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Israel was the Nation of God. They were hand picked by Him to be His people but many times their actions did not support that privilege. They chose to live a life that was a distortion of God’s desire. Because of that, they simply blended in and looked like every other nation around them. This was not God’s plan for them nor is it His plan for us. Because He paid the ransom for our sins, He desires distinction for His people.

Joshua the servant of the Lord died at the age of 110. After that the whole generation had died off, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. This generation did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the false gods of the pagan cultures they failed to drive out. They aroused the anger of the Lord and He gave them over into the hands of their enemies. They had strayed from God’s word…from their trust in Him and as a result His hand was against them, to defeat them just as He had sworn to them. They were in great distress and needed someone to rescue them. Enter, the judges.

Joshua the servant of the Lord died at the age of 110. After that the whole generation had died off, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. This generation did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the false gods of the pagan cultures they failed to drive out. They aroused the anger of the Lord and He gave them over into the hands of their enemies. They had strayed from God’s word…from their trust in Him and as a result His hand was against them, to defeat them just as He had sworn to them. They were in great distress and needed someone to rescue them. Enter, the judges.

When we hear the word rule several thoughts play through our minds. We think they are a good part of society as long as our lives are not hampered by them. And then in our human nature there is this desire to push the boundaries of rules. We also know that our world would be chaos without rules in place. So we live with them and often invite them into our lives. God thinks the order created by rules is vital for any civilization to function properly. As we continue our journey through The Story we will see the blessings that come from God's rules.

When we hear the word rule several thoughts play through our minds. We think they are a good part of society as long as our lives are not hampered by them. And then in our human nature there is this desire to push the boundaries of rules. We also know that our world would be chaos without rules in place. So we live with them and often invite them into our lives. God thinks the order created by rules is vital for any civilization to function properly. As we continue our journey through The Story we will see the blessings that come from God's rules.

When the curtains are pulled back and the characters assemble on stage for chapter four of The Story we find the Israelites in slavery. It has been over four-hundred years that they have lived in the land of Egypt, most of which have been in slavery. All around them is worship to pagan foreign gods. For these four-hundred plus years God has been silent. However, God has not forgotten His nation and His silence is about to come to an end. Today we watch as God reveals His power and majesty through one glorious act of deliverance!

Often life can be filled with disappointments. We start off with big dreams only to see them crash and burn or barley get fulfilled. Maybe that is our own doing and maybe we had no control over the way life has played out. The question for us all is how do we respond in the midst of disappointment? Joseph’s life was filled with the ups and downs of disappointment. Today he will teach of three lessons on how to respond when we are in the midst of disappointment.

Often life can be filled with disappointments. We start off with big dreams only to see them crash and burn or barley get fulfilled. Maybe that is our own doing and maybe we had no control over the way life has played out. The question for us all is how do we respond in the midst of disappointment? Joseph’s life was filled with the ups and downs of disappointment. Today he will teach of three lessons on how to respond when we are in the midst of disappointment.

In chapter 1 of The Story we saw that God has a vision: to be with us. God’s vision was, however, sidetracked by the entrance of sin into the world. The rest of the Bible is simply the story of God’s pursuit to get us back. God was not about to abandon His plan of doing life with us. He decided the best way to fulfill His plan was to establish a nation of people who would love God as much as He loved us. Through this special family the other nations of the world could witness God’s involvement and be drawn to Him as the one true God and ultimately have the opportunity to join His family. The message today is about how God began to build that nation.