God Redeems

Teaching: This coming weekend, the Holy Spirit will be teaching us through Genesis 37& 39-41; Joseph’s journey from favorite son, to slave, to prison, to Pharaoh’s 2nd in command. All through Joseph’s life, God is his redeemer.

Equip from TRU:
God redeems. In the life of Joseph, we see him being captured by his brothers, sold into slavery, framed by the wife of Potiphar, forgotten in jail—and yet God redeemed him out of every one of these situations, no matter what role Joseph played in each one.

Throughout this story we see Joseph wearing many different garments; most of which are stripped away in mean and forceful ways before he can put on a different one.

First, Joseph wore the coat of many colors given to him by his father, Jacob. Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved Joseph’s brothers because Joseph was the firstborn son of Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachel. The first garment change occurred when Joseph’s brothers took the coat from him, tore it into pieces, and soaked it in goat’s blood to convince Jacob that Joseph was dead.

But we see in Scripture that “the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success” (Genesis 39:23). Because of this, Joseph was appointed to be an attendant instead of a slave in the house of Potiphar. So he changed his clothing from that of a slave to that of an overseer. This garment was taken from Joseph when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. He left his garment in her hand when he fled from her advances.

Next, Joseph wore the garments of a prisoner. Later, after he interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph was rewarded and put “in charge of the whole land of Egypt” and “dressed … in robes of fine linen” (Genesis 41:41–42). God not only redeemed Joseph from his imprisonment but also dressed him in fine robes and gave him a position of responsibility. What a change from the days of wearing the garb of a slave!

As God’s children, we’re clothed in Jesus’ righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). God sees us as redeemed, although we sometimes can’t see ourselves that way. No matter what we may think or feel, Scripture says “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). God sees us as holy—like Christ. The redemption we have received from Christ is extravagant; it is redemption we do not deserve and did not earn.

Prayer: Dear loving heavenly father, please help us as parents to look past our mistakes and our children’s mistakes and see ourselves as your redeemed. Thank you for redeeming every aspect of our lives by the blood of your son. Thank you for our children, for specifically choosing us to be their parents. Lord please give us the wisdom, strength and patience we need each and every day. Help us to let go of what happened yesterday and grab onto the promises of today and the hope of tomorrow. We love you Lord, amen.
Engaging in Missions: Bring in your picture and biography of the child (from www.mare.org) that your family has committed to pray for until they are adopted. We pray for these children during our worship response time. Ridge Kids offering is going towards the adoption fund, please fill those baggies with change and return to Ridge Kids by the first week of November.
Ridge Kids Rock Wall: This is our way of rewarding individual students (they get to add their rock(s) to the wall during large group) and each grade (they work together to fill their bin and receive a special reward) for participating in Ridge Kids and creating habits that strengthen their relationship with the Church, the Word, their family, friends, community and the world. Learn more on our Family Ministry’s website.  Right now the standing are: 3rd grade in first, followed by 1st grade, then 4th grade, with 2nd grade bringing up the rear. Check out the Rock Wall page on my blog for all the ways your child can earn rocks!

The Wonder Wall: Check out the answers to your children’s questions on the Wonder Wall page.

Worship Songs: For the songs we are singing, check out the Worship Songs page.

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