Through It All

in two of the Old Testament prophets' writings

that was a popular phrase among the people of God in those days.

One time it's mentioned is in Ezekiel 18, verse 2,

Ezekiel 18:2

when it says,

The father eats the grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.

The thought is that when your parents do something wrong,

you're going to face the judgment for it.

And there's talk of that in the book of Exodus.

And there's talk of that in the book of Deuteronomy.

Sometimes people call these generational curses.

However, as the new covenant began to be revealed,

that is the one that was promised through the prophets

about the difference that the coming Christ would make.

That's the new covenant.

Ezekiel and Jeremiah said that we teach,

that we each are responsible for our own sins,

not the sins of our ancestors.

We can't blame our sin on our ancestors.

We're responsible for our sins,

not anybody else's.

And no one else is responsible for ours.

That's not to say we're not influenced by others.

However, we are influenced by other people's sins.

And the fault of those before us

influence us as well.

Either we fall right back in that cycle of fault,

or either we learn from that and we do better.

Those faults lead to a lack of healthy function.

It leads to dysfunction.

And that dysfunction can drag from one generation

to another generation.

And all of that can lead to disaster.

I spent quite a bit of time last week looking at the book,

I mean, excuse me, looking at Jacob in the book of Genesis,

looking at Jacob.

Even though this series is about the life of Joseph,

I thought it was important to understand

the role that his father played

in a lot of what happens in the coming days

that we'll be looking at.

And I want us to see today

how Jacob's actions affected his kids' lives.

I want us to look at the entirety of Genesis 37,

which I know scares you to death.

But we're just gonna slowly weave through this passage together.

Genesis chapter 37, beginning in verse one,

Genesis 37 · chapter mention

it says,

Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings,

in the land of Canaan.

These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being 17 years old,

was pastoring the flock with his brothers.

He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah,

his father's wives.

And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.

Now, when you look at this bad report

that it's talking about here,

look in the original language,

it speaks of a whispering report about something evil.

Actually, about something immoral.

So what you have here is a little bit of gossip,

a little bit of a tattletale,

but this content of what he had to say

was something that his brothers had done

that was immorally wrong.

And he made sure that his dad knew about it.

Now, just because I've got two older brothers

that I grew up with,

I happen to believe that the brothers found out

that Joseph had told his daddy.

I might be wrong.

I can't prove that.

But I bet somebody knew about it.

It says,

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons

because he was the son of his old age.

If you remember the life of Jacob,

Rachel was Jacob's real love.

He worked for seven years,

and his father-in-law betrayed him,

gave him the ugly sister instead.

And when he woke up the next morning with the wrong woman,

he'd come back and said,

That's not the one that I worked seven years for.

And he said,

Well, if you'll pledge to work another seven years,

you can have the other one.

And so he married both of them,

but Rachel was always his love.

And Rachel had a hard time having children.

As a matter of fact,

she told him to go ahead and get with her servant

and so they could have children.

And then Leah,

Rachel's sister had children,

and Leah's servant had children.

Everybody seemed to be having children,

but Rachel,

it's a big burden to her.

And when Joseph was born to Rachel,

Jacob's real love,

it was a big deal.

It was a big deal.

When she attempted to have a second child,

she died in childbirth,

right as Benjamin was being born.

So understand that throughout the life of Rachel,

the only child that she bore herself was Joseph.

And she cherished Joseph.

And then Jacob cherished Rachel.

And so whatever Rachel loved,

he loved that much more.

And it showed a favoritism over his other kids as well.

All of that played into this relationship.

And while Rachel was alive,

Joseph was the only child that she had.

And paid a lot more attention to him

than she did the other children.

And that played into Jacob's favoritism as well.

And it says,

and he made him a robe of many colors.

Now I spoke of the elegant nature of that robe

and what you see in the original language there

that it speaks of.

We think about the coat of many colors,

kind of like Dolly Parton's coat of many colors,

quilted together.

That is not what we're talking about here at all.

What we are talking about is a very elegant robe.

Matter of fact,

the Hebrew word there speaks of cuffs going to the wrist

as well as dropping all the way to the ankles.

If it drops all the way to the ankles,

what that means is it's not a working robe, okay?

It is an elegant robe.

And he was a privileged child.

And so notice that although there was a pattern of him

working with his brothers as with the sheep,

it speaks of that earlier in the passage that we talk about.

In this passage,

it says that they were working the sheep.

And while they were working the sheep,

Joseph was at home.

He was wearing that equivalent to a mink coat around the house,

okay?

Instead of his brothers working in a pasture 50 miles from home.

Verse four says,

but when his brothers saw that their father loved him

more than all his brothers,

they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

So Joseph was the golden child.

And when they saw the admiration in the eyes of their father for Joseph,

as well as witnessing him lauding over him,

they hated him.

They did not speak kindly to him.

It doesn't seem like it could get worse than that,

but just hold on a minute.

Because it says now,

Joseph had a dream.

And when he told it to his brothers,

they hated him even more.

Now listen,

some dreams,

even if they are of God,

don't need to be shared immediately,

okay?

And if they are,

they need to be done carefully.

And Joseph didn't do that.

I want you to notice this.

He said to him,

hear this dream that I dream.

Behold,

we are binding sheaves in the field.

We were binding sheaves in the field.

And behold,

my sheaf arose and stood upright.

And behold,

your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.

Okay?

Now I'm just thinking,

if I had said that to my brothers,

I wouldn't have remembered the rest of that day.

I would have went under the concussion protocol from dealing with that.

Now,

what about these dreams from God?

Let me go there a minute.

Because I've had people come to me over the years and say,

Pastor,

I had a dream.

And I don't know if that was just my doings.

I don't know if that was God telling me something.

I don't know if Satan's messing with me.

I don't know how to interpret this dream.

Okay?

And I got a minor in psychology and I did a dream project in college that I

barely remember.

So I'm an expert.

Okay?

So when they share this dream with me,

what I always ask them is this.

How did that dream make you feel?

And if they come out of that dream feeling convicted,

well,

the devil didn't do that.

He don't cause conviction of sin.

And if they come out of that dream feeling encouraged,

to be more obedient to the Lord,

or to follow through with God's plan for something,

that sounds like it's from God to me.

But if they come out beaten down,

and they come out discouraged,

and they come out like they're on the losing end,

then I always tell them,

I don't think that's from God.

I really don't.

I mean,

let's look at the message.

And I could go on with this.

But we get caught up in the miracles of Scripture.

But when you study the miracles of Scripture,

always hang on at the end to find out the message there.

Because they're not just sprinkled for no reason.

There's always a message there.

And that message says a lot about the source,

whether it's a miracle or whether it's a dream.

So in response to this dream,

his brother said to him,

are you indeed to reign over us?

Or are you indeed to rule over us?

And Scripture says,

so they hated him even more for his dreams

and for his words.

So in other words,

every time he opened his mouth,

especially with that coat on,

it gets worse.

But he's not done.

He's still talking.

Then he dreamed another dream.

And he told it to his brothers and said,

behold, I've dreamed another dream.

And behold, the sun, the moon, and 11 stars

were bowing down to me.

But when he told to his father and to his brothers,

his father rebuked him and said to him,

what is this dream that you've dreamed?

Shall I and your mother and your brothers

indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?

And his brothers were jealous of him,

but his father kept the saying in mind.

How horrible.

How horrible.

However, I want you to understand that it's obvious

these dreams are from the Lord

because what he's saying is true.

Did he have to say it?

I don't know about that.

Scripture ain't clear about that.

I don't know that he had to tell his older brothers.

Why in the world would he do that?

But he did.

Okay.

But the dreams came from the Lord.

The dream was giving.

Now think about this.

Joseph's going to go through some stuff.

And I hope I remember to bring you back to this time

in this passage.

Because when he goes through some stuff,

he's going to need some encouragement along the way.

And you know what that encouragement will be?

Where he will be?

The dreams that he had so long ago

that tells him that God's going to raise him up.

That God's going to take care of him

in the midst of all that.

But what he's saying is true.

Stirs up his brothers.

They hated him anyway because he was favored.

And then that favoritism showed

because he got an elegant coat.

It stands out to me that they're in the field

50 miles away.

And he's at the house.

And then when he did see them before they went,

he told them about these dreams of how

most of them being his older brothers

would bow down to him.

Man, that ain't going over in the home I lived in.

I'm just telling you.

He just wouldn't do it.

They wouldn't allow it to happen.

My brothers wouldn't.

It says now his brothers went out to pasture.

Their father's flock near Shechem.

And Israel said to Joseph,

Are not your brothers pastoring the flock of Shechem?

Come and I will send you to them.

And he said to him, Here am I.

So he said to him, Go now.

See if it's well with your brothers

and with the flock and bring me word.

So he sent him from the valley of Hebron

and he came to Shechem.

Several things about this passage I want to point out.

One is, Did you hear the response of Joseph?

His daddy told him to go.

And what did he say?

He said, Here I am.

I'm ready to serve.

We see a wonderful passage of Scripture in Isaiah

that talks about Isaiah worshiping before the throne of God.

And Isaiah's response to God in the midst of that was, Here I am.

I'm ready.

I'm ready to serve.

Joseph had the right attitude toward his father.

Made a lot of mistakes.

Father made a lot of mistakes.

But he had the right attitude toward his father.

It's an encouragement to us to have the right attitude

before our father.

When he speaks to us, tells us what to do.

Here I am.

He was ready to serve.

Now it says he goes to Shechem.

Does Shechem ring a bell at all?

You see, Shechem was the name of the man

that raped Joseph's sister.

And after Shechem raped Joseph's sister,

he wanted to make it right.

So he went and asked for her hand.

And his daddy, Jacob, was a passive father.

He didn't really do anything.

But those brothers, those brothers said,

if you want her hand,

she's not going to be around a bunch of uncircumcised men.

So if you want her hand,

not only you, but all the men around you

must be circumcised first

before you can have our sister as your wife.

And so, because the man Shechem really wanted

Joseph's sister,

they all were circumcised.

And while they were still healing,

and while they were still hurting,

Joseph's brothers came back

and killed every last one of them.

Killed everybody,

every man in the region.

Took the women and children into their home.

But killed all the men.

Now,

the area in which Shechem lived

was called Shechem.

Because that's where he lived.

And now they're back pasturing sheep

in that very area.

Now,

due to the total clean out

that happened previously,

I don't know that it was dangerous.

Because all those guys were gone.

However,

you know,

I get the sense

that that may play into Jacob

asking Joseph,

will you go check on your brothers?

And make sure they're safe?

Because we have a history in that area.

Why don't you check on them?

It says in verse 15,

And a man found him wandering in the fields.

And the man asked him,

What are you seeking?

And he said,

I'm seeking my brothers, he said.

Tell me, please,

where they are pasturing the flock.

And the man said,

They've gone away,

for I heard them say,

Let's go to Dothan.

So Joseph went after his brothers

and found them at Dothan.

Okay?

That's not Alabama.

That's a long way from there.

But Shechem was 50 miles.

When he got to Shechem,

he didn't bother to turn around

and tell his daddy,

They've moved on.

They're fine.

There's not a problem in Shechem.

He found out they went on to Dothan,

which was 14 more miles.

And he walked on to Dothan

to check on his brothers.

He went further than

he had previously thought he was going.

And I wonder why he did that.

I mean, it could have been

because he was a good son

and because his father put him on a task

and he wanted to do what God,

he wanted to do what his father wanted him to do.

However, I also wonder,

was he looking to get something on his brothers?

Remember, he had a history

of giving bad reports about them.

He at least gave one evil report about them.

So was he just trying to find something on them

to make himself look better?

Or was he following his father's command?

I don't know.

I just want you to think about it.

I'll tell you what he did do.

He strutted for another 14 miles in that coat.

That non-working coat

in front of his hard-working brothers.

Either way,

whether it was for good

or whether it was for bad,

he walked all the way with that coat on

and they saw him coming.

Looked like Ric Flair in the desert coming through.

And they saw him coming.

And they got to murmuring

before he ever got to them.

And they saw him from afar

and before he came near to them,

they conspired against him to kill him.

They said to one another,

here comes this dreamer.

Now they had a lot to get keyed up about.

He was obviously the favorite.

He got the preferential treatment.

He was not in the field.

He was wearing that coat.

And he also basically told them

that they would serve him.

Now let me reiterate

that what he said was true.

And yes, what he said was of God.

But it may not have been of God

the way he told them.

I don't really know.

But he may not.

I know they didn't take it that way.

And the dream came from God.

His father took note of that dream.

He knew something special was about it.

He knew God had his hand on Joseph.

And his brothers said to each other,

come on, come now.

Let us kill him.

And throw him into one of the pits.

Then we'll say that a fierce animal

has devoured him

and we'll see what will become of his dreams.

Now this pit they're talking about

is a large cistern in the ground.

And the way they would dig these things out

is they would dig out a hole

and then they would open it up

under the ground like you see.

They went through rainy seasons.

It only rained about four months out of the year.

You better get as much water

as you possibly can out of that rain

because they live in desert conditions.

And so they had different inlets

that would bring that water

into that collection, okay?

Now those things were,

they were plastered with limestone

limestone to seal them.

But in reality,

they didn't last all year long.

Not only would they use the water

and the water would dry up,

but they'd also have cracked cisterns sometimes

that would not hold water.

And even when they did hold water,

I just want you to understand this,

we're not talking about a fresh spring of sorts.

This is limestone, okay?

So when you opened up that stone lid

and looked inside of it,

you couldn't see much of anything.

And if somebody didn't put the lid

back on that cistern,

what fell in that hole?

You don't know until you drop your bucket in

to see what you got.

Now that ain't part of this story,

but I just want you to imagine,

you know, you complain about,

don't complain about water

because I promise you,

they had it rough

when it comes to this cistern

that they're dealing with.

They were wells that were dug out

and limey water.

I just thought I'd whip your appetite with that.

This cistern that he dropped in had no water.

We read of Jeremiah

falling in one that was full of mud

and having difficulty getting out because of that.

But this one was dry.

Cisterns often broke

and the water seeped into the ground.

As a matter of fact,

in Jeremiah,

God uses cisterns

to talk about

how we turn to other options

instead of faithfulness to God

and how useless that is.

Jeremiah chapter 2, verse 13 says this,

Jeremiah 2:13

For my people have committed two evils.

They have forsaken me,

the fountain of living waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

In other words,

instead of relying upon the Lord,

they try to go their own way

and their own way is dry

and does not work.

That's another sermon for another day,

but we'll never be satisfied

when we try to substitute

God's very best for our lives

with other options.

They were going to kill him

and they were going to throw him in a dry well.

But when Reuben heard it,

he rescued him out of their hands,

saying,

Let's not take his life.

And Reuben said to them,

Shed no blood,

throw him into this pit here in the wilderness,

but do not lay a hand on him.

And he said that,

that he might rescue him out of their hand

to restore him to his father.

Reuben thought,

if they left him to die,

I will leave them,

but when they leave this area,

I'll come back

and I'll rescue my brother.

So when Joseph came to his brothers,

they stripped him of his robe,

the robe of many colors that he wore,

and they took him

and threw him into the pit.

The pit was empty.

There was no water in it.

Then they sat down to eat.

I'm going to say that again.

They threw him in the pit.

The pit was empty.

It had no water in it.

And then they sat down to eat.

Does that strike you as coldly as it struck me?

They sat down to eat.

I find it interesting

that later in the story,

the brothers tell us

what they were experiencing

during the meal.

The reality is,

in Genesis 42, verse 21,

Genesis 42:21

it tells us that Joseph

was begging them in distress,

but they would not listen.

And that echoed in their mind

in latter days.

That's hatred, my friend.

And it's wrong.

And that kind of action

echoed in their minds.

It says,

and looking up,

they saw a caravan

of Ishmaelites

coming from Gilead

with their camels

bearing gum, balm, and myrrh

on their way

to carry it down to Egypt.

Then Judah said to his brothers,

what profit is it

if we kill our brother

and conceal his blood?

Come,

let us sell him

to the Ishmaelites

and let not our hand

be upon him,

for he's our brother,

our own flesh.

And his brothers

listened to him.

Then Midianite traders

passed by

and they drew Joseph up

and lifted him up out of the pit

and sold him to the Ishmaelites

for 20 shekels of silver.

They took Joseph

to Egypt.

Now,

it mentions here

Ishmaelites

and it mentions

Midianites.

And Ishmaelites

and Midianites

are relatives.

They're both descendants

of Abraham.

And Ishmaelites

are thought to be

like the Bedouins

or like gypsies.

That name

kind of become

personified with that.

They're thought to be

gypsies

and the Midianites

cousins

and of that same folk

really was the

was the middlemen

for the Ishmaelites.

Ishmaelites

were the ones

that owned it.

The Midianites

were the negotiators

or the managers

typically.

And we're not sure

why they are described

like they are here

but they're

going to market

and they got a slave

at a good price.

One theologian

said that

they paid the price

for a disabled servant

for Joseph.

Another one said

it was for a common

servant.

When Reuben

returned to the pit

and saw that Joseph

was not in the pit

he tore his clothes

it was a sign of mourning

and returned

to his brothers

and said

the boy is gone

and I

where shall I go?

Now there's a

back story

to Reuben

because after

Rachel died

Reuben

laid

with Bilhah

his father's

servant

or often called

his concubine.

Now I told you

last week

that having

two wives

and having

two servants

and having children

with all of them

is not of God.

Okay?

It was culturally

correct in that day.

They thought

little of it

but God

never honored

that.

God never

allowed that.

They just did it.

Okay?

There's a lot of things

in our culture today

that will tell you

it's okay.

That don't mean

that God says

it's okay.

And so

they did that.

But I'm telling you

even society

said

don't go lay

with your father's

concubine.

That's wrong.

Even society

pagan society

knew

that was wrong.

Bilhah

was the mother

of two

of Reuben's

brothers

and being

the passive

father

that Jacob

was

he did

absolutely

nothing

about it

except speak

to him

later

in his life.

Now when I

get to this

passage

and I think

about what

Reuben did

to his father

and that

confrontation

that took

place from

that

and how

Joseph

was his

father's

favorite

and he

knew that

I can't

help but

think that

Reuben is

trying to

make up

for past

mistakes.

If I can

protect what

my daddy

loves the

most

well then

maybe my

daddy will

love me

and he

freaked out

when Joseph

was not

in the

cistern

that he

thought he

would be

in.

Verse 31

says

then they

took

Joseph's

robe

and they

slaughtered

a goat

and dipped

the robe

into blood

and they

sent the

robe of

many colors

and brought

it to their

father and

said this is

what we

found.

Please

identify

whether it's

your son's

robe or

not.

Do you

get that?

They've

taken it

off of

Joseph.

They're

the ones

that tore

it up

and now

they're

bringing it

to him

saying does

this happen

to be

Joseph's

robe?

And he

identified it

and said it

is my

son's robe.

A fierce

animal has

devoured him.

Joseph is

without doubt

torn to

pieces.

Then Jacob

tore his

garments and

put sackcloth

on his

loins and

mourned for

his son many

days.

All his

sons and

his daughters

rose up to

comfort him

but he

refused to

be comforted.

And he

said now I

shall go

down to

Sheodah to

my son

mourning.

Thus his

father wept

for him.

Now when it

speaks of him

tearing his

clothing and

putting sackcloth

on his

loins and

mourning for

his son for

many days,

it speaks of

an inconsolable

grief.

Normally when

somebody grieved

they'd grieve for

a week.

If it was

somebody in

their immediate

family they

may grieve for

a month.

But in

reality this

speaks of

many days.

And then he

says now I

shall go down

to Sheodah to

my son mourning.

What Jacob is

saying is I'm

not going to

mourn for my

boy for a

week.

I'm not going

to mourn for

my boy for a

month.

I'm going to

mourn for him

for all of my

life.

I'll die

mourning the

loss of my

son.

He mentions

Sheod.

Sheod.

Sheod is the

abode for the

dead.

And because of

the truths that

are shared in the

New Testament we

have a much

better understanding

of the afterlife

than Jacob did.

We have a much

better understanding

of the afterlife

than the people of

the Old Testament

did.

very few

references to

as we see

heaven and

hell.

God through

progressive

revelation has

revealed more

and more of

his work,

more and more

of his way,

the reality of

eternity.

As the word of

God was made

complete we got

that much more

of it.

And the New

Testament tells

us descriptively

of the horrors

of hell and the

glories of heaven.

When he mentions

Sheod here it

speaks a lot to

the ignorance that

he has about

what's coming after

death.

And that's often

what scripture

spoke of in the

Old Testament.

Because God

hadn't revealed to

them the horrors

of those without

Christ and the

glories of those

with Christ.

It says meanwhile

the Midianites had

sold in Egypt

to Potiphar.

Potiphar.

An officer of

Pharaoh,

the captain of

the guard.

That cell in the

slavery is the

beginning of the

rest of the story.

But what's in all

that for us?

What does that say

to us?

Three things

that I see.

One is greatness

can come through

brokenness.

this family is a

mess.

And we've seen

some of the fruit

of it today.

A passive

biased father

makes for a

spoiled child

and for some

hateful brothers.

And when that

child is so

outspoken and

very visionary

it makes so much

worse.

The first part

of chapter 37

builds a powder

keg of family

conflict.

You know there's

something coming

when you see

Joseph walking

through the desert

with that robe

on looking for

his hateful

brothers.

And when he

got there

it blew up.

The boastful

young brother

was met by an

envious murderous

clan of brothers.

And if you don't

know the rest of

this story

you need to come

back next week.

You may not

believe me but

all of this

brokenness will

turn into greatness

over the next

13 years of

Joseph's life

that we have a lot

of detail about.

That's all to say

that our past

does not have to

define our future.

Don't let the

devil tell you

that you can't.

Don't let the

devil tell you

that you can't

get out of the

pit.

That means you

may feel like

you're in.

Don't ever believe

that.

Because greatness

can come

through brokenness.

Second thing is

this.

God's with us.

God's with us.

There's a passage

in Acts where

Stephen is testifying

about the Lord's

work.

It's such a

powerful testimony

that people couldn't

stand it.

And they ended up

stoning him to death

throwing rocks at him

until he died

because of his

powerful, powerful

sermon about the

power of God

and how those

even of that

modern day church

had missed

the power of God

and had not

walked with God.

and he is

going through

how God has

worked, Stephen

in his sermon

about how God

has worked

through the

generations.

And he gets

to this and he

says this in Acts

Acts 7:9

7 verse 9.

And the patriarchs

jealous of Joseph

sold him into

Egypt.

But God

was with him.

God was with him

in the pit.

God was with him

in the slavery.

God was with him

through it all.

I said that to a

grieving family on

Friday.

That God would be

with them when the

family and the

friends and the

food were gone.

God's still going to

be there with you.

He'll walk with you

through it all.

I've said it through

prisoners.

between bars.

Standing on the

other side of the

bars.

I've spoken to them

in solitary confinement

and told them, I want

you to understand

something.

You feel very alone

right now.

God's with you.

I've said it to those

that feel like they're

at the wit's end.

And it's true.

God's with you.

If you have ever

surrendered your life

to Christ,

Christ promises us

in Hebrews 13 5,

I will not leave you

or forsake you.

If you've ever

surrendered your life

to Christ,

Romans 10 13 tells us

that everyone who

calls upon the name

of the Lord will be

saved.

He will be with you.

I don't know what

valley you're going

through.

I don't know what

pits you feel like

you're in.

I don't know what

kind of brothers you're

dealing with,

but I want you to know

you're not alone.

God's with you.

Third thing is this.

God's not done.

God's not done.

He's not done with

Joseph.

God's not done with us.

Years ago,

I was in a premarital

counseling session

with a couple,

a dear young couple.

I loved them to death.

And I asked them

to fill out a form

with a lot of

open-ended questions.

And one of those

questions was,

I see myself as,

and there was a blank.

When I was looking

at his paperwork

before they came in,

he put out there

beside that,

I see myself as

a cycle breaker.

I see myself as

a cycle breaker.

Well,

I'll just be honest

with you.

I was kind of dumb

that day.

I couldn't figure out

what he was talking

about.

I thought,

I didn't even know

he rode bikes.

What does he do,

jump or something?

How is he breaking

bikes?

What in the world

is he talking about?

I didn't give it

much thought

until I met

with that dear couple.

And when I met

with them,

I said,

I want to ask you

a question.

You answered

the question

in an interesting

way.

What did you mean

by,

I see myself

as a cycle breaker?

And that young man

looked at me

and said,

throughout the

generations,

there's been a cycle

in my family

of alcoholism

and lostness.

And I'm going to

break that cycle.

I can tell you,

that young man's

a faithful husband.

That young man

is a successful

and a comforting

source

to this community.

That young man

is a wonderful father

to his children.

That young man

is a loving husband

to his wife.

And that young man

is a force

in his church.

And yes,

he's a cycle breaker.

And God's

not done

with him.

And God's

not done

with you.

And God's

not done

with me.

And God's

not done

with us.

May we live

every day

to please him

in all we do.

Now,

if you're here

this morning

with every head bowed

and every eye closed,

I want to ask you

if you've ever

given your heart

and life

to the Lord

Jesus Christ.

I didn't ask you

if everybody

thought you had.

I ask you

if you ever have.

Because if you haven't,

I don't want you

to leave here today

until you say,

Pastor,

I want to give

my heart and life

to Jesus.

I want to be saved.

I want to know

that he's always

with me

and I want to know

that I'll always

be with him.

Maybe you've done that

but you've never

acknowledged him publicly

so it's been

a private matter

for you.

Jesus,

by his commission

and by his example,

told us that we

are to be baptized

to show our

obedience to follow him.

That's never happened

to you.

I encourage you

to come

in just a few moments

when we stand

to sing.

Be obedient.

We'll line that up

in the coming days.

We're putting it

on the schedule

just these days.

Maybe you're here

and God's drawing you

to First Baptist Church.

God's doing a wonderful

work in our church.

I'm thankful for that.

Maybe God's drawing you

to be a part

of this church.

You come.

We'd love to talk

about that with you.

Or maybe there's

just stuff in your life

that you,

maybe there's a cycle

you need to break.

Maybe there's a pit

you need to be reminded

that God's there

with you.

I don't know

what your circumstances

are,

but I know he'll meet

you where you are

so you can seek

his face

where you'll stand

in just a moment

at his altar

or with a pastor

praying for you.

Whatever you need

to do,

I just encourage

you to be obedient

and follow the Lord

as he leads you.

Lord Jesus,

I love you

and I thank you,

dear Lord,

for your love for us.

I ask right now

that you'll move

and you'll work

in our midst.

In Jesus' precious name,

Amen.