WEBVTT - Bent Knees Break Chains 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.080 How many have evidence in your life that God is 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.240 with you despite everything that the devil tells you. To 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:11.719 the contrary, God is with me. Elbow your neighbors say, 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:15.520 God is with me in this moment. Tell him move 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:17.800 over a little. You need to make room for Jesus. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.360 Jesus is with me. Come on, let's make room for 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:26.840 the King of Kings, hand the Lord of lors. It's 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:38.440 freaking time. Let's give our attention now to the scriptures 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:51.400 in Genesis chapter fifty, beginning in verse fourteen. The verse 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:54.120 that I've heard the most from Genesis is verse twenty, 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.880 and I'm going to read that one, but I want 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:02.160 to give you fresh context around it to help ushered 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:07.000 the principle in this text into the problem that you're 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.400 facing in your life. And I believe it's going to 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:16.600 be very, very personal for you today. Wow. Wow. My 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.360 friend Rick Biatto does a YouTube channel and he has 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:22.959 a thing. He's a guitar player, musician, producer, and he 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:26.360 calls it what makes this song great? He takes songs 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:29.840 that you've heard a thousand times by worship leaders like 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:36.440 Pink Floyd led Zeppelin Boston, and he takes those hymns 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.639 of the faith, and he breaks it down and shows 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.560 you things that you heard but you didn't know you 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:45.760 were hearing them, and it's what makes the song great. 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.280 I'm gonna take a page out of his playbook today. 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.400 I'm gonna show you what makes this verse great in 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:57.400 verse twenty, where it says that God takes what others 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:00.480 mean for evil and uses it for good. But let 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:03.800 me show you what makes that verse great, all right? 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:06.360 And to do that, I want to get a I 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.600 want to get a start and ramp up from verse 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:16.320 fourteen Genesis fifty fourteen, the Bible says, after burying his father, 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:21.079 Joseph returned to Egypt together with his brothers and all 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.480 the others who had gone with him to bury his father. 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:29.720 And that's a big contingency because the chariots of Egypt 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.200 and all the officials went with Joseph, so it's a 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:39.360 huge traveling party, and seventy plus descendants of Jacob, so 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:43.160 it's a big group. But then it comes to a 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:47.720 personal decision verse fifteen. When Joseph's brothers saw that their 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:53.800 father was dead, they said, what if Joseph holds a 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:57.880 grudge against us and pays us back for all the 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:01.800 wrongs we did to him. Well, now's a fine time 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:05.320 to think about the consequences of your action. Right. I'm 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:07.480 not sorry you did it. You're just sorry you got caught. 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:12.959 Just scared of the consequences. So listen what they did 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:18.079 verse sixteen. They sent word to Joseph saying, your father 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:23.639 left these instructions before he died. Yeah, I'm sure he did. 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.639 When other people tell you what God said to you 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:32.880 as a form of manipulation. The Lord told me that 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.600 you're supposed to date me. The Lord has my direct number. 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:40.160 He could tell me. The Lord doesn't play the telephone game, 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.880 all right, so he'll tell me. The Lord said we 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.240 should go in business together. That's funny because he told 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:47.440 me you were a crook because I checked your online review. 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:53.400 All right, So read the scripture. Man, This is what 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:57.200 you are to say to Joseph. I ask you to 0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:59.920 forgive your brothers the sins and wrongs they committed in 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.920 treating you so badly. Now, please forgive the sins of 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.080 the servants of the God of your father. That's what 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:11.320 his brothers said that their dead dad said, which we 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.080 know isn't true because he didn't really like them. Joseph 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.240 was his favorite, so he would have told Joseph directly, 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.720 you understand, and that's why the Bible says when their 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:24.560 message came to him, Joseph wept not because his dad 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:26.799 was dead. His dad has been dead for three months 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.680 at this point, forty days of embalming, thirty days of mourning, 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:34.080 and then a journey that's eleven days on each side, 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:38.279 so he's had time to mourn his father, Jacob. But 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:43.119 he is weeping because they still haven't changed, even after 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.479 all the grace that he's given them. That's what he's 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:48.360 crying about. This is the fifth time that he cries 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:54.159 between Genesis thirty seven and fifty. So in verse eighteen, 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:57.799 let's pick it up right here. His brothers then came 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:03.479 threw themselves down before him. We are your slaves, they said. 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:12.280 But Joseph said to them, don't be afraid. Am I 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:18.000 in the place of God Verse twenty You intended to 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:26.000 harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:31.680 what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:37.640 So then verse twenty one, don't be afraid. I'm not 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.840 going to kill you. I could, but I'm not going 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.800 to not because of your little fabricated speech from Dad. 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:50.440 But because I see God's purpose in this moment and 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:54.880 in this season, so I will provide for you and 0:05:55.000 --> 0:06:02.239 your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:04.359 Well back up to verse eighteen one more time. His 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:07.360 brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. They 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:11.640 bowed before the one they had betrayed. They bowed before 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.880 the one they had betrayed, and said, we're your slaves. 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.640 But Joseph said to them, don't be afraid. Am I 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:21.800 in the place of God. I got up here this 0:06:21.880 --> 0:06:31.000 morning to tell you bent knees, break chains. That's the 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.600 title of this message. Say it out loud, bent knees, 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.919 break chains. And the truth that I want to communicate 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:43.159 to you is all in those four words that bent knees, 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:48.279 break chains. And Father, I thank you that the chain 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:53.000 breaking power of your spirit is standing up inside of 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.520 me right now to preach deliverance to every captive. Do 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:59.040 it God in Jesus' name, I give you thanks. Samen, 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:05.400 you may be seated, and I want you to start 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:14.320 by considering this premise that the position that we're in 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:19.840 influences the decisions that we make. I probably should have 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:21.320 put it on the screen so you could write it 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:23.320 down as a point. Let me just repeat it a 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:27.480 couple times while you fish for your pen or you 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:31.360 fire up your notes. App get this wisdom. Make sure 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:33.320 it doesn't just run off into the streets, but you 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:39.520 can capture it. Okay, that the position that you're in 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:46.320 really influences the decisions that you make. It sounds obvious, 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:53.120 but it's illustrated all throughout the Book of Genesis. God said, 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:56.840 let there be light. He was in a position to 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:00.400 make a decision to do something about the darkness. But 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:02.480 you could run around shouting let there be light all 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.400 you wanted to, And unless you have a flip to 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:08.760 switch and are current on the power bill, no lights 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:13.720 are coming on. The position that you're in determines the 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:16.360 decisions you make. And the sub point that this is 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:21.679 you are not God. You are not God. Your neighbor 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:23.600 doesn't look convinced, so you tell them for me, say 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:28.240 you're not God. No, I really want you to tell 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:34.800 them you're not God. So sometimes if you get confused, 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:38.080 just to remember the position. Put this on the comment 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:42.960 feed right now. The position I'm in influences the decisions 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:46.240 that I make. The easiest way to explain it is parenting. 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:51.480 When you start doing stuff as a parent that you 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:57.640 hated as a kid, and you turn around and every 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:00.920 parent in this room has had this thought. I sound 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:05.680 just like my mom, I sound just like my dad. 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:10.880 And you know it's because you now are in a 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:14.640 position that not only you have to provide, but protect 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.240 these lives that you treasure so much. So you're doing 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.040 things that the kids don't understand. You can't go there, 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:23.560 don't talk to them, and they think you don't want 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.280 me to have any friends. I do want you to 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:26.720 have friends, like I want to hang out with you 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:28.440 all the time. I'd love for you to have somebody 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.120 else to hang out with. I just don't know about 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:35.760 these kids, and the position that I'm in is affecting 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:39.640 the decisions that I made. But see, empathy is tricky 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:41.959 for the kid to have for the parent, because although 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:43.680 the parent has been a kid, the kid has never 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:46.880 been a parent. So that's why teaching your kids to 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.880 drive is like the scourging whip that they laid on 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.320 our Savior's back when they hung them on the cross. 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.800 It's because it is the punishment of their inability to 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:02.120 feel empathy because the position that you are in determines 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:09.040 the decisions that you make. That's true in parenting, that's 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:15.240 true with money. Yeah, and a lot of times sweet 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:21.200 say little cliches like money isn't everything. It is if 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:26.080 you don't have any it is if you don't have any. 0:10:26.280 --> 0:10:30.000 How many of you have ever not had any money 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:32.360 and had to do things, And that's I'm not talking 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.560 about rob anybody. I'm not talking about anything crazy. I'm 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:39.200 just saying when you didn't have it, you didn't walk 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:43.480 around saying stuff like money isn't everything. You went around 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.520 saying stuff like can I cut your grass? Can I 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.840 wax your bald head? Can I do it? Can I 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:55.640 clip your fingernails? Because money isn't everything once you have money, Right, 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:58.920 So we get in a position where maybe we've come 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.320 to a place where we're in our life and then 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:04.520 we're like, well, money isn't everything. I don't do it 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:08.200 for the money. That's because you have some. But if 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:09.679 you don't have any, you gotta do what you gotta 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:13.439 do to catch the crumbs that fall from somebody's table. 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:20.079 And sometimes stop judging people for things they are doing 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:25.920 in desperation for situations that you haven't been in or 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:31.600 that you haven't been in lately. Amen. Amen, I'm gonna 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:35.360 get my church back today. I'm gonna find my church today. 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:41.520 Personal confession. I was a staff member at a church 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:45.000 before I started this church, and I would always keep 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.680 this mental list of dumb stuff that the pastor was 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:54.200 doing that I would never do. And one day, when 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:56.440 I get a spare minute, I'm gonna write him a 0:11:56.600 --> 0:12:01.080 whole card. It's gonna be a seventeen page card of 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:03.880 all the things I judged him for in his position 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.680 as a pastor, from my position as a staff member 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:14.400 that I now just want to say I'm sorry, especially 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:16.400 because I met him when he was into his tenth 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:20.040 year of pastoring that church, and I didn't know how 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.240 tired ten years can make you. You see all it 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:27.200 is Gray y'all put on me in these last sixteen years. 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.440 So now I feel different because the position that you're in. 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.280 I want to nail this down. And if I lay 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.400 this foundation right, then we can really really celebrate the 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:39.480 truth in the text that Mennis break chains. But first 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:42.839 of all, acknowledge that the position that you're in influences 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.720 the decisions you make. Now, let's flip that because the 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:52.560 decisions that you make influences the position that you're in, 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:03.280 you are very timid celebrating that truth. I have never 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:07.719 seen such a half hearted clap. I think he's probably right, 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:09.760 but I don't like it because I want to say 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:14.720 the devil did it. I don't really want to clap 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.800 for that. That it could be possible that not everything 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:21.360 that happened to me was caused by decisions I make, 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:26.560 but some of it, a little of it, ten percent 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.880 of it. When's the last time somebody lost their job 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.040 and told you, you know what, I just really sucked 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:37.400 at it. I was lazy, I talked bad about everybody, 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:43.120 I chewed gum with my feet up, played words seven hours, 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:48.600 and worked one Nobody says that. And then in church, 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:52.559 now this is dangerous. In church, will slap a spiritual 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:57.880 justification and a summary on something that happened through a 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:03.559 series of decisions that you actually made, thereby enabling your dysfunction, 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:13.000 by over spiritualizing your decisions. Goodbye, everybody. I've said enough 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:18.840 so I don't mean to be Yoda on you, but 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.160 those two things really go hand in hand. That the 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.520 position I'm in determine the decisions I make. Sometimes I 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:30.240 did something because I'm depressed, and the depression may not 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:34.120 be my fault. I believe there's a genetic element to depression. 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:39.840 But in the process of me complying with the habits 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.080 that brought me to that place, I may prolong my 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:49.600 stay in depression by my decisions. And when we talk 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.000 about the devil attack me, the devil attack me? The 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.080 devil attacked me, Well, the Lord gave me a word 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:56.160 on that a few weeks ago. He said, it is 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.680 not the attack that matters the most, it is what 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:04.960 you do after the attack. Because watch this New Testament verse. 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:06.960 I hope I get back to Genesis fifty, but I'm 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.760 annointed for this right now. The Bible says the devil 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.680 is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:15.840 It does not say he can devour whoever he wants, 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:20.160 but he can attack whoever he wants. And the difference 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.440 between him attacking you and devouring you will be the 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:28.640 decisions that you make in the attack. So, when you 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:32.240 feel anxious, what do you do with that anxiety? When 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:35.359 you feel sad, who do you speak to about your sadness? 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:40.840 When you feel overlooked, do you retaliate or do you 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:43.840 bring it to God and allow him to help you 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:49.480 process it. We could describe Joseph's life in terms of 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.880 a chain of events. Write that phrase down a chain 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:59.080 of events. In reviewing all of those scriptures this week, 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:03.200 I feel myself wishing that we had three days to 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:07.640 do this, because everything in Joseph's life, oh, is so 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.280 rich with detail, and just to boil it down to 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.360 what the enemy means for evil, God means for good. 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:16.480 And Rick Biatto, my YouTube guy friend, my friend Rick 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:18.440 byatdo he would break it down and show you the 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:20.640 isolated tracks. He'd be like, this is what makes the 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.640 song great. And I want to show you how the 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:29.560 events in Joseph's life that God did not prevent that 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:35.880 were painful, positioned him for the purpose of Joseph's life 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:43.560 that he could have never imagined. So let me do 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:45.920 a typical sermon about Joseph in two minutes. You got 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.120 to walk through everything that happened to him. Right, he 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:50.680 had a dream, he told his brothers. That's an event. 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.040 His brothers got mad about it and didn't like his 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:58.280 Gucci coat that his father, Jacob gave him. Now understand 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.240 when they threw him into a pit. They saw him 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:02.960 as a snitch because he came out to check on 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.280 them and see if they were doing their job. So 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.760 you can understand then that from their vantage point, the 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:13.480 position that they were in influenced the decisions that they made. 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:18.080 And it's easy in this passage to feel like you're Joseph, 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:22.159 But have you ever been his brothers? To have you 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.760 ever been jealous? Because you do things when you're in 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.160 a position comparing yourself to others. That's why the Bible says, 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:31.040 when you compare yourself to somebody else, you're not wise. 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.600 That's what is that. It doesn't say it's evil, it 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.959 says it's not wise because you were gonna do dumb 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:41.920 stuff trying to be like somebody who does not have 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:45.919 your same bone structure background or the same blessing on 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:50.800 their life. Rubin saved his life because he said, well, 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:54.840 let's don't kill him, let's sell him, probably get twenty 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:58.240 shekels for him, and they sold him to the Midianite Cara. 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.719 Event these are the events of Joseph. So if I'm 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.520 walking you through it, I'm saying, by the time you 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:07.520 get to Genesis fifty, verse twenty he's fifty six years old. 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.600 You didn't know that, did you. You thought he was 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.880 standing there saying what the enemy means for evil, God 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:19.879 means for good while he's going through his testing. But 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:24.280 he went through forty years to get to the point 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.520 that he understood that the events of his life, all 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:30.919 of them, the dream that he had, the coat that 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:34.399 he wore, the good things, the pit that they pushed 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:40.400 him into. Y'all. He even ended up in prison because 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:44.560 he did such a good job serving this man named Potiphar. 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:53.200 And Potiphar's wife, Hottipher I named her, said, hey, big boy, 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:56.960 come to bed with me. I like your coat, I 0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:59.880 like your character. I like the way you clean windows. 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.760 Because remember he has a menial job, but he has 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:05.919 a great sense of responsibility. So everything he did in 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:09.200 Potiphar's house drew attention because God's favor was still on him. 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:12.200 God's favor is still on you. God's favor is still 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:15.159 on you. God's favor is still on you. God's favor 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:17.960 is still on you. Pushing a mop, God's favor is 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:21.200 on you, washing dishes. God's favor is on you. Quarter 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:22.639 of a tank of gas and don't know how to 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:25.560 fell it. God's favor is on you. Oh, by the way, 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:27.840 when you get a promotion that puts you in a 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.080 tax bracket, you never imagine that's God's favor too. It 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:33.080 was your father that put the favor on you to 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:37.160 bring you into the position. And when you understand that 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:45.879 that God raised me up, it makes you two things. 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:52.280 It makes you humble in high circumstances and hopeful in 0:19:52.320 --> 0:20:01.000 low circumstances. When I see that my father favored me, 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:05.119 and Joseph knew that early in his life, and he 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:08.120 saw this vision that his brothers were one day going 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:11.440 to bow down to him, but he didn't see everything 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:15.119 that would come before that. And this chain of events. 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:20.240 Let me say that again, this chain of events, things 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:24.440 that happened to Joseph that he largely could not control. 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.720 Some people say that he shouldn't have told his brothers 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:30.480 his dream and they wouldn't have pushed him in the pit. 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:33.040 I say, if he didn't go in the pit, how 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:34.920 could he have gotten to Egypt? So there was food 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.520 waiting for them when they came through the famine. Makes 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:46.560 me think that even my mistakes can become miraculous if 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:51.680 I give them to God and be humble about them, 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:54.359 but a lot more happened to Joseph, and although we 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:56.479 won't explore all of it today, I just want you to. 0:20:57.160 --> 0:20:59.040 I just want you to hear some of the other 0:20:59.560 --> 0:21:02.520 things that come before this, so you can put yourself 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:07.439 in this story in a way to try to figure 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:13.520 out in this season of my life, what decision is 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:19.760 God leading me to make, and the events that led 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:21.920 you to this point in your life, however painful they were. 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:25.400 I forgot to tell you this part. When he got 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:29.600 to prison, he started interpreting dreams for the other prisoners. 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:32.800 Now I wouldn't have done that because I would have 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:35.640 been pouting that I don't belong here, because Potiphar's wife 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:37.560 accused me of raping her and I was actually running 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:39.000 from her and she accused me of rape, and I 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:40.840 probably wouldn't have been able to get past my own 0:21:40.840 --> 0:21:45.399 pity party. Pitt he was in a pity party. Okay, 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:48.359 So I'm just checking to see if I still have 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:50.560 your attention. There's a lot of background, so there's a 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:55.440 lot of things that happen. And eventually, when he interpreted 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:57.640 the cupbearer had this dream, He's like, yo, I saw 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:00.520 these three vines coming off of one branch grapes on it, 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:02.679 and I squeezed grapes. It was in a dream, and 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:04.560 then the cups were filled in. Joseph's like, oh, in 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:06.360 three days, you're going to get your position back. It's 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:08.880 going to be great. On Pharaoh's birthday, He's going to 0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:11.639 put you back in the position. And the baker was like, oh, yeah, me, 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:12.680 to me, to me, to me too. I had a 0:22:12.720 --> 0:22:14.680 dream too. There was baskets on my head and bread 0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:16.320 and the baskets and the birds came and ate it. 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:18.000 And he's like, oh, yeah, that's because your head's going 0:22:18.040 --> 0:22:19.959 to be cut off in three days. That's why it's 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:23.280 three baskets. And the birds will eat your flesh, all right. 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:28.640 So all of that happens just as Joseph's folking and 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:32.640 cut Parat gets out of prison completely forgets to mention Pharaoh. Oops. 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:37.960 For two years, he stays chained in a dungeon, not 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:43.320 because of his decision, but because of an event. But 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:46.560 here's what I want to show you. Within every event 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:53.359 is a decision. You got it. I'm not even asking 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:55.680 you to understand it yet, Just did you hear it? 0:22:56.560 --> 0:23:01.240 Within the event, there's always a decision illustrate this illustration 0:23:01.320 --> 0:23:06.080 of this. Today we are having a worship service. It's 0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:10.399 an event. The service is an event. We sang about 0:23:10.480 --> 0:23:15.320 four songs that was part of the event. Hopefully somebody 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:17.919 offered you a breath mint and a pen when you 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:19.440 came in the door, if you came in the door, 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:22.720 or you logged online. And here I am now standing 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:27.760 behind my pulpit with my Bible open, ready to preach 0:23:27.800 --> 0:23:30.320 to you. Been praying about it all week. This is 0:23:30.359 --> 0:23:35.879 the event. This is the service. But worship is a 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:46.440 decision that you have to make in the event. The 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:53.040 service is the event. Worship is the decision. Worship isn't offering. 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:57.400 Some of y'all didn't sing a note. You watched this 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:00.880 like it was some what's the show? Do they still 0:24:00.880 --> 0:24:03.679 have American idol? You were watching this like it like 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:06.240 you're gonna vote whether they stay on the stage or not. 0:24:06.680 --> 0:24:08.840 Like I don't know that you are not what was 0:24:08.880 --> 0:24:12.960 the guy's name, Simon Cowell? You are not Simon. Why 0:24:12.960 --> 0:24:16.600 weren't you singing? God is the star of this, God 0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:23.600 is the audience of this. Why didn't you sing? Well, well, no, no, no, no. 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:28.919 Pastor Steve Pester, Steve pastor, Steve Paster, Steve Pachter, Steve Pastor, Steve, 0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:32.120 you know I didn't sing because I can't sing that good. 0:24:33.320 --> 0:24:37.720 That doesn't stop you in the shower. That doesn't stop 0:24:37.760 --> 0:24:40.159 you on the shower. And then and another thing is 0:24:41.040 --> 0:24:43.119 if the person next to you doesn't like you're singing, 0:24:43.200 --> 0:24:45.560 you just told them ten minutes ago they're not God. 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:52.000 So they don't like how it sounds, is good news 0:24:53.160 --> 0:24:57.080 because they're not the audience that you were singing to anyway. 0:24:58.080 --> 0:25:03.440 So get this, get this, when we were singing at 0:25:03.440 --> 0:25:06.600 the campus I'm at, I'm gonna see a victory. If 0:25:06.600 --> 0:25:10.440 that song went by and you didn't sing it, I mean, 0:25:10.520 --> 0:25:12.880 sing it out of tune, sing it loud, sing it bad, 0:25:12.960 --> 0:25:16.119 sing it good, singing falsetto, sing it bass, sing it 0:25:16.160 --> 0:25:18.560 ten or sing it out there. If you didn't sing it, 0:25:19.040 --> 0:25:21.840 and if you didn't believe it and put your heart 0:25:21.880 --> 0:25:23.560 in faith and say, you know, I don't feel that 0:25:23.640 --> 0:25:26.120 right now, but I believe it in Jesus's name. I'm 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:28.679 gonna see it with my kids. I'm gonna see it 0:25:28.720 --> 0:25:31.359 on my job. I'm gonna see it in my body, 0:25:31.560 --> 0:25:33.879 I'm gonna see it in my mind. There is a 0:25:34.040 --> 0:25:37.320 breakthrough with my name on it, and I don't know when, 0:25:37.720 --> 0:25:42.119 but I have faith for it. I'm gonna see a victory. 0:25:45.440 --> 0:25:49.840 If you didn't sing it, how can you expect to 0:25:49.880 --> 0:25:56.560 see it? Because the song was the event, but your 0:25:56.600 --> 0:26:06.000 worship was a decision, and I forgive you. Hearing the 0:26:06.040 --> 0:26:08.800 sermon is an event. Sharing it with somebody who needs 0:26:08.800 --> 0:26:13.960 it is a decision. What if they're about to give 0:26:14.040 --> 0:26:16.600 up and you could send them a link. I'm talking 0:26:16.640 --> 0:26:21.159 to you. I'm talking to you logging on watching a sermon. 0:26:21.480 --> 0:26:23.680 This is an event. Wow, you can watch a lot 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:26.639 of things on YouTube. But what if God prompts you 0:26:26.680 --> 0:26:28.440 to send it to somebody else? Hey man, thought about 0:26:28.480 --> 0:26:32.119 you today. Preachers up there talking about decisions and stuff, 0:26:32.160 --> 0:26:34.560 and I'm just thinking, how you got to make this 0:26:34.640 --> 0:26:39.359 decision right now? And so here it is. I love you, 0:26:39.400 --> 0:26:43.240