus is going to come and lead us on the final. Exodus the final Journey all the way home. That's the point. Why would you miss this? Don't miss this. There's a pleading to this night Stevens. Not going to go so far as to say that yet we got other scriptures are there at the end of the sermon. He's going to lay this. I'm just going to head and giving you the preview of the end.

So Abraham. Shows up in his life and takes him somewhere else and what he said, and he said to him, go out from your land, from your kids rooms, and go to the land that I will show you, then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in her on and his father died. God removed him from there into this land, which you are now living. Do you see it? Took a while to get here? Phil long time and God was working in his people to bring them home, that will continue working and his people to bring them home. Removed him. Notice that he gave him, no inheritance in it. He didn't even give him land yet. It's at what's happening in the story. God is training his people to trust him when they don't see the future delivered upon. Abraham had to trust the Lord and was brought through the process of trust in the Lord. And we're going to get through it. All to me, leave to Isaac, right? It's like this. This, I have to trust that God's going to deliver on what he said. Even though I can't see that, it's going to hurt like a trust the Lord with the future. Is the draw of this situation, do we?

Hitler knows how clearly makes it a spot yet he gave him no inheritance in it. Not even a foot. Fling dramatic. But promised to give it to him as a possession into his offspring after him though. He had no child. You see the waste even stressing it? He had to keep looking to the future. He wasn't going to receive the promises in this life. They were lost just as Hebrews with stress. I sent a pistol in your Bible.

Dude, that's what he's doing. He's longing to look into. Come on, I can see it. And yet at the same time, believing the Lord and he failed so much. We could go through the failures of Abraham and stack them up this morning. They're quite weird. Especially to us. Go to 1st and God spoke to this effect that is all spring would be sooner. Sojourners, what? What? Come on Noodle, and then they couldn't deliver on the Promises taking forever.

Like a dancer man. Just kidding anyways. it'll land belonging to others who would enslave them, well, that doesn't seem like deliverance and afflict them for four hundred years, come on, This is the way to do it. There's got to be another way. We're going to have to trust the Lord, with the future in such a way that it could lead to 400 years in the wilderness of slavery. I'd like to sign up for a different promise.

But I will judge the nation that they serve said God and after that, they shall come out and worship me in this place and isn't that what exit is drawing us to from the whole of Exodus? The point is to Worship the Lord their God and as this battle takes place between between Israel and Egypt over Sun ship, and what it is, to be a sun, the blam's blood is placed over the door, they are able to leave that place, ultimately, and worship their lord, their God because it's out of Egypt. I've called my son.

This repeated pattern in the text is driving us to Jesus coming. The final fulfillment of such a thing. The one who we can really laugh about and have joy. Over is Jesus. The one we didn't see coming and stepping into our life is ultimately Christ, Jesus. And he secures our future. And we can trust him. We can trust. That's even placing itself in verse 8 and he gave him the Covenant of circumcision. Psychic. And so ever, he became the father of Isaac and circumcise him on the 8th day and I think we can father of Jacob and Jacob of the 12 Patriarchs history. Moves forward. Here we go. What what what what if this promise and this Mark In the Flesh? What is it pointless to get? Ultimately the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent? That God's going to deliver on his promises. And when Jesus comes, He blesses the nation's with salvation and every nation tribe tribe and tongue will confess him as Lord. That's the mission, we share in the book of Acts. This is the heart we carry together because the Lord has secured our future. We can take great risk

Steven is doing here. Steven needs his own sermon because what Stevens future is is filled with rocks.

Even when our future seems to be filled with rocks and 400 years of this sand. No foot in the land, had all. The promises of God are true. Because our Lord secures the future. Pieducks. You may be struggling right now with all kinds of stuff pain. Your life requires courage.

It's driving. You forward. This winding story of God's love is is pushing you, Steven needed Abraham story to make it. He did. He needed it because he needed to know and be reminded of that. God has repeated this action over and over again. And when you see Jesus coming, you know what's happened. Delivered on his promises. You can trust Jesus. He is the one that will sustain us Christ. Secured our future by rising from the dead. This is why risk for the Christian is Honorable in an attempt to be generous and vulnerable is not bad.

Sanhedrin. What did they do? They ignored the signs and wonders. And they developed in Egypt, art. They developed the Egypt, art and hardened it. Don't miss. It don't sell your future for yourself. Abraham work to that Denis. I try to figure it out for himself. The question about who our future or what our future is. It's going to be found in Christ. Where are you going?

Where you going this morning, where you trying to go?

Sometimes what we do is we find comfort in our lack of Conformity to Christ. what's going to happen here with Stevens, life is his future is going to be secured as he's conformed to the image of Christ and suffers in front of others and his own death, as the first martyr You can trust God with your future. You can the glory of the Lord will one day cover the dry land like the waters, cover the sea.

That promise was going to extend Way Beyond Israel's place in the world. It's an ancient promise in the word that every nation tribe and tongue would experience the presence of God. All right that's the first thing. Jesus also sustains us to the fears of intimate. Rejection. Intimate rejection. You know, in the church this pain of personal discovery that I mentioned before is often what makes us crazy. If you've ever had someone hurt you in the church, it can be very devastating to your participation or continued continued presence in the church. And what, what I love about the story of God, as it's not missing the pain of intimate rejection, and what Stevens even bringing up is that happening in the story to see what's happening. As Stephen is talking about this text, is he saying in a very interesting way. I'm talking about you. That's what he's doing throughout this. He's giving the hints that he will slam home at the end and he said you're playing your part. You may not see what your part is that your part is just like those who rejected Joseph Joseph was supposed to have brothers and out of Jealousy. What did his brothers do? They threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery. Their first idea, was to have him killed. That's great, isn't it? I mean when you read Genesis did you lose your first thought less of what sounds like a lot like Jerry Springer? But it does, like everywhere you turn in the Book of Genesis, you got brothers, killing each, other, Cain and Abel. Tell me every story is littered with family horror, or what people should do is get each other's back. And instead they do with a knife It's devastating. And it's ultimately filtered itself throughout the history of the church and what's going on. It's Emmett rejection feels like the ultimate if you've had it happen, it happened in our lives. It happens over and over again, it is it feels like I could never recover in Joseph's story for a minute. Let's pause. It's so easy to just assume running but the point is Steven making is he's bringing this up. It's so that you wouldn't just zoom right on by. Is a genuinely sit yourself there for a second and feel the weight of this kind of rejection and notice. At the same time. This is the means of how God is bringing Redemption.

Oh, Jesus sustains us through our fears of intimate rejection, and many of us have decided that we are going to be safe by not starting new relationship. It's like I got my four friends, I trust them and we're going to all be safe until I die. Risking it with another human being is not worth it. It's a tempting reality to live in and it what it seems like is like is God at work in this continually It's, it's the reason why I prayed the prayer that I did to begin with. We have an uncommon Unity with that. Unity is always at war with our own little Queen demands and Kingdoms at wrestling inside of our souls, submitting to Christ. And his plan through intimate rejection, is it is a is a serious thing. And God brings us places to shoo us what he's going to do with that noticed in our text, look back at it and the Patriarchs jealous of Joseph we have to sit on that for a second and don't miss it and ask 5:17 what was happening the Sanhedrin were jealous. Of the Apostles is exact same wording. And so Steven saying this, he's going I know.

I know about your jealousy. Why were they jealous? Because the apostles were being so received in the public, and the Sanhedrin was worried, they were experiencing their own rejection. My goodness. This sounds like Cain and Abel on repeat until you can remember the Lord confronting came by his like, why I hate? Look if you do, what is well, you but the Sanhedrin couldn't let go.

They're filled with their jealousy and their jealousy led to murder the same way. It always does in the texts of the Bible.

You know. This is an epic story. What happens? I sold him into Egypt, but God was with him. Do you see that God was with him and Egypt? He didn't have to be at the temple, that was with him in Egypt. That's what that Steven is. Just kind of making the same point over and over again for paying attention, beautiful. And rescued him, out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom, which is what Steven has right from The Acts. Chapter 6 that we talked through, didn't he have favor and wisdom? He's setting himself up in the story to say you're treating me like that because you hate Jesus. That's your issue.

Notice it was before Pharaoh the king of Egypt who made him ruler over Egypt and overall his household. He Joseph experience. This emergence through what the Betrayal of his brothers, the bread, betrayal of, his brothers. And this time. That he would have went through in the Betrayal and Potiphar's own house. Even if the favor, they're all of these stories of his own life, where he's sitting, 2 years in jail, after you're already gave the story about the and he's forgotten. And you can imagine in Joseph own life and situation is like, I'm just totally forgotten. I forgot.

That's not doing anything with this. Imagine it was a struggle text us, even mention it. Joseph held on to the promises of God that his dream would come true. And his brothers would Bow Down Even though his brothers rejected him is ultimately comes through in Jesus, though, doesn't it? That Jesus. The rightful older brother. Prepares a feast. For his younger brother who goes away. Think about the complications. You you when you hear about the Prodigal Son story, that's actually the big thing that kind of sits behind it. We need an older brother who's going to be faithful and true and actually at the same time, not just stand outside the feast but be a part of it with us.

This story of God. Reminds me of Sandra McCracken song that I've been meditating on even as we went to the concert this week. And these words, every vowel we've broken and betrayed, you are the faithful one. And from the garden to the Grave bind us together. Bring Shalom. We is the people have. Got hope that God would do it. What he would do is bring us together so that we would examine and no are Unfaithful hearts and our temptation to hurt one another and reject one another back B. Don't be ruled by jealousy like the Sanhedrin.

Love the place that God has put you so that you can love others. They were jealous of Jesus because he's the Risen King. You could submit to the Risen King.

When we pursue the only Messiah Jesus, we realized that betrayal lurks around the corners. It does in Jesus's own life. The trail was woven into the story and I think it's for our benefit to know that we can trust the Lord, even through that stuff. Just as Joseph was betrayed by his brothers. Judas has emerged in the book of Acts and then replaced. It's it's not that we want to cover up that store you if they're dealing with it even now and every single week when we practice communion together we say the very beginning of it. What do we say? On the night when Jesus was betrayed.

This church is a reverse of that, which is broken in this world where what people will do is constantly betray you and attack you. Even in the intimate places where you thought you were known, you thought you were loved and it was the church is a calling to action for those who believe to reverse that with the gospel in this world. You know. The prayer of the there are freaking funeral prayer is that we're being drawn into a deeper communion with one another and this is an amazing thing that only God can do in his story. A wicked plot in the context of the gospel of Christ, as a reminder of the warning that scripture ultimately proves true. And we don't have to live in constant fear of people's Wicked plots. Got using them for his glory and even when the worst things happen to us and people lie about us and they slander us and they attack us. That is his draw is drawing us to a place of deeper intimacy. Strong us to a place where we can truly be known before God's throne. So Jesus sustains us to fears of intimate, rejection and fears of the future, but Jesus also sustains us through fears of scarcity. It, one of the things I love about eating and what we do and communities, we eat to remember, if the way that eating reminds us of stuff this morning, I even talked with the youth Sunday school about what their favorite dessert was, and usually it's attached to a person, several of them said, my mama makes. Now there's food that you love right now that attaches itself to people and places and things and places, you've been that you just are reminded of that place in your like, I love it. That would that is good. Maybe so if you are like, why would you do this? It's stirring this up in us on a Sunday morning. Just before lunch, what is going on? Because I want to remind you that Jesus does sustain us ultimately through our fear of scarcity in this text, it shows up and it showed up just like the other issue of family problems in the Book of Genesis. For the same thing also shows up in the Book of Genesis when it comes to famine the every time you turn around, there's a famine in the Book of Genesis and God uses that famine for the sake of rescuing, his people, you can look at Abraham or you can ultimately go to the place where he kicked out of the garden and no longer allowed to eat of the tree of the of the life. This is devastating for them. Now, what they must do is they must work the ground and every time you turn around, it turns up thorns and thistles, just like God, said, maybe you've experienced that in your own life, to get the food from the ground. Is hard work. And it's been hard work, all the days of our life and it will be. And every now and then a famine comes along. In our story with Joseph a famine came along and God was using that famine yet again to show where we fine ultimately satisfaction. This is the part two of the Joseph story, right? Let's look at it in verse 13.

That's our, excuse me, go back at the verse 11, that's what I meant to say verse 11. Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt in Canaan and great Affliction and our fathers could find no food. You know the ones that sold their brother out serves them right, right then. Maybe that's could be our attitude. It wasn't Joseph.

Because this is the thing God designed to bring about Redemption and he saw the bigger purposes of God and all the pain that he went through. But when Jacob had heard there was a green, there was green and Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. I love this because even in all of this travel notice there's a lot of travel still What, how what has happened is provision was made down in Egypt. The place. They were going to become the slaves. even as the promises of God are working themselves out, they wouldn't have made it if God didn't provide food, Any provided food by raising up Joseph in a foreign land.

And on the second visit, Joseph made himself known to his brothers and Joseph Family. Became known to Pharaoh Pharaoh. I find this fascinating as well, because it's, as if what Joseph knows is happening. Is like, hahaha finally happened. You're coming that you need help. And your, you don't know who you're going, to have to submit to, to get the help and Joseph slowly reveals the true to his brothers and then you go back and read Genesis. It's a Wonderful story. Isn't it about how Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and in many ways as a test and is another way to say, like, let's look to the Lord, let's look to the Lord. In this sense of scarcity, could have drove him to do, all kinds of things to his brothers. Despite the promises of God, he could have when they showed up said, I'm not giving you a thing. You threw me into slavery. I the Lord that he delivered me and he's not going to deliver you. The purpose of Joseph's delivery, was for the sake of his brothers who had betrayed him.

So He makes himself known. It's as if the mysteries of scriptures are, are you even working in that? God makes himself known. There's so many different issues and Problems. But ultimately in Jesus Christ, he's drawing us into. That didn't are lacks in an our Brokenness and are not enough notice. We are reminded, the only ultimate one who can sustain us in the famine is the true bread of life because Jesus pictures Mana. To us as the people of God, journeying through this world. That's what happening? And Joseph first $0.14 a some, and some and Jacob, his father and all his Kindred 75 persons and all not exactly the fullest of the stars of Heaven that were once promised Abraham yet 75. That's all of them. And Jacob went down into Egypt and he died. And our fathers and they were carried back to shechem laid in a tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver. From the sons of hamor in shechem. I find this fascinating because like why would what's with that detail Dan? Like why is this here? Even in the way, the Patriarchs were buried. They were buried in Samaria.

Almost at this point, the hatred between them and the Samaritans had developed to such an extent that they could not even be saved their so wicked. And when you find it is stuff playing itself out in the story of scripture. It's as if what happens all the time is it, like Jesus goes into Samaritan territory. And now the apostles are about to go into Samaritan territory in the very next section and effects. The prototype for the book of Acts, that's where it's all going. And in when they hear this, is going to stir up a kind of anger in them because they've determined that these people are outside and what, but Steven is saying is

The Patriarchs are buried up there in that land. And Jesus is Alive. Jesus risen from the dead. People can be brought together under the banner of Christ and a famine, famine that brought our brothers together and Safety and Security is what it took to do that. What would it take to get your attention? What would actually draw you to the true satisfaction? That yours? Will you wake up to the sermon of Steven Wright? This is the sermon of Stephen as he stands before you and talks about a two where people are buried. He's highlighting a tomb that's empty in Christ, Jesus. And the question in all of these repeat travels that bangs on her head as we watch the Patriarchs go back and forth and back and forth to Egypt. And Israel is how many times does it take for the Lord to talk to you about his goodness from his word? Before you say, I got to stop holding on. I have to stop holding on to Security in my own way. I have to stop establishing all the places that I think I can keep and protect. I'm going to let go of it and I'm going to follow the lord on this ultimate Journey that found in Jesus Christ. Stevens going to need this. He's going to need it. Because as this sermon comes to an end, He's going to be without. Going to seem as though everything's torn apart, but what he's going to see is Jesus standing at the right hand of the father resurrected, the true king. what is impossible becomes possible because of what Christ has done raising from the dead and all of these guys All of them, it would have heard. This would have been tempted to settle for something other than the resurrection of Christ, that's what they're being tempted with. And as we continue to go through the sermon in the following weeks, we need to be reminded of the ultimate end of it. That is true for us and it's found in Sandra song. It goes like this. We will feast in the house of Zion. We will sing with our hearts restored. He has done great things. We will say together. We will feast and weep no more.

This is this is what Stephens highlighting he really is. He's highlighting this for the people of God, believe in Christ because it's the only way to be secure and go home. Miss salmon that. Once existed with Joseph will turn into a feast because of Jesus.

This morning, just like we do each and every week I get an extraordinary opportunity to welcome you to the feast to call your attention once again to what we do at the table.