Amazing Sabbath School Lesson Hour Finding Rest in Family Ties Host Edson Joseph

good morning to everyone welcome to whispering hope sabbath school lesson with you and here to review our lesson with us this week is pastor orville joseph pastor white and the bradley knowles and elder also devon jarvis as we look into this week like to say generally that people like juicy story doesn't matter what race you're coming from what part of the planet your culture people like juicy story and this is another juicy story but it's filled with messages that can help us in our spiritual work and so this morning as we go through this lesson finding resting family ties we feel that god's spirit will rest upon us so tell friend whispering hope is on and sit back relax and you can even participate in the discussion in the chat we're happy to have your presence and we look forward for wonderful study today good morning ladies and gentlemen good morning morning morning at this time we're going to go into our study but before we go into our study we're going to have our preliminaries we'll have our prayer by elder bradley knowles and then we'll proceed with our memory texts by director okay let us pray eternal god we are so happy for the privilege that we can call you our father and that the father understand the needs of his children understanding god we need the holy spirit to show up on us double portion so that we may rightly divide the word of truth be with all the participants grant us clarity of thought and that we may be able to god to keep it as simple as possible so that the smallest child can understand pray for ella kim today that you may grant him health that he may grant him strength and that you may be revived and actually got everything to be done decently and in order is my prayer in jesus name amen memory text and good morning to everybody else our memory text taken from ii peter chapter 3 verses 17 and 18. the bible says you therefore beloved since you know this beforehand beware let's also let you also fall into your own steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked but grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ to him be glory both now and forever amen go ahead faster right ahead yeah this week as we go into our study we will discover how god can work with us in spite of the dysfunctional situation that we might find ourselves in or in spite of the cultural impact on our lives god can provide healing he can provide emotional rest all we need to do is to keep on trusting in him well as said we're into an interesting topic and the lesson started with the story of jacob this week but as it looked into the story it did not only capture the story of jacob or joseph but it spoke to his grandfather abraham and showed that the dysfunction in family started way back when several said to hager and said to abraham to take handmade to fulfill the promise of god that i'm dr white i'm already prophesying here but could you and give us some insight into the overview on the southern what really the lesson is bringing out to us as we look into this week on the sabbath session but as we consider the lesson we consider brokenness because of sin brokenness is reality dysfunctional families continue to play the planet but as we consider even prominent spiritual biblical characters they too face the broken families one of the key persons we able to examine this week is joseph and the fact he came from broken family situation his brothers were broken and as you you highlighted as we move into you know sunday's lesson it started way back we live in broken world our families may be broken but this week the lesson will really give us ways that we can move forward in spite of brokenness and the lesson brings hope that even in brokenness god can still use us even in brokenness god can still transform families and so though it's lot it's juicy story lot of juicy stories elders but in spite of all the juicy stories we still see theme coming out this week that in the midst of chaos they can be rest and where do broken families find that rest that rest is only found in jesus christ well the knowledge as we look this morning into the lesson how does this the dysfunctional family setting impact our social or psychological behavior and our social interaction okay that's that's powerful question but let me just dive with us little bit and because want us to refocus as we look at the word of god because whatever is in the bible we always try to find story of god what is what does god do in in in these type of situations right and so we recognize that god specializes in dealing with brokenness right he doesn't necessarily look for the perfect it doesn't hide the story either if you look at it carefully it doesn't hide anything he brings it out into the open so that the object lessons that we can learn okay and so it's important for us to understand that despite our weaknesses and our failures god is constant god is consistent that's the kind of god that we serve unlike human beings we tend to you know highlight the mistakes of others but you'll notice the mistakes are being brought out but you see the hand of god at work despite what the situation is okay so will allow someone else to look at the psychological and other sections but just want to do you interject it and to put in that point because think that is very crucial to the discussion that we're having today elder olsen jarvis encourage you invite you to comment on the psychological impact that this functional relationship in families or situations and families have on the persons who are part of that family and the wider community well good morning with again there are often times when we eat the individuals and we may recognize that they have various challenges and we are unable to pinpoint the reasons for these challenges think just basically described every one of us the fact is that we are products of our environment the environment itself whether it's favorable or unfavorable impacts us in very real way it helps to form our personalities and our psyches and the the the methods and manners in which we function and operate the the fact is because would contend because there is there isn't any particular parenting manual most of us generally just go into with sort of winging it as we go along and because of the issues that we ourselves faced as we were growing up and the principles that were inculcated we tend to generally miss the mark as it comes to raising properly emotional beings because we we we are we are little bit skewed towards our own concepts and perceptions so the the issue with the psychological where we find it's matter of the impact of even trauma and the the the various parenting styles that we grew up under these things tend to affect in one way or another the things that are portrayed by even adults even even i'm talking about elderly adults and it affects them even today through their lives and believe that we need to remember that it is not necessary it's not it's especially in our environment our spiritual environment churching our grouping in that area we need to remember that it's not about us getting others to see the things our way or the way in which we like but it's about all of us looking to god who is the perfect example the the perfect being who can guide each one to his heavenly promise pastor joseph i'd like you to read for us hebrews 11 17 to 22 but what my question to you this morning after you have read that those verses is how is it that abraham isaac can check on after this sordid story and how stories in their families how could they be part of the the call of faith in hebrews 11 17 to 22 the new international version says by faith abraham when he when god tested him offered isaac as sacrifice he who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son even though god had said it to him it is through isaac that your offspring will be reckoned every reason that god could even raise the dead and so in manner of speaking he didn't receive isaac back from death but by faith isaac blessed jacob and esau in regards to their future by faith jacob when he was dying blessed each of joseph's sons and worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff by faith joseph when he ended when his end was near spoke about the exodus of the israelites from egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones could you repeat the question for me again yes said when you look at the story the life of abraham isaac and jacob and the house stories that they have in their relationship and their life generally how could they be part of the hall of faith because we sir because we serve an amazing god god who is more concerned about our salvation about us being redeemed and restored than god that is in the business of condemnation and destruction as long as person is makes himself available to god god will work with that individual to bring him to the point where he stands clean redeemed restored and entitled in his presence and so that is why we see abraham isaac jacob because in spite of all that they have done god was on part to save them and anybody who's listening this morning can know that hey listen no matter what you have been through or been what have been thrown at you god is in the business of saving and he wants to save you and what we see in in jacob and and in isaac and in in abraham we see determination on their part that when they were confronted with their failures their faults they showed comments they surrendered them and embraced god and that allowed them to be in the hall of fame okay thank you for your contribution there we follow this morning director-wise how do we break the cycle when you look at abraham's situation with hagar sever and then you come to kaiser and he his situation with himself and rachel choosing separate sons and causing long conflict and then you come to jacob himself taking that into his family and it happens to his son joseph how do we break the cycle that's very interesting question the cycle is only broken when the individual recognizes that there is god who is able and can transform situation when we come right down to joseph the the lesson highlights that joseph got to the point he was joseph himself as very you know beautiful character in in the scripture he came from broken environment and he was the favorite child which which was not healthy situation for child to be brought up in you we always look at the brothers and say that they're dysfunctional but joseph was was dysfunctional he was loved he was favored he was spoiled we can say but when joseph was on his way to potiphar's house down into egypt he was very discouraged he he was the favorite but now he's slave and he was entitled mean had the court of many colors but now i'm slave mean that was stupid law for joseph but but the bible says it and the writer highlights in the lesson that joseph got to the point where he had to now reach out to the god of his father that was the turning point in his life where he recognized now i'm not the favorite anymore am now slave and have to break this cycle so the cycle can only be broken when the individual realizes yes my my my mother may have been talks my relationship with my mother may be toxic one my relationship with the father my father may be toxic toxic may my father may even have abandoned me and may have been brought up in difficult home environment but the person must reach the point where he or she says look there is god and this is the highlight of the lesson there is god who loves me there is god who's embracing me there is god who cares about me and my worth is not hinged on my family's situation my hope is hinged on that relationship with jesus christ so the only way it can be broken is when that person gets to the realization that jesus has to be my center yes elder laws we're discussing this week finding rest in family ties and sometimes the dysfunctional situations that we find in our lives in our families it spills over into workplace into the church and into the community the dysfunctional situation how do we bring all these pieces together so that people can find rest is there anywhere else when we have all this dysfunctional family my family is dysfunctional use families dysfunctional elder jarvis's family is dysfunctional and we're all meeting in to form one big family how do we other people hit on these challenges and resolve them okay i'm i'm not psychologist but i'll say this though one must be able to accept his situation first and understand this is the case if you accept an understanding then you're on solid foot that you can begin to go forward and so the change has to come one person at time so if they're going to be change it has to be with me the individual right cannot be focusing and refocusing on the failures and so on of my family because we've seen many examples around us where individuals come from broken homes and they have resented we've seen it written to the senate of society am not correct yes we've seen that and so the determination has to be in the heart of an individual the transformation must take place in that individual that person must be able to see what is wrong and and has that that determination to make sure that he does not work in that part right so even if your father is drunkard it doesn't mean that you have to be drunkard you assess your situation you see what has taken place then you make intelligent decisions right and to to make sure you don't make the same mistakes but for the christian for the christian though right this think it is very critical for the christian the christian know his hope is in god and god alone he understands that his success is or islam by only trusting god following his path for the bible says there's way to simmer right unto man but the ending of are the ways of death but if you trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding then he will direct your past so the direction has to come from higher source the connection has to be with higher source and once that happens then you will have the success that you need in life the whole lesson here on the sunday because think once we get beyond sunday we are going to be in good place to bring the lesson to meaningful conclusion how do choose different part my father is violent man or restless man argumentative person what you call as restless man now there's song say that papa papa is rolling stone and so in that context grew up in that restless situation how do choose different direction if if we look at the stories that are presented to us abraham isaac jacob joseph the turning point came in their lives when they turn to god for an answer when they spend time looking at the people around them when they were focused on their own ability to do things they found failure mediocrity but when they turned to god things turned around for them and so what would say to anybody today is that when you find yourself on the down and low and and things are not looking up you need to look up and claim god and claim his promises and trust in him joseph made decided effort that he will follow the part of god he will respect god's principles he was not political or strategic in terms of trying to get along in life he was more focused on surrendering to god and allow god to lead his life and so if we are going to turn from the tradition of our families if you're going to turn from the attitude and behavior and the things that have been reflected in our families over past years we have got to stop and surrender our lives to god and let god take control and we have seen it in the lives of individual individuals who have come from broken families they come into the church they become they yoke up as the last weeks let's say with christ and become part of his his mission and and we see the transformation in their lives and you look back and say isn't this the person who has come from so and so because god makes difference what is going to happen when person really needs to turn things around is that he surrenders everything to god at the job is the lesson said and second to last paragraph of monday that while joseph was on his way to egypt joseph believed that the god of his father would be his god he then and they gave himself holy to god that really helped me as studied the lesson because how could be in family that is trusting god and then my brothers wanted to murder me but then they decided to sell me they actually told me into slavery and am undiscovered going to my would be enslaved in that moment of disappointment hatred hurt right i'm going to fight god could you explain that to me this morning believe that we we are often times sort of use the the vcr process where we fast forward to the end and do not do lot of introspection of the process getting to the end if we consider joseph at that particular juncture yes we know and as was indicated earlier that he was preferred child among the rest we know that he was one of those individuals who displayed that he was preferred to his elder siblings he he had particular attitude which didn't bring him into favor with them however he also inculcated from the example of his father steadfastness faithfulness and having relationship with god believe that it is because of that foundation that he received he was able to lean and rest upon it and decide whatever my situation will be am going to follow and am going to let this the god of my father be my god and am going to trust him completely but want for us to understand that god is the best psychologist ever the thing is joseph and his issues needed to be resolved within himself so he gets to egypt he suffers success and then he is allowed by god to go to prison where he would have to deal with him as joseph understanding his issues understanding his psychological circumstances his personal his personality flaws and be prepared by god in that process to be the one who he god wanted him to be so it is it is really matter of the foundational issues that you learned as you were growing and being able to apply them even though your circumstances may be challenging at times many of us if we do not have that foundation will suffer longer journey in the process of getting to where we need to be just because if we we have not developed well the foundation was not developed in us to let god be our guide and leader okay i'm getting into some big questions i'm coming back i'm gonna move down to come back up and have this question for you director why in the lesson this week it states that being nominal christian or cultural adventists will not help us find rest in our relationships what are the difference between cultural adventist cultural adventists and true believers wow that's deep question okay as we consider the the adventist world view within the context of adventism you know there's specific in my mind norms their specific expectations in relation to how we should operate you know to make us very good adventists we know how to keep the sabbath we know how to not steal not you know not commit adultery we we are very good people adventists we're very good people but it's beyond just the actions of of being good there's still lot of brokenness in adventism even with all the the cultural expectations within adventism there's still lot of brokenness but the highlight is really having that deep connection with god and want to go back to joseph and pick up on what elder jarvis was saying when joseph got to the point in his experience where he recognized that he needed deeper connection with christ the writer highlighted that he could have gone he went back in his mind and thought about his father and when his father wrestled with god because the father would have shared with him with them as when he was now moved when he moved from jacob to israel and that wrestling that he did with god pastor joseph highlighted it earlier that the major the similarity between all the cases all the situations is is when all these biblical characters got to the point where they saw the need for jesus when jacob got to the point where he wrestled with god when joseph got to the point where he's all alone and he has to find the god of his father so what would say in relation to just the cultural part of adventism and real practical christianity and transformation it is having that relationship with god we can be upright we can be holy we can appease appear to be holy sorry we can appear to be righteous but it comes down to relationship not just the external because man looks on the the outward part and the writer said something in the lesson this week which found was critical and not going all too long joseph was very handsome and the writer said it's not very often that you know the bible would highlight how handsome person was because god is not concerned about the external god does not look on the external we are very superficial and we look on the external and we look at this person is just so upright and so righteous but what matters to god is that deep deep connection like like jacob you wrestle till you you get an injury till you're limping because that that connection with god is so deep and so critical that you would wrestle for it so in my estimation that wrestling for god is really beyond all cultural expectations within adventism okay just want to say good morning to our friends who are following us brother lam sister dana elder parker roger smith sister jacqueline edwards matthew we're happy you can put your questions in the chat or you can continue to make your comments we'll take your questions because we are live pastor joseph the question on the monday asks why is it important every day every moment of the day to choose to commit ourselves to god what happens when you do one of the first things is that life is fleeting and you never know what can happen in terms of your life but also we we serve we serve god but there is an arch enemy that is as peter describes him as roaring lion seeking whom he may devour our connection our daily connection with god inoculates us secures us protects us from the enemy protects us from ourselves as well and so it is important that we keep that moment by moment connection with christ because it is that connection that keeps us in place look at the life of abraham and and god had declared in in genesis 18 and think verse 19 that abraham was the kind of man that he can trust because by precept an example he will command those who are who are associated with him to follow god but but we see that in moment when he he was vulnerable moment when he desired to please god by himself without consulting with god that he gave in to to sarah and had and sought to have child of promise through hagar we need as christians as believers to be vigilant always because the slightest thing something might seem reasonable something might seem logical something might seem as if they listen you know by all common sense this is the right thing to do but we need what what does the passage in proverbs says trust in the lord with all your heart and leave that onto your own understanding that is why moment by moment connection with god is important in victor the nose come to you this morning with question and the question is elder how does god seize each of us i'm considering tuesday's sport part of the lesson how does god sees us in spite of our brokenness our dysfunctional families how this god sees us let me put like this god is not dysfunctional father he is consistent and it matters not what you do his love will always remain the same god does not show favoritism god understands our weakness he knows of frame he understand that we are dust and the things that we're into that we put so so much emphasis and are just transient things and god wants the best for us his children right and so this is the kind of god that we serve so no matter how far you would have gone god is always gonna reach out to you because he understands that you don't understand just as simple as that you don't understand you're not getting it and he will always be there prompting and prodding and going before you walking beside you being behind you because what he wants to make sure that you remain part of his family that's what he wants he doesn't want to go straight right and and he also understands the other side of the story there is an imposter that is there who wants to steal his children from him that is important to us to autograph he wants to steal god's children and god is not going to give up no matter what it takes to have his children with him because he's consistent and god functions on the basis of love and love alone so regardless of what you would have done regardless of fire would have done son because of his love for us because he's the god who endures because he's god who empathizes because he's the kind of god who he is he's self-sufficient and so on he wants to make sure that we get the best at all times tell the jarvis see you're back in with us and we're looking about self-worth this the lesson pointed out clearly that our plus associates and our families determine how we develop our self-esteem and the job is good you put that in practical sense for us who have read the lesson this week put it in person like hope our impact based on our culture and our upbringing determines our self-worth and our self-esteem want for us to to understand there are many things that impacts an individual which would cause them to have altered self-esteem it is it is such it is suggested that even the most beautiful woman in the world has self-esteem issues it it could be it could be that she just doesn't think her nose is right there's just this little nick on the bridge of the nose and it's just that it becomes this gigantic issue that is seen and everything else fails in comparison so it could be mold in the in conspicuous place and we focus on the very little and my new thing and overlook everything else but there is also the issue of the psychological being raised in an environment of extreme criticism being having to deal with the issue of facing tough parents listen want for us to to recognize that the first god that our children would see are the characters of their parents and they in turn will create in the minds of these children concept of parenting which would affect how they view god now if we are able to provide an environment where child is nurtured they are encouraged they are comforted they are challenged yet they are cradled when needs be they are warned when it is required and we bring them we we we seek to work situation where they come to place where they recognize that they have value they are persons of worth and irregardless of how others may see them they know that they have safe place we can maybe minimize the the issues of having distorted self-image but the fact is all of us may have little bit of something somewhere and it is it is evident at times in some more than others but the issue is god's dealing with us doesn't cause us to look at these minute things he is about magnifying the best parts of us and in doing so we become connected with him because we know that he's god that we can run to no matter how we feel no matter what our circumstances are and he is able to work with and in us to do all that he requires even though we may even have have had sordid past so god really doesn't linger where humans linger he brings us and lifts us to that place where he desires for us to be where we begin the process of even self recreation and changing the narrative that even ourselves have believed for all of our years director white like back to you again i'm getting along fast it says there are many groups of individuals telling us to love ourselves as we are and accept ourselves uncritically why is this really self-deception or is it self-deception yeah the very interesting statement and it's very dangerous path for you for individuals to to take yes the bible says love your neighbors you love yourself you know so biblically there is concept that we should love ourselves which is critical but when we get to the point when we are so self-centered when we get to the point where we think wow i'm just the best thing that ever happened to the planet then it becomes it becomes very problematic because we always recognize that we are nothing when we when we come into the presence of god we realize our nothingness hence in john 15 the bible says that you are that he is the divine that we are the branches without him we are nothing so we never get to the point where we start to feel am so great am so i'm so gifted i'm so talented i'm i'm so great no that is very dangerous because when we consider sin and the fact sin is universal problem that every one of us struggle every single day with sin added to that the numerous family challenges and the dysfunctional family systems that we come from adds to what already we have in our genes have mercy and so there are number of factors that keep us very very humble as as christians and it's always important to keep our eyes on jesus as the bible writer says looking unto jesus the author and the finisher of our faith our eyes must be on jesus and what's the beautiful thing about keeping our eyes on jesus like like isaiah and jeremiah are the biblical characters when we keep our eyes on jesus we see our nothingness so clearly when people get to the point where they think i'm so great believe in myself can do all this it shows that they have not yet met jesus because once you meet him he exposes your deficiencies he exposes your nothingness and that keeps you humble and allows you to recognize that there is need so this new age concept am this am that god is god is in me and all kind of strange thoughts we don't we don't teach that as adventists paul says am crucified with christ nevertheless live yet not but christ lives in me so so the focus is not me living the focus has to be christ who's living in me contribution and so pastor joseph follow on from that question from director white and your question is the question below what when look at the world and you see an excellent singer like michael jackson who controls the stage and millions quote unquote wonder after him witnessing houston and other great people who you seem who seem to have this confidence and somewhat quote unquote self-worth and they ended up living this life in mysterious way why is it important that our word comes from outside ourselves from one who made us and knows us okay so you have selected some characters that in themselves demonstrated that hey listen no matter what you achieve in this life and no matter how many accolades are placed on you and no matter how many people in the world applaud you at the end of the day you exist with an emptiness that nothing else can fill and and you know you quoted whitney houston and when she had her troubles at trial she recognized did not follow through as she should have but she recognized that her need to find fulfillment was to go back to her roots in other in other words where she had relationship with god we're being part of an experience really just experienced providing some level of satisfaction and commitment anytime we have focus on self we are going to end up feeling empty in need of something but when we yoke up with god we find satisfaction we find peace and that is what god desires for us to have that is why he says come learn of me because when you learn of me you're gonna discover that with me your relationship is so much better last week we learned that yes you're gonna have troubles and trials and difficulties and faith and heartache but with jesus they are much more easier to deal with than dealing with them outside of jesus christ and so say to individuals listen yes get all the fame you can yes become as popular as you can but never forget the god who lifts you up that god who places you in position of influence god who has ordained your course that says hey listen am bringing you into egypt so that you can make difference in the lives of individuals and that is why it is important for us to recognize that what we are and who we will be is not in ourselves but in god who supplies all our needs exactly faster or ways we have to find way of establishing relationship with god and not only establishing relationship with god but doing relationship god's way the nose in what practical ways could god's blessing be seen in joseph life as you look back at his life now we he may have looked at it in some ways as you know trials and tribulation but in what ways looking back 20 20 vision what ways do you see god's blessing in his life let me start at the top we ended up as man second to the pharaoh in egypt and every aspect of his life there is progression that you see the hand of god at work all right even with potiphar's wife but if if you allow me to say something which think is very important to the discussion pertaining to potiphar's wife because i've learned some time ago that potiphar may have been eunuch so you can understand the stress that this lady would have been under seeing handsome and think that maybe one reason why it was written that he was so handsome and well built and so on may may have been one of the reasons okay when you think of her situation or this handsome well-built man who would have been under her command to point and then she thought that she would have had this particular opportunity to take advantage of that situation but we recognize that joseph when he looked at her back at his father's experience think that would avoid his spirit because i'm thinking about for moment think he was highlighted earlier when jacob wrestled with god god changed his name right to something very important triumphant with god that's what israel actually meant triumphed with god and so believe that joseph also had that determination in his mind because of the closeness to his father that he also regardless of his situation would want to be triumphant with god there is something that may be in the pipeline for him so no matter what the situation is no matter what he would face he will remain consistent and constant with his god and and so and so it's important also to understand that joseph did not just decide when he went down into egypt but this is what he's gonna do he had to have been practical thing he must have been close to god before that experience i'm sure we can safely deduce that because things like that just does not come overnight okay and regardless of the situation you guys are what you would face because of fact that he had been us in in strange country regards the fact that no one around me would have known him regardless of the fact that he could have taken advantage of his situation he did not because what he trusted in god and so that think is the most important just to trust god and to follow his leading and no matter what it is even if it causes your death trust in the lord with all your heart okay we're hasting it on we're getting up for our what elder jarvis what relational problem did show their experience not only among his brothers but as he was in pottinger's house joseph's situation was rather unique within itself because he was part and parcel of the working plan of god in the prophetic utterance that he gave to abraham about the enslavement of his children and the enemy knew that for certain because was was taught very early that the the devil who dwelt in the very presence of god knows how god operates sees how god interacts and works with an individual and when god is willing and ready getting ready to do something with that person the devil redoubles his effort to cause that person to kick their feet and stumble and fall and fall out of god's process now the the thing is in every in every at every level as child jose patter deal with the issues with his siblings he is soul into slavery he goes into part of his house and immediately he turns things around and potiphar becomes successful and begin to profit because of joseph's presence in his house being able to rule and govern his house the issue mrs potiphar she comes along and creates scenario where joseph has to be judged by his boss now want for us to imagine you are accused of making advances to your boss's wife and in those days losing your head was very easy yet potiphar only chose to jail joseph not to kill him it it stands to reason that even though this was the accusation his boss had an inkling that his character was little bit above that suggestion so he made him prisoner as opposed to killing him in prison he is facing same issues the prison the chief recognizes that this guy is of an excellent character and allows him to run the prison in his stead while being prisoner however he's there interpreting dreams doing these things yet he remained for much longer than he believed he should have if the right influence was done on his behalf the the the challenges joseph faced every difficulty and it is because of the process that god has put in place to bring man to where he wants him to be to do what he ordained him to do and the devil is seeking to disrupt that process where we find joseph face in most of his difficulties because those difficulties only served to make him who god wanted him to be and to prepare him for that task that god had called him to do give it to white the lesson says joseph suffered because of his principled decision joseph was thrown into prison we know the story well how is job suffering synonymous with the great controversy as the lessons put it it's great controversy up close and personal your to us yeah joseph's suffering clearly shows that you know god ultimately has plan god ultimate his plan will be realized that victory will be assured in the end but at the same time you know there will be difficulties there will be challenges in because there is an enemy and potiphar's wife was clearly an enemy joseph was good young man striving to walk in the ways of christ but they're they're they're the enemies that are there trying to hinder your progress potiphar's wife being one of them clearly joseph ends up in in in the prison what is beautiful in the midst of the the pit in the midst of the prison is one reoccurring statement in the scripture and it is the lord was with joseph and the lord was with joseph and today in the in the heart of the great controversy on this planet want to say the lord is with orville the lord is with elder jarvis the lord is with elder joseph the lord is with elder bradley that's consistent theme in the great controversy yes there's an enemy that's fighting and even in your prison even in your difficulty the lord is with us and then joseph becomes the prime minister which is major part of the story but one of these days we're not going to be here we're going to make it to the kingdom so thank god in the controversy with all the potiphar's wives with all the prison situations that we're going to go through the lord is with us and victory is ashore pastor jose so many people have had the experience of things going well for them think joseph knew that and also we can talk about job then suddenly unexpectedly strategy strikes at life at times like this why is clinging to faith clinging to the promises of the word of god so crucial yeah rather than giving up putting your hands up in the air after all these years i've been an elder working hard in the house of god and here comes tragedy in my family here comes tragedy at my work why should cling on more tenaciously than letting go because god never fails one of the things that one of the assurances that we have or we should have as christian is no matter where we are no matter what we have been through no matter what is thrown at us no matter where we find ourselves if we keep on trusting god everything is gonna be all right it is not just empty words joseph saw it we see it in the life of joseph we see it also in the life of number of biblical characters but we also see it in our own lives sometimes when we're going through difficult times when people give up on us you know some people ask the question well how is it that he made it it is because of your continued persistent trust in god god has desire to save us god has desire to elevate us god has desire to bring us through all our problems no matter how difficult it might be pure as gold the bible defines it and so no matter what you're going through no matter how low you think you are right now always see yourself as part of god's design and planned to bring you where he wants you to be and where god wants you to be is always glorious phrase so keep on trusting him never give up never let him keep on holding on to his hand and then finally one day you will look back with smile on your face and in your heart and you'll say thank god he kept me thank god never gave him will give will give each person elder jarvis first and then elder bradley knows second then pastor joseph i'll come back to you to give your thoughts and the discussion and what wanted you to do this morning is to give one takeaway that you got from the lesson that you can think you think will change the life of someone who comes across this discussion on social media so one thing that you find one take away in the lesson this morning and then have question for you pastor kay white how do we translate all that we have learned this morning in our relation with the church family that's for you and pastor white you will close and make call to someone to get out of their restlessness by accepting jesus so elder javis will go to you first then elder knowles then pastor joseph then director white yes well believe that the issue that stands most for me is that god is healer he is able to heal psychologically emotionally we know he is fantastic healer physically but the issues that we face many times isn't physical but they are emotional and even psychological and god is able to heal in those times as well what we need to be able to do is to develop that relationship that requisite relationship with him and in doing so he provides us with the evidence that he is trustworthy and when we recognize that he's trustworthy and we move from faith to faith we will be the beneficiaries of all that he has promised but it's just that we get in line and be guided by his goodness grace mercy and love okay man's situation does not determine his destiny think that's important to understand it is god who works through us both will and to do of his good pleasure all right so no matter what the challenges that you may face understand that god has plan right and it is for us to trust god no matter what the outcome is because even if you're rewarded in this life this is so important to understand because all of us will not have this joseph experience some of us will have to face death right so even even rewarded in this life understand that there's something better coming and we do not function just because of the reward but we function because of who god is yes what matters in life is how god sees you don't become ruffled and fluff fluffed by how people talk about you or again say you just trust in god because in the final analysis he has your interest at heart you may go through difficult times you might be embarrassed pressed down cast out call names but god is constantly watching over you straight from you if you're straight from him he is waiting for your return return to him as the joseph as did jacob and find peace in him find transformation in him find elevation in him find joy in him that is what god wants to do in your life pray that somebody today would let go of self let go of the world and hold on to jesus because he makes all the difference in the world amen amen amen would close by by stating when we look at hebrews 11 the chapter we call the hall of faith we see lot of broken people lot of broken people you know there are times when we look at the hall of faith and we say wow these people are so gifted yes they were gifted yes they were called but they were all broken when you look at the background and today if you feel broken today if you're from dysfunctional family you're in good company you're in good company because god is god who loves us in spite of the brokenness god is god who loves us in spite of the family background and even in difficult situations god is there for his people so be encouraged that the brokenness will one day become will position you one day to inherit the kingdom of god but this is only going to be realized when you allow jesus christ to lead to to lead and to live in your heart godless yes just before close say goodbye again to our friends and thank you for staying with us dominique whitter christina christine even we happy that all of you joined as usual this morning i'm sitting in for host and co-host this morning and they can turn and sister cover galloway who is engaged in youth camp virtual youth camp and so i'm just sitting and so in closing today just want to read from our lesson quality today says our relationship are miniature reflections of the great controversy between god and satan that is raging throughout the ages this means then that there are no perfect relationship every relationship must have good dynamics and satan has vested interest in using in order to hurt and to fracture god's will for our lives we can be thankful that we are not left to fight these battles on our own god's word sets out the principles for relationship his promise to give us wisdom in james 1 5 also extends to relationship and as he was with joseph my friends he promises to be with us when our relationship proves complex so want to thank you for joining today until next week when we go into another study of god's word may god bless you may he keep you what time pastor ky pastor orville joseph elder bradley knows and tell the jarvis for being so helpful he was help us through this lesson this morning and may god which bless you all see you next week god's richest blessing to you all