October 29, 2023 | Zach Schlegel
Passage: Genesis 45:1-28
Over the course of days and weeks, we will go through a wave of emotions. Depending on our age, gender, or personality, we feel things differently. Emotions can be powerful. They may motivate you to take great risk or paralyze you with inaction. Emotions are not just something we experience but are a gauge of what we value. They result from an individual's evaluation of a situation or event. Since sin entered the world, sin has affected our emotions. That is why they are gauges not guides. They reveal what is going on in your heart and mind. We should not ignore them. However, they are not our authority - God is. His Word tells us what is true and false; good and bad.
Joseph’s family had gone through a wide range of emotions over the years - sorrow, anger, rage, hopelessness, bitterness, shame. While the brothers had repented, sin had left this family in shambles. How could this family be made whole again?
Sermon Outline
1. God’s providence frees us to forgive. Vs. 1 - 8
2. God’s forgiveness leads us to peace. Vs. 9 - 15
3. God’s promise resurrects hope. Vs. 16 - 28