Untitled Sermon

Today we are continuing our series, Cultivate. Over the last five weeks we have been looking at what the bible says to be the characteristics of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We learn about these characteristics in Galatians 5, would you all read this together with me.

Galatians 5:22 NIV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

READ TOGETHER

The two fruit of the spirit i’ve been tasked with unpacking today are kindness and goodness.

This is ironic because last week I was on the golf course and I experienced what I thought was one of the greatest moments of my golf career.

Tell story that lead to this moment:

-playing better than I ever have

-second to last hole have a little breakdown and get nervous that I won’t break my personal record.

VIDEO

Now, it wasn’t my fault they did that, so the shot still counts in my book and I went on to beat my personal best that day by seven shots.

However, what you don’t see is my moment of humiliation when they didn’t let me watch the replay of my shot until we got back to where were staying with 3 other families.

Pray

Intro Joseph

“When I think about the prime example of kindness and goodness in the Bible, the first person that comes to mind is Joseph. This man went through hell on earth but still maintained a life of kindness and goodness for everyone he interacted with.”

“There are two main lessons we can learn from the life of Joseph, so I’m going to quickly summarize the first 13 chapters of his story and get us the part we are going to learn from today.”

-summarize first 13 chapters of his life in 3 minutes (time me)

-Promise

-Pit

-Potiphar

-Prison

-Patience

-Prophecy

-Provision

-Peace

TS into lessons

(Word points with personal pronouns and action verbs.)

Lesson 1: We are in control of the kindness we share and the goodness we show.

Joseph shows us what it looks like to not allow the actions of others to impact his actions and attitude.

-Brother’s beat and sold him --- Becomes the head of Potiphar’s house

Genesis 39:2–6 NIV

2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,

-Potiphar’s wife accused him of rape --- Becomes the Prison Warden’s

Genesis 39:21–23 NIV

21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

-The cup bearer forgot about him for 2 years --- Becomes the second most powerful human in Egypt

Genesis 41:39–41 NIV

39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”

Lesson 2: When we share Kindness, other’s see God’s Goodness.

You can never know what your kindness will do (tie this point into the will you)

-Both Joseph and Israelites were blessed by his kindness

-Saved the life of the cup bearer

-Whole new life because of his kindness (living his best life)

Proverbs 11:25 NIV

25 A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

Close: Continually choose kindness/goodness and leave the rest to God.

-At the end of Joseph’s story, he has an opportunity to take out his anger on his brothers, who in theory, started all of his problems. Instead, he forgives them and provides what they need.

Galatians 6:7–10 NIV

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.