The story of Joseph is very familiar to us all. However, when we study his life for application to the church and the members, it comes to new life. The first lesson, that of character, gives us a glimps into how the church is to respond to temptations.

Genesis 38 is a difficult Chapter to preach through. The story interupts the story of Joseph and picks up on the story of his brother Judah. As we study this section, it is important that we keep God's transcendent perspective in mind. God used Judah to keep the line of promise pure, though there are many mistakes made along the way. Nothing that has been done by you or your family that cannot be undone through repentance. Judah's life reveals that fact.

We can't understand the sufferings of life without a sovereign perspective. In this sermon we examine the betrayel of Joseph for God's purposes. The brothers did it to Joseph, the Hebrews did it to Jesus, we can expect the unfaithful in the church to do it to us. One thing is clear, we are to remain faithful, allow the work of the pain and suffering to do its work to grow and mature the church in order that it may continue to preach and teach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we begin studying the life of Joseph, we begin by introducing the purpose of Joseph's life. Israel and his sons were to carry on the promised seed, the seed of the New Testament church. The purpose of Joseph's life was to suffer at the hands of his brothers, yet it was to save those very same brethren that persecuted him. Joseph was faithful to his unfaithful brothers.
We can learn a lot from this as a faithful church, to those who are in the church that are unfaithful. The remnant must remain faithful, there will come a time of spiritual famine, the faithful church will have the word of God to feed those who had been unfaithful.

Jacob had problems his whole life. When he was called to go back to the promised land, we would think that all Jacob's problems would have been over and he could reap God's blessings. However, on the journey back, his beloved Rachel died, his oldest son Rueben had relations with Jacob's wife, and his father Isaac died shortly after Jacob finally got back to the promised land. Added to this was the fact that chapter 36 lists the wealth, increase and the power of Esau. Why does God give us problems? Why did God bless the line of Esau? This sermon helps give us part of the answer.

In this fourth sermon on the current spirit of the age, we look at the woke, or the neopagan worldview compared to the Biblical worldview. Although we have engaged in this battle for years, this last three years has revealed that, by in large, the church has failed in her task of defending the faith. We are to be the salt and light to the world and that requires us to be faithful to the word of God. Without the faithful teaching of the world on a dailing basis, our youth don't have the knowledge base to fall back on in order to battle against the spirit of the age. We have a big work ahead of us.

As we continue to examine the current spirit of the age, we examine Paul's warnings to the Colossians regarding empty philosophies. We are facing three philosophies combined to become neoPaganism. These philosophies are Marxism, Postmodernism, and Critical Theory, these three concepts combine to become what is called the religion of "woke".

In this second episode, dealing with the spirit of the age, we examine the starting point for analyzing the zeitgeist. It has to be from a standpoint of the word of God. Everything is answered by the Word. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were tempted by the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life. The same holds true with the temptation of Jesus in the desert. These are the same temtpations that will come after man, Satan has no other strategy. If we have put on the whole armor of God, then we are able to withstand the evil day, the day that we too are tempted.

In the next few episodes, we are going to examine the concept of the spirit of the age. Every age has a driving spirit behind it, thats soul purpose is to usurp the word of God. We are to put on the full armor of God, utilizing the word of God in order to bring every thought into captivity to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This podcast is an introduction into this concept.

When Jacob was fearful of being killed by the surrounding pagans, God visited him and told him to go back to Bethel. When the pagan culture looks to overwhelm the church, we too are go go back to the word of God, get refreshed and renewed. The first thing Jacob did was to repent, then got rid of all the pagan idols. This is a sign of true renewal/revival, the word of God will change the culture, the culture will not change the church.