First Baptist Family of Asheboro, NC

  As we gather this morning we are reminded we gather as a broken people who are forgiven; we live in God’s grace.   This week we will end out time in Genesis and next week we’ll start Colossians and look at the grace of God.   Next week you’ll have a treat from the one who will bring the Word: Mark will preach.   I look forward to gathering and sitting with you. In Genesis 45 life has not gone as planned for Joseph.   Have you ever tried to rake leaves in the wind?   It doesn’t work!   The wind wins.   Maybe you feel like that today?   Maybe things aren’t going as planned?   Joseph had many of these moments.   When life isn’t going like we think it should we have the opportunity to ask, “What is God doing in all of this?”   There are some surprises in this passage that ties it all together.   We already know the end of the story and that can cause us to overlook some things.   This is where it clicks for Joseph. ...

  Think about a weird dream you’ve had.   Sometimes we try to make sense of them and wonder what they mean.   Today we’re looking at a couple dreams with Joseph and remember the dream Joseph had as a teen is still in the background.   We all have wild dreams sometimes like we’re driving a school bus on the beach and Beethoven in playing music on the piano and that’s all I remember.   It’s hard to understand our dreams.   Sometimes we ask if God is trying to tell us something.   For the Egyptians, dreams meant something.   They had a group of educated people who would interpret the meaning of dreams. Our world faces challenges. Pharaoh’s dream was a big thing he was concerned about.   There were healthy cows that were all eaten by ugly skinny cows.                      8 So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all ...

  Nothing says fall like college football!   The leaves are now turning and there’s pumpkin spice everything.   A reminder it’s fall is the comic strip where Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown.   We wonder if maybe this year he’ll finally kick the football.   Charlie Brown always ends up at the bottom on the ground.   Joseph is at the bottom.   The rug is pulled out from under him again.   Even at the bottom there are some good things.   We get our hopes up and the football is pulled right out from under us.   There is love at the bottom. God is with the brokenhearted.   To recap, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and he becomes Potiphar’s slave.   He’s accused by Potiphar’s wife and is thrown in prison.   Life keeps getting worse.   There’s a surprise here in verse 21:             21But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast...

  We make tough choices in life.   Kids are making more crucial choices about lunchtime because in this season kids take their lunch to school and have to social distance while they eat.   When you choose your lunch you’re locked in.   You can’t trade food.   Kids make that tough choice in the morning and then at lunch there’s another dilemma: What do I eat first?   Do I eat the healthy food first?   Some choices are more difficult than others and we don’t always know what to do.   In Genesis 39 Joseph will have to make difficult choices.   Joseph is at a place in his life where he’s living as a slave and it’s no fault of his own.   Joseph is in Egypt and everything in his life is different than what he thought it would be.   Joseph’s life is going in the opposite direction from what God has spoken over him.   His life was not highly valued.   Keep life sacred when the world doesn’t care. Joseph was sold into slavery...