Nobody likes it when things don’t go their way, right? Sometimes it’s even easy to try and blame God for the things that happen! In today’s message, Pastor Mike reminds us that God uses the pain and struggles in our lives for our betterment! That doesn’t mean he’s sitting on a cloud, throwing little rocks of misfortune at you because you don’t pray enough. But it means that throughout the pain in our lives, He is still with us. God wants to help us through it to bring us closer to Him!

Have you ever had to rehearse a speech or maybe a presentation? Why did you have to do that? Was it to develop a better appreciation of the topic? Or, was it instead to ensure that the correct points were coming across to your audience? Pastor Mike speaks about Joseph speaking carefully to his brothers in today's message. He did this to bring them to a point where they recognized and confessed their sin! Joseph wasn’t angry because he knew God used them to position him where God wanted.

In today’s message, Pastor Mike continues discussing how God uses struggles in our lives to bring us closer to him! See, all works come from sin. Even if it’s not your sin, the problem arises when someone sins. God can use those struggles to identify to that person that their sin has consequences! It’s easy to think that this means God is responsible for our lives works. But is God the one who is creating the battle? Or maybe, He is only using it?

Has it ever felt like God was punishing you? Maybe something unexpected happened, or something went wrong in your life? Is that a punishment? In today’s message, Pastor Mike asks if you’ve ever had a moment like that. And begs the question, “why?” God is a lot of things, but unjust isn’t one of them. It’s important to remember that by default, we are fallen and deserve consequence! Through Jesus, we can be redeemed, so if we act in a way that compromises that redemption, why shouldn’t he stop it?

Have you ever had a pet dog? If you have, you probably know what it’s like to be loved unconditionally! Sure, you might not always just be happy with dogs, but you never doubt their love for you, right? Weirdly, that’s pretty similar to God’s love. In today’s message, Pastor Mike reminds us that no matter how much we fail and fall short, God will always love us! While sometimes we might feel disappointment, fear, or even anger with God, that never means he stops loving us!

Have you ever had a nickname? Where did it come from? What did it mean? Joseph was given a special name too! By the Pharaoh himself! In today’s message, Pastor Mike goes into detail about the name Joseph was given by the Pharaoh, and how the name meant that God’s will was done in and through Joseph’s life. Isn’t that incredible? The Pharaoh was a God in his own eyes. We all need to strive to live lives that say “God’s will is being done in and through my life” just like Joseph did.

It’s easy to get scared of spreading the Gospel. “What if they hate me?” “What if they think I’m insulting them? “What if I do more damage than good?” In today’s message, Pastor Mike reminds us that the reason we want to share the Good News with these people is that we care about them, not how they feel about us. When you remember the eternal consequences of their lives, doesn’t it motivate you to share guaranteed salvation with them? The best way to do that is to keep your eyes on Jesus.

Have you ever found yourself feeling like your job or even your life isn’t going anywhere, or that it’s getting repetitive? In today’s message, Pastor Mike speaks about bringing the sharing of the Gospel into our work. And how, if your goal is to do God’s will instead of yours; you’ll find your job and even your life to be more fulfilling! But that might not always mean directly spreading the gospel at work. Sometimes it just means showing God’s unconditional love and patience with your coworkers!

You’ve heard the saying, “Patience is a virtue”, and you might even believe that to be true…as long as it’s someone else having to exercise patience. There aren’t a lot of people who get excited about having to be patient, especially when they’re in a tough spot. You probably haven’t been in a position like Joseph, but as you’ll hear in Pastor Mike’s teaching today, Joseph was patient. You’ll hear about Joseph’s reliability in the responsibilities he had in jail as well as his constant dependency on God.

Joseph was living kind of a hard life. Hated by all of his brothers, sold into slavery, and falsely accused of rape. Just that would be bad enough. He meets a guy in prison who had access to the king, who he helps out. The guy promises to remember him…and doesn’t. But it’ll become clear from Pastor Mike’s teaching that Joseph doesn’t become angry or bitter because he’s looking to God for his hope. If you feel like you’re in a spot like Joseph was, he’s showing you the way to not just survive, but thrive in your situation.