Paul
Climb
You'll Come (You'll come, let your glory fall as you respond to us)

Jeami
Going back to South East Asia (went 2 years ago)
Concerned about human trafficking
Mercy’s Village is looking to see what we can do about this in that area
One country I’ll be visiting is Cambodia
Want to bless one particular organization I’d like to bless is Daughters of Cambodia
I’ve printed out some of their prayer requests and they’re on the table here
If you want you can write a letter in response to one of the requests there or to the organization in general or to the staff specifically
I can also email you the requests if you’re interested

Paul
Interesting that we were just singing about chains being broken
How we frequently forget there are actual chains out there in the world that still need to be broken
There is power in our prayers, in our worship
Your Love Never Fails (Your love never fails never gives up never runs out on me)
On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand (My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness)

My voice may sound horrible, but don’t worry, it hurts you more than it hurts me
We headed to Vegas last week right after church
I love Vegas
Specifically the old, weird funky parts
I love the desert
I love the drive
The stretches of desolate road
And I’m very serious about the playlist
Usually includes Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon
Talking with Jeami about the future and what we want
Quick prayer: Hey God, show me what’s next
And I noticed this amazing dark pink sunset and the mountains
And i felt Gods answer being “how about instead I show you what’s now”
And I was really humbled
,,,,
In American culture, we always feel like we have to climb
….
Want to talk about Joseph
Not the father of Jesus
The kind of Joseph only Donny Osmond can play

Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.
(Genesis 37:1-4 NASB)

Paul
…

Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had; for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
(Genesis 37:5-11 NASB)

Paul
We’re not a culture that literally bows down to anyone
But it’s more a metaphor for reactions
…
We’ve all seen that girl at the gym in full makeup
…
The moral of the story so far? Tattle-tales get sold into slavery
…

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the Lord ‘ s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
(Genesis 39:1-9 NASB)

Paul
I really wish the bible would fill in some of the gaps
Like what kind to 17 year old was Jesus like
Joseph has been really humbled by being sold into slavery
…
Being humbled will happen in your life
Joseph chooses the really difficult path
I’m guessing that slaves don’t usually get gorgeous women saying “Lie with me”
…
“How can I do this thing against God” that’s not the language of an entitled boy
…
How about thanking God now, not conditionally in the future

So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.
(Genesis 39:20-23 NASB)

Paul
Are you seeing the pattern of Joseph’s life
Once he had been humbled, God made him successful in his endeavors
Sometimes oeople
…
So what about now?
God has gifted you with abilities and desires
Women if you have that mothering instinct, instead of having a child or adopting or foster care, is there maybe some child in your life somewhere that needs a mother?

Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time. Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?” Then they said to him, “We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
(Genesis 40:1-8 NASB)

Paul
Different translations talk about what Joseph was doing in prison as serving or ministering to the cupbearer and baker
…
God needed somebody in the prison
If God wants salt and light, I don’t think he wants ANY places of darkness
…
Everybody here is an absolute treasure
Make your small sphere rich
Powerful people get sad and need salt and light
What if the whole reason you came to your career is not because God wanted you to have money but because God needed you there?
God needed a man in Potiphar’s house, he needed a man in prison
…
You’re not in a waiting room, you’re on a battlefield
1 Timothy (not providing is worst than being a prisoner)
Even Joseph told them “remember me to Pharaoh”
He didn’t LIKE prison, but he was pleased to do God’s work
Joseph used his gifts on a very unimpressive stage
Joseph was a leader

“I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
(Genesis 45:4b-8 NASB)

Paul
…
So what about us? And what about now?
I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of things I haven’t done yet that I want to do
But I know I haven’t done them yet because there’s
May God give us eyes to see and ears to hear