Welcome to Worship
October 11, 2020
Preparing our Hearts for Worship: Rev. Bill Archer
Worship Song (pre-recorded): God is Able
Worship Team
Welcome and Prayer: Rev. Peggy Peek
Children’s Moment (pre-recorded): Lora Johnson
Scripture: Genesis 39:20-40:23
Sermon Series: Joseph – Living the Dream
Sermon Title: Faithful When Discouraged
Rev. Mark Adams
Sermon Notes:
20b - But while Joseph was there in the prison,
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. —Genesis 39:20b–23
40:1 - Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt.
2 - Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
3 - and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.
4 - The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time,
5 - each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
6 - When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected.
7 - So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
8 - “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
9 - So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me,
10 - and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes.
11 - Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”
12 - “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days.
13 - Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.
14 - But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.
15 - I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”
16 - When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread.
17 - In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
18 - “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days.
19 - Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.”
20 - Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials:
21 - He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand—
22 - but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.
23 - The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. —Genesis 40:1-23
Joseph’s life has been a real roller coaster with ups and downs. By the way, as I said last week, one of the main lessons we can glean from Joseph’s life is that God is ALWAYS with us. What can Joseph teach us about the discouraging “downhills” of life?
1.) Keep being
.
2.) Keep on
others.
“When Joseph came to them [the cupbearer and the baker] the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So, he them ‘Why are your faces so sad today?’” —Genesis 40:6ff
“God comforts us in our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received.” —2 Corinthians 1:4
3.) Keep
God.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” —Proverbs 13:12
“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” —Lamentations 3:25-26
Prayer and Benediction: Rev. Mark Adams