Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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John 10 Jesus as the good shepherd opening the gate for the sheep, used in the worship reflection
1 “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
4 Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”
6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.
8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.
10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them.
13 The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.
17 Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
19 Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words.
20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane! Why do you listen to him?”
21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”
22 It was the Feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem.
23 It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
24 The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me.
26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are one.”
31 Therefore Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”
33 The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods?’
35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken),
36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’
37 If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me.
38 But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works; that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
39 They sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand.
40 He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed.
41 Many came to him. They said, “John indeed did no sign, but everything that John said about this man is true.”
42 Many believed in him there.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Zechariah 12:10
prophecy of Israel one day recognizing Jesus as their pierced messiah
10 I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
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Zephaniah 3:17
God rejoicing over Israel, calming their fears by singing over them and forgiving their iniquity
17 Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
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Genesis 45:1-8
the primary passage read aloud, Joseph revealing himself to his brothers
1 Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Does my father still live?” His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence.
4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” They came near. “He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
5 Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no plowing and no harvest.
7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.
8 So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
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Romans 2:4
it is his kindness that leads us to repentance
4 Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
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1 John 1:9
if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive and purify us, cited as instruction before communion
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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Romans 6:23
the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Brian preached from Genesis 45, the moment Joseph reveals himself to the brothers who sold him into slavery. He used the literary idea of types and shadows to show how Joseph's story points forward to Jesus, and drew on the congregation to fill in those connections together.
What was said
The setup was the church itself. Tribe has met in a Lutheran church, a conference center, homes, parks, and most recently the TMC, and now a saloon. Brian used that restlessness to make a point: if a church is a location, Tribe barely qualifies. The church is the community God assembles, not the address where they gather, and this particular collection of people on this particular morning had never existed before and never would again.
From there Brian turned to Genesis 45. Joseph, after twenty-two years of slavery and service in Egypt, finds himself second only to Pharaoh when his brothers walk in desperate for grain. He cannot hold himself together. He clears the room and weeps loud enough for the whole household to hear, then tells his brothers who he is.
Brian introduced the idea of types and shadows, a literary technique he argued the Bible originated and Hollywood borrowed. Joseph, he said, functions as a proto-Jesus, a figure whose story is shaped to point forward to the messiah. He invited the congregation to call out the connections they saw rather than simply hand them a list.
The room took over from there. People noted Joseph's obedience, his forgiveness, the way he wept, the parallel between the eleven brothers and the eleven disciples, the fact that both Joseph and Jesus left their father's house to enter a place of servitude before rising to authority, and the way both became sustenance for the people who had wronged them. Brian tracked each connection and added his own: that Joseph explicitly says God sent him ahead of his brothers, the same word whose root gives us the Hebrew for messiah.
Brian slowed down on verse five. Joseph tells his brothers not to be angry with themselves, because it was God who sent him ahead to preserve their lives. Brian noted that the Hebrew word for preserve shares a root with messiah, and that Joseph's Egyptian name, according to a text he received during the service, means savior. None of that credit, he said, belongs to the brothers or to Joseph. Salvation is by grace, not works, so that no one can boast.
That thread led into communion. Brian framed the meal the way Jesus originally presented it, as a marriage proposal where the man hands the woman a cup and says he will not drink from it again until their wedding day. Jesus took that familiar form and filled it with his own meaning. The congregation received bread and cup together, with Brian describing Jesus as the forerunner who has already gone ahead into every pain and difficulty his people will ever face.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Take a few extra minutes after a church gathering this week to introduce yourself to someone you have never spoken to before.
- Read Genesis 45 alongside a passage from the Gospels and look for one connection between Joseph and Jesus that you can write down.
- If you are carrying unforgiveness toward someone, find a quiet moment this week to confess it and ask God to help you release it.
- Come to the presentation at the Ward Hotel tonight at 6PM to hear the testimony of the woman taken hostage on October 7.
- Sign up at the back table if you can join the team heading to Riverton on October 10 through 12 to serve at the Foundations for Nations Harvest Festival.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Brian talked about the church being a community of people rather than a location, and Tribe has met in a lot of different places over the years. How has your own idea of what church is been shaped or challenged by that kind of movement?
- Several people in the room spotted connections between Joseph and Jesus, things like obedience, forgiveness, and suffering that became sustenance for others. Which of those parallels hit you hardest, and why?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
Brian predicó sobre Génesis 45, el momento en que José se revela a sus hermanos después de veintidós años de separación. Usando la técnica literaria de tipos y sombras, Brian guió a la congregación a ver a José como una figura que anticipa a Jesús: amado especialmente por su padre, enviado con un propósito, inocente del mal que sufrió, y capaz de perdonar a quienes le hicieron daño. La congregación participó activamente, señalando conexiones como la obediencia, el perdón, el sustento que ambos ofrecieron a su pueblo, y el momento en que José se descubre ante sus hermanos, paralelo a cuando Jesús resucitado se aparece a sus discípulos.
Un punto central fue la palabra hebrea que se traduce como "preservar" en el versículo 7, cuya raíz está relacionada con las palabras mesías y mashiach. José fue enviado delante de su familia para salvarlos, así como Jesús fue enviado delante de nosotros. Brian subrayó que nuestra salvación no depende de lo que hacemos sino del amor incondicional de Dios, quien bendijo incluso a los hermanos que cometieron el mal, igual que Jesús perdonó a quienes lo crucificaron. La congregación también celebró la comunión, recordando que Jesús es nuestro mejor José, que va delante de nosotros en todo sufrimiento y dificultad.
Al cierre del servicio se anunció la visita de una mujer que fue tomada como rehén el 7 de octubre en Israel, quien compartiría su testimonio esa misma tarde. También se invitó a la familia de Tribe a unirse a un viaje a Riverton del 10 al 12 de octubre para servir en el Festival de la Cosecha de Foundations for Nations, distribuyendo ropa y alimentos.
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Pasajes bíblicos mencionados:
- Génesis 45:1-8
- Juan 10 (Jesús como el buen pastor)
- Zacarías 12:10
- Sofonías 3:17
- Romanos (la bondad de Dios lleva al arrepentimiento)
- 1 Juan 1:9
- Juan 11 (Jesús lloró)
Read the full transcript 10,194 words
I got it. Where's the? Good morning, church. Connor's getting we're good. Let's stand up together as you're gobbling down your little donut.
Let me just take a minute and let's just remind ourselves this morning that the church is not a building, it's not a place, but it's all of us. Right? We're the bride of Christ and this is a unique gathering today as never assembled before in this way, and we can make a unique sound to honor the Lord today as we lift our voices. He loves to hear your worship today. Amen?
He loves it. So don't be shy. Lift your voice to the Lord. Let's just focus on an audience of one today. That our worship would be a pleasing aroma to him and him alone.
And we send warning with our worship today to anything that would try to come in this place Yes. That it would oppose him or discourage us, make us self conscious as opposed to focusing on the Lord today. So let's lift lift our voices in worship today and just bring a beautiful sound to him. Amen? Amen.
Amen. I'm coming with a heart
Spirit, come. Lord,
we invite you. We invite you this morning. Come have your way in this place.
Holy Spirit, come. Oh, Holy Spirit, come. Yeah. Spirit, come. Let's give him permission today.
Oh, holy spirit, come. Yeah. Holy Spirit, come. Oh, we give you permission. Yeah.
Speaking. Oh, can you see it?
He's got your healer. You believe that? And just receive it. Receive your Let's sing that chorus again. Come like a flood.
Come
like a flood, like a fire. You got come.
Oh, spirit, come. You got it. You sound great. Let's just sing that again, and let's just make this our hearts cry today, that the Holy Spirit would come and change us today, that we would leave this place different than we came. Amen?
Because we met Jesus here. By his spirit. Come and change us today. Let's sing this together. Come like a flood.
Come
like a flood. You got it. A fire. Holy Spirit
Fresh today. Just take a minute with your eyes closed just right where you are. Just take a minute and give the holy spirit permission to just search search you today. If there's anything that you need to repent of today, this morning, maybe you feel there's a wall between you. You and the Lord this morning, it's not because he's not here, it's not because he's not drawing clothes, but maybe there's some unrepentant sin or something that's keeping you from experiencing his presence today.
Just do some business with
him this morning. Oh, I need you. I need you. I need you.
Oh, search me, oh, God.
Christ, my heavenly world.
Think about these words. Then came the morning that
Jesus Christ, my Jesus Christ,
Lord, we welcome you to come and speak today. Lee, you got some on your heart this morning.
So, we were singing basically, set me free. This is what came to my mind. The apostle John in chapter 10 tells us a story about Jesus. And Jesus walks up to the sheep pen. It's all fenced in and all the sheep are in there, squashed.
And he walks up to the gatekeeper and basically says, I'm the good shepherd and the gatekeeper recognized who Jesus was. So, he opens up the gate. Then, Jesus turns around and he starts walking and all the sheep follow him. Into new territory. The sheep leave their comfort zone and go wherever Jesus is leading them.
But there's a few sheep that are hesitant They're nervous and they they see the rest of the sheep going but they don't know what to do. And I don't know if sheep are people, so I gotta make a switch here.
So Do you wanna point out to us who those sheep
were? The point is is some of us, maybe all of us, we have our insecurities and we're more familiar with the comfort zone that we live in. And the spirit is telling us that he's taking us into new territory. He's taking us outside of our comfort zone. And I see a picture, those of us that feel insecure, we don't feel we're we're nervous.
We're not making the decision to go wherever Jesus is leading. And I had a picture of Jesus reaching out and he's saying, my son, my daughter, take my hand. Take my hand, and I will heal. I will strengthen your insecurities. I will leave.
I will lead you into green pastures. I will lead you along flowing streams. I will guide you along a right path, an ancient path, a well worn path, and I will bless you. I will anoint you. Trust me.
Trust me. I love you. Follow me wherever I'm leading you. Jesus, thank you. Thank you for the picture that you're giving us this morning to to all of us.
And and lord, even if we don't know why we are hesitating, even if we don't know why we're not pursuing you, I'm asking Jesus for all of us that you reveal to us. What what is the source of our insecurity? What is the source, the root of our hesitation? Bring that up into the light of our minds right now. And then heal us.
Oh Jesus. And I I hear the Lord saying, I'll never leave. I'm not gonna leave you behind. I never will leave you behind. But you have to make a choice to reach out to my hand.
Thank you. Thank you in Jesus name.
Lord, Amen. We receive that. Let's remember this god that's calling us, the one who is faithful, that is trustworthy. Sing all my life.
God.
Just tell them we love him this morning. Of of the God. Yes, we will. Oh, I will say of the goodness of God. I woke up with this oldie worship song on my heart this morning.
Draw me close, and I I just heard this morning just the first thing when I woke up. I just heard I don't know. My I was still asleep, but maybe it was my spirit just saying you're all I want. You're all I've ever needed. We'll just sing this together as we finish this time of worship before we go into the next.
Just declare your great need for him this morning. That there's nothing in this world that can satisfy, only Jesus.
Yes,
Help me know. Let's lift our voice and just sing that. Let's just admit our dependence on him today. Help me know.
Help me know you are me.
But, Lord, we thank you that you are here in this room today. Mean every heart, speak to us, speak through us corporately as your church today. We give you all the praise and glory. You are worthy. Can't you just tell him this morning, Lord?
You are worthy. You are worthy of our time. You are worthy of this beautiful Sunday. You are worthy of our lives and our surrender and our worship to you. Continue to speak to us as we dig into your word.
Today, I thank you for every single person in this room who took a step to come to meet with you today. Meet each and every one of us. We love you. We love you. Amen.
Amen. We'll turn around and say good morning to someone. We got a lot of visitors today. So it's a good day to worship the Lord.
That's what I'm working
on. Yep.
What? I might but I'll move it. Could you just scoot this a little closer to me? Good morning. Good morning.
Well, here we are back at the bar. What could the Lord be up to with our tribe family and having us be so nimble when it comes to where we meet. What could he be up to? Tribe will be celebrating its eighth birthday in October. The last week of October will be TRIBE's eighth birthday.
We've been here for we've been here as a church for eight years. Lissa and I that's Trinity, not Lissa. Lisa and I have been in this valley for over twenty years. We've been leading and loving, shepherding the people of this valley for two decades in one capacity or another. And here we are at Tribe, and we've met at Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church.
We've met at Snow King Conference Center. We've met in homes. We've met online. We've met, at the park at the base of Snow King. We have met at Philbo Park.
We have met at Powderhorn Park. We've been for two years at the TMC, the tribe ministry center. So we've been move we have been bumped and moved around a lot. And I think one of the takeaways for our tribe family and it doesn't matter if you have been here on this journey with us for eight full years or if you're brand new this morning, like Olive Garden, if you're here, your family, so you've been on this journey with us even if it's your first step on the journey. I think one of the things that the Lord is doing with our unique church family is disrupting the rut of the notion that a church is a location.
Because if a church is a location, then we haven't been a church for very long in any one place. The church is actually the community of people that god brings to a unique expression of his local church. And Paul describes the local church as a body made up of spleens and kidneys and eyeballs and elbows. And so I think what's the takeaway for for us this morning is that as we continue with service, just look around. We'll take a moment right now.
Look around. All these different people here. Hello. Hello. All the introverts are cringing right now.
Please just leave me alone. Introverts and extroverts alike, we are the church. The church is not where we meet. And like Lissa said at worship this morning, there's never been quite this unique collection and gathering of people to lift up our voices in song and worship the lord through song, through honoring his word that is preaching. Later, you'll have an opportunity to worship the lord through your tithes and offerings.
But I just I I think that the lord wants to remind us that that we are the church. So when we are dismissed with service today, take a moment longer to, like, shake somebody's hand. Take a moment longer to give somebody a hug. Take a moment longer to introduce yourself to somebody. Because how much of a part of a family are you if you just come in, sit there, do your thing, and then just leave without interacting with the rest of the family members?
This is in terms of a restaurant, this is not a restaurant. Excuse me. This is a family dining table. A restaurant, you come in, you wait to be seated, you don't get to pick where you sit, you a hostess seats you, you're handed a menu, you get to just pick and choose from the menu, I'd like this, but hold this, and, oh, make sure it's gluten free, And can you toast this a little you know, whatever your order is. And a server gets your order, and they bring you your food.
When you are done, what do you do with your plates?
Leave it.
Now, I mean, that's great when you go out for a restaurant. But can you imagine, like, sitting down at a dining room table and being like, where's the menu? I mean, that's a good way to, like, get a whipping. And then the the the food is served by mom or dad, whoever prepared it. And then at the end of the meal, you pick your plate up.
You scrape your plate in the trash, and you put your plate in the sink, or even rinse it and put it all the way in the dishwasher. Right? There is some parents are like, I'm working on it. I'm working on it. Hang in there.
Lissa almost has me trained. But I want us to think of this time that we are together less like a restaurant where you have a consumer mentality. Oh, that just makes me sick. And more of a collaborative family environment where we can be together, where where I contribute something to your life, and all of you are contributing something to my life, and you're contributing something to each other's lives. And how can that happen if you just come in, sit down, stand up, and then just leave?
I think I've made my point. Right? Let's be a family together. Well, with that in mind, I wanna point out one, family member just really quickly. Hey, Connor.
Would you wave your hand at us? Let's give Connor a hand this morning. Because whether we're meeting in the Virginian Saloon here or Church at a Park or wherever we are, Connor is the one that makes Lissa's voice so beautiful and mine not so bad through setting up sound and running all of the the AV. And no matter where we are, it's a completely different setup every time. And Connor and and Sarah also are so great at helping Laura.
Sorry, Laura. I was looking at you. I said Sarah, I was like, I know it's not Sarah. Laura, Laura, Laura, Laura, Laura, Laura, to make sound come together and with all of the things. And so, like, you guys never get any credit, and so I just wanna tell you thank you for doing such a great job.
One more thing. Underneath your biscuits, there is a little connect card with a pin. And if you're new or visiting, we would love to have a record of your visit. There's a place for you to fill out your contact information. If you're a young adult and you're looking to get involved with all that we have going on here at Tribe, there's you can check a box there.
Also, on the back, there's a place for you to write any prayer requests that you have. We take these very seriously. We consider it an honor that you would invite us into your world to share what's going on with you and and even ask us to pray. So we pray over those at staff meeting on Monday. At the end of service, you can take that connect card, and there's a little black box right by the swinging saloon doors.
Thank you. And you can just drop it there. With all of that said, if you have your bible with you this morning, would you turn to Genesis chapter 45? Genesis 45. We were in Genesis last week, and there's just more to get out of this big story arc that Lisa and I have been reading through.
There I am. Genesis chapter 45. We have a wireless handheld mic in the room, and one of the things that we like to do here at Tribe is we like to read god's word together, not all, like, syncopated at the same time. That's way too liturgical. But we we pass the mic around when it's time to read god's word, and you can we have a short amount of verses to read this morning.
So maybe just one person, if you would read verses one through eight. Genesis chapter 45. And Kat has the mic in the room, and so you can just get her attention.
Yes. Leah, I knew it.
Yes. Leah, where's your grandmother's bible today? Oh, great. It's a home. Oh, it's a okay.
Alright. Alright.
Well You go so fast that I can't flip the pages. This is only the second time I've ever brought my phone.
I know. And here I am calling you out in front of the whole class. Sorry. I just I just love I I don't I really don't know the story behind anybody else's bible. I just happen to know the story behind your bible.
And so I love it, but please continue from your electronic bible.
One through eight?
One through eight. And not a verse further.
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, have everyone leave my presence. So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and Pharaoh's household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still living?
But his brothers were not able to answer him because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, come close to me. When they 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. For two years now, there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years, there will be no plowing and reaping.
But god sent me ahead of you to preserve to, yeah, preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then it was not you who sent me here but god. He made me father to pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler of all Egypt. Wow.
You can answer honestly. For anybody in here, is this the first time that you're hearing this part of the story? I'm always curious. Okay. Super cool.
Let me give you a little bit of of background. So there's this guy named Joseph. He is second youngest brother, to 11 siblings. Their dad is this guy named Jacob, and Joseph happened to be really special in the heart of his father, Jacob. And he gave him special honor and special treatment that only aroused the envy and the jealousy of his other brothers.
So one day, Jacob sends his son, Joseph. Where are those knucklehead brothers of yours? They've been out grazing sheep. I haven't seen them in a long time. Go track them down and find them.
So Joseph's like, aye aye, and he sets off to go find his 11 brothers. And he's trotting off through the hills. And as he comes to one town, he says, hey. Have you seen my brothers? And a person in that town is like, I haven't seen them.
They're not here. They've gone on to another place. Alright. So Joseph goes on. He then finds the pasture land where his brother's and his father's flocks are being kept.
Then the bible says that while Joseph was still a long way off, his 11 brothers say, oh, here comes this dreamer. Here comes this golden child. Here comes the fancy boy. Here he comes. We should we should really, as all good brothers, think to themselves, we should really teach him a lesson.
But they had violence in their heart towards their youngest brother. Second youngest. So one of them, always going too far, is like, let's kill him. And the oldest brother's like, no. No.
No. We're not gonna kill him. How about we just throw him in a pit? Oh, okay. That's that's a good idea.
So they throw him in a pit. While they're trying to decide what to do with him, there was a caravan of traders going from north to south down to the land of Egypt. And one of the brothers, being very business minded, was like, hey. Here's an opportunity to make some money off of our second youngest brother. And currently, he's the youngest brother, but then another younger brother comes along, Benjamin, just for the those of you who are keeping score.
So they sell Joseph to these this caravan of traders heading down to Egypt. And they're like, alright. Done. They fabricate a story to tell their father. Their father's heartbroken.
He's he's just devastated. Meanwhile,
god
is at work in Joseph's life. The time span between what what I just told you and where we read the story is about twenty two years. Twenty two years later, they're two years into a great famine, And the brothers are running out of food, so the father Jacob sends the brothers down to Egypt because they have heard that there is a great amount of stock supply. What's the word I'm looking for? Stockpile.
Thank you. See, we're in this together. A stockpile and a surplus of grain and food. So, like, we'll go down and go down to Egypt, buy some food. So they go down to Egypt.
Joseph, over the course of these twenty two years, has gone from a slave all the way up to pharaoh's number two man and is in charge of all of Egypt. How does he go from slave to pharaoh's number two? By the grace of God. The Bible says that God was with Joseph, and he showed him his faithful, loving kindness. And what's that word in Hebrew, Chris?
Hasid, his faithful, loving kindness. God was with Joseph. Twenty two years later, Joseph is in a position of supreme authority and power, and in come one day his 11 knucklehead brothers trying to buy grain. Then the story turns a couple of plot twists like in an exciting movie, similar to the classic novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, where there's a reversal and and they don't know who he is, but he is he is or or maybe even Homer's Odyssey, You know, like, it in a it's a great classic plot twist where the brothers thought one thing, but now the tables have turned, and Joseph is in a position of power. And through a couple of interesting twists and turns, the brothers find themselves back in Egypt a second time buying grain.
And this is when, as this we have just read, Joseph can take it no longer. And off comes the mask, and he reveals himself to his brothers. Today, I'd like us to have for just a few minutes a conversation about this I this story that we just read, this part of the story about Joseph. And I did say conversation because I would like to hear from you. Instead of just me talking and trying not to cough, I'd love to hear from you, your thoughts, your comments, your questions, and your connections that you're making.
We're gonna make a lot of connections today. Here in this room, we might be able to hear your voice, but we use the wireless handheld mic so that all of our families that are watching the livestream or traveling or are away get to participate in the conversation. And so if you're taking notes this morning, you can write the title of this morning's conversation at the top of your notes. Jesus, the better Joseph. That's the title of the conversation we're gonna have this morning.
Jesus, the better Joseph. So here's the question. Well well, let me explain something really quickly. The Bible uses a literary technique called types and shadows. And we see this in in works of fiction where author is setting up the story.
We definitely see this in movies. Think about, like like like Star Wars. There are types and shadows of good guys. There are types and shadows, of bad guys. And in movies, we have the soundtrack to help cue us.
Oh, that's Princess Leia's theme. Oh, this must be a a a good guy. Or you can hear sounds of that Imperial march, you're like, uh-oh. Here comes a bad guy. Darth Vader.
Is it Darth Maul? What's happening? Count Dooku. Types and shadows of good guys and bad guys and various characters. Do you know the Bible employs and was the originator of the literary technique of using types and shadows?
We see Joseph as a type and shadow of who later to come? That would Jesus. So now here's what we're going to do. We're going to look for just a few minutes at the at this particular story of Joseph, for only one person in the room was honest enough to say that this was the first time that they had heard this part of this story. For the rest of us, we've probably read this story many times, heard this story many times, but my hope is that as we look into Joseph as a proto Jesus, as a type and shadow of the messiah to come, it will do two things for us.
Help us to enrich the story of Joseph so that it so that we don't get stuck into a rut and a pattern and a routine of, like, yeah. I've read this, and then Joseph went down to Egypt, and then in into Potiphar's house, and to break us out of that mold and to appreciate the story of Joseph more. Number two, that we would see our messiah in the story of Joseph enriching and providing new insight and revelation to how wonderful Jesus is and how he is our better Joseph. With that in mind, let's look at these eight verses, and I would like to hear from you what similarities do you see in the story of Joseph connected to what you know of of Jesus, either personally, experientially in your own life and heart, or what we can read about him in the New Testament? So look back at those first eight verses.
Come on up, Cap. Amanda's gonna kick us off. How is Joseph in this story like proto g how is Joseph a proto Jesus?
There's lots of answers.
I'll just
do one.
The one that I can't unsee is the part that Joseph had to play that Jesus also had to play, and that was his obedience. Oh. So you mentioned the you know, in the text, it's in the text, like, there he has favor for sure, but God always has a part, and then he's so awesome because he always lets us have a part too. Because if we just get stuck with, like, oh, some of like, we were dealt you were dealt a good hand in life, and I was dealt a bad hand. God loves you, not me.
Like, we can get stuck, and that's not biblical at all. So we always have a part to play in that favor because we all if we're a believer, if we're a child of God, there's favor on our life. We are a child of the creator of the universe. Right? But we our part to play is obedience.
And so our level of spiritual maturity, our level of favor, you know, how he went up in the ranks and all that, is because he was obedient. If you read the whole story, it's a beautiful example of that. And then certainly Jesus was supremely obedient, the the best example we have of that. But that's the part I can't unsee. We we have to be obedient and not just feel like, oh, I'm unlucky, you know, or something like that and get out of the biblical narrative.
I love it. Obedience.
Joseph was forgiving, but Jesus is the greatest forgiver.
I didn't even have any of these in my notes. It's so good. You're preaching to me. You're helping me.
Mine's not as deep, but just like just like Jesus lived thirty years sort of
with a veil being a guy and then was like, dun dun dun. He's Jesus. He's the messiah. Joseph is sort of like that too, reveals himself in, like, obviously not as cool a way.
Yeah. And if you're a fast page turner, Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10 is a beautiful prophecy of the nation of Israel collectively. Someday, the light bulb will come on, and they will recognize their messiah as Jesus from Nazareth, born in the humble town of Bethlehem. And the bible says that when that national light bulb, that unveiling, that revealing, that connecting of the dots happens, that in a really good way, they will be absolutely devastated and humbled. And the bible says they will look upon the one whom they have pierced, and each of them will weep and mourn in their own tent, that there will be a national recognition of their savior.
Yes. You are the savior, the Mashiach, the one that we have been looking for, and, oh, boy, you came two thousand years ago once already. Oh, wow. Nationally, but then also it says they'll weep each one in their own tent individually. Oh, what an incredible day that will be.
And then according to Zephaniah three seventeen, it says that he will rejoice over them and calm all of their fears by singing a song over them, and he will forgive them of their iniquity. I forgive you. And we see that he already said that. When? As he was being nailed to the cross, father, forgive them.
They know not what they do. Oh, come on, y'all. You're preaching to me. Who has the mic? Yes, sir.
Yeah. One thing that I never noticed about their connection is both of them suffered but also became sustenance for their people, Joseph specifically for his brothers, and Jesus providing us deliverance Yeah. For our sins. So yeah.
Oh, I love it. Joseph provided sustenance for their bodies. Jesus provided sustenance for their soul. And today, we're gonna partake of the sustenance that Jesus provides by celebrating communion together. So you're already jumping ahead.
I was just thinking the last part when he shows them, who he is, It the picture that came to my mind was the last supper because Jesus at that point knew who was going to betray him and, like, going back to the pit and when his brothers wanted to kill him and did that. I know it's not like a straight parallel, but that's Right. That's what I see as kind of like a reversal. Like, he he wasn't he was forgiving. Like, I mean, he didn't he wasn't he didn't hold that anger that they had that same way.
That's the beauty of the literary technique of using types and shadows. We're able to read Joseph, look forward, and and think about Jesus and consider Jesus and see him in a new light. And we're able to see what what Jesus did, what Jesus went through, and it gives us greater insight retroactively into what god was doing in Joseph's heart, In the the beauty there and the the connection, they fill in colors and shadows of the portrait that god the father is painting for us of these characters. And the better the portrait, the clearer you can see and the better connection. And we've all experienced reading a book and then seeing the movie.
Now, not always is the movie as good as the book, but when you see the movie, it helps to fill in the shading and the characters and the relief and the depth of the portrait that the author or the director is trying to have come across. Let's look at this. Both Joseph and Jesus were dearly loved by their father, special, honored, favored. Both yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. All you people read my notes. Both Joseph and Jesus were given a position of stature and status and honor above the others. Both Joseph and Jesus, among the others, their status was not initially recognized and honored that the father had given them.
Both lived a blameless life. I'm not saying that Joseph was sinless, but what did Joseph do to earn himself getting beat up by his brothers and thrown into a pit? Nothing. What did Jesus do to deserve to be handed over and treated like a criminal? Nothing.
Both of them were sent by their father on a specific mission. I'm trying to to help you to see some of these things. The connections that you guys have made are, like, way better than mine. I love it. I also love that our format here at Tribe and our vibe of Tribe lends itself to you being an active, engaged participant in the digging in god's word.
If you are looking for a service where the person up here just spoon feeds and baby bird feeds you, then great fantastic. Great on them and great for you. Great. That's not what god has called us to or me to. I don't want to spoon feed you and treat you like a baby.
I want to see you grow in maturity and grow in maturity of being able to handle god's word. And when we do these things, like digging in together, what do what do you see? What parallel what connection can you make? That's not me making the connection for you. That's that that you're doing that, and I love to see that.
And I'm so proud of you for when you make those connections.
Brian, can I serve up a plate Yes? At the dinner table?
The
parallel I was seeing was when Jesus and Joseph both left their father's house and went to a place of servitude and and then worked up through serving miracles and prophecy. Joseph, you know, potentially saving the nation of Egypt and surrounding nations with the stockpile of grain and all of Jesus' miracles and then the prophecy that Joseph has to to see through that with the dreams and visions and
certain dates. I love it. I love it. And here comes another one. Send it right up here.
Types and shadows of Jesus, bible versus the chosen.
Yeah. Yeah. Seeing the chosen. Mhmm.
Yeah. Yeah. Gives you more you go, oh my gosh. It the bible is very good at making impressions upon you. But when you can put it in the vernacular of you understanding through seeing physical people Yeah.
It's it's very eye opening and moving.
Yeah. To see Peter's hair wet from the storm. You're like, yeah. Okay. That makes sense.
To see the dust on the disciples' feet, to see them cringe and cower when Roman soldiers walk by, like, oh, yeah. That's that's good. Now we have to be discerning, right, because the chosen is not canon, but you all know that.
The way the scenes set up in Genesis made me think of specifically I think it's at the end of Luke, but it's after Jesus has been crucified and then risen from the dead and the disciples are all, like, camped out in someone's house and they're just freaked out and they're all alone in this room. And Jesus walks in and says, it kinda is like, come close to me and don't be afraid and it's me and here's the nails in my sides and come touch me. And it just I think I was reminded of that because in this passage in Genesis, Joseph is like, hey, I'm here. I'm your brother. Don't be afraid.
Draw near to me. And there's just that moment of Jesus doing that for his disciples and a moment of fear for them and confusion after he's risen from the dead.
I love it.
Z. Woah.
Yeah. And there's only
11 disciples,
just like there's only 11 brothers.
Stop it now. Now y'all are preaching better than me. Stop it. You've been threatened my fragile ego with all this now I gotta come up with something really good here. Let's zoom in now on verse five.
Verse five. Joseph says, don't be upset. Don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was god who sent me here ahead of you. Now quick pause.
In in the the verses that we read earlier, Joseph makes it super duper clear that this was not the orchestration of, in any way, the brothers or even Joseph himself. But there was a bigger hand. There were bigger forces at work so that if his brothers ever got the idea in their head, like, hey. Good thing we sold Joseph as a slave because now look at us. Nope.
They'll never ever, ever be able to take credit for it in the same way that it is by grace that we have been saved, not through work, so that no man can, what? Boast. We don't get to take any credit for it. Is it Calvinism? Is it Arminianism?
Yes. Let's just weld them both together together on the anvil of god's eternal truth. Right? So Joseph says, it was god who sent me here ahead of you. Oh, there should be some more hyperlinks going off in your mind about proto Jesus.
I'm going to prepare a place for hello. I'm going ahead of you. She's doing a happy tippy tap up here. To preserve your lives. Underline that word preserve in your bible.
I'm going ahead of you to preserve your lives. Now I've scratched around at the definition of that word in Hebrew. That Hebrew word for preserve is where we get, in part, the English word messiah or the Hebrew word mashiach. It's not a one for one translation, but the root is the same. I was sent ahead of you in a way to be your savior.
And when you look at that definition of the word to preserve, it is a great English word that we are familiar with that captures the definition of the Hebrew word, to preserve, to keep, to to hold on to so that nothing leaks away. But all that was meant to be stored up is kept in its fullness for a future time or for a person. Preserved. That's the same root word for.
I have a different version. In my book, it says, send you ahead, sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives in a great deliverance. Wow.
Would you read that for us one more time, please? That's so good and rich and fantastic.
This is this is NIV. Thank you. To preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Wow.
There's a Hebrew word called Selah, which means to just stop and let what was just said sink in.
Oh, thank you.
Joseph didn't know god's plan until he saw his brothers stand before him. On the other hand, Jesus knew from an early age exactly what god's plan was for his life. Fun word study to do sometime is to look up that phrase, or that word realize in the story of the gospels because you'll see the disciples are usually not realizing what's going on and Jesus fully realizing the moment. Joseph finds himself here, and the dots are are only connected fully once his brothers walk into that royal chamber where he's sitting there as a magistrate. And Joseph was like, I can't believe it.
Full circle moment. Holy cow. Jesus, everything he stepped into, he knew what he was doing. Joseph was sent to Egypt to prepare the way to take care of his family's physical and material needs. Jesus takes care of not only those, but this is one of the many reasons that makes Jesus the better Joseph, is that Jesus takes care of all of our needs.
Salvation is found by Jesus and Jesus alone to give us new life. And that word that word life is zoe. Three words that could have been used there. Three. Count them.
A b c d e. Three. One is bios. That's do you have a heartbeat? The other is psueke, psychology.
Are you thinking, your chooser, your mind, will, and emotions? But there's a third kind of life that only can be imparted or given to us by God, and that is zoe, whole and complete, lacking nothing kind of life.
You know, what stands in my mind is Jesus, yes. Joseph, yes. But thinking about God, this is like a clash of the divine, the divinity of God migrating with the humanity of man. And notice how the brothers that did what they did which was we would consider to be not a good thing versus what Joseph who he was but yet the the unmerited grace and love of god, the unconditional love of god, not just blessed Joseph but the unconditional love of god also blessed the brothers that did the wrong and many times, we try, I think sometimes in the way that we have an idea about having a relationship with god, sometimes we have the tendency to lean on what you gotta make sure that you cross every T, make sure you. Every I in order that god can bless you but these brothers did something that was wrong and in spite of their wrongdoing, the unconditional love
of
god was still bestowed upon their lives which reiterates the fact that what you were saying earlier, our salvation is not predicated upon what we do or what we don't do but it is because of one thing and one person and that is the love that can only come from God himself.
Praise the Lord. Amen. In Romans, he says, it is his kindness that leads us to repentance. Joseph kindness demonstrated towards his brothers, sacks full of grain and their money back above and beyond super abundance. Jesus, forgiving his torturers in the moment and extending his gracious loving kindness to the generations like ripples sent out into the future that you and I and anyone with ears to hear and a soft heart and obedience like you mentioned earlier to receive his super abundant gracious kindness.
My gosh. Joseph had every right to the new younger brother, Benjamin, to be like, Benjamin, you get the blessing because you were the only one of the other brothers that were not a co conspirator. So I'm a bless you, Benjamin. But his gracious kindness poured over the brothers after the wickedness that they've done. After the wickedness in our heart, Jesus doesn't just dismiss, but he deals with our sin to remove it so that the legal requirements of the law can be satisfied and his super abundant favor can pour out
on us.
Okay. I'm like, I can't follow that, but I got him. So what the hyperlink for me was when Joseph wept so loudly that people could hear it through the walls. And the hyperlink was when the shortest verse in the Bible, Jesus wept. Right?
And the context of Jesus weeping was I think it's it's super deep. Like, oh, yeah, his friend died and everybody was sad and so Jesus wept with him. But I think it's deeper than that and I think it has to do with a, it came into, well, if you were here, our brother wouldn't have died. So, what up? Like, you're our best friend.
Like, why did you let my brother die? And I've been there. Oftentimes, we for the to is the resurrection and life. We're He asked Mary. The I am the resurrection and the life.
Do you believe me? And she's like, yeah. I believe you. So Jesus in his purpose and one person just realizing who he was as savior caused him to weep. I think he also realized that there's going to be millions of people throughout the ages that have no idea what he did for them.
But someday that they will, that that scripture in Zechariah you were talking about where they will finally mourn and weep because they didn't realize all this time who Jesus was and what he did for them. All these things are connected in the morning and the realization of who the savior is and that he doesn't owe us anything because he paid the price for our lives. Like, that's it. Like, we are just like the brothers. We don't deserve to have the riches of the glory of God and salvation.
Like, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
And that price was paid similar to Joseph, the proto Jesus, for a reunification of the family. I wrote this down in my notes. In the same way that Joseph brings the whole family back together, Jesus brings us back into God's family for renewed relationship and fellowship. And he knows that we have such chronic short term memory that he created an ordinance, a memorial event so that every time we corporately take to get take take part in this memorial event, we get to be reminded afresh of what Joseph did. You know, Joseph didn't go by Joseph in the palace administration.
I got a text from one of our viewers that his Egyptian name means savior. That because of that savior, we get to be brought back into his family. Cat, could I have the wireless mic, please? If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've probably partaken in communion at your church and there are lots of different ways to partake in the meal of communion, and this is how we do it here at Tribe. The Bible records that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he was in an upper room celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples.
The Bible records that during the meal, he took bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said, take and eat. This is my body which has been given for you. Then the Bible records that during the meal, Jesus took another cup, and there's a lot of beauty and symbolism behind the specific cup that he picked up. But he picked up this cup and he said, take and drink. For this cup represents a new covenant that I am making with you today.
That is ratified or confirmed, solidified in my life's blood. Then he used several phrases that everybody at the table would recognize as phrases that were used at a marriage proposal. When a young man would propose to a young woman at a dinner, he would pronounce his vows, and he would hand her a cup as he made these vows. If she received the cup and drank from it, it was her way of saying yes, and they were engaged. And then the young man would proudly stand up, and he would say, I'll not drink again from this cup until I drink it anew with you on our wedding day.
That's what the people in that upper room with Jesus were accustomed to hearing, but Jesus flipped the script. Remember types and shadows. And Jesus said, after taking at he said, after, take and drink. This is my life's blood which is poured out for you. He then said, I'll not drink again from this fruit of the vine until I drink it anew with you in my father's kingdom.
Behold, the cup
of
salvation, the cup of redemption, the cup of provision, the cup of eternal life, the cup of our Lord Jesus, the Christ. Lord, I ask that you would perform a miracle right here and now, that you would take these simple common elements and you would transform them into a sacrament, which is simply a means of grace where we can touch you by faith. So that as we partake of this meal today, we would meet with you in a special and unique way. And I hear the Lord just whisper to my heart. He says, hey, take a look at that at that verse one more time of what Joseph said.
Joseph said, I have been sent here ahead of you. There is nothing in this life, in this world that we will ever go through that Jesus is not the forerunner. No matter what pain or confusion or heartache or difficulty or whatever it may be, Jesus is our forerunner, and he was sent ahead of us. And I know that at times, it may really feel like you're the only one going through this, and you may feel all alone. That's a trick from that dirty devil.
But we can take comfort and solace and courage knowing that there's nothing that will go through that Jesus hasn't already gone through for us to prepare good things for us. So, Lord, thank you that you will meet us in this meal as we partake of communion together. We pray these things in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. So here's how we do communion at Tribe.
Not yet, but in just a moment, I'll invite Chris Baxter up. He's a member of our board of trustees. He's gonna help me serve communion this morning. And the way that it works is we'll start from the back. You can file in line forward, and it's an honor for me to be able to serve you the bread.
And then you step this way, and then you take the bread that you've received and dip it into the cup. And then you can follow your you can kinda follow around and file back into your seat that way. Now that's how we do communion uniquely here at Tribe, but universally, Paul gives us some instructions. There's a few people that are discriminated against for receiving communion. The first one is this, if you have not invited Jesus into your heart and made him the leader of your life, communion is not for you because you have nothing to memorialize or to remember.
It hasn't happened for you yet. The second person that is discriminated against from receiving communion, it's for your protection. The bible says that if you partake of communion either as a a lost person without a saving relationship with Jesus or if there's unforgiveness in your heart, the bible says that you are taking judgment upon yourself. Here's the good news. You can take care of both of those things before you come up to receive communion.
In your heart, fall to your knees. Receive the provision of the better Joseph. Jesus has been knocking at the door of your heart for years now, and you might have even been dating him. It's time to break up with all your other lovers and get married to Jesus, you and you alone and no one else. I trust you for salvation, and this gets to be your first communion.
How cool would that be? Second of all, the bible says, according to first John one nine, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us and to purify us from all unrighteousness. So if you have an unsettled account, say, Jesus, forgive me, and then you just be real specific. And then you get to partake in that that fellowship and in communion. Okay?
And there's no judgment here from us. If you abstain from communion for any reason. That's up to you. Right? I'm gonna invite Chris to come forward, and and then y'all can come from the back up.
Thank you for going ahead of us.
Just loud enough for your own ears to hear, would you lift up a prayer of thank you for who he is, what he's done
Just
meditate and talk about and speak of his goodness. Tell him in your first language, if that's English or Spanish or whatever. Just tell them in your first language. And then as those as you run out of those words, just let the language of your heart, the language of the spirit just come forth. Thank you, Jesus.
You. You're so good.
Jesus.
Thank you for providing. We love you, Jesus. Jesus, how we love you. Thank you so much.
Just take a moment longer.
Thank you.
As Brian was giving the illustration earlier of us being a this being like a family dinner, I was reminded of this I guess you'd call it a fable or like a secular parable of the the stone soup. Anybody familiar with that story? Okay. Well, then I'll walk you through it real quick. Essentially essentially, it's a story about a community that's very poor and needy.
And a wandering traveler comes into their midst and says, I'm hungry, give me something to eat. And they all say, we have nothing to offer you. And he says, oh, well, I can make you stone soup. And he takes out this stone from a little pouch, and he puts it in a cauldron of water. And they're like, that makes soup?
And he's like, bring me, like, somebody bring me an onion. And somebody like goes and finds an onion. Somebody brings him carrots, and somebody brings him, you know, all of these other ingredients. And they throw it all in the cauldron, he cooks it up, and makes this delicious soup. And they're like, woah, that's crazy that that stone makes such good soup.
And the the moral of the story is, you know, that you really do everybody has something to contribute. But when we get into this mindset of, I don't have enough or what I bring to the table is not enough to create anything of value, we end up just hoarding the little that we have and it's it's useless. So felt like
the
Lord brought that to mind to just illustrate two things. One of which is everything that you have, he has given you. And when we take the opportunity to bring our offerings back to him, God is able to do far more than what we as individuals would be able to accomplish with that. So that's one thing. And the other is just that our offering is a way for us to push back against the culture around us that says, you know, grab, take everything that you can and hoard it for yourself, and that's the only way that you're gonna prosper.
I just have seen so many times that God is faithful when we bring our tithes and our offerings into the storehouse to pour those things back out, on us and also in our community. So I wanna pray over our offering today. Father God, thank you. Lord, your word says that you long for a sacrifice of thanksgiving from us. Lord, far more than the dollar amount that we bring to you.
You long for us to come to you with thankful hearts. And, Lord, whether what we bring today is, an overflowing of abundance or whether it's, just a step of faith. We ask that you would just honor what we bring. Bless it. Pray that we would go to do the work of your ministry.
We love you. Amen. There's a couple ways that you can tithe. You can text, any dollar amount to 84321. See an illustration here.
And if it's your first time, it'll walk you through how to set that up. But after that, it's just like texting a friend. You can also give on our website, tribejh.com. It's a little giving tab or we've got a little box in the back by the saloon doors for cash or check if you still use real money. I have a couple announcements for things that are coming up.
The first is today, 6PM at the Ward Hotel. Oh, wait. Did I hold on. I have a flyer. There is at 6PM, there's a presentation.
We've got some flyers in the back as well. But this was a woman who was one of the hostages taken on October 7 over in Israel. Taken hostage by Hamas into Gaza. And she is just gonna share her story. And it's gonna be a really cool opportunity for us who are so so far away to get a perspective and hear her story, hear her just her testimony.
It's an an opportunity for us to honor her story, which is really cool, and and we'll get to learn. So that's at 6PM. It's $15. I think it'll be well worth it. The next is on October 12, tenth through the twelfth, Tribe is sending a team to Riverton for Foundations for Nations Harvest Festival that they do every year.
We're gonna be distributing clothing and food. We typically go there and go on a shopping spree for them at Walmart and help fill up their food pantry, which is gonna be really sweet. But they do this outreach every fall, and serve all of the kids in the community. If you've never been to Foundation for Nations over there, it's an incredible place. They are just a total beacon of light in a really dark, spiritually dark community, and walk into that place and you can just see that the Holy Spirit is really working through them.
So, I encourage you to go out. We've got a sign up sheet over in the back. Put your name down. Even if you can't come for the whole time, feel free. It's only about a two and a half hour drive over there.
So if you can come for any piece of that, that would be really cool. And any other last minute announcements?
Good job, Justin.
Call Brian back up.
Let's hear for Justin. Justin.
Stone soup, so good. Just before I pray for you, I wanna reiterate what Justin said. There's such a strong narrative that is pushed on our country and especially on this generation of of what's happening in Israel. And this woman's testimony goes a long way to dispel mistruth and untruth and half truth. And I would encourage you, set aside some time this evening to go and see this woman and hear from her mouth her side of this story.
Would you put that graphic back up and just leave it up until we're, all done here? But it's at the wart. While we were in church this morning, I got a text message that the event has sold out for seats, which is great, But there's still room enough for all of us to to stand around on the outside, and they're trying to get same venue, but maybe like a bigger ballroom or conference room or something. So the good news, it's sold out. The better news is they're still gonna make room for us and for anybody who wants to come.
So please get your lunch, get a nap, watch a little bit of football, and then come listen to this woman's story. Tribe has a beautiful reputation of supporting Jews in this valley and what they're going through here and all around the world. And so, please, I would I would really love to see a great showing of our family in support of of her and of the Jewish community here in this valley. With that being said, I invite you to stand up. Would that be alright if I prayed for you?
When we dismiss here this morning, I'm gonna invite Lee and Colleen to find their wave your hands. This is Lee and Colleen. Colleen looking like a super cute high school girl today. Right, Lee? Give her a squeeze.
With her little ponytail, her little hoodie, and golly. They if you find your way over find your way over to a a booth back there, if there's anything that you need prayer for, they would love to pray for you. I'm gonna pray a prayer of blessing over you right now. Receive it only if you wanna. Lord Jesus, thank you so very much for being so good to us.
Thank you that we could have our hearts anticipating a better Joseph. Thank you, Jesus, that you are the better Joseph, and you provide not only for our physical needs, but for the deep needs of our soul. Thank you that Jesus that Joseph's Egyptian name was savior, but Jesus, you are the savior, not only of a family of Israel, but of the entire world. Thank you for your great provision. We grab a hold of it by faith, and I command a blessing over each and every person that's here.
We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said, amen. I hope you have a great week. It's hunting season. May you get the brown down and fill that freezer.
We love you. And remember, you got this.
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