What do you do when the very people meant to love you most are the ones who wound you? This sermon walks through the life of Joseph, from the cistern his brothers threw him into, through Potiphar’s house and an Egyptian prison, to Pharaoh’s palace (Genesis 37 and 39). In each of those places one sentence keeps returning: the Lord was with Joseph, and Joseph refuses to answer evil with evil, because he knows our faithfulness to God does not depend on other people’s faithfulness to us. Listen if you want to see that God saves us not only from something, but for something.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Genesis 37 the brothers strip Joseph of his robe, throw him into a cistern and sell him to traders heading for Egypt. What does this passage reveal about how the brothers treated their responsibility for their brother?
- Genesis 39 repeats several times that the Lord was with Joseph, both in Potiphar's house and in prison. What could the people around Joseph see in his conduct that made them recognize God's presence with him?
- The speaker stresses that our faithfulness to God does not depend on the faithfulness of others. What helps you stay faithful when someone close to you lets you down or hurts you?
- The sermon says that hard circumstances are real, but they are not the ultimate truth about our lives. How does this idea change the way you look at the difficulties you face right now?
- Joseph tells his brothers: you intended evil, but God intended it for good (Genesis 50). What do his words and attitude teach you about forgiveness and about God's plan in the hurt you experience?
- According to Acts 13:36, David served God's purpose in his own generation. Whom around you can you serve concretely this week as someone saved not only from something but for something?
