The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG (Genesis 39:20-23)

WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG (Genesis 39:20-23)

Have you ever had one of those days when everything goes wrong? Have you ever had one of those years when everything goes wrong? There are some years like that, when everything seems to go wrong. What do you do?

I’ve always been amazed at the advice that people give to other people. It sometimes seems like good advice. For example, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Tell that to a person who’s really hurting. Or here’s another one that will really bless your heart: “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” Now, doesn’t that just bless your soul? Can you see a guy dangling over a cliff, trying to tie a knot. It takes two hands to do that.  If you try that, then you will fall.  Or here’s one that’s really sweet: “Grin and bear it.”  Now, really, that’s what the world tells us to help us in our times of loss, to help us to understand why these bad times are happening. Or you’ll be really hurting. I mean, you’ll be in darkness and consternation. One of your friends will come along and put his arm around your shoulder and say, “Cheer up! It could get worse.” Well now, that’s a lot of comfort: “Could be worse.”  One person said in response, “Yeah, I cheered up, and it got worse.” He was right. 

Now that, really, is what the world does when the world cannot understand.  Listen, there are times when you, as a child of God, will find yourself in difficulty, and darkness, and consternation.

Click on the play button to hear a message on one of the greatest testimonies that we can share with the world is how we face tragedy and loss.  How we deal with events when it seems like everything is going wrong in our lives is the difference between a life of hope, and a life without hope.  It is that hope, based on the absolutely certain promises of God, in our lives that gives us the strength to face whatever it is that God allows in our lives.  

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

THE FAITH OF JOSEPH (Genesis 39:1 to 40:23)

THE FAITH OF JOSEPH (Genesis 39:1 to 40:23) 

In today’s message we will discover that Joseph is a very different person than his brothers were.  The single biggest difference in Joseph’s life is that he is a man of faith.  Joseph distinguishes himself as something in the world, but different from the world.  When people see him, they notice something different about him, and they are drawn to him.  People are not drawn to failure, or to those who are walking around with despair hanging like a cloud above them.  To be an effective witness for God you have to have something that people want; they see your ability to handle trials in your life, your calmness in a storm, and your faith in the promises of God.  They see something that they do not have, they see something different in you.

Joseph had every reason to just give up in despair; to simply hide in a corner and weep.  Joseph was sold into slavery because of the hatred and animosity of his brothers.  And to be a slave in a foreign country is a life that is described as a slow death.  It was certainly a bleak prospect for a seventeen–year–old boy.  Joseph would have had to look hard to find anything to bring encouragement to his heart.  

There is no person in the Old Testament in whose life the purpose of God is more clearly seen than Joseph. The providence of God is manifest in every detail of his life.  The hand of God is upon him and the leading of the Lord is evident.

The question of why God allows trials in our lives, is one of the hardest lessons we face as believers, but it is also the thing that strengthens our faith in the power, and protection, of an almighty God that loves us and is gracious to us.  

Click on the play button below to hear a message on how each step of Joseph’s life prepared him for the role that God had for him.  If we are the children of God, in the will of God, then we can have the assurance of God, that nothing comes to us without His permission. 

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

GOD'S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE (Genesis 37:1 to 39:3)

GOD’S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE (Genesis 37:1 to 39:3)

Let me start this blog by making a statement and you tell me if you believe it or not.  Are you ready? God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.  Now, do you believe that?  Well, I want to tell you, that without a doubt, God has a wonderful plan for your life. God has a divine destiny for you. And, what a shame it would be if you missed it. Today, I want you to think with me on this subject, “God’s plan for your life.”

Now, I’m not just saying that God has a plan for Abraham’s life, or Joseph’s.  Certainly, God had a plan for their lives, but God also has a plan for your life. Yes, even you.  God has a wonderful destiny for you, and I don’t want you to miss it.  Even in your old age, God has a plan for your life.  Otherwise, you would not still be here on this earth, for there would be no purpose in it, and God has a purpose in all that He does.  And, I believe as we study the life of Joseph today, we are going to find some things about his life that we can certainly apply to ours as we learn how to know God’s Plan for Your Life.

Click on the play button below to hear a message on how you can discover God’s plan for you. How you can let God give you a plan and a purpose for your life. I’m not talking about something you cooked up, but be in contact with God so however God wants to speak to you, He can. And, I believe the way that God wants to speak to New Testament Christians is presentation plus transformation equals revelation, that we might know the things that God has prepared for us.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

JOSPEH AS A PICTURE OF CHRIST (Genesis 37:1 to 45:28)

JOSEPH AS A PICTURE OF CHRIST (Genesis 37:1 to 45:28)

There are several of the patriarchs of the Old Testament who were a picture of Christ in specific acts.  But, God has selected Joseph as the one individual, out of all the men of history, to picture Christ in such a thorough way.  As we study the life of Joseph, we will find a direct parallel between the life of Joseph and the life of the Lord Jesus. 

In the Old Testament, Jesus is enfolded. In the New Testament, Jesus is unfolded. In the Old Testament, Jesus is concealed. In the New Testament, Jesus is revealed. But, Jesus is there in all of the Bible.  As you study the Bible enough, standing somewhere in the shadows you will find Jesus. He is there. It’s all about Him. Don’t get the idea that the Old Testament is about the Jews, and the New Testament is about Jesus. All of the Bible is about Jesus.

Jesus is the hero of the Bible. Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for … [these] are they which [do] testify of me” (John 5:39). Notice that when Jesus made this statement, the scriptures were the Old Testament scriptures.  The New Testament had not even been written yet.  And, the Bible also tells us that on a particular day, He took two men and “he [showed] them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). That means in all of the Scriptures, you are going to find things concerning Jesus. Jesus is there if you look long enough. If you study reverently enough, if you think and meditate, you’re going to find the Lord Jesus Christ there in the Bible.

Click on the play button in link below to hear a message on how the life of Joseph pictures the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.

JOSEPH THE BELOVED SON (Genesis 35:16 to 37:17)

JOSEPH, THE BELOVED SON (Genesis 35:16 to 37:17)

One quarter of the book of Genesis is devoted to Joseph.  God describes the creation of the universe in just five words when He said “He made the stars also;” but He uses chapter after chapter to tell the story of a man that is not even in the direct lineage of Christ.  Actually, more chapters are devoted to Joseph than to Abraham, or to Isaac, or to anyone else. More chapters are devoted to Joseph than to the whole first 2,000 year period of man’s existence from Genesis chapters 1–11. This should cause the thoughtful student to pause and ask why Joseph should be given such prominence in Scripture.

There are probably several reasons. One is that the life of Joseph is a good and honorable life.  God wants us to have whatever is good, virtuous, and great, before us, and Joseph’s life is just that.  The second reason is that Joseph was a true man of faith.  Joseph was a prince among a world of men.  The faith of Joseph was an undying faith.  Joseph’s faith was a faith that believed despite adverse circumstances.  The interesting thing about Joseph is that he had faith in the dream which was given to him, faith while in the pit into which he was placed, faith all the while he was in Egypt, and faith was what buoyed him up through all the problems in his life. Joseph believed that God was going to give the Promised Land to his family.  Joseph believed in the impossible: that God would move his people back to the land promised to Abraham.  Therefore, he commanded that his bones be taken back when the nation of his family returned to the land.  And when the children of Israel left Egypt, they took up his bones and buried them at Shechem in the Samaritan country.

There is a third reason that God would spend this much time on Joseph, and it is a great one. There is no one in Scripture who is more like Christ in his person and experiences than Joseph. Yet, nowhere in the New Testament is Joseph given to us as a type of Christ. However, the parallel cannot be accidental.

Click on the play button attached to this message to hear a message on one of the most famous men in the Bible, Joseph, and listen to how Christ is revealed to us in this man’s life.

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.