Sunday Morning Worship Service

thank you thank you god bless you it is such an honor to be here this morning and to celebrate 64 years now i know i look like i was alive then but i wasn't bishop and i just have honored this church for many many years honor bishop and sister mccool your pastor and his wife the entire ministry team i'll have more to say about that tonight but i want to get into the word of god today and see what he has for us in this room invite your attention to genesis 37 verse number 18 and following genesis 37 verse number 18 and following so good to have my wife with me today not just on this trip but on the trip of life thrilled to be able to do life with her genesis 37 verse number 18 and when they saw him afar off even before he came near unto them they conspired against him to slay him and they said one to another behold this dreamer cometh come now therefore and let us slay him and cast him into some pit and we will say some evil beast hath devoured him here's what it's all about and we shall see what will become of his dream i want to talk to you for a little while this morning on the power of the pit turn to somebody near you smile so big they could see your tonsils or where they used to be and say the power of the pit let's ask god to anoint our time together in his word god i thank you for such a great meeting this morning i thank you for your presence that is in this room your word is already anointed but we pray that you will anoint our time together in your word god i pray that you will open our hearts our minds our spirits and you will do what only your word and your spirit can do we will be grateful to give you praise and honor and glory for that in your name we pray and everybody said amen why don't you put your hands together and give god praise for what he's about to do in this room the power of the pit leo toy store began his epic novel anna karenina with this sentence happy people happy families are all alike every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way the old testament family of jacob was dysfunctional with a capital d matter of fact they put the funk in dysfunctional jacob was a world-class liar deceiver cheat and it is absolutely true that what goes around comes around you will reap what you sow and so jacob got his just desserts on his wedding night he thought he was going to say his i do's to the lady of his dreams when in reality he promised to love honor and cherish the lady of his nightmares his father-in-law laban walked down the aisle not his sweetheart rachel but her less attractive older sister leah when he kissed the bride he unknowingly sealed his fate when he laid his lips on leah he ushered in a lifetime of drama tension and dissension jacob though was allowed to marry rachel as well so now he has two wives sisters yikes his father-in-law obviously determined to ruin jacob's family from the get-go then gave leah a handmaiden named zilpah and rachel a handmaiden named bilhah so zilpah and bill became jacob's concubines a concubine was a woman who lived with a man but had a lower status than his wife or in this case wives basically a mistress all jacob really wanted was to marry the love of his life go on a nice romantic honeymoon and live happily ever after and now because of his father-in-law he has two sister wives and two living lovers what could go wrong i mean really as time goes by leah zilpa and bilhah have no problem filling up the nursery while rachel wasn't able to even get pregnant one time in fact this trio of unwanted ladies produced a combination of ten sons before rachel ever conceived once finally rachel gave birth to joseph this bouncing baby boy the firstborn from the affection the obsession of jacob's affection became his pride and joy this was the only woman that he had ever wanted he was finally able to hold in his arms the child for which he had longed for so long rachel conceived again but in the process of giving birth to joseph's brother benjamin rachel died if jacob's family was dysfunctional with a capital d before rachel died afterwards dysfunctional is spelled in all caps if you're a bible scholar almost everything we know about jacob's family at this point is recorded after the death of rachel the family feud it becomes just a fever pitch and when reuben sleeps with bilhah basically to ensure that she cannot supplant rachel as the love of jacob's life the talmud which is a compilation of ancient teachings regarded as sacred by jews saw in the story an intention on the part of reuben to defile the slave girl of his mother's dead rival rachel and so to make her taboo to his father the scripture says that israel loved joseph more than all of his children because he was the son of his old age pain is a powerful connector have you ever been in an icu waiting room a loved one of yours is in critical condition you enter into that weighted room not knowing anybody in that waiting room but within days hours actually you're overhearing what the doctor says to them about their family members and you're either rejoicing or you are crying with them pain is a powerful connector at this point there is only one person in this entire family who loved rachel who grieved her loss who felt the pain of her departure as much as jacob did and that was joseph joseph and jacob found comfort solace strength in the relationship that they had with each other additionally joseph was the son of jacob's old age once leah started producing children the boys were just stair-stepped year after year the memories of those first ten sons were of a father who was deceptive and crooked and dishonest but joseph came along about five years before the family left iran five years old on the way to their homeland his daddy is transformed not in an altar but on the other side of a brook wrestling with an angel and god changes his daddy his name is changed from jacob which means supplanter it often is interpreted as one who seizes or or is a usurper we change his name from that to the prince with god and with man joseph is about five when this takes place so his brothers were trained by a supplanter joseph was trained by a prince his brothers were influenced to be carnal joseph was influenced to be spiritual his brothers were taught to win at any cost joseph was taught to count the cost same man different father same person different approach same individual different values joseph was the son of jacob's old age we see here an example of the battle between the flesh and the spirit the carnality that we all struggle with and spirituality and like jacob and esau joseph and his brothers were never going to see eye to eye because they had totally different orientations toward the things of god and jacob gave joseph a coat of many colors some think that maybe it was to indicate that he was the primary heir he was by far the child that he wanted he was the child that he loved for and his brothers hated him now we read this in scripture but there's more to that meets the eye than just his brothers didn't like him there's a whole drama behind this story in verse number 4 through verse 11 of genesis 37 we see the scripture says that his brothers hated him and could not speak peaceably to him they weren't just talking behind his back they couldn't say nice things to him then it says they hated him even more and then another time it says so they hated him even more and then one last time it says and his brothers envied him in the space of seven verses the scripture says that his brothers could not stand him let me tell you if you fall in love with the father and you are pursuing god-given dreams you will often be hated by small-minded carnal self-centered people if you are chasing a god-appointed purpose you will often run headlong into the vitriolic animosity of the people who have a small god and small dreams and small visions they aren't building the kingdom of god they're simply building their own kingdom and they will fight anything or anybody who gets in their way can i tell you god's kingdom always gets in the way of our kingdom always it's imperative that we serve a big god joseph's brothers hated him because their god wasn't big enough in their mind to take care of all of them the only thing we ever need to fight for is for the kingdom of god to advance everywhere and in every way possible because my god and your god is more than enough to provide for every effort around the world to increase his kingdom god's hand isn't short his bank account isn't low his reservoirs are not depleted paul wrote it this way in philippians and my god shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory matthew wrote it this way but seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these other things shall be added unto you when you have a big god you don't have time to fight the efforts of others to expand god's kingdom don't fight partner don't fight pray don't fight encourage don't fight support but when you have a small god all you have is time all you have is fear all you have is criticism i stepped in this pulpit today to encourage you to serve a big god to be a joseph to say i've got a dream it's not my dream it's god's dream that he gave to me and i'm gonna support everybody else that's got a dream in their lives i can tell you how big your god is if you tell me the size of your dream people with small dreams have a small god but people with big dreams know that my god is more than enough he can supply all my needs he is my el shaddai he always looks after me jehovah jireh he is my god come on and give him praise in this room and so jacob sent joseph to shechem to check on his brothers shechem is about 50 miles away jacob wasn't totally heartless while he totally only wanted joseph as a son the others were his flesh and blood and he had reason to be concerned about them being in check them if you got more than one kid they always don't always do the right thing jacob had a couple of boys in shechem one time genesis 34 that says that he uh they deceived an entire town and destroyed in the entire town and now they are right back in that location and so jacob is a little concerned but what i want you to see in all of this is that joseph is trying to find his brothers but he cannot locate them genesis 37 verse number 14 says now a certain man found him and there he was wandering in the field if you think because you've got a big dream from god and you've got direction from god that you'll always know where you're going and what you're doing can i help you cast your reality check today there's going to be times that you you've got a big dream and you're doing what dad told you to do but you're still wondering in the field but a certain man found him and gave him direction now this direction ended him up in a pit but a certain man gave him direction ken gurley in his profound book the point to low points writes that whenever scripture speaks of a certain man our ears should perk up for this phrase often describes a heavenly appearance or an angel or maybe even god years ago lloyd john ogilvy wrote a book entitled the autobiography of god he asserted that if you want to know god you should look at the parables jesus told and when jesus described a certain man in one of these stories he was actually describing god this phrase a certain man is found 32 times in the king james bible two-thirds in the old testament one-third in the new testament and the first mention of a certain man is found here in the story of joseph i don't think that's coincidental i think that it is providential to an uncertain thank you to an uncertain joseph a certain man comes now joseph's story is totally different than his great-grandfather abraham his grandfather isaac and his father jacob totally different god talked to all three of them but joseph outside of the appearance of a certain man if this is a sign from god and his dreams god really didn't speak to joseph we have no evidence of that but i believe that joseph would have agreed with the sentiments of c.s lewis when he wrote i believe in christianity as i believe that the son has written risen not only because i see it but because by it i see everything else from his birth to his death god's hand of guidance direction and provision can be seen at every stage of joseph's life i submit to you that wherever you are in your life i got a feeling that many people in this room from the start of march 2020 to today may say well things are definitely not the way i thought it was going to turn out i mean you talk about god being a colossal jokester i mean really for years we talked about how great 2020 was going to be oh 2020 vision i mean it's going to be great it's going to be awesome and then we get to 2020 and here it is you think it's bad for you it was horrible for me our theme for our church in 2020 was walking in memphis we didn't walk anywhere we were on lockdown we had a back to church sunday during the middle of 2020 thinking man we're going to cut we have the biggest outbreak of covert during that i think god laughed at me during the whole time but i've got to tell you that god is totally in control even when you don't see it even when you don't understand it he is there i submit to you that one day you will look back and it will feel as if you were an arrow the whole time and you were in god's bow and he released you and you flew directly to the intended target as i look back at my life i realized that every time i thought that i was being rejected from something good i was actually being redirected to something better i'm sure we've got some bow hunters in this place if you put the arrow in the bow if the bow could talk if the arrow could talk the arrow would say we're moving the wrong direction we're going backwards here god i know he's saying i'm an arrow but i'm going the wrong direction but the further you go back the faster and further you can go forward it's not a setback it's a set up by almighty god it is god setting you up for what he intended for you the entire time if you're if god's taking you on a roller coaster i want to tell you you meet the hype requirement he knows you can handle it amen and so they see him coming and they conspire to kill him i've got one other brother he's an older brother if you looked on as we were growing up i'm sure it would look like we were trying to kill each other but i don't think either one of us really ever wanted to kill each other maybe hurt them real bad but never killed them they conspired to kill him and they said look this dreamer or master of dreams is coming let's kill him and we're going to see what becomes of his dreams reuben says no let's not do that let's throw him in a pit so they threw him in a pit they threw their own flesh and blood in the pit and then they set down to have a meal these are not good guys i mean you know it's all of the day's work i think i want some barbecue ribs and baked beans i mean joseph's over there crying he he's saying hey guys that let me let me out of here and they are eating right there then they lift up their eyes and they see they can make some money off of joseph and say well let's not kill him let's make some money let's do something and so they sowed him into egypt he he basically lost his inheritance there's not a tribe of joseph he was sent packing he was we talked about rodney in another country's jail he there was no hope for him he he was gone they took his coat they dipped it in blood they deceived the deceiver another time and jacob said i'm gonna go down to my grave in mourning and and and he pretty much did this has got to go down on the worst day in joseph's life betrayed by his own flesh and blood who genuinely desired to kill him they wanted to slit his throat but they decided to take some pocket change instead james russell lowell said it profoundly when he said truth forever on the scaffold wrong forever on the throne yet that scaffold sways the future and behind the dim unknown standeth god within the shadow keeping watch above his own god was orchestrating and directing each and every step of this painful process i'm sorry i know this is an anniversary celebration but i felt so heavily in my spirit to come and tell you that god is orchestrating and directing each and every step of your painful process if it came to you it went through him you need to cash out reality check oh there are some days i don't want to i don't want to buy that i don't like that but if it comes to you it went through him therefore he is directing your steps if joseph could have just known where the pit was going to lead him if he could have imagined how this pain was going to develop him if he could have just realized how this trial was going to change him i believe that instead of crying out from the pit for help he would have been saying hey hey hey put your ribs down a moment brothers come over here and look at me take a really good look at me look at my face right now because the next time you see me you won't even recognize me the next time you won't even know who you're looking at i know i'm just 17 years old right now but in 13 years i'm gonna be elevated to the second most powerful person in the most powerful nation of the world and roughly nine years after that you're gonna stumble into my throne room begging for food you're not gonna recognize me oh i'm gonna recognize you i'd recognize you a mile away because small-minded people never change petty people never change spiteful people never change vindictive people never change they just stay the same wallowing in their fear and their hopelessness and their criticism but when you lift your eyes after you've been bowing in my presence you will not recognize me you won't recognize me then you won't recognize me later even after numerous conversations and interactions even after sharing a meal together you won't recognize me until i tell you who i am it's not the egyptian attire it's not the palace it's not the throne room it's it's the pit it's the pit because this pitch you threw me in is going to grow me it's going to stretch me it's going to develop me it's going to change me into a totally different individual that i am today oh i can't lead egypt right now but you give me 13 years of pain you give me 13 years of process you give me 13 years of refining and stretching and development take a look at me right now because you will not recognize me in 20 years while serving as a captain in the red army during world war ii alexander sozenitzin was arrested and sentenced to eight years in the gulag you know what his crime was he criticized joseph stalin in a private letter in his memoirs he wrote bless you prison bless you for being in my life for they are lying upon the rotting prison straw i came to realize that the object of life is not prosperity as we have been made to believe but the maturity of the human soul thank you pitt thank you process thank you pain that's why paul had the audacity to write in everything give thanks you want to know what the will of god is for your season right now he said for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you in everything but pastor you have no idea what i'm going through i know i don't and you don't have any idea what i'm going through but i do know the scripture says if it came to me it went through him therefore i can lift my hands in any situation and say lord i give you thanks you are in direction of my life it may seem like the most painful part of my life but you're making me who you want me to be you see this story isn't about joseph and it's not about jacob this story is all about god truth forever on the scaffold wrong forever on the throne yet that scaffold sways the future and behind the dim unknown standeth god within the shadows keeping watch above his own i believe in christianity as i believe that the sun has risen not only because i see it but because by it i see everything else at the end of the day our story is not about you and it's not about me it's about god and it's about that waymaker that miracle worker that promise keeper that light in the darkness my god that is who you are because even when i don't see it you're working even when i don't feel it you're working you're never stop you never stop working [Applause] oh my goodness this is not the first message i'd ever want to preach anywhere to first time being in the church because some of you are looking at me saying i don't know you and you've lost your mind how in the world can the pit be what we celebrate i challenge you to flip forward in your bible get to joshua 24 way after the children of israel have left egypt and all they have with them are the bones of joseph oh there's there's a whole other story there because he he always told him like you you make sure my bones go i know they're beating you black and blue right now but you're coming out of here make sure my bones go joshua 24 says in the bones of joseph which the children of israel had brought up out of egypt they buried at not with grandpa and grandma not with your mom and dad not not where rachel was no no no no check him why in the world joseph would you want to be buried where the pit was at because my life's been defined by that pit the certain man put me on a journey that led me straight to the pit but if i'd never gone to the pit i'd never wound up in the palace i was just the son of a nomadic tribal herdsmen how in the world could i have wound up where i am bury me in shechem bury me there i'm closing i absolutely love to attend musical events i can sing but i can't play anything i'm not i'm a cool bishop i can't play spoons and everything that's got a name i can't do it but i love musical events and there's something that that happens in almost every professional concert that i've ever attended it's not announced it's not in the program you just have to know that it's available it's just that it's available it's not a guarantee i've been in concerts where it didn't happen because people didn't cooperate well and it didn't happen typically here's what happens the artist will save their very best most popular songs to be performed during this segment of the concert if need be if this portion of the concert isn't played the artist's signature pieces will not be performed the songs that you came to hear will remain silent the ones that you paid money to hear this guy sing it won't even be performed the crowd will walk away disappointed here's how it works the artist comes to the end of the regularly scheduled show takes a bow and walks off to the stage but the crowd in the know they keep cheering that the house lights are down the artist is off the stage but the crowd keeps clapping the uninitiated might wonder what in the world is going on this show's over let's go home but but the the applause continues to build because there's a whole lot of people in the concert hall that understands this is not the end this is simply the encore there are times in our lives when everything is dark and the music has stopped and it feels like god has walked off the stage of our lives but i simply came today to tell you this is not the end this is simply the encore if it's dark and you can't hear the music and you don't know where god's at keep clapping keep praising in everything give him thanks because there is power in the pit power to grow us power to change us power to make us who he wants us to be why don't you stand to your feet if you're comfortable doing this from the front row of the back row why don't you come around the front if you're not comfortable pray right where you are you you may not be in a situation where you feel like i've i've gone through a pit but if you haven't you will [Music] i think what god's trying to do in my life is grow me up help me be a little bit more mature because often i'm just a big baby often i'm in the back seat saying god are we there yet [Music] are we there yet are we there yet any of you that have ever had babies understand from the moment our boys arrived they never went hungry [Music] but my word if you're five seconds late on getting that little baby it's nourishment it screams it pitches a fit like boy mama's already taking care of you he's she's always done that she's just getting things lined up you've never gone but i do the same thing i pitch a fit i scream i act like god's never done anything for me when i'm in the pit and god the whole time of saying child just chill out we're on a long journey we got to get you a long way just relax in me bishop several years ago i was really struggling i was in new york i was struggling god was taking us on a journey one day god asked me he spoke to me just like this he said what would you do if you flew home to memphis and bishop bob mccool picked you up and said steve i'm going to take you someplace really nice today i said well i'd buckle my seat belt and i'd just enjoy the ride he said well why don't you do that with me [Music] there's power in your pit god's not a child abuser he's not into waste and pain but sometimes the only thing that'll grow us up is the pain of the process and the difficulty why don't you lift your hands all over this place and allow god to download this word into your spirit not just in your brain but into your spirit god there's power in our pit i personally think that you directed him to the pit and god there are times in our lives that you direct us to difficulty and hard times and trials because he knows we need to be more than just the spoiled child of a nomadic herdsmen we we are destined to set on the throne but he's got to grow us up god let us just buckle our seatbelt and enjoy the ride let us keep clapping in the middle of the the space between the concert and the encore knowing that the very best is yet to come come on talk to the lord in this room talk to the lord in this room