Living the Dream | Joseph the Runner

Thanks for checking out this podcast from Carterville Christian Church.

We're so glad you're here.

Our hope is that through these messages you'll grow deeper in your faith and experience the life-changing hope of Jesus.

Now let's jump into this week's teaching.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

I bet you didn't know you were going to hear that right after communion time this morning, did you?

If you're a first-time guest with us, we're so glad that you're with us.

You just need to know we don't listen to Green Day every Sunday morning in church.

But man, uh excited to be with you as we continue this series uh through the life of Joseph called uh Living the Dream.

We're gonna be in Genesis 39 today.

If you got your Bibles going open up there, I want to kind of catch us up over the last couple weeks where we've been.

We saw Joseph, we're introduced to Joseph in Genesis 37, and he's his father's favorite.

He's given this special coat of many colors, and and then his brothers are spiteful and hateful to him, and it leads them to ultimately uh betraying him and stripping him of this coat and throwing him into a cistern and leaving him to die.

But then Judah's like, hey, we should make a buck off of him at least, you know, so let's sell him into slavery at the very least.

And and and so that's what we see at the end of Genesis 37, is we see Joseph's brothers taking and deceiving their father, the deceiver, with this coat of many colors that's been soaked in animals' blood, and and saying that their brother was attacked by a wild animal and he's he's dead, and all this kind of stuff, and he's he's mourning the loss of his favorite son, and and they're they're like manipulating the whole situation.

And then there's a meanwhile in the text in Genesis 37.

I want to point your attention to it.

Genesis 37, verse 36 is what it says.

Genesis 37:36

Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold him in in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

And we can almost, you can almost see Joseph turn a little emo, you know, like do like like dye his hair super dark black and have black eyeliner around.

You can hear him almost singing at the end of Genesis 37, I walk this empty street on the boulevard of broken drink.

You know what I'm saying?

Like you can almost hear it happening at the end of Genesis 37.

Like he's at the end of it.

And yet, as we turn the page and pick up Joseph's story in Genesis 39, it doesn't seem to be quite that bad.

And the reason why it doesn't seem to be quite that bad is what John's already talked about this morning, because the Lord was with Joseph.

It's interesting.

It's interesting what's happening here.

We're gonna we're jumping into Genesis 39, and you might be thinking, if you're, you know, if your brain is working well this morning at 9.30 this morning, you might be thinking, okay, wait, Genesis 37 to 39?

What are we doing?

What happened to Genesis 38?

And I'll tell you what happened to Genesis 38, okay?

Quick note before we jump into Genesis 39.

Genesis 38, what's interesting in this whole text is that Genesis 37 through 50 is is primarily about Joseph.

It's primarily about his life and his career and his and his ups and downs and his pits and his peaks and all this kind of stuff and how the Lord is with him and working through him.

It's ultimately a story about God and his character, but but it's really focused on Joseph.

And then Genesis 38 does something really weird and doesn't mention Joseph at all, actually zooms in on the fourthborn son of Jacob, a guy named Judah.

And really, Genesis 38 is all about Judah's sin, all about his failure, all about his brokenness.

And it kind of like puts things in perspective, okay?

There's, and so I'm gonna just give you an assignment this week in your own personal devotion time, is to go read Genesis 38 and spend some time because it's gonna help us.

Judah's gonna become an important player as the story of Joseph kind of unfolds later in these chapters.

But what what I what I really want you to understand is that, among other things, I think Genesis 38 is put there as a comparison and contrast to what we're gonna see in Genesis chapter 39.

Genesis 39 · chapter mention

Judah's failure is put side by side with Joseph's success in Genesis 39.

Okay, so Genesis 39, and this is this is where we're gonna we're gonna be, we're gonna cover a couple different chunks in Genesis 39.

I want to read a big chunk for us and then kind of make some notes and observations, and then we'll read one more one more chunk.

This is what it says starting in verse 1, Genesis 39.

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man.

And he was in the house of his Egyptian master.

His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.

So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.

From the time that he made him overseer in the house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake.

The blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in house and field.

So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him, he had no concern about anything but the food that he ate.

And while while Joseph may have ended chapter 37 feeling like he's walking on the boulevard of broken dreams, you know, all alone on this road, like completely deserted, and what's gonna happen of these dreams that he's had, all this kind of stuff, we're quickly shown that that's not exactly the case in Genesis 39.

A couple things to point out to you.

I need you to underline the very first phrase in Genesis chapter 39.

Genesis 39 · chapter mention

Underline it.

It says Joseph had been brought down to Egypt.

You should underline this in your text, in your Bible, because this may be the most important geographical footnote in all of Scripture.

Like this is this is a very important little geographical note that Moses includes here for us.

We'll continue to talk about this in the weeks to come.

Second thing I want to point out here is that is what it what was told about Potiphar, Potiphar being the captain of the guard.

The captain of the guard, actually, there's a Jewish historian who said that who described this group of people that that Potiphar would have been uh the chief over, would have actually been like the executioners.

So when he says that Potiphar is the captain of the guard, he's actually saying he's the chief of executioners.

You need to keep that in mind as we continue in this story.

And I want, I want to also, I want you to notice the blessing of the Lord that's on the house of Potiphar.

It's interesting in this text, is that it says that the Lord like blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake.

It's interesting what's happening here.

One author actually said that we should be, we should immediately, our minds should be thinking back to the promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

All nations will be blessed through you and through your offspring.

I love how one commentator said it.

He said this, he said this way a slice of this promise to Abraham is coming true, is being fulfilled, to a slice of Egypt.

A slice of this promise to a slice of Egypt.

And while things seem to be going well, it's short-lived.

Like if you know the story of Joseph, the hits just kind of keep on coming.

And so this is, I think we need to finish verse six.

We kind of started verse six, we didn't finish verse six, because it kind of serves as a preview for us of what's about to come.

Look at Genesis chapter 39, verse 6.

Genesis 39:6

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

This is an interesting little, an interesting little phrase here.

And actually it parallels another verse in Genesis that you probably are aware of.

Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

After Genesis chapter 1 and 2, God makes everything, he creates everything, and he he establishes man and woman and establishes the relationship, he establishes the covenant of marriage.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

And then you flip to chapter 3, and it says, Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

And what we're actually meant to lead us into as we read, now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance, is actually it's a parallel back to what was going to happen in Genesis chapter 3, the temptation that was going to happen with the serpent and Adam and Eve is now about to happen to Joseph.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

There's a temptation that's about to happen.

There's an invitation, and one author said it this way hopefully you hear a hiss in the invitation of Potiphar's wife.

This is what the text says.

Read with me.

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance, and after a time, his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me.

But he refused, and said to his master's wife, Behold, because of me, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.

He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept anything from me except you, because you are his wife.

How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?

And she spoke to Joseph day after day, and he would not listen to her to lie beside her and be or to be with her.

But one day, verse 11, when he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men were in the of the house, was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, by his cloak, saying, Lie with me.

But he left his garment in her hand and fled out of the house.

And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled out of the house, she called out to the men of the household and said to them, See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us.

He came in to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.

And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.

Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, This Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me.

But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.

And as soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, this is the way your servant treated me.

His anger was kindled.

And Joseph's master, remember, the chief of executioners, took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined.

And he was there in prison.

Now there's a lot that I want to say, there's a lot that I want to dive into, and I'm gonna leave a lot of it for your groups.

You should jump into a group.

If you haven't jumped into a group, you should do that and jump into a group and dive a little bit deeper.

But what I want to see, what I want to focus on here is because at the core of this passage is Joseph being tempted.

And honestly, it's something that every single one of us in this room can relate to.

Every single one of us is tempted, just as Joseph is.

Maybe not exactly the same.

Maybe your temptation looks a little bit different, but every single one of us can relate to this whole idea of being tempted, of being being led into sin.

And I love how Dietrich Bonhoeffer explains temptation.

I think it's helpful.

He says this way he says, in our members, there is a slumbering inclination towards desire, which is both sudden and fierce.

And when it is kindled, God is quite unreal to us.

Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.

Like this is what this is what the enemy's goal is in temptation, is to get us to get God out of our minds and start living for ourselves instead.

And as we see, as we see Genesis 39 kind of unfold, what we actually see is we see Joseph standing firm in the midst of temptation.

And it's worth noting how.

Like, how in the world does Joseph stand firm in the midst of temptation?

And so I think it's that's what I want to spend the rest of our time really talking about is really what does Joseph actually do?

What does he do in this text that we can learn from when it comes to standing firm in temptation?

How does Joseph stand firm?

First, we see simply this Joseph refused.

That's what Joseph does.

He refuses.

Look at verses 7 through 9 again.

After a time, his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me.

But he refused and said to his master's wife, Behold, because of me, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.

He is no greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you because you are his wife.

How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?

And there are layers to Joseph's refusal in this text.

There are layers to it.

But first I want to I want you to see his reasoning.

Do you see what he says here?

He goes into this kind of lengthy, lengthy explanation of the trust that he has built with Potiphar.

Like, my master trusts me with everything.

Like I'm actually, like, he's not even greater than I am in this house.

I'm in control of everything in this house.

He's kind of saying, hey, I've got a pretty good gig going here.

I don't really want to ruin this.

Like that seems to be his reasoning.

So then he gets to the end and he says, So how how can I do this wickedness, do this wicked thing, and then sin against my master?

Like, how can I sin against Potiphar?

No, that's not what he says, is it?

Do you see what he says?

How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God, is what Joseph says.

It's interesting, isn't it?

Joseph's not the one who's writing these words down in Genesis.

Joseph hasn't read this story from front to back.

He doesn't know, he's living it.

He doesn't know how this ends.

And he might be able to look back.

It's a lot of times you look back in hindsight and you can tell the Lord was with me, you know, as we've already talked about.

But Joseph, I don't, there's nothing that says that Joseph all of a sudden realized, oh yeah, this was, the Lord was the one doing this, except for right here.

Like, how in the world can I do this great nicket great wickedness and sin against God?

You know what we call this?

We call this conviction.

This is what Joseph has.

He has conviction about who he's living for.

Like, this isn't just momentary resolve that Joseph has, it's an obedience that is an overflow of deep conviction of who he's trying to please with his life.

That's ultimately where this is coming from.

And listen to me, if you wait until you're facing temptation to try to develop this kind of conviction, then it is too late.

You will fall.

You will give in to the temptation.

You will not be able to stand strong.

Right now is when it starts.

Like, who are you living your life for?

Who are you living to please?

This is what Joseph had decided before he came into this situation right here.

One commentator said it this way he said, horizontal consequences are helpful motivators for temporary obedience, but they are insufficient for lasting faithfulness.

You hear that?

Horizontal consequences, the consequences of the relationships around us, they're helpful motivators for temporary resolve and temporary obedience, but they will not, they will not be good enough when it comes to lasting faithfulness and obedience.

Remember what Bonhoeffer said that the enemy's goal is for us to forget about God in the midst of our temptation?

Joseph kept the Lord in mind at the forefront of his mind so that he was prepared to withstand temptation.

He realized that in his disobedience, if he disobeyed, then it was just a sin against God, just like King David when he repents in Psalm 51, and he says, Against you, and you only have I sinned, Lord.

Joseph had conviction of who he was living to please.

But there's another layer of this refusal.

I don't know if you saw it, right?

Read with me in verse 10.

This is what this is what it is what the text says.

As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

See, there's an interesting part of Genesis 39.

The interesting part of Genesis 39 is that there's no time stamps in all of Genesis 39.

There's no time stamps given.

We don't know how long it took from for Joseph to get from the cistern to Egypt in slavery.

We don't know how long he was he was working and gaining favor in Potiphar's household.

We don't know how long this temptation was going on.

What we do know is that the temptation that Joseph faced came day after day after day.

That's what the text says.

And Joseph's conviction led to his consistency in resisting temptation.

And maybe, maybe today, you find yourself facing ongoing temptation, day after day, day after day.

Maybe that's where you find yourself.

Actually, according to recent studies, uh, the conservative number is that over half of us in this room, half of us who confess Christ, are currently engaging in some kind of sexual sin.

That's the conservative number.

And the the number only grows when we talk about those who are facing sexual temptation.

Like, so here's I want to say two things to you.

First is this you are not alone.

You are not alone.

If this is where you find yourself right now, sexual sin specifically can be just so isolating, and the shame that comes with it can be so debilitating that that you start to believe the lie that you are in this alone, and there's nobody else who understands, there's nobody else who can who can share this burden with you, and that's a lie from the pit of hell.

Do not believe it.

You're not alone in this, you're not meant to carry that burden by yourself.

The second thing is this: man, learn from the example of Joseph and choose today who you're gonna live for.

Like today can be a fork in the road moment for you.

That you say, I'm not gonna live for myself and for my own personal desire anymore.

I'm not living for this momentary satisfaction anymore.

I'm living for the Lord.

Start living with the conviction and consistency that Joseph models for us right here.

Remember, those horizontal consequences, they they ultimately like don't they might help with temporary obedience, but they don't have anything to do with lasting, ongoing faithfulness.

And choose today who you're gonna serve.

How did Joseph stand firm?

Quite frankly, he refused with conviction and consistency.

But there's something else we see in this text.

I know you saw it, right?

Because Joseph refused, and also Joseph, he ran.

Like Joseph is a runner in this text.

Look with me in verses 11 and 12.

But one day when he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was in the house, was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, by his cloak.

Remember, we've been talking about the significance of this cloak.

The cloak that he was given that represented the status that he had with his father, the inheritance he was going to get from his father that was stripped off of him by his brothers.

He's given another cloak here in Potiphar's house.

This this that represents standing, that represents honor, that represents position, and he's stripped of it here.

He leaves it here.

She says, Lie with me.

He left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.

See, Joseph refused and resisted, yes.

But when the time came, Joseph didn't continue with simply resisting.

He acted with urgency and he fled.

He ran.

He didn't stick around.

He didn't see what was going to happen.

No, he got out of the situation.

And this is how the Bible consistently talks about sexual immorality.

I love how one author said it.

He said when the New Testament lingers on the subject of sensual temptation, it gives us one command.

The command is run.

Like flee.

The Bible doesn't tell us to reason with it, or it doesn't, it doesn't tell us to think about it or claim verses to protect us in the midst of it.

It tells us to flee, to run.

That's 1 Corinthians 6.

Flee sexual immorality.

This summer at C3, there were several, there was a group of men who got together and read a book together that was just called Stand Firm and Act Like Men by Joby Martin, by a pastor in Jacksonville, Florida.

And I was just like kind of great, I was really greatly encouraged by the discussion, greatly encouraged by the insight and just getting to meet with these different guys and talk through different chapters as we were reading, and really just ultimately just strengthened by the relationships and the accountability that was found in this group.

And he says, he says one thing in particular.

This author in this book pointed out.

He asked this question, and it was convicting for me.

I don't know if it will be for you.

He said this: Are you fleeing or are you flirting?

Are you fleeing sexual immorality or are you flirting with it?

And so many times we flirt with sexual sin rather than just running from it.

We like to see how close we can go to the line and not cross it.

And then as we kind of start creeping over the line, we kind of just move the line or justify the times whenever we've stepped over it.

You know, like we we so many times when we when we cross the line into sin in sexual temptation, when we cross that line into sin, we we almost like reason with ourselves.

Okay, how much can I, how far can I go and still kind of manage these consequences around me?

Like how much can I go and still shoulder the burden myself?

Like nobody else knows, nobody else has to know.

Like it's it's not it's not really that big of a deal.

And some of you might find yourself there right now.

Some of you are tiptoeing around the issue of impurity that has roots deep in your heart and in your life right now.

Like if you're honest with yourself, it's deep and you're flirting with sexual sin rather than fleeing from it.

And so hear me.

Some of you today need to delete the app.

Some of you today need to cut off communication with that person that your spouse doesn't know about.

Some of you today need to set up boundaries in that relationship because things have just gotten too far.

Some of you need today today to stop sleeping with that person you're not married to.

Like some of you today need to need to realize you need to flee from the sexual temptation in an urgent way.

Do you know how how Jesus Himself talks about talks about sexual sin?

In Matthew chapter 5, this is what he says you've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

But I tell you, anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

And then he says this, hey, if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.

It's better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand, if it causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.

Like it's better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Do you hear those words?

Gouge it out.

Cut it off.

Jesus tells us to act in a violent way, in an urgent way, when it comes to this kind of sin.

Because he knows that if it's if you let this take root, it will destroy you.

There's nothing that brings the devil more delight than seeing someone who's created in the image of God be defeated and destroyed by something that's already been defeated on the cross.

Don't flirt with this sexual sin anymore.

Take a lesson from Joseph and flee.

Maybe this morning, as we're talking about this, you didn't, I don't know if this is what you bargained for when you walked into the church into the doors today, when you sat down.

I don't know if this is what you thought you were getting today.

But there's some of you, if you're honest with yourself, you kind of just feel hopeless in the midst of your temptation.

Like it's constant, it's all the time.

It's like there's no, there seems to be no escape from it, and you've fallen time and time and time again, and it just seems like there's no hope for you.

Like there's there's no way out of this.

But I I hope you understand there's something else we learn from this text in Genesis 39.

It's probably the most important thing that we learn from this text.

I'm not sure if you caught it, but as we look deeper into Genesis 39, it's just simply this, man, even in temptation, you are not abandoned.

Even in temptation, you are not abandoned.

My family this last week got to go on on vacation.

We got to go to Colorado.

I don't mean to rub that into anybody today, you know.

It was in like the upper 50s the whole time we were there.

It was pretty great.

Sorry.

Anyways, don't mean to brag, but it was it was pretty awesome.

But one of the one of the things we, you know, we do, we just kind of get together, we hang out together.

You know, it's my so it's my my whole family, my whole side of the family, my parents and my my brother and my sister and their families, and we all kind of come together, all the little kids kind of play together, and we all play games and and have conversations, all this kind of stuff, went on a lot of hikes, all that kind of stuff, enjoyed, enjoyed the the wonderful Colorado weather.

It was pretty great.

One of the things we do, my my we're all kind of in ministry, and my sister specifically like loves talking about sermons.

She loves talking about sermons.

I know she's weird like that, okay?

But she loves talking about sermons.

But so every time that we gather together, every time we get together, my sister will always ask what I'm preaching through, and she'll always like want to talk about the text with me and dive into it a little bit more and all that kind of stuff.

I don't know if this sounds like vacation to any of you, but it is for us, okay?

And so we're having one of these one of these afternoons, having a conversation with my sister, and we're talking about this chapter, and we're reading through it together, and she's asking different questions.

Say, have you noticed this?

Have you seen this?

And all this kind of stuff is really helpful for me and kind of fun just to dive in because there's things that she sees that I don't see and different stuff.

And she said this, she had this one comment.

She said, You know, I think it would be interesting to see how much Joseph is active compared to how much God is active in this text.

And so I started looking a little bit deeper.

I started studying a little bit further, and I and I found, you know, the two active verbs that are given to Joseph in this text are what we've already said.

Joseph refused, and Joseph ran.

And then I started looking at all the times that these action verbs are given to God.

And I want you to just see this.

Like, how does God move in Genesis 39?

Look at verse 2.

The Lord was with him.

Verse 3, his master saw that the Lord was with him.

Verse 3, the Lord caused all that he did to succeed.

Verse 5, the Lord blessed the Egyptians' house for Joseph's sake.

Verse 5, the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had.

Verse 21, the Lord was with him.

Verse 21, the Lord showed him steadfast love and he gave him favor in the sight of the prison guard.

Verse 23, the Lord was with him.

Verse 23, the Lord made him succeed.

And the truth of Genesis 39 is that God is the one doing the heavy lifting in Joseph's story.

And the truth of your story and the truth of mine is that God is the one doing the heavy lifting.

You know how I know this?

Because there was another.

One who was tempted in every way, but did not sin.

One who was falsely accused of crimes that he did not commit.

The innocent one was sentenced to death, even death on a cross.

And Jesus, he bore the guilt and shame of our sin and our failures in his body on the cross.

And he defeated death once and for all by raising again three days later with this promise surely I am with you always.

Even to the very end of the age.

Even in the midst of your temptation, you are not abandoned.

See, the truth of scripture is that you have a great high priest who sympathizes with you.

He's ready to meet you with grace in your time of need.

The truth of Scripture is that the Lord will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can handle, but will provide a way out that you can endure.

The truth of Scripture is that you have been set free from your slavery to sin.

And now instead you're a slave to Christ, you're a slave to righteousness because of what Jesus has accomplished for you.

You may find yourself dealing with temptation right now.

It is real and it is it is intense and it seems like a constant thing for you.

Can I just encourage you this morning?

Even in the midst of that temptation, God has not turned his back on you.

He has not abandoned you.

He is providing for you.

He's giving you strength.

He's giving you a way out.

So, man, this morning, don't flirt with your sinful desires anymore.

Run from them and instead run to the one who is ready to give you grace to meet you in that moment with grace and mercy in your time of need.

This starts this morning.

I mean, what could happen in the next few moments could be messy as repentance and confession happen.

But listen, like this is this is who we are.

We're people who realize that we need Jesus.

Every single one of us.

There's not one of us in this room who is more elevated or higher or better than another.

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and we're all in desperate need of his grace, and we've all been saved freely by his gift of grace.

Like this is where this is who we are as a people.

So in these next few moments, it could get messy as confession happens, as repentance happens.

And yet, in the midst of it, our God is here with us.

And he's bringing healing and he's bringing life and he's bringing freedom right now in this moment, if you let him.

So maybe today you just need to decide who you're gonna live for.

Like with a kind of conviction and consistency that Joseph had.

Like, what are you gonna live for?

What are you gonna live your life with when that temptation comes so you can stand firm?

Maybe today is the day that you just need to spend some time in your seat and you need to repent and you need to pray and you need to ask the God of grace to meet you right now in this moment.

He's ready to meet you right now in this moment.

Maybe today you need to confess your struggle, share your burden that you're not meant to carry alone.

Maybe you find yourself right now in the midst of constant temptation, and you're like, I don't know where to go.

I need help navigating this.

I don't know what steps to take, I don't know what boundaries to put in place.

There's gonna be people on the back, there's gonna be people up front.

If we can if we can help, if we can just pray with you, if we can encourage you, if we can share that burden with you, and would you let us let us be the church for you this morning?

And would you come to people on the back, to people up front as we stand and as we sing, let me pray for us.

And for the example that we have in Joseph.

For his resolve, for his consistency, for his conviction that he's living to please you and honor you.

Or may we live with that same kind of conviction in every moment, every decision, every every word, every action.

But Lord, I there's some people in this room right now that when it comes down to it, they need to run.

As they move.

If they move to the front of the room or the back of the room, or even just in their seat, Lord, would you move close to them in a very real way these next few moments?

Help them to run to you and find freedom and healing and hope in you and in you alone.

And we give it all to you because you alone deserve it.

Be with us in this moment.

Amen.

Thanks again for listening to the Carterville Christian Church podcast.

Our prayer is that today's message has encouraged you and drawn you closer to Jesus.

To learn more or get connected with our church family, visit Carterville Christian.com.

We'd love to walk alongside you in your journey of faith.