Sermon Tone Analysis

Good Morning, it so Good to have our missionaries Dan and Karen Carson visiting with us this morning.

I encourage you to spend some time with them after the service..

It has been a few years since we have seen them…

Over the past several weeks we have been in this sermon series on the life of Joseph entitled, “Our Mess His Masterpiece” and we coming to the conclusion of this series....

We are going to be talking about the Breaking in of Grace…

Grace mean a special gift…or an Act of kindness… Grace can refer to the system of Grace where we get saved..Not through works through grace...

Grace can refer to the system of means of our Salvation.... Saving Grace... Grace where we get saved..Not through works through grace...

Growing up in Zimbabwe , my family would go to Durban in SA for our Vacations.

We loved swimming in the Indian Ocean... we would wade out quite far to the breakers to body surf….There is nothing more rewarding than catching a wave and riding it back to the shore line..

J

But once and a while your timing would be off and you would quickly find yourself in trouble and at the mercy of the wave… After several spin cycles in the oceans you finally come to a stop… When we think of grace --- we sometime might view grace smooth and safe ride to the shore line....

The Hymn write wrote Marvelous grace.. Grace that will pardon and grace that is greater than all our sins…

The Hymn writer wrote

We talk about the gift of Grace… we speak of

Grace is one of those Greek words that has a wide range of meanings… it comes from the word Charis..and mean a special gift…

Common grace… which is the grace given to everyone on the planet… these are everyday blessings.

We speak of positional grace or STANDING in Grace - talking about where we are in relationship to God’s love…

There is Grace found in Salvation… we are justified by faith through grace...

Grace can refer to the system of receiving our Salvation.... we are not saved by works or by the law but we are saved by grace...Saving Grace…

But as we look at the conclusion of Joseph’s life we get another view of Grace… The Outworking of Grace…or the BREAKING IN OF GRACE… or the Power of Grace...

Grace be this system of grace --- where we are not saved by works or by the law but we are saved by grace through faith.....Saving Grace…

But some times Grace can break upon our lives with … power and force.

This where we find the Outworking of grace in His redemptive plan in history… This is the kind of Grace we see at work in the closing chapters of the life of Joseph....

of Grace are those these bigger waves of grace… that come with power and force.

What we learn from the life of Joseph is that Grace has the power to break into our lives…

but grace can also break into our lives with power....grace can bring with it weight and resistence...

We

Grace can confront us with some realities that we have been avoiding....And in this final section of the life of Joseph we are are going to this Wave of God’s grace breaking in upon the Jacob and his 12 sons.

We see the Outworking of grace of God through His redemptive plan and purposes… has this ultimate plan of the creation of a nation… and the coming of the Messiah...

What we learn from the life of Joseph is that Grace has the power to break into our lives…

The story of Joseph begins with these two amazing dreams — They are no ordinary dreams they are prophetic in nature…

The story of Joseph is one that should inspire hope in all of us… Because the life of Joseph is part of wisdom literature it teaches us how to handle unavoidable challenges of life.

… Joseph teaches us that God’s providence can be found in all of life circumstances… Even through the most trying of times.

Joseph experiences both the highs and lows… the twists an turns…that life can bring… but we see Joseph never giving up but always holding onto faith and believing… God is at work… Even when life may seem void and absent of hope…

t God is at work.... working all things together for good for those who love him…

Joseph dreams that he is in the harvest field with his brothers when all of sudden his stalk rises up above the rest the 10 stalks bow down before his stalk… He has second dream… which in ancient times meant confirmation of a divine dream..

This time Joseph dreams of these Celestial bodies the Stars with the Sun and the Moon bowing down before him…

… The dreams imply that in the future his family will at sometime in the future bow before him.

Even when we don’t understand… we can trust that God is at work.... working all things together for good for those who love him…

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but recognizes that God’s providence and hand can be found in all of life circumstances…Even when we don’t understand… we can trust that God is working all things together for good for those who love him…

Joseph found himself the victim of his brother jealousy… in the bottom of a pit and sold into Slavery, we saw him rise from Slave to the Overseer over the all the affairs of Potiphar and then come crashing down again because of the accusations of PW…then final reversal which is climax of the Story where Joseph rises rom the Prison to the Palace of Pharoah - Promoted to the place of Power and Prominence... Being on Second to Pharaoh in Egypt.

The dreams push the brothers over the edge… they already resented Joseph because of their father Jacobs obvious favoritism…

The story of Joseph tells us that God is masterfully weaving His redemption story through all of our frail human experiences..

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working all things together for good for those who love him…

There was already a growing resentment because of Jacobs obvious favoritism… and Josephs reputation of being a snitch and telling Jacob on his Brothers … had exceeded the passed the point of annoyance!…

This dream of celestial bodies bowing down and paying homage to Joseph pushes the brothers over the edge.

Even though now in the present we don’t see perfectly but one day on the day… we will be able to look back and say that Go works all things together for good for those who love him…

… the brothers had already resented Joseph because of their father Jacobs obvious favoritism… and his dreams just add fuel to the fire... On day Jacob sends Joseph on a mission to check on his brothers and when

This Epic story begins with Joseph at 17 year of age a teenager having these two amazing dreams — They are no ordinary dreams they are prophetic in nature where some time in the future Joseph’s family represented by the Sun and the moon and the stars were one one day going to bow down before him… There was already this growing resentment because of Jacobs obvious favoritism… and Josephs reputation of being a snitch and telling Jacob everything that the brothers had done… This dream pushes the brothers over the ed

It is a heavenly dream where these celestial bodies the Stars of heaven and the Sun and the moon bow down before Joseph.

This dream pushes the brothers over the edge

There was already this growing resentment because of Jacobs obvious favoritism… and Josephs reputation of being a snitch and telling Jacob everything that the brothers had done… …

One day Jacob sends Joseph on a mission to check on his brothers who were pasturing their Cattle in Dothan.…

When Joseph arrives they see him from a distance and hatch this plan to get rid of him..

They attack him , with the intention to harm him… but as providence had it they ended up selling as slave to some traders heading for Egypt...

How audacious and presumptuous …What an ego …he must of had... but as we have seen this is no ordinary dream --- this is a God dream... a heavenly vision… with certain fulfilment…

of Joseph and his going to add to fuel to an already growing resentment of the brothers…

.. In fulfilment of the Abrahamic Covenant... that God was taking them into Egypt and it is here they are going to become this nation...

Things come to a head when Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers and his flocks…

ultimately the dream fuels their hatred for Joseph to the point that couldn’t even look at him.. Then one day Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers and his flocks…

When Joseph arrives they plan to get rid of him..

The attack him and sell him to some traders heading for Egypt...

and sell him to some traders heading for Egypt...

What follows are these series of Reversals…

the bottom of a pit and sold into Slavery, we saw him rise from Slave to the Overseer over the all the affairs of Potiphar and then come crashing down again because of the accusations of PW…then final reversal which is climax of the Story where Joseph rises rom the Prison to the Palace of Pharoah - Promoted to the place of Power and Prominence... Being on Second to Pharaoh in Egypt.

What follows in the life of Joseph are these series of Reversals of fortunes…

But when Joseph is in Egypt the hand of the Lord is upon him and his leadership gifts and abilities are recognized by Potiphar.

What follows in the life of Joseph are these series of Reversals of fortunes…

Joseph begins as a slave in Potiphars house but because God’s hand is upon him… and his excellent character… Potiphar makes him the Overseer over his entire household…

We have seen Joseph rise from Pit to then Penthouse of Potiphar and made Overseer over all the affairs of Potiphar.

where he is made Overseer over his entire household and fields.

Everything comes crashing down again when Joseph rejects PW advances and Jospeh ends up in the Prison house of Pharoah.

accused of making passes at PW and everything comes crashing down and he ends up in the Prison house of Pharoah.

Then there is one last and final reversal.

Joseph end up beningPromoted to the place of Power and Prominence... Being on Second to Pharaoh in Egypt.

is Promoted to the place of Power and Prominence... Being on Second to Pharaoh in Egypt.

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Pharoah has two disturbing dreams and needs someone to interpret the dreams..

The butler remembers Joseph and

The Story of Joseph is about God desiring to Bless his people... In fulfilment of the Abrahamic Covenant... that God was taking them into Egypt and it is here they are going to become this nation... God has chosen Joseph to be the man to be the front man...

We have seen Joseph Grow into an amazing Spiritual leader... Who now has the duty of overseeing all of the needs of Egypt... nothing happened in Egypt without the approval of Joseph... during the years of famine Joseph stored so much grain that they actually lost count...

=l of God’s spirit, having Character, integretity and wisdom…

spirit of the Lord is so mighty upon Joseph --- that Pharoah

seven years of plentiful harvest followed by seven years of famine..

The spirit of the Lord is so mighty upon Joseph --- that Pharoah

We see The BREAKING IN OF GRACE… or the Power of Grace...

has this ultimate plan of the creation of a nation… and the coming of the Messiah...

and is Promoted to the place of Power and Prominence...

Joseph has come to understand that God doesn’t deliver us from every circumstance but rather God uses our predicaments as platforms to perform to display his Grace…

Joseph declares to Pharaoh that God was sending a famine… there would be seven years plenty followed by seven years of famine..

He advises Pharoah to make provisions during the years of plenty to prepare for Famine… God’s had is mighty upon Joseph and his promoted a place of Power and Prominence...

We have seen Joseph spiritual formation… from a teen into this amazing Spiritual leader… Who is characterized as being full of God’s spirit, having Character, integretity and wisdom…

Joseph became Pharaoh’s right hand man and acted with the full authority of Pharaoh leads Egypt through time of 7 years of abundance of land....

leads Egypt through time of 7 years of abundance of land....

followed by the 7 years of famine… Joseph is second to Pharoah.

nothing happened in Egypt without the approval of Joseph…

t... nothing happened in Egypt without the approval of Joseph... during the years of famine Joseph stored so much grain that they actually lost count...

And during the years of famine Joseph stored so much grain that they actually lost count..

The story of Joseph is coming to a conclusion

Everything is coming to a Resolution… The big Picture is that Jacob (Israel) sons are going to settle in the land and become the nation of Israel…But there is one last unresolved issue that has to happen before this takes place… This is the Restoration of this family that has been torn apart by a secret that has been hidden for two decades..

We are going to see this morning this Wave of Grace break upon this Jacob and his Sons.