Favored But Fallen

Are y'all excited? I'm excited. We're starting a brand new series today on the life of Joseph.

How many of y'all have read the life of Joseph in the Bible before? Many of you. How many of you

have heard the life of Joseph taught in Sunday school or maybe preached in a service before?

You're familiar with it? Yeah, many of you. That is one of my favorite Bible stories. Kind of

growing up, it was always what I said was my favorite Bible story from the Old Testament.

It's also my middle name, so maybe that had something to do with it. But I love Joseph.

It was always my favorite. And so I've never actually preached a sermon series on Joseph

before. This was a first for me. And diving into it, I quickly realized this is an epic saga in the

Old Testament, and there is so much there. And condensing it into a five-sermon series is going

to be very challenging. So here we go. All right. Number one, Joseph, part one. Here we go. Would

you take your Bibles with me and go to Genesis chapter 37? Genesis chapter 37. Week one, our theme

Genesis 37 · chapter mention Genesis 37 · chapter mention

here is favored but fallen. Favored but fallen. Let me give you a little brief introduction into

the story of Genesis. The story of this part of Genesis of Joseph. All right. The overarching

biblical theme here that I believe we can take away from the life of Joseph is that man meant

this for evil, but God used it for good. Man meant this for evil, but God used it for good.

The theme of Genesis, much of it can be traced to the family of Abraham. Abraham's family leading

up to the story of Joseph would be a good background if we were going to study through the book of

Genesis. And I tried to do as much study through Genesis as I could leading up to chapter 37 here

in preparation for preaching this morning. And my takeaway here is that we live in God's good world

gone bad. And that was the situation in which they found themselves in Genesis 37. They were living in

God's good world gone bad. And through so much sin and failure, God kept giving his people chances.

His chosen people, the Israelites. And of course, nowadays through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,

we get to be part of God's chosen people. It's no longer just the Hebrew people. Now he has opened

it up to the Gentiles and all of us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now there's

no longer Jew and Gentile. There's no longer Jew and Greek. There's no longer male and female. All are now

one Ephesians teaches us through the blood of Jesus. Thank God for his sacrifice, right?

So now through so much sin and failure, God keeps giving us a chance to, and we thank God for his

continued grace. He extends toward us. We also see this thing, that God's ways are not man's ways.

Isaiah chapter 55 verses eight and nine reminds us that God's ways are higher than ours. God's ways are

Isaiah 55 · chapter mention

not man's ways. So the overarching biblical theme is that God continues to extend grace in spite of

failure. And while man's evil conspires to throw God's plan off track, somehow through God's divine

sovereign power, his good always wins the day. So let's see how this happens. Let's look at Genesis chapter 37,

Genesis 37 · chapter mention

beginning in verse two, before we dive into the text, I'd like you to look at the screen with me. Would you real quick

throughout the life of Joseph, we are going to see different types of Christ. How many of you have heard

the phrase? If you've been in church for a little while, type of Christ, you ever heard that before?

Type of Christ. Don't be afraid. You can raise your hand. It's okay. Yeah, there you go. I got a couple

of you out there. A type of Christ is someone who is not Jesus. The Christ is generally who we would call

Jesus, right? That is Jesus, the Christ child. So Christ is another name for Jesus, God himself.

But a type of Christ is someone who is not God, who we see in scripture, who portrays a character

trait of God, someone who is not God, and we should not confuse them for God, but someone who is a

forerunner, someone who would portray part of the story of who Jesus would become. And so we see part of

who Jesus would become in the life of Joseph. And arguably, Joseph might be our most accurate,

our best type of Christ that we see in the scriptures. You could certainly make an argument

for that as we go through the life of Joseph. When we see the first type of Christ right here

in Genesis 37, the favored son. Anybody know that Jesus was the favored son?

Up in heaven, God's son. He was the favored son. John 3, 16, the only one, only begotten son, right?

Jesus was the favored son. So let's get into the text here. I've got some of it on the screen for

you today. Genesis 37, verse 2. I'm reading from the New Living Translation. This is the account

Genesis 37:2

of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was 17 years old, he often tended his father's flocks.

He worked for his half-brothers, the sons of his father's wives, Bilhah and Zilpah.

We're going to have all kinds of fun with the names in the Old Testament during this book, okay?

Have you noticed that I've primarily preached from the New Testament since I got here?

There's a reason for that. The names are a whole lot easier, okay? That's not the real reason.

But Joseph, now I did go through Jonah. Did y'all have fun in Jonah? I had so much fun in Jonah.

We're going back to the Old Testament. We're going to go through Joseph. Here we go.

But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. Anybody ever done

that? Anybody ever reported to your dad some of the bad things your brothers were doing?

How did that work out for you with your brothers? Did they appreciate that? Were you very popular with

your brothers after you did that? Did that win you favor with your siblings after you went and told

on them to your dad? No? Can't imagine why. Here we go. Verse 3. Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his

other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So number one, we've got Joseph

telling on his brothers. Number two, we've got the dad loving Joseph more than all the other brothers.

Let's keep reading. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph. What was it?

Coat of many colors. I've got up here a beautiful robe. Your Bible probably has something very similar

staring back at you.

So it should be no surprise to us to read in verse 4,

but his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them.

They couldn't say a kind word to him.

Why do you think that was?

Y'all talk back to me.

Jealousy because Joseph was the?

The favorite.

Yes.

I mean, this isn't too hard to understand, right?

Let's look at this coat.

Now, is this exactly what the coat looks like?

Who knows, right?

But somebody made a pretty good attempt here.

So I was reading John MacArthur.

He's a famous Bible teacher out in California and pastor.

And he did a lot of study on this and a lot of others have done a lot of study on this.

And the best that they've come up with is this coat seemingly could have signified

that this coat was kind of who the family would pass on to.

So the coat should have gone to the oldest son because whoever got the coat got the family,

got the inheritance, all the family wealth, riches, land, everything would go on.

So the coat was more than just a pretty piece of material.

It was very important.

If that was indeed the case, then this was more than just,

oh, he went out and bought me a new pair of Nikes,

or he went out and bought me a new pair of cowboy boots, you know?

This was more than just, dad had a nice coat made for Joseph.

This was a massive, massive blow.

And do you realize where Joseph was in the line of the sons?

He was the youngest.

Now, if you've read ahead in the story, you know there was going to come another one later, right?

But at this moment, he was the youngest of how many?

At the time, it was 11.

At the time, it was 11.

So he was 11th.

So there's 10 angry brothers who are saying,

well, I understand if he's mad at the oldest,

and I understand if he's mad at the second oldest,

but he should have given it to me.

And he's like, forget you, he should have given it to number 4,

or number 5, or number 6.

For sure number 8.

What about number 9 or 10?

But unbelievable, he gave it to number 11?

How in the world can he justify that?

So, we've got a highly dysfunctional family on our hands.

And his brothers hated him for it.

They absolutely hated him for it.

Please don't raise your hands right now.

But how many of you come from a dysfunctional family?

Don't raise your hands right now.

They might be sitting next to you.

Look, we can identify with that to a certain extent.

All of our families have a level of dysfunction

because we are all sinful people.

We all struggle.

Every one of us, none of us come from a perfect family.

We all struggle a little bit.

We all have our fights.

We all have our disagreements.

We're all plagued by sin.

So, we can all relate to a degree

with what Joseph is going through.

What's going on with the favoritism shown here, right?

So, let's take a warning.

Warning number 1.

Promotion can lead to pride.

What are we talking about?

Promotion can lead to pride.

We're about to see it unfold in this story.

The 11th son got the family coat that should have gone to the oldest,

meaning that he would be in charge of the family when Jacob died.

It's a big deal.

And now you've got all these seeds of anger.

And anger can lead to bitterness.

And bitterness can lead to hatred.

And then hatred can lead to all kinds of tragedy.

And if you know the story, you know that that's about to happen.

So, this is the account of Jacob and his family.

And we read on and we see what happened.

But promotion can lead to pride.

Proverbs 16 and verse 18.

Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

So, let's see what happens.

Back in Genesis 37 and verse 5.

One night, Joseph had a dream.

And when he told his brothers about it,

they hated him more than ever.

You ever had a dream and told somebody about it?

Have you ever had a dream that you were going to rule over somebody else

and then told them about it?

Was that just Joseph?

I can't say I've ever had that kind of dream ever.

Verse 6.

Listen to this dream.

He said, we were out in the field tying up bundles of grain.

Suddenly, my bundle stood up.

And your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine.

Now, y'all look.

I could be reading this wrong.

And I'm not going to say that every theologian who has studied this passage

agrees that Joseph was giving in to the sin of pride here.

They seem to be split on this.

So, I'm just going to give it to you how I read it.

And I'm going to say some of them agree with me

and some of them say, no, Joseph wasn't being prideful here.

Whether or not Joseph was being prideful here,

we should probably take a warning from this, okay?

His brothers responded,

so you think you will be our king?

Do you?

Do you actually think you will reign over us?

And they hated him all the more

because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.

And then what was actually included in the ancient Hebrew

and then removed later were the words, no duh.

Now, I'll catch up with you in just a second.

Yeah.

You think?

Yeah, they're already mad at him.

They're already hating him.

And then he goes and tells them,

I had a dream, guys.

And the dream is that I'm going to rule over you someday.

You think that was going to work out well for him?

No, it didn't.

And so then, verse 9,

and soon Joseph had another dream.

And again, again,

no one was there to tell him,

read the room, Joseph.

Don't keep telling these guys about these dreams.

Again, he told his brothers about it.

Listen, I've had another dream.

The sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed low before me.

This time, he told the dream to his father

as well as to his brothers.

But his father scolded him.

Remember, he was his father's favorite son.

And even his father got a little upset at this one.

He said, what kind of dream is that?

He asked, will your mother and I

and your brothers actually come

and bow down to the ground before you?

But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph,

his father wondered what the dreams meant.

Now, let me ask y'all,

where do you think those dreams came from?

God, right?

Because did those dreams come to pass?

Yes, they actually did.

We know the end of the story

if you've read ahead.

And you know they actually did.

Do we know that God told Joseph

to go share those with his family?

We don't know that.

We don't know that he didn't.

So we can't say with authority,

Joseph, you were wrong in doing this.

But we can take a warning

to say that there could have been pride involved.

I don't know.

But I do know

that it is certainly not wise

for us to always tell all

that even God tells us.

Sometimes it's wise

to hide it in our heart,

ponder it in our heart,

and wait for God

to promote us,

not try to promote ourselves.

A haughty spirit

will come before a fall.

Did Joseph approach his brothers

in a haughty spirit?

I don't know.

I wasn't there.

But we can certainly

take a warning from that

and be careful

in how we approach others.

We do know

that they were angry at him.

We do know

that they hated him.

And that his interpretation

of those dreams

that God gave to him

certainly did not help him

win any favor

with his brothers

at that time.

Now God is sovereign over all.

God would protect him.

And we know

what happened up ahead.

But the warning could be

silence is often wisest.

Silence is often wisest.

There will be a time

when God wants you

to speak up.

There will be a time

when God wants you

to say what is right,

to say what is true,

to speak the gospel,

to speak the truth.

But how are we

to speak the truth?

Speak the truth

in love.

Speak the truth

in love.

Did Joseph speak lovingly?

I don't know.

But certainly

the Bible teaches us

that a soft answer

can turn away wrath.

And wrath is how

his brothers responded

that day.

So we must take a warning

that silence

can often be wisest.

And then we can move on

to our reminder

that God knows

his plan for you.

So we're not just

taking a negative lesson

from these dreams.

We can also

take a positive

that God knows

his plan for us.

Now God

cryptically revealed

his plan to Joseph.

There's no way

to believe that Joseph

knew how this

was going to unfold.

He didn't get those dreams

and then go share them

with his family

and predict that someday

he knew how all this

was going to play out.

There's no way.

And there's no way

that you could possibly know

what God's plan is for you

and how it's going to play out

with God's design.

But you can rest

that God knows

his plan for you.

And he's in control of it.

And if you walk

closely with him

he'll make sure

that you get

where he wants you to go.

And you reach

that desired outcome

that he has

for you.

So God knows

his plan for you.

We read that

in Jeremiah 29.

I love that.

And I believe

that even though

this was written

in the Old Testament

to his people

that we are now

his people

and we can claim

these promises

as he says

I know the plans

I have for you

declares the Lord.

Plans to prosper you

and not to harm you.

Plans to give you hope

and a future.

And so I believe

that's what my God

says to me

and says to this church.

That he knows

the plans he has for us.

He knows the plans

he has for us individually.

And God knows

the plans he has

for First Baptist Henrietta.

Plans to prosper us

and not to harm us.

Plans to give us hope

and a future.

Man it's great

to look back

on the past.

We've got a former

pastor here today

who served faithfully

in this place

for 15 years today.

And we can look back

and celebrate

what he did

for those 15 years.

We can look back

at Ron Gunner.

We can look back

at Ted Traylor.

We can look back

at the wonderful legacy

that God has done.

And then we can turn around

and look forward

and say we believe also

that not only

has God been faithful

but God will continue

to be faithful

and give us a hope

and a future.

Because he promised it.

He'll do it for me.

He'll do it for my family.

He'll do it

for our church.

If we

walk closely

with him.

If we're faithful to him.

Sometimes even when

we aren't faithful to him.

He's far more faithful to us.

What a wonderful God

we serve.

So,

God knows

his plan

for us.

And then we move on

to the second type

of Christ.

So,

we've got this

favored son

and then he's betrayed

by his own people.

Let's go back

to Genesis 2.

Down in verse 12.

Soon after this

the brothers

went to pasture

their father's

flocks

at Shechem.

They've been gone

for some time.

Jacob says to Joseph,

your brothers are pasturing

their sheep at Shechem.

Get ready

and I'll send you to them.

I'm ready to go.

Joseph replied.

Anybody else remember

another time

this happened

in scripture?

Jesse sent David

to go find his brothers.

Remember that happened?

That interesting parallel there.

And in verse 14,

Jacob says then

to Joseph,

go and see how your brothers

and the flocks

are getting along.

Then come back

and bring me a report.

So,

Jacob sent him on his way.

Joseph travels to Shechem

from their home

in the valley of Hebron.

When he arrives there,

a man from the area

notices him wandering

around the countryside.

What are you looking for?

He says.

And Joseph says,

I'm looking for my brothers.

Do you know where they are?

You know where they're

pasturing their sheep?

And he says,

yes,

they've moved on from here.

But I heard him say,

let's go on to Dothan.

So Joseph followed

his brothers to Dothan

and found them there.

But they saw him coming.

Verse 18.

When Joseph's brothers

saw him coming,

they recognized him

in the distance.

And as he approached,

they made plans

to kill him.

That escalated quickly.

We go from,

wow,

they're jealous.

They're mad about the coat.

They're mad that he's

the favorite.

They're mad about the dreams.

And now they want

to kill the kid.

Wow.

Verse 19.

Here comes the dreamer,

they said.

So now we learn

Joseph's nickname

among the brothers.

Here comes the dreamer.

Come on.

Let's kill him

and throw him

in one of these cisterns.

We can tell our father

a wild animal

has eaten him.

Then we'll see

what becomes

of his dreams.

Y'all,

this path

of anger

and bitterness

and hatred

will lead you places

that you never thought

you would go.

Don't let anger

fester

in your heart.

So,

verse 21.

Thankfully,

somebody

wasn't quite there.

Reuben.

One of the brothers,

Reuben.

When Reuben heard

of their scheme,

apparently he wasn't

within earshot.

So when he heard

of the scheme,

he came to Joseph's rescue.

And he said,

let's not kill him,

guys.

Maybe we don't want

to go quite full murder

at this moment.

Goodness gracious.

Why would we

shed any blood?

Let's just throw him

into this empty cistern.

And you can almost

see Reuben's mind

panicking.

Like,

can I come up

with a scheme

that's going to

satisfy their blood lust

and maybe save

Joseph's life

in the process?

Like,

I don't like the kid.

He drives me nuts.

Can't stand him.

But I'm not ready

to kill him,

for goodness sakes.

So,

let's just throw him

in this empty well

out here in the wilderness.

Then he'll die

without our laying

a hand on him.

And Reuben was

secretly planning

to rescue Joseph

and return him

to his father.

So,

we've got one

brother,

Hussein,

in this moment.

Verse 23.

So,

when Joseph arrived,

his brother

ripped off

the beautiful robe

he was wearing.

Then they grabbed him,

threw him

into the cistern.

The cistern was empty,

no water in it.

Then just as they

were sitting down

to eat,

they looked up

and saw a caravan

of camels,

not caramels.

Very different.

Coming toward them,

it was a group

of Ishmaelite traders

taking a load

of gum,

balm,

aromatic resin

from Gilead

down to Egypt.

Sometime later,

the scene changes.

Reuben returned.

Where are we at?

Sorry, guys.

Just lost my place.

Thank you.

Here we go.

Yep,

there we go.

Judah said to his brothers,

here we go.

Judah said to his brothers,

what will we gain

by killing our brother?

We'd have to cover up

the crime.

So,

we don't know exactly

where Judah's heart

is here.

But,

if you study

a little bit

further on,

you see that

there were kind of

two brothers here,

Reuben and Judah,

who seemed to rise

above the others

as far as who

God would

use.

One,

Reuben saved

Joseph's life.

And then,

two,

anybody know anything

about Judah?

Judah?

What was it?

The line of Judah?

Jesus came from it.

Jesus was the lion

of the tribe

of Judah.

Isn't that interesting?

Jesus didn't come

from the line

of Joseph.

Jesus came

from the line

of Judah.

So,

it's interesting

that once again

somebody else

steps in here

to save

Joseph's life

and it was

Judah.

So,

he says,

Judah says to his

brothers,

what will we gain

by killing our

brothers?

We'd have to

cover up the crime.

Instead of hurting

him,

let's sell him

to those

Ishmaelite traitors.

After all,

he's our brother,

our own flesh and

blood and his

brothers agreed.

So,

when the Ishmaelites

who were Midianite

traitors,

back then that

would have been

a big deal

in our world

today.

It's like,

who are these

people?

Why do they

matter?

But,

you know,

it made sense.

They would have

made a tidy profit

by selling him

to these guys.

They came by

and Joseph's

brothers pulled

him out of the

well and sold

him to them

for 20 pieces

of silver

and the traitors

took him

to Egypt.

Sometime

later,

Reuben

comes back

to get

Joseph

out of the

well

and return

him to his

father.

But Joseph

isn't there,

is he?

He discovered

that Joseph

was missing

and so he

tore his

clothes in

grief and

he went

back to

his brothers

and lamented,

the boy

is gone,

what will

I do

now?

So the

brothers

killed a

young goat

and dipped

Joseph's robe,

that beautiful

robe,

the family

coat that was

going to be

passed on

and they

dipped it

in the goat's

blood and

they sent

the beautiful

robe to their

father with

this message.

Look at

what we

found.

Doesn't

this robe

belong to

your son?

Just a

little side

note here.

Do you

notice how

they sent

it on to

their father

with a

message?

They didn't

even have the

courage to

face him

themselves.

Hey

dad,

Joseph

got eaten

by a wild

animal.

They like

sent the

message on.

Guys had

all kinds

of courage

there,

didn't

they?

So,

what

happened?

The father

recognized it

immediately,

of course.

Yes,

it's my

son's robe.

A wild

animal must

have eaten

him.

Joseph

has clearly

been torn

to pieces

and Jacob

tore his

clothes,

dressed himself

in burlap

and he

mourned

deeply for

his son

for a long

time.

His family

all tried

to comfort

him,

but he

refused

to be

comforted.

I will

go to my

grave,

mourning for

my son,

he would

say,

and then

he would

weep.

So,

there's a

warning here.

Envy

can start

a spiral

of evil.

Envy

can start

a spiral

of evil.

James,

the book

of James,

James 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and verse

13.

Let's go

to verse

14.

Would you

turn over

there with

me quickly?

We'll be

done in

just a

moment.

James,

James 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and verse

14.

If you have

bitter envy

and selfish

ambition in

your heart,

don't boast

and deny

the truth.

Bitter

envy

and selfish

ambition

in your

heart.

Look over

one more

chapter at

chapter 4.

James,

James 4:2

chapter 4,

verse 2.

Back up to

verse 1.

Kind of the

first three

verses there.

James 4,

James 4:1

verses 1,

2,

and 3.

What is the

source of wars

and fights

among you?

Don't they

come from

your passions

that wage

war within

you?

You desire

and do

not have.

You murder

and covet

and cannot

obtain.

You fight

and wage

war.

You do

not have

because you

do not

ask.

You ask

and don't

receive

because you

ask with

wrong motives

so that you

may spend

it on your

pleasures.

We see

what happens.

We see

the warning

here in the

book of James

and we

see it

portrayed

way back

here in

Genesis

Genesis 37 · chapter mention

chapter 37.

Y'all,

envy,

greed,

jealousy,

these are

not to be

taken lightly.

These are

sins that

can take

root in

your life

and spiral

out of

control.

They can

actually start

to take

control of

you and

start to

affect your

mind,

your brain,

and make

you make

decisions

that you

would never

otherwise

make.

They can

start to

make you

an angry

person.

They can

start to

make you

view people

a different

way.

People that

you used

to love,

people that

you used

to care

about,

you can

start to

see them

through a

different

lens.

You can

start to

tear families

apart,

start to

ruin

relationships,

and then

anger,

bitterness,

can take

over your

life,

and end

up with

you choosing

between killing

your brother

or selling

him off.

What a

wild conclusion

to this story

today.

Now is it the

end of the

story?

Oh no.

Thanks to our

sovereign God,

it's not the

end of the

story.

But that's

where we're

going to pause

today.

I want to

leave you

with this

quote.

Margaret

Thatcher,

the great

prime minister

of England,

the spirit

of envy

can destroy,

it can

never,

ever build.

The spirit

of envy

can destroy,

but it

can never

build.

Romans 12,

24,

maybe puts

it,

well definitely

puts it

better than

that.

Do not

be overcome

with evil,

but overcome

evil with

good.

There is a

power greater

than envy.

There is a

power greater

than anger.

There is a

power greater

than jealousy

and greed

and bitterness

and all this

that could

drive these

brothers to

commit these

terrible crimes.

There's a

power greater

than all that.

And that is

the good that

comes from our

God.

It is our

good God

himself.

He can

triumph over

all that.

He can win

the day.

He can

restore

those families.

He can

mend those

broken

relationships.

So don't

be overcome

with the

evil,

but overcome

the evil

with good.

So what's

our takeaway

today?

Our takeaway

is this,

pride and

envy are

warning signs

in this

story,

but the

start of

Joseph's

story points

us to

Jesus.

Joseph is

the type

of Christ.

All

throughout

Joseph's

story,

he will be

pointing us

continually

back to

Jesus.

Always

back to

our Lord

Jesus Christ.

That's

where I

want to

point you

today.

I want

to point

you to

Jesus

Christ,

the favored

son who

laid down

his crown,

laid down

his throne,

allowed

himself to

come down

to this

earth,

be born

of the

virgin,

humbled

himself,

took upon

him the

form of

a servant,

and laid

down his

life

willingly,

was

betrayed

by his

own people,

suffered

greatly,

just like

we will

see that

Joseph

would,

but became

the sacrifice

for you

and for

me,

not for

his own

sins,

but for

your sin

and for

mine.

Would you

bow your

heads with

me?

God,

the sins

of pride

and envy

are sins

that many

of us,

if not

everyone in

this room,

have been

guilty of.

We see

warning signs

in Genesis

37 of

pride and

envy.

We see

anger,

we see

murder,

we see

bloodlust,

we see

bitterness,

we see

so much

sin,

but we

also see

sacrifice.

We see

some

parallels

to Jesus

Christ,

and I

pray that

this morning

our hearts

and our

minds

would turn

toward

Jesus,

that we

would remember

that

2,000

years ago,

you willingly

came and

sacrificed

yourself for

our sin.

It's easy

to look at

those brothers

and see

them as

bad people.

It's a

little bit

harder to

look at

ourselves and

see us as

capable of

the same.

I pray

that you

would convict

us of

our own

sin,

and if

there is

anyone here

who has

not turned

from our

sin and

turned to

Jesus,

I pray

that you

would let

today be

the day

that they

make that

most important

decision.

So church,

while our

heads are

bowed in

this moment

of privacy,

I'm going to

invite you to

slip your hand

up right now

if that's

you.

If you'd

like to

say today

is the

day and

I'd like

to turn

to Jesus

and make

him my

savior,

would you

slip your

hand up

now and

I'll pray

for you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You see

those hands,

God.

If that's

you,

I'd like to

invite you

while our

heads are

bowed

to just

pray this

simple

prayer.

Jesus,

I know

that I

am a

sinner.

and I

heard your

gospel message

preached today

and as

best as I

know how,

I place

all my

faith in

you to

forgive me

of my

sin.

I don't

trust anyone

else,

not the

preacher,

not the

church,

just Jesus.

God,

I

want to

meet you

after the

service.

We can

talk more

about what

it means

to be a

follower of

Jesus and

put your

faith in

him.

You come

down in

just a

moment.

I'd love to

have a

conversation

with you.

Church,

for the

rest of

you,

if there

is

something

that God's

working on

your heart

about,

if you'd

like to

come

forward and

talk about

baptism,

placing your

membership in

this church,

anything at

all,

Jared's going

to lead us

in just a

brief verse

of a song.

Now would

be a great

time.

If you'd

just like to

come down

and use

these steps

here to

pray quietly,

this would

be the time

to do that.

Jared,

you go ahead

and lead us

in song.

And this is

a time for

you,

if you'd

like to

keep your

seats and

pray,

go ahead.

If you'd

like to

sing along,

this is a

quiet time

of reflection

at this

time.