Transcript
This morning, I'd like to start like this.
Why don't I start like this?
Check this out. What if I started by telling you that I love you? I'm excited to sow the seeds of the Word of God into your life today. I pray that they make a difference. Today, I believe the word of the Lord is going to bring somebody a harvest. I believe somebody came to church today to hear what God is about to say.
A couple of things I want to say on our laundry list. If you're missing Pastor Erik and his family—Pastor has been blessed to be called to another assembly today to encourage two churches that are trying to come together. They believe, and we know, that he has a lot to say in that regard. He is insightful. He's anointed to preach to that. So they're trying to come together, and they asked him to come give his insights and his expertise and to bring his anointing. So we're praying for Pastor Erik—that as God uses him, he'll be a blessing to those two congregations who we believe God is trying to make one.
Also, additionally, we talked last week about these being hard times for people with regard to food. We have some provisions here at the church. If you know someone who's struggling, we have five bags in the conference room of ready-to-go provisions, and we're willing to do more. We also certainly support The Sharing Place. We have Finn come in—we'll have them back this fall. We've also been in collaboration and conversation with several of the congregations in our community, just seeing what we can do as a united effort to be a blessing in this season. So just know that we're prepared to do that. If you know of a need, we're prepared to do something—not everything—but we're praying, all right?
I believe the word’s going to bless somebody today. Let me just get this out of the way. Yesterday, or over the weekend, our couples ministry had an event. Do we have a picture of that? What do y’all think of that group? Their example of people who are trying to strengthen their relationships, strengthen their bonds—we thank God for our leadership in that ministry, and that offering continues to come.
Now, I know that the Colts are actively playing right now, so let me just address the elephant in the room. I know if I look around, I see you checking the score. They're ahead 13–7, by the way. I'm excited.
Do me a favor. God’s going to bless us today through the word. Would you invest in it? Would you hold your cup up before the Lord and humbly say, “Fill my cup, Lord, and let it overflow”?
It’s on the inside. You should know that it was always on the inside. The pearls—particularly the ones from God—are hidden. Something on the inside working on the outside brought about a change in my life. It’s on the inside. And that thing that’s on the inside—if you connect with it, if you find it, if you touch it, if you believe in it and cultivate it—God has given it an assignment.
Our sermon thought today is that your gift will make room for you.
Here’s what somebody came to church to hear today: Somebody—maybe not everybody—but somebody needs you. Somebody is waiting for you to find you. Something on the inside is what we’ll contemplate today with this thought: your gift has been assigned to make room for you.
Last week, Pastor Erik took us to Genesis 37 and introduced us to Joseph’s coat—the multicolored robe that his father Jacob gave him as a sign of favor, identity, and calling. We learned that your identity is your first garment. It’s prerequisite to calling. Nobody will do what they’re assigned to do until and unless they find out who they’re assigned to be. Identity is the first garment we all wear. No wonder the enemy fights us in that area.
Something God clothes you with before the world ever weighs in or gives their opinion. Pastor Erik also helped us see the tension that comes with favor. Joseph’s coat made him visible, and the visibility provoked jealousy. By the end of Genesis 37, his brothers stripped him of that coat, dipped it in goat’s blood, and threw Joseph in a pit.
Here’s the question that sets us up for today: What happens when the coat is gone? What happens when the external sign of favor gets stripped away? Does the favor disappear with the coat? Does the calling end? Has God forgotten about you?
In Genesis 39 today, we get the answer. The coat was merely external—but the gifts, the pearls—they are internal. The coat was what people could see, but the gifts—the actual anointing, the competence, the presence of God on Joseph’s life—those were woven into who he was. Those gifts didn’t disappear when the coat was taken. In fact, those gifts were about to be refined, tested, and seasoned in a way that would prepare Joseph for something far greater than what he ever imagined.
That’s true for somebody who showed up today as well.
Today, we’re talking about servanthood, gifts, and how God uses obscurity—those seasons when nobody’s looking—to add flavor to our favor.
Before we jump into Genesis 39, let me ask you something. Has anyone ever had anything ripped away from them? Maybe it was your job that gave you a pink slip, and suddenly the identity you built around your career was gone. Maybe it was a relationship—a spouse who handed you divorce papers—and the life you thought you were building just evaporated. Maybe you went to the doctor like me and had them say something negative about your health. Or maybe it was your mental stability—a diagnosis that brought anxiety or depression.
Maybe it’s something else, but what happens when the things you identify with get ripped away? You may start wondering: Has God forgotten about you? Are you a has-been? Are you washed up? Did you miss your shot?
Some of you—in that pit right now—are wondering if this is it. Maybe you’ve reached the top of the mountain and thought it would feel better than this. Are your best days behind you? Has God moved on without you?
If you don’t hear anything else, hear this: The pit is not the end. The pit is preparation. What’s being revealed in your season of loss is more valuable than what you lost.
Have you ever found anything great about yourself during a season of loss? The Bible says David came to Ziklag, lost his wives, his children, his property, and even the confidence of his men—but it was in that season of great loss that David found strength in the Lord his God.
The pit teaches us. If all the pit does is take things away, the pit wins. But if God uses the pit for revelation—if the pit shows you what’s truly yours—then the pit becomes a teacher, not a tragedy.
Joseph shows us that what gets stripped away in the pit was external, but what gets revealed in the pit was always on the inside.
Point number one: the coat was external, but the gift of God was internal. The coat was the visible sign of his father’s favor. It got him noticed—but it also got him thrown in a pit and sold into slavery. When the coat was gone, Joseph still had something: the anointing, the favor, and the gifting of God that had not yet been discovered.
Joseph went from wearing a coat of many colors to wearing a coat of many blessings. The first was visible but strippable; the second was invisible but unstrippable. Nobody could take off what God had placed within him.
We all get this coat. Not everyone has visible markers that make people notice, but all of us—even you—have been given gifts and anointing by the Father.
When Pastor Erik was preaching last week, I had a side thought: Joseph’s brothers were destroyed because they were consumed by what the Father gave Joseph. They couldn’t focus on or be grateful for what the Father had given them.Reuben had authority and inheritance. Judah would become the leader; the kings came through his line. Each brother had blessing, but they couldn’t see it.
They couldn’t see their own gifts because they were too busy resenting Joseph’s coat.
Proverbs 18:16 says, “A person’s gift opens doors for them and brings them before great people.” The question isn’t whether you have a gift—it’s whether you’re stewarding it.
Luther Vandross spent years singing backup for other artists. His voice added depth to someone else’s spotlight, but those years of faithful service weren’t wasted—they were developing a voice that would earn him eight Grammys. The gift was always there—it just needed seasoning.
Gifts come without repentance, but gifts without testing are dangerous. Favor needs flavor. Joseph had favor, but he didn’t yet have the seasoning that comes from service and testing.
Point two: gifts are discovered and refined in the confines of service.
Genesis 39:1–6 — Joseph was taken to Egypt. Potiphar bought him. The Lord was with Joseph, and he prospered. Potiphar saw that the Lord was with him. The Lord blessed everything Potiphar had because of Joseph.
The pattern is clear: the Lord was with Joseph; others could see it; and blessing overflowed to everyone around him.
When the Lord is with someone, things prosper. Success becomes a pattern, not an accident. The blessing overflows.
Joseph lost the coat of many colors, but now he wears the coat of many blessings—prosperity, favor, trust, and freedom. Faithfulness made the presence of God undeniable—not because he advertised it, but because God’s presence cannot be hidden.
Joseph didn’t wait for the platform. He didn’t sulk in the pit. He served faithfully where he was. Serving is stewarding your gift with excellence in someone else’s house while God prepares your own.
Joseph made Potiphar’s situation better. Potiphar prospered because of Joseph’s faithfulness. Sometimes before you can reach your summit, God may require you to help lift someone else to theirs.
That’s the kingdom principle. The world says, “Focus on your own success first.” But the kingdom says, “Use your gift to make others successful.”
The brothers wanted Joseph’s position without his process. Serving wasn’t a detour to destiny—it was the path.
Pastor Ken shares how his father-in-law, who cut grass faithfully for years, built trust and favor through excellent service. When health issues forced him to stop working, those he served kept paying him for years. That’s what favor will do—it makes room for you in ways you can’t measure.
Joseph went from the coat of many colors to the coat of many blessings.
Pastor Ken closes with an illustration about Sauce Gardner, the NFL player traded from the Jets to the Colts. Gardner said when he got the call, he ran around his house—because things can change in a day. He didn’t ask for a trade; he just stayed faithful where he was. Somebody saw his faithfulness and said, “We need him.”
God sees you, too. Even when others don’t, He’s preparing you. We often think we’re ready before we are—but God uses the process to make sure we’re seasoned for the blessing.
Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for seasons of loss. Thank you for the pit experience. We wouldn’t choose it, but we thank you for what it reveals. Thank you for obscurity, for faithfulness when no one else is looking, for seasons of backup singing and grass-cutting, for the unseen work that builds unseen favor.
God, I pray for the one in the pit today—the one who feels stripped and unseen. Remind them that You see them. That what’s being refined within them will be exactly what someone else needs.
Finish what You’ve started in us, Lord. Take us from the coat of many colors to the coat of many blessings. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Come on, everybody, let’s give God praise.
