Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Put your special trust in God- Minister Max Lucado
Transcript
- 0:03Speaker 1: Open your Bibles, if you will, to Genesis chapter 37.
- 0:06Speaker 1: Genesis 37, you might pull the outlines out that we've included.
- 0:13Speaker 1: We're using the life of Joseph to learn how God
- 0:16Speaker 1: guides his children through difficult days. You might call this
- 0:20Speaker 1: a survival guide for tough times.
- 0:23Speaker 2: In fact, we've crafted a pledge of faith that helps
- 0:26Speaker 2: us do just that. If you'd like to Say it
- 0:29Speaker 2: out loud with me. The words will appear on the screen.
- 0:32Speaker 1: I'd invite you to fill your lungs with air and
- 0:34Speaker 1: your hearts with hope as we make this statement together.
- 0:38Speaker 1: By God's power, I'll get through this. It won't be painless.
- 0:43Speaker 1: It won't be quick. But God will use this mess
- 0:46Speaker 1: for good. I won't be foolish or naive, but nor
- 0:51Speaker 1: will I despair. With God's help, I know I will
- 0:55Speaker 1: get through this. Two quick reminders before we begin. I
- 1:00Speaker 1: hope you'll go to the church website, oakhillschurch.com. And there,
- 1:04Speaker 1: look at the testimonies that have been posted about times in.
- 1:09Speaker 2: Which God has led people through things.
- 1:13Speaker 1: You might consider posting your own. I know you'll find
- 1:16Speaker 1: that to be an encouraging visit. Also, if you're watching online, welcome.
- 1:22Speaker 1: You can click on the YouVersion icon there. Four outline
- 1:27Speaker 1: and scriptures. Let's pray together. I do not take lightly
- 1:33Speaker 1: this privilege dear Father. That you would grant me moments
- 1:37Speaker 1: in which to feed your flock. But Father if anything
- 1:42Speaker 1: good is said. It must be spoken by you. For
- 1:46Speaker 1: I am a sinner in need of your grace. We
- 1:50Speaker 1: pray that we could see Jesus. Through the life of Joseph.
- 1:55Speaker 1: In just Jesus. Through Christ we pray. To all God's
- 2:00Speaker 1: people said. Beginning in verse 6 of Genesis chapter 37.
- 2:08Speaker 2: Joseph said to them. Listen to this dream I had.
- 2:11Speaker 1: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field.
- 2:15Speaker 1: When suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright. While your
- 2:21Speaker 1: sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it. His
- 2:25Speaker 1: brother said to him, do you intend to reign over us?
- 2:29Speaker 1: Will you actually rule us? And they hated him all
- 2:32Speaker 1: the more because of the dream and what he had said.
- 2:36Speaker 1: Then he had another dream and he told it to
- 2:39Speaker 1: his brothers. Listen, he said, I had another dream. And
- 2:43Speaker 1: this time the sun and moon and 11 stars were
- 2:46Speaker 1: bowing down to me. And when he told his father,
- 2:50Speaker 1: as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him.
- 2:53Speaker 2: What is this dream you had?
- 2:55Speaker 1: Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come
- 2:57Speaker 1: and bow down to the ground before you? And his
- 3:01Speaker 1: brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the
- 3:04Speaker 1: matter in mind. Joseph probably should have just kept these
- 3:09Speaker 1: dreams to himself. Here he walks into breakfast one morning,
- 3:14Speaker 1: bubbling and babbling about these images he had as he slept. First,
- 3:18Speaker 1: he dreamed that his brothers were bowing down to him,
- 3:22Speaker 1: and he was in charge of him, and then he
- 3:23Speaker 1: dreamed that his mom and dad were included in this,
- 3:26Speaker 1: and they were bowing.
- 3:27Speaker 2: Down to him.
- 3:28Speaker 1: Everybody would bow down to him in his dreams. He's
- 3:30Speaker 1: only 17 years old. I don't know, do you think
- 3:34Speaker 1: he expected his brothers to get excited about this? Oh yeah,
- 3:39Speaker 1: baby brother. We cannot wait until the day that we
- 3:44Speaker 1: bow down before you. If so, that did not happen.
- 3:48Speaker 1: In fact, just the opposite happened. One day when the
- 3:50Speaker 1: brothers were away from the family tending sheep, they seized
- 3:54Speaker 1: the opportunity to seize their younger brother Joseph. And they
- 3:59Speaker 1: threw him over the edge of a pit into a
- 4:02Speaker 1: dry cistern. They stripped him of the fancy coat and
- 4:07Speaker 1: they left him there. From deep in the pit, Joseph
- 4:10Speaker 1: could hear them discussing what they would do with him.
- 4:13Speaker 1: Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites. And
- 4:16Speaker 1: let not our hand be upon him, for he is
- 4:18Speaker 1: our brother in our flesh.
- 4:19Speaker 2: I think this is curious.
- 4:21Speaker 1: Their collective consciences resisted sibling murder, but permitted sibling slave trade.
- 4:28Speaker 1: And Joseph detected the sounds of a coming wagon and
- 4:32Speaker 1: a donkey and then some foreign accents and some new voices.
- 4:36Speaker 1: And he realized there was a conversation taking place between
- 4:39Speaker 1: his brothers and a.
- 4:40Speaker 2: Group of people.
- 4:42Speaker 1: He overheard phrases like, we'll sell him to you. A
- 4:46Speaker 1: couple of camels perhaps? What do we do with him?
- 4:51Speaker 1: Next thing he knew, one of his brothers was lowered
- 4:53Speaker 1: down into the pit on a rope. And then the
- 4:56Speaker 1: brother grabbed Joseph and the both of them were pulled out.
- 4:59Speaker 1: And these traders, these Ishmaelite traders began to poke and
- 5:03Speaker 1: probe Joseph like he was a cow on the auction block.
- 5:07Speaker 1: They stuck fingers in his mouth. They counted his teeth.
- 5:10Speaker 1: They pinched his arms to see if he had any
- 5:12Speaker 1: muscle left. And Joseph realized what was happening and he
- 5:15Speaker 1: cried out, you cannot sell me.
- 5:17Speaker 2: I'm your brother.
- 5:19Speaker 1: But the brothers just shoved him to the side and
- 5:21Speaker 1: the negotiations began. We'll give you 10.
- 5:25Speaker 2: Shekels of silver.
- 5:26Speaker 1: No, no, no.
- 5:26Speaker 2: We won't take less than 30. How about 15?
- 5:29Speaker 1: No, 25.
- 5:29Speaker 2: All right, 20. And finally they settled on a price.
- 5:34Speaker 1: And Joseph was sold for the price of a handicapped slave.
- 5:40Speaker 1: He must have cried out again.
- 5:43Speaker 2: But the brothers didn't listen.
- 5:44Speaker 1: They just grabbed the fancy coat and took the money
- 5:46Speaker 1: and they walked away. And the merchants tied one end
- 5:49Speaker 1: of the rope around Joseph's neck and the other end
- 5:51Speaker 1: around the wagon. And Joseph, dirty and tear-stained, far from home,
- 5:57Speaker 1: had no choice but to follow. He fell in behind
- 6:00Speaker 1: the wagon and between the camels and he looked over
- 6:03Speaker 1: his shoulder and there he saw the backs of his
- 6:06Speaker 1: brothers as they disappeared over the horizon.
- 6:09Speaker 2: He didn't know if he'd ever see them again.
- 6:14Speaker 1: The summary passage of the chapter is, his brothers sold
- 6:18Speaker 1: him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who
- 6:23Speaker 1: took Joseph with them.
- 6:27Speaker 2: Down to Egypt.
- 6:30Speaker 1: What sadder words could have been written.
- 6:34Speaker 2: In fact, you might want to put one on your outline.
- 6:37Speaker 2: Down to Egypt.
- 6:40Speaker 1: Down is the operative word of this first installment of
- 6:43Speaker 1: Joseph's life. And down is the direction his life took.
- 6:48Speaker 1: The story opens with everything looking up. Joseph has a position,
- 6:55Speaker 1: a place of preference in the family.
- 6:57Speaker 2: He has the nicest wardrobe in the family. He's got
- 7:01Speaker 2: a place of security in the family.
- 7:04Speaker 1: Things are looking up, in fact, so much so he
- 7:06Speaker 1: dreams that everybody's going to someday look up to him.
- 7:09Speaker 1: Life is looking up. But what goes up must come.
- 7:13Speaker 1: And it came down with a crash. The brothers put
- 7:18Speaker 1: him down. Then they threw him down. And then they
- 7:25Speaker 1: sold him down the river. And now he was led
- 7:28Speaker 1: down the road to Egypt. With the turn of the page,
- 7:34Speaker 1: we'll read, Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt,
- 7:37Speaker 1: and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard,
- 7:40Speaker 1: an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken
- 7:44Speaker 1: him down there.
- 7:45Speaker 2: Down, down, down. Down to Egypt. How quick this descent.
- 7:54Speaker 2: Stripped of his name. Stripped of his position. Everything he had,
- 8:01Speaker 2: everything he thought he would ever have, gone. Poof.
- 8:04Speaker 1: Just like that.
- 8:07Speaker 2: Just like you. Am I talking to anyone who's being
- 8:12Speaker 2: taken down to.
- 8:16Speaker 1: Egypt? Life has a way of taking us down. Down
- 8:23Speaker 1: to the unemployment office. Down to the divorce court. Down
- 8:26Speaker 1: to the custody hearing. down to the bottom of the
- 8:31Speaker 1: pecking order, down to the soup line, down on your luck,
- 8:36Speaker 1: down in the mouth, down, down, down to Egypt.
- 8:44Speaker 2: If life is taking you down, you can find.
- 8:46Speaker 1: A kindred soul in the story of Joseph. By the
- 8:51Speaker 1: time he arrived in Egypt, he had nothing. He had
- 8:55Speaker 1: not a penny to his name or a name that
- 8:57Speaker 1: was worth a penny.
- 8:59Speaker 2: Not in Egypt.
- 8:59Speaker 1: It didn't matter if he was the great grandson of Abraham.
- 9:04Speaker 1: He couldn't tell people his name would someday be in
- 9:06Speaker 1: the Bible. They didn't care. His position, his rank, his authority.
- 9:13Speaker 1: They didn't even like his vocation. Egyptians, those clean-shaven people
- 9:17Speaker 1: of the pyramid, didn't like these woolly-bearded people of the pasture.
- 9:21Speaker 1: He had no money, no credentials to stand on, no
- 9:25Speaker 1: vocation to call on, no family to lean on.
- 9:31Speaker 2: He lost everything. With one exception.
- 9:36Speaker 1: Joseph still had God's dream. The story of Joseph begins
- 9:42Speaker 1: with this dream. What a curious dream he has. And
- 9:47Speaker 1: all we know is that this dream is all Joseph
- 9:50Speaker 1: had when he went into Egypt. The Bible, did you note,
- 9:55Speaker 1: says nothing about Joseph's training, his education, his superior skills,
- 10:01Speaker 1: his talents. I'm sure he had some, but none of
- 10:04Speaker 1: these are mentioned.
- 10:06Speaker 2: What is mentioned, however, are these dreams.
- 10:10Speaker 1: The narrator, the scripture, wants us to draw a conclusion.
- 10:14Speaker 1: And that is, Joseph went down to Egypt with nothing
- 10:18Speaker 1: but God's call on his heart.
- 10:23Speaker 2: Heaven had tapped him on.
- 10:24Speaker 1: The shoulder and said, you will have a place of
- 10:27Speaker 1: prominence in the plan of God. And by the time
- 10:34Speaker 1: Joseph arrived in Egypt, that's all he had left. This dream,
- 10:37Speaker 1: this call of God on his heart. And don't you
- 10:42Speaker 1: know he clutched it like a life jacket in a tsunami.
- 10:47Speaker 1: As he was trudging through the desert, he was thinking, alright,
- 10:52Speaker 1: it's not going to end this way. God told me
- 10:55Speaker 1: he had a call for me. While wearing the chains
- 11:00Speaker 1: of the slave owners, he remembered Jesus. It won't end
- 11:03Speaker 1: this way.
- 11:05Speaker 2: I've been called to more than this.
- 11:08Speaker 1: Beneath the heat of the desert sun, he told himself,
- 11:11Speaker 1: he had to tell himself, God has greater plans for me.
- 11:16Speaker 2: He had lost his home country. He had lost his dignity.
- 11:19Speaker 2: He had lost his family.
- 11:20Speaker 1: But he never lost his belief in God's call on
- 11:28Speaker 1: his life.
- 11:31Speaker 2: Do you believe... In God's call on yours. Were we
- 11:40Speaker 2: somehow able.
- 11:43Speaker 1: To dig through all the clutter and busyness of life.
- 11:46Speaker 1: Down into the very basement of your soul. Would we
- 11:51Speaker 1: find a deep conviction. That says that God has placed
- 11:56Speaker 1: a call on me. You see, our God comes a-calling.
- 12:06Speaker 1: He called Joseph through a dream. He called Abraham through
- 12:10Speaker 1: a voice. He called Moses through a bush. He called
- 12:12Speaker 1: Gideon through an angel. He called David through a prophet.
- 12:15Speaker 1: He called Daniel through a vision. He called Joseph and
- 12:19Speaker 1: Mary through an angel. And Paul through Damascus Road experience.
- 12:23Speaker 1: His means vary, but his plan is consistent. To every
- 12:29Speaker 1: person he issues this call This dream, maybe you've forgotten yours.
- 12:41Speaker 1: The road down to Egypt can be tough on our calls.
- 12:49Speaker 1: The path of the road is littered with forgotten dreams.
- 12:56Speaker 2: And abandoned hopes.
- 13:02Speaker 1: Or maybe you never knew you had a call. If so, oh,
- 13:09Speaker 1: what a privilege is mine to invite you to believe
- 13:14Speaker 1: what God believes about you.
- 13:20Speaker 2: Here it is.
- 13:20Speaker 1: You are God's child.
- 13:22Speaker 2: You are God's child. You are God's child.
- 13:27Speaker 1: Folks, before you are anything else, you are a child
- 13:30Speaker 1: of God. Before you're a banker, before you're a lawyer,
- 13:34Speaker 1: before you're a cabinet maker, before you're a nurse, before.
- 13:37Speaker 2: You're a teacher, before you're old, before you're young, before
- 13:40Speaker 2: you're black, before you're white, before you're Hispanic.
- 13:43Speaker 1: Before you are anything else, before you are male or female,
- 13:47Speaker 1: strong or weak, handsome or not handsome, before you are
- 13:50Speaker 1: anything else, listen, you are God's child. You are. You are.
- 13:58Speaker 2: You are.
- 14:02Speaker 1: His creation?
- 14:03Speaker 2: Yes. His idea?
- 14:06Speaker 1: Absolutely. But even more, you're His child. Do you understand
- 14:17Speaker 1: that He who is all invites you to call Him Father?
- 14:24Speaker 1: You are His child. And he has declared he wants
- 14:28Speaker 1: you in his family. He has declared your worth. He
- 14:32Speaker 1: has walked onto the auction block of society. And he
- 14:36Speaker 1: has ramped his arm around you. And he has said,
- 14:38Speaker 1: this is my child. And he has bought you with
- 14:42Speaker 1: the precious blood of Christ. As of a lamb without blemish.
- 14:47Speaker 1: And without spot. You are his child. And your life
- 14:54Speaker 1: is more than this life. Do not believe the tombstone.
- 14:58Speaker 2: It lies to you.
- 15:02Speaker 1: It says that every human being has a date of
- 15:04Speaker 1: birth and a date of death and a dash in between.
- 15:11Speaker 2: You are more than this life.
- 15:14Speaker 1: Your life did not begin with your birth. You began
- 15:20Speaker 1: even before you began to breathe. Long before He laid
- 15:25Speaker 1: down the earth's foundations, He had us in mind and
- 15:30Speaker 1: had settled on us as the focus of His love.
- 15:36Speaker 2: You are so much more than this speeding train of
- 15:40Speaker 2: days and decades.
- 15:43Speaker 1: Before you were born to your parents, you were born
- 15:49Speaker 1: in the mind of God. And did you know that
- 15:53Speaker 1: you're going to outlive your death? You're going to outlive
- 15:58Speaker 1: your death. You're going to come out on the other
- 16:02Speaker 1: side of your own funeral. When this tent we live in,
- 16:07Speaker 1: our body here on earth is torn down, God will
- 16:09Speaker 1: have a house in heaven for us to live in,
- 16:12Speaker 1: a home He Himself has made, which will last how long? Forever.
- 16:18Speaker 2: Forever.
- 16:21Speaker 1: Every voice in our society sucks us into this short-term thinking.
- 16:27Speaker 1: You better do it all while you have a chance.
- 16:30Speaker 1: We talk about dying. We talk about being buried. We
- 16:33Speaker 1: have all of this language which would suggest to us
- 16:36Speaker 1: that it's going to all come to an end, which
- 16:38Speaker 1: according to Scripture is an absolute lie.
- 16:41Speaker 2: He says this life is but a vapor.
- 16:43Speaker 1: It's just a wink. It's just the first word of
- 16:47Speaker 1: the great story that God is writing with your life
- 16:52Speaker 1: This is the kind of call that God has on you.
- 16:57Speaker 1: You're going to have struggles, but they're not going to
- 16:59Speaker 1: last forever. You've got a boss who degrades you.
- 17:05Speaker 2: You've got a family member who berates you.
- 17:10Speaker 1: Listen, just don't listen to them. Who died and made
- 17:14Speaker 1: them king? Who says they have a call on you?
- 17:20Speaker 1: God owns you. And He alone declares who you are.
- 17:29Speaker 1: We live for the approval of others. We dance for
- 17:31Speaker 1: the approval of others. We bend over backwards just to
- 17:34Speaker 1: get somebody, to hear somebody say, I like you, I
- 17:37Speaker 1: approve you, I want you. We sell ourselves down the
- 17:42Speaker 1: road to Egypt because we fail to realize that God's
- 17:47Speaker 1: portion is enough. That His approval is really.
- 17:51Speaker 2: All we need.
- 17:52Speaker 1: This is the call He has on you. Maybe you
- 17:55Speaker 1: feel like you've missed your chance and missed your prime. No.
- 18:00Speaker 1: God specializes in lives like yours. And friends, every page
- 18:07Speaker 1: of Scripture not just invites you, but dares you to
- 18:13Speaker 1: believe in the God who believes in you. You're going
- 18:19Speaker 1: to get through this.
- 18:22Speaker 2: Won't be quick.
- 18:25Speaker 1: Won't be painless. But God can take every mess and
- 18:31Speaker 1: use it for something good. Why? Because He has a
- 18:34Speaker 1: call on you. And you are God's child. And your
- 18:39Speaker 1: life is more than this life. Now we tend to
- 18:44Speaker 1: forget this. It gets lost on the road down to Egypt.
- 18:51Speaker 1: Turbulent times call us to Either question our destiny or
- 18:56Speaker 1: certainly forget our identity. We redefine ourselves according to our scars.
- 19:02Speaker 1: I'm the cancer patient.
- 19:03Speaker 2: I'm the divorcee. I'm the bankrupt businessman.
- 19:09Speaker 1: You're a child of God.
- 19:12Speaker 2: This is the call God has on you.
- 19:16Speaker 1: And when we forget this, folks, we begin settling for
- 19:18Speaker 1: a small call.
- 19:21Speaker 2: We try to.
- 19:21Speaker 1: Pack that tiny dash between the dates with as much
- 19:25Speaker 1: life as we can because we don't think we're going
- 19:27Speaker 1: to outlive this life. And we think our call is
- 19:30Speaker 1: just to make money, to make friends, to make a
- 19:33Speaker 1: name for ourselves, to make love with anybody who'll let us.
- 19:37Speaker 1: We settle for a small call in life when God
- 19:42Speaker 1: has called you into an eternal existence with Him. To
- 19:46Speaker 1: reign with Him forever in a new kingdom.
- 19:51Speaker 2: This is the dream He has planted in your heart.
- 19:55Speaker 1: And that resonating voice within you right now is the
- 19:58Speaker 1: Spirit of God. The witness of God's Spirit saying yes.
- 20:05Speaker 2: You and I both know.
- 20:07Speaker 1: You were made for more than a small call. And
- 20:13Speaker 1: our job when times get tough on the road down
- 20:16Speaker 1: to Egypt.
- 20:17Speaker 2: Our job is to.
- 20:19Speaker 1: Attune our ear to the high call of God. And
- 20:23Speaker 1: to turn a deaf ear to the small calls of life.
- 20:29Speaker 1: Have you ever known anyone who did this? I have.
- 20:36Speaker 1: Forgive me for using my father yet again as an
- 20:39Speaker 1: illustration of faith. But the truth is, I just have
- 20:43Speaker 1: never known anybody who lived the way he lived and
- 20:47Speaker 1: most of all, who died the way he died. He
- 20:50Speaker 1: was 69 years old when he was diagnosed with ALS
- 20:54Speaker 1: or Lou Gehrig's disease. Crippling, cruel condition, especially for a
- 21:01Speaker 1: robust mechanic who one day realized he couldn't turn a screwdriver.
- 21:07Speaker 1: He had just retired. He had just retired And he
- 21:12Speaker 1: and mom had just bought this travel trailer. And they
- 21:16Speaker 1: had this idea of pulling this travel trailer all over
- 21:19Speaker 1: the country and visiting every state in the Union. Have
- 21:24Speaker 1: you ever seen those little maps you can buy and
- 21:26Speaker 1: put on the back of a trailer or a truck
- 21:28Speaker 1: and then place an emblem of every state once you've
- 21:31Speaker 1: visited it? His goal was to fill that thing up.
- 21:36Speaker 1: He'd worked for three decades as a mechanic and saved
- 21:39Speaker 1: up enough money to retire, and now they were going
- 21:43Speaker 1: to travel the country. His road down to Egypt was
- 21:47Speaker 1: not because his brothers betrayed him, but really because his
- 21:51Speaker 1: body betrayed him. His health betrayed him. And just like that,
- 21:57Speaker 1: just in a matter of moments it seemed, he went
- 22:00Speaker 1: from healthy and robust to unable to comb his hair
- 22:05Speaker 1: or brush his teeth.
- 22:07Speaker 2: Somebody had to carry him.
- 22:08Speaker 1: Into bed and bathe him.
- 22:11Speaker 2: He lost so much. My wife, Dinalyn, and I were newlyweds.
- 22:17Speaker 2: We were living in Florida at the time.
- 22:19Speaker 1: And we were preparing to move to Brazil where we
- 22:22Speaker 1: were going to do mission work in Rio de Janeiro.
- 22:25Speaker 2: But I wrote my dad a letter. I said, Dad,
- 22:28Speaker 2: I can't go now. Not with this.
- 22:32Speaker 1: My dad never wrote letters. He wrote me a four-page reply.
- 22:38Speaker 1: That I kept in my Bible for many years. Until
- 22:41Speaker 1: it got so creased and faded. That I was afraid
- 22:44Speaker 1: I was going to tear it up. And now I
- 22:46Speaker 1: keep it in a safe place. Just a phrase from
- 22:49Speaker 1: what he said. He said in regards to my disease.
- 22:53Speaker 1: And you're going to Rio. That is really an easy
- 22:56Speaker 1: answer for me. And that is go. Capital G. Capital O.
- 23:02Speaker 2: Exclamation point. I must say. That I have no fear
- 23:09Speaker 2: of death.
- 23:11Speaker 1: Or eternity.
- 23:15Speaker 2: So don't be concerned about me. Just go. Capital G.
- 23:19Speaker 2: Capital O.
- 23:22Speaker 1: And please him. Who can write words like that?
- 23:28Speaker 2: Staring death in the face.
- 23:31Speaker 1: Having lost. What you thought was going to be your
- 23:35Speaker 1: golden chapter. Who can write words of faith and selfishness
- 23:41Speaker 1: like that? I tell you who can. Someone who believes
- 23:45Speaker 1: what God believes about them. Someone who believes that they
- 23:49Speaker 1: are really God's child and that can never be taken.
- 23:52Speaker 2: Someone who believes that they will truly outlive.
- 23:55Speaker 1: This life and that cannot be changed. Could I encourage
- 24:00Speaker 1: you to believe what God believes about you? Do you
- 24:03Speaker 1: know the Bible says that God's gifts... And God's call
- 24:07Speaker 1: are under full warranty. Never canceled.
- 24:13Speaker 2: Never rescinded.
- 24:16Speaker 1: I'm speaking to somebody who is being reminded today of
- 24:20Speaker 1: a time in your life that you accepted God's call,
- 24:23Speaker 1: but it's gotten lost in the busyness of life or
- 24:25Speaker 1: the pain of life or that downward descent into Egypt.
- 24:30Speaker 1: Could I invite you to reach back toward the.
- 24:34Speaker 2: Hand of God? And you know what? You will find
- 24:36Speaker 2: the hand of God reaching for you.
- 24:39Speaker 1: As you take that call again. I'm speaking to someone
- 24:44Speaker 1: who never knew this call. And this is God's hand
- 24:47Speaker 1: reaching to you. Saying don't you listen to the television shows.
- 24:51Speaker 1: Don't listen to the magazines. Don't listen to what society says.
- 24:56Speaker 1: You are not the sum of what you have. Not
- 24:58Speaker 1: the sum of who you own. Not the sum of
- 25:00Speaker 1: how you look. You are a child of God. And
- 25:07Speaker 1: you were made for holy purposes. And you'll get through this.
- 25:15Speaker 1: Because you are His. And it's His dream that never dies.
- 25:22Speaker 1: Will you receive God's call again on your heart? Can
- 25:27Speaker 1: we affirm it one more time? We're going to post
- 25:30Speaker 1: that declaration of faith on the screen. And I'd like
- 25:34Speaker 1: to invite you now. having been reminded of the call
- 25:37Speaker 1: God placed on Joseph's heart to affirm the call that
- 25:40Speaker 1: God has placed on yours. By God's power, I'll get
- 25:45Speaker 1: through this. It won't be painless. It won't be quick.
- 25:50Speaker 1: But God will use this mess for good. I won't
- 25:53Speaker 1: be foolish or naive, but nor will I despair. With
- 25:58Speaker 1: God's help, I know I will get through this. Hear us,
- 26:02Speaker 1: O Lord, as we make this declaration. It's our cry
- 26:06Speaker 1: out to you to ask you, Father, to grant us strength. Father,
- 26:10Speaker 1: for those whose lives are healthy and robust and happy,
- 26:13Speaker 1: we give you thanks. But we know that even in
- 26:16Speaker 1: those seasons, our life can turn down in a moment's notice.
- 26:22Speaker 1: And for those who are today finding themselves on the
- 26:25Speaker 1: road down to Egypt, would you remind them what you
- 26:28Speaker 1: did for Joseph and tell them, Father, that you can
- 26:31Speaker 1: do it still. Thank you for the hope that we
- 26:34Speaker 1: have in you Through Christ we pray. And all God's
- 26:39Speaker 1: people said, Amen.
- 28:09Speaker 3: Thank you. You don't have to remember.
- 29:54Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close.
- 30:00Speaker 4: As long as you're somewhere out there, that's enough for me.
- 30:06Speaker 3: I don't need to hold you near me.
- 30:13Speaker 2: Don't need promises to keep.
- 30:17Speaker 4: Just the thought that you are breathing Somewhere in this
- 30:21Speaker 4: world I see Even if I'm not beside you Even
- 30:27Speaker 4: if you never know There's a quiet kind of comfort
- 30:33Speaker 4: Just in knowing you still glow I don't need.
- 30:39Speaker 2: Forever I just need you to exist.
- 30:49Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me.
- 30:52Speaker 5: You don't have to feel the same. Just as long
- 30:56Speaker 5: as you're still out there calling softly through my days.
- 31:02Speaker 3: You don't have to look my way.
- 31:05Speaker 5: You don't have to be my home. It's enough to
- 31:10Speaker 5: know you're living in a world I'm not alone. I
- 31:19Speaker 5: won't chase you through the distance. Won't disturb your chosen life.
- 31:26Speaker 5: I'll just keep you in my silence like a star
- 31:29Speaker 5: that shines at night. Through the dark and through the blue.
- 31:35Speaker 4: I still think of you.
- 31:46Speaker 1: Me.
- 31:47Speaker 5: You don't have to feel the same just as long
- 31:51Speaker 5: as you're still out there calling softly through my days.
- 31:58Speaker 3: You don't have to look my way.
- 32:01Speaker 5: You don't have to be my home. It's enough to
- 32:06Speaker 5: know you're living in a world I'm not alone.
- 32:26Speaker 4: I don't need to be your light I don't need
- 32:30Speaker 4: to cross your mind All I need is just the
- 32:33Speaker 4: truth That you're somewhere.
- 32:38Speaker 2: Still alive.
- 32:42Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
- 32:46Speaker 3: to feel the same Just as long.
- 32:50Speaker 5: As you're still out there Calling softly through.
- 32:54Speaker 3: My days You don't have to look my way.
- 32:59Speaker 5: You don't have to be my home It's enough to
- 33:03Speaker 5: know you're living
- 33:08Speaker 4: In a world I'm not alone