Healing Old Hurts | Dave Stone

Well, what's up, Pando family? Thank you so much for being here with us today at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. If this is your first time with us, welcome. My name is Derek. I'm our online campus pastor here at Southeast, and I am so grateful that you've decided to worship with us here today. And one of the things that we love doing here at Southeast is that we have a team that is here to respond to the letters that you write us each and every week. And most weeks, you guys are so faithful to write us letters, and we get about a dozen of those every single time with just your stories about your life and what you're going through and how we can pray for you. And we love to be able to respond to those letters with prayers and encouragement to hopefully bless you in your walk with Jesus. And so you can find the address to our church in the description of this video, so you can write us over the course of this next week. And when you do that, you will have joined over 33,000 of you that have already subscribed to our Southeast Christian Church channel. And if you didn't know that from where you are right now, that you can be a part of our church family, even by where you're at right now, as you can. You can click subscribe to be a part of our church. You get weekly sermons, you get podcasts, Bible studies, all types of things to help you

in your relationship with Christ. But today, you are going to get to hear from someone very special to our hearts here at Southeast. It's a guy named Dave Stone, who used to be our senior pastor here at Southeast for many, many years. And so he is going to continue walking us through the life of Joseph in the Old Testament, all the way back in the book of Genesis, helping us walk through his life and talking about a sermon series today called Healing Old Hurts. Because if you're anything like me, I am sure that you have a lot of old hurts that we'll have to figure out of, hey, do we reconcile those? How do we reconcile them? And who do we forgive? And so Dave's gonna answer some of those questions today. But y'all, I pray that you are ready. I pray that your hearts are prepared and that you're ready to worship. And let's head in to service together. Let's worship together this morning, church. Come on, you sing. ♪ Sometimes you gotta step down the giant ♪ ♪ Worship from the lion's den ♪ ♪ Sometimes you gotta shout it from the mountain ♪ ♪ Louder in the valley ♪ ♪ Trust and then He's gonna get you there ♪

♪ Sometimes you gotta welcome the wonder ♪ ♪ Wait for the answer ♪ ♪ Worship with your hands in the air ♪ ♪ I'll praise you anywhere, praise, give Him praise ♪ ♪ Praise in the highest, praise, give Him praise ♪ ♪ Give Him praise in the highest, He is worthy ♪ ♪ Yes, He is worthy of all of the praise ♪ ♪ Sometimes you gotta praise in the prison ♪ ♪ Cry out to heaven, shout to the door, swing wide ♪ ♪ Sometimes you gotta stand on your shackles ♪ ♪ Grave in the battle, worship with your hands held high ♪ ♪ I'll praise you anywhere, praise, give Him praise ♪ ♪ Give Him praise in the highest, praise, give Him praise ♪ ♪ Give Him praise in the highest, He is worthy ♪ ♪ Yeah, he is worthy of all of the praise ♪ ♪ Give Him praise, give Him praise in the highest, praise ♪ ♪ Give Him praise, give Him praise in the highest, He is worthy ♪ ♪ He is worthy of all of the praise ♪ ♪ Give Him praise, come on, for His goodness, for His kindness, His faithfulness to us, would you sing to Him this morning? ♪ So faithful all my life, blessings day and night, countless reasons why, I'll praise You anywhere ♪ ♪ Every promise kept, goodness every step, each and every breath, I'll praise, come on, declare! ♪ So faithful all my life, blessings day and night, countless reasons why, I'll praise You anywhere ♪ ♪ Every promise kept, goodness every step, each and every breath, I'll praise You anywhere, praise, give Him praise ♪ Give Him praise in the high, yeah. Praise, praise, praise in the high. Oh, He is worthy. He is worthy of all of the praise. Oh, oh, oh. I'll praise You anywhere. Oh, He is worthy.

He is worthy of all of the praise. Oh, oh, oh. We'll worship You forevermore. Let it be. Who loves when rocks cry out to worship? Whose glory taught the stars to shine? Perhaps creation longs to have the words to sing. But this joy is mine. We sing with eternity. With a thousand hallelujahs. We magnify Your name. For You alone deserve it. A thousand hallelujahs and a thousand more. Who else would die for our redemption? Whose resurrection means our rise? There isn't time enough to sing of all You've done. Oh, oh, oh. But I have eternity to try. Hallelujah. With a thousand hallelujahs. We magnify Your name. Because You alone deserve the glory, honor, and all praise. Lord Jesus, this song is forever Yours. A thousand hallelujahs and a thousand more. Oh, oh, oh. We'll worship You more. We'll sing praises forever. Praise, we sing to the Lord. To the Lamb, to the King, to the King. For He rules.

Now He reigns. We will sing forever. Praise to the Lord. To the Lamb, who else is worthy? To the King of Heaven. Praise for He rules. Now He reigns. And we will sing forever. Come on. With a thousand hallelujahs. We magnify Your name. Oh, we magnify Your name. Because You alone deserve the glory, honor, and all praise. Lord Jesus, this song is forever Yours. A thousand hallelujahs. A thousand more. Yeah. We'll sing forever more. We give You praise and honor and glory, oh. Praise to the Lord. To the Lamb, to the High King, to the King of Heaven, we sing praise. ♪ He reigns for heroes, now He reigns, I will sing forever ♪ ♪ With a thousand hallelujahs, we magnify Your name ♪ ♪ For You alone deserve the glory, all the honor, all our praise ♪ ♪ Lord Jesus, our song is forever Yours, a thousand hallelujahs and a thousand more. ♪ May that be our prayer, that we would worship You forever and ever and ever, Lord. Oh, fix our eyes on You, High King of Heaven. Oh, heir of salvation, the cornerstone, the reason we sing, Lord. Let us worship You. Let us sing holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

Let that be our goal, that we run to, that we race towards. Be exalted, Father, in our lives, forever and always. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Y'all can grab a seat. One of the mantras of our church is catch the wind. And it's this idea that we want to raise our sails and let the Holy Spirit take us as a church, where God wants us to go. And it's an adventure, as we many, many months ago began to look into coming to Franklin. And as part of that, our recovery ministry that we have here in Southeast began to look at where could there be partnerships here in the Nashville area. And that led us to exactly where God wanted us to be, at a place called the Next Door Recovery Center. Move is all about us as a church corporately saying, how can we move closer to where people are in darkness and hurting and bring them into the light and shine with the way that only Jesus can. My personal connection to the mission is I lost my own mother to an opioid addiction. It'll be 19 years in September. The coolest part of this story that I love is I learned about three months being on staff here at the Next Door, that every person that comes to the Next Door, even the woman who comes here for our care is called here. We truly need her where she is. There is a lot of church hurt and pain. And what we want her to feel more than anything is love. Four and a half years ago, I came through here as a client. So this place is really special to me. I'd been to several other treatment centers and nothing had worked out for me. This place was different because I felt like the people really cared. I would sit in my room and I would look out and just dream of the day that I got to come back to work here. When I came into treatment, my relationship with my five-year-old daughter was very broken. She told me that she hated me. To be able to come through here and learn all of these coping skills, to learn communication, to kind of process my past and what happened and forgive others, really sets me up to be a good mother today. Today, my three-year-old is at home with me. I had her when I was sober. I get to show up and be a different parent for her today. I have her in a Christian school out in Mount Juliet. I get to be present with her today. God gave us this opportunity to say, hey, at the Next Door Recovery Center,

they have a mortgage payment that is preventing them from being able to hire more staff to be able to serve more women. And God just said to us, I want you to go there and take care of that, and take care of that mortgage. So, as of about 30 days ago, Southeast paid off a $1.5 million balance on their mortgage. Which is just allowing God to work through the leadership of that organization to bring more staff on board and to serve more women. And I can't think of anything better than that. God, we can only stand here in gratitude. When we stop and we think about the lives that are changed, that's something we can't do, only you can do. Father, we are so thankful that you came to heal the broken. Your Word says that the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. God, I pray that there is even more need that's asked for. So that your people can be healed. pray and you can make provision so that more freedom can come to more individuals. Today we celebrate and Lord we celebrate you. I love that. I love that line, Lord we celebrate you. And I love seeing and knowing how our gifts to the MOVE! campaign are making a huge difference. And you know, paying off that mortgage that they just talked about was not originally part of the plan for MOVE! but because of your continuing generosity it made it possible. And now the Next Door Recovery Center with those additional hires, they believe they'll be able to reach 156 more people in the coming year because of your generosity. So, thank you. I'm also excited next weekend we wrap up the Genesis series. I've learned so much in the Genesis series. In two weeks, At the Movies begins. And let me just tell you, we've been doing this, this will be the ninth year, and it is one of the easiest ways for you to get someone to check out church who is unchurched. And we will have a couple thousand more people each weekend because of the invitations that you will make. And for so many people in this church right now, your very first visit to Southeast was at an At the Movies series event. And I love the verse that Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 22. He says, I've become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. And that's what we're trying to do. We're just trying to scatter seed so that people can check out the gospel and hear some movie clips, but also to hear some biblical scripture that is woven into the fabric of that. So, I can't wait for that. My wife has a lot of talents and skills,

and she knows me really well. And over time, she has learned how to use that to her advantage. Let me illustrate. A couple months ago, I was on a missions trip, and about a day and a half before I got back, I called my wife and I said, Beth, I said, I hope I have some time from when I land to get you a gift for Mother's Day, which was a day and a half away. And she said, oh, you don't need to worry about me. You don't need to buy me a Mother's Day gift. I said, yes, I do. She said, no, no, no. I said, you deserve anything that you want. And she said, I know how busy you've been lately, baby doll. And then she said, so perhaps I can just go and pick something out, and you can just say, that's what you gave me for Mother's Day. And I said, oh, wow. I said, you would be willing to do that for me? You're so kind. And unknowingly in that instant, I had walked right into her trap. And she went on to say, well, in fact, I bought it yesterday. And I said, well, what did you get me? And she said, well, you spent a little more than you normally do, because you knew that I would love it. And when I started to object, she started pointing out how much gasoline money she had saved me. And she said, and Dave, she said, you know, your time is so valuable. Oh, OK. All right. Did I just get played, right? I'll let you decide. Evidently, this is what I got her. A rug, some flowers and plants for the yard, three pair of athletic shorts, a doormat, and two lamps for the house. So you tell me, right? Yeah, that's female clapping right there. I know that. I know. All the ladies are very proud of her. She's good. She's very good. I want her to mentor me. But then I find myself this week assigned a title from Kyle on healing hurts in our lives. And I find myself wondering, how do I get over the pain of the past? I would never take advantage of my wife like that. I think you know me well enough, right? But that's usually what happens in our life. When we wrong someone else, we tend to downplay it, and we're very lenient on our own mistakes and say, well, nobody's perfect. But when somebody does something to us, all of a sudden, that's when it's different. And it's a story that Joseph endured for some 22 years. By way of review, Joseph was Jacob's favorite son, the child of Rachel, Jacob's favorite wife. His brothers resented the special treatment and gifts that Joseph received. Over 20 years earlier, they had thrown Joseph into a dry a cistern, intending to leave him there to die. But when a caravan of slave traders came by, they decided rather than kill him, let's make a profit off of him, so they sold him into slavery.

Thirteen years later, Joseph somehow had risen to serve an Egyptian official, but when the official's wife repeatedly tried to seduce him, Joseph refused, saying, how could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? What was the reward for his integrity? Well, the spurned woman falsely accused him, and Joseph was thrown into prison. But all along, God was quietly unfolding his plan. Last week, if you missed Kyle's message, it was a masterpiece. You need to go back and check it out. It blended the 250th anniversary of America with Genesis chapter 41, and he shared that Joseph is brought out of prison to interpret Pharaoh's dream. And Joseph said, I can't interpret it, but God can. And with God's help, he explained, here's the meaning. There will be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine. And Pharaoh embraced Joseph's interpretation and his strategy, and he put Joseph in charge of storing grain during those good seven years so that the nation would be able to survive the hard ones. And suddenly, this former prisoner had authority over all of Egypt to decide who it was that received food. What had looked like Joseph's greatest setback became God's greatest setup. And seven years of plenty came and went. And then two years into this massive famine, Egypt had become the breadbasket of the world. People are coming from everywhere to have an audience with Joseph in hopes that he would give them grain for their family. But then one day in Genesis 42, in Canaan, Jacob says to his sons, I want you all to go to this guy who's giving out the grain and see if he'll have mercy on our family and give us grain. So ten of Joseph's brothers went to Egypt. They brought silver that their dad sent with them, thought the silver might butter him up a little bit. And guess who it is that they appear before?

You got it, Joseph. And they find themselves right there, and they come into his presence, and they bow down low before their brother who they had sold into slavery. Now you'll recall when Joseph was a teenager, he said, I saw a vision of all of you all bowing down to me. That's part of why they wanted to kill him and sell him into slavery. But they have no idea that that's who they're bowing down to right now, 22 years later. Can you imagine what's racing through Joseph's mind? Hurt, anger, memories, questions. His heart's about to pound out of his chest because he recognizes them. And now he has the power to get even. He has the opportunity for revenge, or he can respond differently. The brothers would never suspect that this is Joseph who they had thrown in the pit. He was 17 then. He's 39 now. He's wearing the Egyptian clothing, fitting of a high-ranking official. He has a new name. He has a new look. He speaks a different language, and he is using an interpreter to talk with them, even though he understands every word that they're saying. What would you have done to your brothers? He had 20 years. He had two decades to plot what it was that he wanted to do to get even with them. But for some reason, Joseph puts revenge on the back burner, and instead he is going to go on a covert fact-finding mission, and he's going to put them through a series of tests to see if they are the same jealous, selfish brothers from 20 years before. And Joseph shows incredible wisdom and remarkable restraint. He finds out through the conversation that their dad is still alive, but they say there's a younger brother who stayed at home. That's Joseph's full brother.

That's Joseph's full brother from his mom, Rachel, and he's never met this younger brother. So Joseph wants to determine if they are as jealous of his full brother Benjamin as they had been of him, and he does something unusual. He accuses them of being spies, and he says, I know why you're here. You're not here for the grain. You're here to check out where we are unprotected in our land. And he keeps getting the lay of the land and asking them questions, and he's putting them on the defensive to see how they accept it. And then he says, I'm going to take one of you into custody, and he says, if you bring this younger brother that you keep talking about back with you, then... and I'll know that you aren't spies, and I'll give you even more grain then." He wants to see how they treat Benjamin in front of him. Remember, they don't realize that Joseph can understand their language. Genesis 42, verse 21, they said to one another, surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen. That's why this distress has come on us. Hey, these are not references to the new little brother, Benjamin. These are references to 20 years before with Joseph when they threw him in the well, and in spite of his begging for mercy, they did nothing to help him. And now here they stand in front of this guy who has the power of death and life over them. Joseph's brothers in this moment

are connecting their present suffering to how they had treated their long lost brother years before, and they are haunted by the memory. Have you ever had a moment in your life where the gravity of your sin overwhelms you, and you realize your selfishness is breaking the heart of God? And in that instant, the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin? Maybe it's that prom, that night that you still think about. Perhaps it was when that officer said, you're under arrest for driving under the influence. Or maybe it's when your boss said, that's two strikes next time you're out. Or perhaps it was a moment like this, when you're sitting in this room, and a scripture is read, and in that moment, God's word pierced through to your heart. And Joseph says, okay, I'm gonna keep one of you here as a prisoner until you bring that youngest brother back with you. If you don't bring this younger brother back with you, then no grain, no food, no soup for you. That's a very loose paraphrase, all right? This is Joseph's strategy to observe if they are jealous of Benjamin, like they were of him, or have they matured? Now the brothers had brought silver with them to exchange for grain, but unbeknownst to them, Joseph had their silver put back in their bags, and Joseph is gonna play some mind games with them,

but trust me, his intentions are good. Now today I'm covering four chapters in Genesis, all right? And so I'm gonna give you four words to summarize 134 verses. We could sum up chapter 42 with this word, conviction. They feel convicted. The brothers are convicted in their hearts. Their guilty consciences are awakened. Their guilt is overwhelming them. It's the exact same group of 10 brothers who coldheartedly sat and ate their lunch beside a cistern while their brother was begging from the bottom of the cistern for them to spare his life. It's been two decades, and I want you to notice that time has not erased their guilt. You know why? Because they never owned it. They never confessed it. They concealed it. Now, Joseph is going to continue to conceal his identity because he wants to see where this conviction leads. Over in the New Testament, we read in 2 Corinthians 7, verse 10, godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. Well, the brothers return home. They tell their father, Jacob, everything that has happened, all about this powerful man, and he says, hey, you're not taking Benjamin back with you. He said, I've already lost Joseph.

I've already lost Simeon now, and you want me to send Benjamin with you? No way. I'm not going to lose the only other son that I have from Rachel. But in chapter 43, we learned that starvation has a way of getting your attention. And the brothers say, dad, we don't have a choice. This man in charge said we had to bring our youngest with us. Chapter 43, verse eight. Then Judah, that's one of the other brothers, Judah said to Israel, his father, Israel is another name for Jacob. So Judah says to Jacob, send the boy along with me and we will go at once so that we and you and our children may live and not die. I myself will guarantee his safety. You can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will bear the blame before you all of my life. He's saying, dad, you can personally hold me accountable on this. And Jacob acquiesces to this request and says, okay, okay, but take some of the best products that we have here in Canaan and may God grant you mercy. before this man. So, they load back up with the original silver that they were going to give in order to butter this guy up. But this time, they take the silver and some delicacies from the area. Jacob is smart. He wants them to get on the good side of this powerful man who is now holding his son Simeon. And so, he says, grab whatever Canaan has to offer and take it. Now, that got me to thinking this past week. What if as Southeast campuses,

we had to send something as an envoy somewhere to butter somebody up? What might we send? Maybe our Kentucky campuses, we might send some honey roasted almonds from Bucky's, right? That might be something. Or those from Southern Indiana, maybe some cinnamon Red Hots from Schimpf's Confectionary. For those in Franklin, Tennessee, maybe you would send chicken and waffles. For those perhaps from Elizabethtown, maybe E-Town would send an F-150. I don't know, all right? But Jacob's thinking is quite wise in this. And they make the long journey and they return to Joseph and he sees them coming and he invites them to his house for a feast. Well, this is very much the opposite from his first visit where he detained them and held them in captivity and kept one of the brothers in prison. So, they bring Simeon out of captivity to join them for the feast. Joseph begins making small talk and nonchalantly asks about the family. Tell me, I think you mentioned you all had a dad. How's your dad doing? And oh, he's good. He's good. Genesis 43 verse 29. Joseph looked about and he saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother's son. He asked, is this your youngest brother? The one you told me about? He said, God be gracious to you, my son. And deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out, looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and he wept there. Hey, it is difficult for us to imagine the emotions that Joseph is feeling. It's overwhelming and at times he had to feel so conflicted. And Joseph continues to play them. And the meal is assigned seating and Joseph has placed them in order from oldest to youngest. That's another mind game. And get this, Joseph had the chef and the servers give Benjamin five times the food portions that everyone else received. So, Joseph is just observing to see if favoritism still makes the brother's blood boil or if they truly love Benjamin and they've changed. We could sum up chapter 43 with the word repentance. Joseph is seeing signs that these guys have changed. That's the actual meaning of the word repentance. When you repent, you change directions. You're going one way and now you head the other way. In the past, you've moved toward jealousy and envy, but now you're moving toward mercy and love. Did you notice that the first time Joseph tested his brothers with adversity and now he tests them with prosperity with this lavish meal? Joseph is observing how they treat one another, especially Benjamin on this visit. It comes time for them to leave and Joseph loads his brothers up with grain, but quietly he says to his steward, he said, put each man's silver back in their sack again in each one of them. And

then he says this, and hide my special silver cup in Benjamin's bag. Next morning, brothers head home. They're on their way home when all of a sudden Joseph's steward comes riding up and he says, hey, he says, why have you repaid good with evil? My master's silver cup is missing. And the brothers are stunned. They're like, why are you looking at us? We didn't take anything. And this is what they say. If any one of us has the cup, you can put them to death. That's how certain they were. And the steward replied, no, don't need to put all of y'all to death. Only the man who has the cup will become my master's slave. They said, go ahead, search our stuff, make yourself at home, knock yourself out. The brothers are feeling like, man, I can't believe it. This guy doesn't trust us. But then the TSA agent comes to the last bag and it belongs to Benjamin. And in that instant, they dig into Benjamin's bag and out comes Joseph's special silver cup. And the Bible says that the brothers are so overcome with shock and emotion. They rip their clothes. It's an expression of utter anguish, and in disbelief, they start the journey back to Joseph's house. And when they stand before Joseph, they throw their youngest brother Benjamin down on the ground and say, here's your thief. He fooled us, Your Excellency, but he's an embarrassment to the family. Make a slave out of him. Take his life. We don't care what you do. No, no, that's not what he says. He says just the opposite. They fall down, and they bow down before Joseph. And here's what they say. They know Benjamin's life is on the line. They don't want him to have the kind of slavery that they sold their other brother into. Oh, man, I got goosebumps. And somebody steps forward. You know who it is?

Judah. And Judah steps forward, and he speaks. Remember, he's the one who promised his father. He said if anything happens to Benjamin, I'll bear the blame. He says in verse 16, what can we say? God has uncovered our guilt. We are now your slaves. Notice that he keeps using we language throughout his whole speech. He doesn't say he or him, Benjamin. He says we. He lumps himself in. Judah isn't abandoning Benjamin. He's standing with him. Then comes one of the greatest speeches in all of Genesis. He says I guaranteed the boy's safety to my father. So he says, please let your servant remain here as my Lord's slave in place of the boy. Let the boy return home. What Judah is saying is don't make my father endure this heartbreak. Take me instead. Please don't miss this moment. Twenty years earlier, Judah had sold one brother into slavery to save himself. Now he's willing to become a slave to save his brother. It's interesting that it's Judah that speaks up, because 1,700 years later, one of Judah's descendants would step forward for us. Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, would say in effect, hey, I know the wages of sin is death. But he'd look at his father and say, don't punish them. Take me instead. And he went to the cross, and Jesus stayed on the cross, because he loves you. And that's the Gospel.

The innocent became the substitute for the guilty, so that the guilty could go free. That's our story. And in the chapter 42, the word was conviction. In 43, it was repentance. In 44, the word is sacrifice. If a price needs to be paid, Judah will pay that price. He says you can take my life instead. I'll be his sacrificial substitute. And it's quite evident to Joseph that these brothers are quite different. They're not throwing Benjamin under the bus. They're even willing to take his punishment. Sacrifice is giving up something that you love for something that you love more. And Judah loved Benjamin more than himself. Husbands, listen to me. Husbands, when you chose to get married, you were saying the same thing. Ephesians 5.25, husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. That's a sacrificial love. Christians, when you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you made the same commitment that Jesus would be number one, that he sits on the throne, that he calls the shots. That means that you may have to sacrifice some things, like that promotion where they'll expect you to cut some ethical corners, your popularity with your friends. You might just sacrifice that relationship that seems to be heading toward marriage, but it takes you away from the Lord. You might need to sacrifice and give up your reputation as the party animal. Sacrifice is at the heart of being a believer. Well Joseph is about to reveal his identity. The moment of truth is about to drop the jaws of this group of brothers. Have you ever tried to conceal your identity? The timing wasn't right to reveal who you were, or maybe where you work.

About a month ago, I was flying back to Louisville after a speaking trip, and Beth was picking me up. And down at baggage claim, I ran into several Southeast families who had been traveling together. I saw a couple that I had married about 25 years ago. I saw a young gal who I had baptized. I had fun catching up with about a dozen of them. And miraculously, my suitcase came out quickly. And so I said goodbye, and I headed up the long escalator to Departures because Beth picks me up up at Departures because there's not as much traffic up there. So as I'm riding up the escalator, I'm near the top, I'm texting Beth, and just as I hit send, my suitcase slips off of the step beside me. And instantly, this hard shell suitcase starts heading south, bouncing its way down 24 steps in three seconds flat. It sounds like a series of gunshots. This is not good. At the bottom, it is catapulted out of the narrow chute like it had been fired from a cannon. It slides across the tile floor about 15 feet. Praise the Lord that there wasn't a World Cup soccer player nearby because that suitcase would have nudged their leg. Oh, I cannot imagine. I cannot imagine the injury that would have occurred from that. Well, I ran up the final two steps of the escalator and I turned around,

I started running down the dozens of stairs. And I got to a landing about halfway down and I stopped immediately because I realized that there was a wall shielding me from everyone in baggage claim. And I realized if I took any more steps, the dozen Southeast members who were there would discover the identity of the imbecile who had launched the suitcase heard around the world. Well, as I glanced down right before me, there are two airport personnel. They have encircled my bag. I froze on the landing and I just kind of safely hollered up and said, hey, that's mine. Would you just put that on the first step of the escalator and you can just send it back up. And in their mind, everything is going off. If you see any unattended luggage, please inform a law enforcement officer. So I'm trying to convince them that it's okay. And they look at me and say, we're not touching that. And so I'm like, oh no, I know what's gonna happen now. My identity is about to become public knowledge. So I left the safety of the landing and my reputation descended with me. Everyone was watching and wondering, terrorist or doofus? Terrorist or doofus? When the Southeast group saw that it was me, they collectively gasped and then they erupted into laughter.

Not a polite chuckle, mind you, but full-blown cackling and mockery. And I picked up my suitcase and the airport workers seemed relieved that I was even willing to touch it. And then I looked over at the dirty dozen. And with a face as red as a stop sign, I said, that's what I get for texting on an escalator. And they laughed at me, but not with me. There are crazy moments of truth when our identity is revealed. And when the truth comes out in those moments, will we receive mercy or ridicule? Well, Joseph has watched them pass every test with flying colors. And as chapter 45 begins, Joseph is so overwhelmed with emotion. He's just heard Judah say, take me instead. He can't keep his identity a secret any longer. The Bible says that he dismisses everyone from the room and all of Pharaoh's household can hear him wailing and crying. This is not a good sign. The brothers have to be thinking, oh no, this does not look good for us. We're gonna be shackled or slaughtered and maybe both. The drafting odds have started shifting quickly when Joseph starts crying. The betting line for either Benjamin or Judah's demise is skyrocketing.

But Joseph has seen the change in these guys. And he wants to remove this burden of guilt that his brothers have been carrying. He's choosing to show mercy over malice. And Joseph is about to step down from the landing and reveal his identity. How will the 11 respond? I am Joseph, he says. In the same breath, he says, is dad still alive? I like the next verse, verse three. But his brothers were not able to answer him because they were terrified at his presence. That's the understatement of the century. There's this silence rooted in fear. And Joseph wants to make doubly sure that they haven't been lying about their dad. Look at the next verses. He has to go through it all again. Joseph said to his brothers, come close to me. had done so, he said, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. But God, my two favorite words in the Bible, but God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. He's not going to kill them. He's not going to imprison them. He's not going to enslave them. Joseph is saying God allowed this to happen. Joseph has taken the high road, and he chooses to interpret the entire story through God's sovereignty rather than through his brother's cruelty.

God's providence is greater than human evil. Joseph will later say what you intended for evil. God worked and meant for good. He is choosing to extend forgiveness. Forgiveness is releasing my right to retaliate. That's what forgiveness is. And Joseph says, I'm going to send you all back home with grain, and food, and carts, and donkeys, because I want you to bring dad back. I want you to bring your families back, and all of your kids, and I'm going to give you the best of all the land, and you can live here with me. He says, don't worry about bringing any of your belongings back with you, because you will have the best of everything when you all return. And even though there's five more years of famine, he says, I got you covered, bro. Wow. Just wow. Mercy means the most when it is deserved the least. Think of each chapter, conviction, repentance, sacrifice equals grace. Grace is the word for chapter 45. Anyone that you need to extend some grace to. Our sinful nature wants revenge. We plot our plan to retaliate so that they get what's coming to them. Retaliation over reconciliation. But Joseph responds so differently. I mean, think about the whole scene. When famine strikes the land, Joseph's brothers make a desperate journey to Egypt, searching for help and hope. They find both in the most unlikely place from the most unlikely person, and instead of revenge, he chose restoration. Someone said we're most like beasts when we kill. We're most like humans when we judge.

But we're most like God when we forgive. And in a plot twist, only God could write. Family wounds are healed. What is impossible with man is possible with God. God is still in the business of healing old hurts and restoring what has been broken. Some of you have been so deeply wounded. Some of you physically, some of you emotionally. I don't minimize that. But Jesus calls us to forgive. And I know that I am speaking to people who have endured some pretty horrific things in your life. And I'm not discounting that. Trust me, I get it. I've been there on a smaller scale, but I've been there. And you're looking at me and you want to say, well, tell me, Dave, why should I forgive? Well, we're commanded to in Scripture. It's emotionally unhealthy for you. Bitterness raises your stress, your heart rate. It's like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. All it does is eat you up. What was helpful to me in dealing with this struggle is something that Dr. Henry Cloud said. He said, control what you can control and what you can't, surrender to God. Life's too short to let someone else's behavior mess up your life and affect your present and future. Let go of that injustice. Can I give you one more reason to forgive? Matthew 6, verses 14 and 15, Jesus said, for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Those are difficult words, but they're Jesus' words. They're not my words. And if Jesus says if you don't forgive others of their sins, your Father won't forgive your sins, then He means that. Jesus has kept every promise. I'm not saying that you have to like that person, but you need to try to love them. Doesn't mean that you remove the legal punishments or the consequences of their actions, but it begins with asking God to help you start that process of letting go. I'm certain it was a long process for Joseph that took years, sitting in a prison, being in slavery. Satan loves to use unforgiveness and bitterness to his advantage, because the longer that you hold on to that resentment, the more difficult it is for you to let go. You think you're holding the other person hostage when you withhold forgiveness, but just the opposite occurs. It's like being in prison, and we live behind the bars of bitterness. Let me put Joseph's words from Genesis 45, verse 7, back on the screen. I want you to look at them again. This is Joseph's words, but God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives for a great deliverance. Joseph said that, but I want you to see Jesus could have said the very same thing. God sent me ahead of you. That's the Christmas story. To save your lives, that's Good Friday on the cross. To come and live with me at my home, that's the hope of Easter Sunday. We have hope beyond the grave. We have an eternal home in heaven with a forgiving God. So, the forgiveness that God has extended to you, will you extend to someone else? Let's pray. You are the Lion of Judah. You are the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

We say thank you today for intervening, and we say Jesus, thank you for taking the punishment for our sin, for saying take me instead, and becoming our sacrificial substitute. Father, it's our prayer that the example of Joseph, and the sacrifice and example of Jesus would motivate us to want to extend that same forgiveness to others. It's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen. Thank you, Dave, for the message. Well, if there is something that we can learn from the story of Joseph, it is that God not only anticipated the needs of his people during famine, but he sent Joseph ahead to prepare the way. And isn't it just like our God, and in his nature and character to do that? So when humanity has sinned, and was separated from him, he prepared a way by sending Jesus to atone for our sins, and to make a way for us to be reconciled back to him. But Jesus didn't just atone for our sins on the cross. In Romans chapter 8, it says that right now, Jesus is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us. There's another translation that uses the word interceding for us, which means that right now, Jesus is seeking you and me out in our daily struggles and situations, and he wants to meet us in it, and he wants to walk with us through it. Jesus is not waiting on the other side of your valley. He is right by your side. And I think we need that reminder, because just like Joseph's brothers, each one of us in this room has walked in with wounds, and regrets, and disappointments, and relational brokenness, and we hold on to our offenses, and we allow bitterness to grow, and we let pride stand in the way of saying, I'm sorry, and we settle for relational distance instead of reconciliation. I don't know your story, but maybe your next step this morning is to extend that hand of forgiveness to someone that has hurt you. Or maybe your situation is so complicated that this morning, you're seeking God's wisdom and his peace to guide you through it. And if that's you, this morning, we're going to have our prayer team down front.

Some of our staff members and our elders and we would love to pray with you and for you So if that's you we want to make your ask you to make your way forward when we start our time of worship again And allow your brothers and sisters plead and intercede with you But maybe you're here this morning and you don't know what it means yet to walk with jesus Maybe you've never experienced his presence You don't know his forgiveness and the joy and the peace that he brings and if that's you we want to meet with you Out in the lobby to my right There's a next steps room and there's a team that would like to talk to you and answer any questions that you may have church I don't know your story this morning But I do know my god And I know that jesus wants to meet you in whatever you're facing and he wants to walk with you through it And maybe that's a reminder this morning as we come to the communion table that this bread represents the body of christ broken for us and this cup Represents his blood that was poured out for us. But together These elements they remind us That god didn't send jesus just to make a way But that jesus is the way And meeting us wherever we are And is inviting us to walk with him through whatever you're facing So let's take communion together and then come down and receive prayer So So I could see Me Jesus be the name ever on my lips It's sweeter every time that I call There's just something about your name There's just something about your name

There's just something about your name that makes me cry There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name Jesus I've been Jesus be the name Is There is no other name Oh It makes me cry There is ♪ There is no other name but Yours ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus You're worthy, You are, You are, yeah ♪ ♪ Just have Your way in my life, Lord ♪ ♪ Holy Magnify the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ No other name but You, no other name but Yours ♪ ♪ So Jesus You're there, He's like the morning light ♪ ♪ The one the darkness can't deny ♪ ♪ The resurrection and the life, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Your name can save, Your name can heal, Your name can make the storm be still, You never fail, You never will, Jesus, Jesus, the breath of life will give you rest ♪ ♪ You're the name in the world, You're worthy, You are, You are, yeah ♪ ♪ You're worthy, You are, You are, yeah You're worthy, You are, yeah, You're worthy, You are, Jesus, Jesus, the name in the world, The one who will forever reign, The name above all other names, Jesus, can Jesus be the name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name, O Jesus be the name, That keeps strong the glory, O Jesus be the name, O Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name above it all, O Jesus be the name, That keeps strong the glory. ♪ Jesus be the name, O Jesus be the name, O Jesus be the name, That keeps strong the glory, O Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, O Jesus be the name, That keeps strong the glory. Oh♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Jesus, you can find your way, everything found

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Jesus, you can find your way, everything found There's just something about your name There's just something about your name There's just something about your name That makes me cry holy There is no other name There is no other name There is no other name Jesus, you're worthy When did I start to forget All of the great things you did When did I grow a fear for the impossible How did I start to believe You were insufficient for me Why do I talk myself out of seeing miracles You are more than a miracle ♪ Oh, Lord help me believe that You love me ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Yes, You are, yes, You are ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Lord, I understand it, Lord ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Remind tonight what the Lord can do ♪ ♪ Won't You hold the child when You provide, thank You, Lord ♪ ♪ And I see all that I have ♪ ♪ Oh, I got my confidence back ♪ ♪ I'll come marching home to the one who's spirit works miracles ♪ ♪ Huge in miracles ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Yes, You are, yes, You are ♪

♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Oh, I see it and I know it, Lord ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ You are more than able ♪ ♪ Remind tonight what the Lord can do ♪ ♪ Can you imagine with all of the faith in the room ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do, what the Lord can do ♪ ♪ It's gonna happen just like the way You make it through ♪ ♪ It's gonna move, yes, it's gonna move ♪ ♪ Can you imagine with all of the faith in the room ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do, what the Lord can do, yeah ♪ ♪ It's gonna happen just like the way You make it through ♪ ♪ It's gonna move, yes, it's gonna move ♪ ♪ Can you imagine with all of the faith in the room ♪ ♪ What the Lord can do, what the Lord can do ♪ ♪ It's gonna happen just like the way You make it through ♪ ♪ It's gonna move, yes, it's gonna move ♪ ♪ Anything is possible, oh, you're all anything ♪ ♪ Anything is possible, I believe, anything is possible ♪ ♪ So who am I, who am I to deny what the Lord will do ♪ ♪ Anything is possible, anything is possible, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Anything is possible, anything is possible, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny what the Lord can do, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. ♪ Anything is possible, anything is possible, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Anything is possible, anything is possible, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ So, who am I to deny what the Lord can do, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny what the Lord can do, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Who am I to deny what the Lord can do, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah Lord, be like a living prayer, yeah ♪ ♪ You are more than able, come all we sing and praise, we declare He is ♪

♪ You are more than able, Lord, you provide, we sing it ♪ ♪ You are more than able, we sing to our unbelief, our anxieties, our fears ♪ ♪ You are more than able, who am I to deny what the Lord can do? ♪ Well, Pando family, what an impactful worship service that was that we just got to experience together. Again, my name is Derek. I'm part of our online team here at Southeast. I loved getting to walk through that message, not only with the people around me and get to talk about it, but also just internally being able to think about, like, man, who are those people in my life right now that I need to reconcile with? And what I've realized over the course of my life is that sometimes when we have those conversations, sometimes they go well, and sometimes they don't. And so one of the things that Dave had mentioned in his sermon was a quote from Dr. Henry Cloud. He had said, control what you can control and what you can't surrender to God. And I think that is such great advice, especially when we are talking about conflict and trying to reconcile around that idea of forgiveness. Because God does not want us to just live at odds with other people in our life. And for a lot of people, you know, we may have grown up in an environment where that thing may be normal. And I think conflict can be a good thing, right? But when we have done things that are painful to other people, that have hurt other people, Well, as Christians, we need to take that next step and ask for forgiveness. But what may be even harder to do, no matter who we are, is that when someone has hurt us, we need to offer them forgiveness. And like David said, when we offer forgiveness, it means that we drop our right to retaliate. So my prayer for you this week is ask that question, who is someone that I need to apologize to and reconcile with? And who is one person that I need to forgive for what's happened to me? But y'all, we love you. And again, I hope that all of these messages every single week just help and challenge

you in your walk with Jesus. And that's why we also do things like the Pando Exclusive podcast that comes out every single Thursday on the Pando app, where we talk through these messages, these sermons from Sundays to try to help apply it not only to our lives, but to yours, as well as we're in this life together. And at the same time, we have a Bible study called Eden to Eternity that drops every single Wednesday where we'll be talking about a guy like Joseph, a guy like Moses, and we want to walk through all of Scripture together, not just for the sake of knowing more about Scripture so that we learn more about the Lord who's created us and about ourselves. But before we head out, I would love just to offer a prayer for us. So Jesus, thank you for being a great Redeemer. Even when life doesn't look the way I planned it, God, you are good. I trust your promises, I trust your provision, and I love your word. Please protect me from temptation. Please restore what I've lost. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. Lord, I am not in control. I am waiting on you. In chaos, I need your peace. In loss, I need your comfort. In confusion, I need your truth. I trust you with everything. I love you, Lord. In your name, amen. Y'all, we pray that whenever we read those prayers that you would have an opportunity to pause Pando and write that down so it'll give you a tool to pray through over the course of your next week. Y'all, but we appreciate you and thank you for being here. We'll see you next time.