Category: Notices

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News Notices Teaching

The Queens Funeral Reviewed

Many, many people watched the Queen’s funeral yesterday.  Let’s use it as an opportunity to get to know others better, and when we can, to talk about Jesus.  We can get to know others better by asking ‘Did you watch it?  What did you think?’  People will have their own views about the Queen’s funeral – and we shouldn’t fall out over that.  But hearing what they say will be a great chance to get chatting and know people better.

These chats might be a way for us to talk about Jesus.  We can talk about the good aspects of the sermon (which was better than we expected!)  The Archbishop spoke about grief for the Queen’s family, he spoke about gratitude for the Queen’s life, he spoke about the hope of glory.

Grief – death is a time of grieving, a time of sadness.  It is right to grieve when a person’s death stops us seeing them anymore.  This should always be remembered at funerals.

Gratitude – the Archbishop said that the Queen had been an unusually good leader because she followed Jesus’ example.  Jesus said that he “came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Glory – the Archbishop correctly said: “Christ rose from the dead and offers life to all, abundant life now and life with God in eternity.”  And “Christian hope means certain expectation of something not yet seen.”

When I spoke with someone this morning about the funeral, I remembered this line from the sermon: Jesus does not tell his disciples how to follow, but who to follow

Joel Edwards (Vicar)

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News Notices Special events

Up and coming Events: Pray for the Queen

Everyone is welcome to our special church service on the long bank holiday weekend for Queen Elizabeth’s jubilee.  In the Bible, God tells us to “pray for kings and all those in authority”.  God is the ultimate authority and so we will be obeying his instruction by praying for Queen Elizabeth and others in authority.  We hope to see you at Dagenham Parish Church on Sunday 5th June at 10.30am

The Queen 2022 A0

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News Notices

Anxiety

These notes are based on a talk by Andrew Nichols at Oak Hill Theological College.

Anxiety

Anxiety is on the rise because of covid, because of social media, because of Ukraine war, because of rising energy bills.  But there were always plenty of things that people were anxious about.  People are anxious about money, children, health, relationships with others, relationship with God, visas, where will I live.

What is anxiety?  I am anxious when I think something bad is going to happen to someone or something I care about and knowing that affects me somehow.

Every human experiences some kind of anxiety.  Not all anxiety is bad – we should care when a loved one goes to hospital or when a church leader resigns.  Paul says ‘don’t be anxious’ but uses the same word about the churches he is ‘anxious’ about.

Anxiety affects the whole of me – my soul and body.  I feel anxiety in my body.  Where do I feel it?

We can change some of the symptoms of anxiety at the body level.  The headache, palpitations, tummy troubles.  These come from adrenalin.  Beta blocker drugs can block these.  But that has not cured anxiety.  It may be worth doing.  It may help us address the underlying causes without the distraction of physical symptoms.  Other drugs are often used – like alcohol – which may numb things.  But like all drugs alcohol has side-effects.  If your alcohol intake is concerning you or people who know you are concerned, then you’d be wise to explore ways back up that path.  The fact that people go to this extent to deal with it, shows how powerfully affecting anxiety is.

Anxiety comes from our thinking.  So talking therapy – used to be called counselling – that can help.  Are the things we are worrying about worth worrying about?  Will worrying make any difference?  Can we address those worries?  If your worries are about money, sitting down – perhaps with a friend – and looking at the finances, the budget, can help because your understanding of the issue is clear.  But these don’t get us to the depths that scripture takes us.  The Bible says God will use all things to make us more like Jesus.  How will God use things that make me anxious to make me more like Jesus?

Anxiety can affect our social lives.  Choosing to conceal anxiety from others, we end up isolated from others.

The Big Bible picture

Do we want to be cured of anxiety?  Anxiety might be considered part of the course of life.  No-one ever gets to be completely free from anxiety.  We want to be free from the crippling anxiety.  But normal anxieties: It is a healthy reaction in a dangerous world.  Perhaps anxiety is good and healthy?  The world says we’re animals who’ve learned to run away from predators.  An antelope see a lion, the adrenalin surge enables it to run fast and breath fast.  Anxiety is simply understood in terms of fright then flight or fight response.  Those things happen in us.  But more is going on.

Think about how anxiety is described across the whole Bible story.  In the beginning, there was no fear.  At the end, there will be no fear.  In the present stage of God’s plan, fear and anxiety mark our lives.

In Creation, we were made for relationship with God.  In Eden, fear and anxiety and worry are unknown and unneeded.  Why need to worry – they are in a beautiful place, they have each other, they have the constant company of their creator.  God created us with eyes, ears and all senses to appreciate things around us – including enjoying God.

But early on in the Bible story, we become separated from God and become afraid of God.  Adam said, ‘I hide because I was afraid’.  We have many threats in life – failure, pain, sickness, broken relationships and death.  There seems so much to worry about, so anxiety seems inevitable.  Most of all, death.  If we are aware that we will die, no one can say to us: cheer up, it won’t happen.

We are surrounded by powers greater than us: human authorities, satan, death, other people who keep conflicting with us.  The senses God gave us can see these things going wrong.  The senses made to thrill us with him now present us with evidence that we are in a threatening world.

But God comes alongside us and redeems us addressing the problems created by sin and curse.  Every one of our external enemies is weaker than our God.  We are safe from all external threats and enemies, even from sin and from death.  The eyes that he created can be opened again to see him in his majesty and in his humanity coming to save us.  And he promises a paradise restored.  There will be nothing to worry about in the new creation.  The enemies are still there, but they do not have a future.  We have in our possession by the grace of God, the best response to any sort of anxiety.  The news of Jesus.

How God uses our anxieties

Our anxieties act as a reminder to us that we are still in the corrupted world.  The Bible tells us that the solution lies in dealing with the greatest problem – sin, separation from God and death. Everything else is like a sticking plaster over that.

So don’t stop in thinking anxiety can be good as a motivator or that beta blockers and CBT can reduce it.  We are grateful to God for the help from drugs and talking therapies.  But the gospel tells us that the real issue is sin, separation from God and death.  The gospel reminds us of help for today and bright hope for tomorrow.  God gives anxious situations not just to develop fight and flight responses – so we survive – but that we learn to call on him and so really live.

  • Anxiety can be an alarm that wakes us up to turn to him and trust in him.
  • Sometimes God reduces our anxiety – teaching us a better sense of how great and powerful he is.
  • Sometimes he gives us better things to worry about.
  • Sometimes he shows us anxious people alongside us – so we can learn to be less self-preoccupied and learn to help them.
  • Sometimes God makes no difference to our anxieties, except that we are talking about it.
  • Sometimes the anxiety reminds us that we are in a broken world.

 

 

 

Some Bible passages

‘Do not be afraid’ is the commonest command in the Bible – not ‘love me’ nor ‘have faith’.  God knows we live in a scary world.  He comes close and without losing patience, says again and again and again – do not be afraid.

  1. Psalm 46

V1 is not ‘he is a help FROM trouble’ but ‘help IN trouble’.  If the whole world collapses, if the relationships on which we rely seem scarily fragile.  If our health feels like it is fading. God’s people need not fear – he is an ever-present help IN trouble.  If he can keep us safe whilst the mountains fall around us, then it is ok for the mountains to fall around us, because we will be safe.

 

  1. Psalm 131

Like a weaned child – full and content, not anxious about where the next meal comes from.  In a world where so much is unknown, we can be less concerned.  There are things we can’t understand, let alone control. We are always being invited to worry about things that we can’t understand and about which we have no control.  We need to allow the Lord to worry about those things he is in charge of – know the difference between his responsibility and my responsibility.  We often try to take on things that only he can do.  I can’t save you.  I can’t make you like me.  I can try to love you and I can seek forgiveness when I get it wrong.  Knowing what are my concerns and what are for God to be concerned about is a helpful way to deal with my anxieties.  What are the underlying concerns that reflect this misapprehension?

 

  1. Matthew 6

There are two possible places to put our trust – serving God or serving money.  But serving money continues to grow our anxiety – what happens if we don’t have enough or it gets taken away.  Money is not personal – it makes no promises.  But God makes promises to care for us.  God the creator is better one to trust than money – and he calls himself our Father.  And he is a Father who knows how to give his children what they need.

 

 

  1. Philippians 4

Paul is full of joy about the difference that knowing Jesus makes.  So he doesn’t just say ‘do not be anxious’ nor ‘you’re clearly not praying enough’.  He says ‘the Lord is near’ then tells them to pray.  Present your requests to the Lord who is near.  We can look at any fear in my life and say ‘Jesus look at that, I’m scared, it feels scary.  What will we do about it?’  Jesus has feared facing death.

How do we love God in our anxieties?  And care for others in their anxieties?

What am I aware of?  What am I aware of that indicates anxiety?  The symptoms?

What are the things that make me afraid?  Rejection by others?

Why is that a fear – what am I afraid of?

What about God addresses this fear?

Think about his sovereignty – in everything –  not just in the generalities.  We need to make the connection to the specifics in our lives.    He is not afraid to open an envelope – he was there when the note was written.  He is sovereign over the surgeon and the knife tomorrow.  He is sovereign, knowing about the person I’ve lost touch with.  He know about the future.

We are frightened when there is too much information and we don’t know how to decide. He can give us wisdom.

What can we ask for from God?  Please help me to remember that I am safe in your care when I speak to the person I’m afraid of.

Who might help me?  Others may be able to point to parts of the Bible I haven’t read recently.  Be in the habit of sharing your anxieties with others.  It makes it easier for others to share their own fears.

Remember God’s intention may not be to remove my anxiety but to use my anxiety to draw me to himself.

Take others’ anxieties seriously – they are humans in a scary world.  Seek to understand why they are afraid.  Don’t brush people off who have expressed the vulnerability of admitting fears.  What do they fear and why is it scary to them?  Continue to show interest and ask them about things – pick up on the details.

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News Notices

Email News 07/04/2022

This Sunday we will have our first Sunday Lord’s Supper in a long time.  If you do not want to share it because of concern about Covid, you will welcome to simply sit.  The teaching will be on the topic of anxiety, looking at Psalm 46, Matthew 6:24-34 and Philippians 4:4-7.  It would be a help if you can read this beforehand.

If you can’t come because of health concerns, Zoom will be available – details below.

 

Can we have good anger?

The coming week leads into Easter.  The world thinks Christmas is the main Christian celebration.  Believers in Jesus know that his death and resurrection (Easter) are more significant than his birth (Christmas).  Because it is a special time, we have several special events next week – details at the end of this e-mail.

One week before Easter weekend, Jesus arrived in Jerusalem.  He went to the temple and became angry at the tradesmen there selling animals for sacrifices.  They were using the prayer area as a market, preventing people from praying.

People sometimes use this episode to justify their anger.  They say, ‘Anger can’t be wrong.  Jesus was angry.’   But Jesus anger was very different from the usual reasons we get angry.  He wasn’t angry because someone offended him or threatened his comfort.  He was angry because of the unjust treatment of the weak and the dishonouring of his Father.

 

One writer says this:

In most of our experiences, even our most righteous anger is tinged with ungodliness.  For example: I was crossing a road and was nearly hit by a car because the driver had not signalled. I was angry. Had you asked me why I was angry, I might have said this: “I am angry because this behaviour threatens the good, moral order of society. This behaviour is wrong. I am right to be angry.” But while there is truth in that, I was also angry because I had personally been inconvenienced. I was more angry than if I had seen this happen to somebody else. Even my righteous anger was mixed with sin.

Do you get angry?  To know deeply that we are intimately loved sons and daughters of God (Eph. 5:1) is a life- changing experience. If you are a Christian, do not give up hope of change. Becoming like Jesus is hard work – as we battle our sinful desires which resist the change.  But God will complete his good work in you (Phil 1:6).

Here and here you can read the full webpages that I have quoted.

 

The church council (PCC) met on Monday.  The main topic was the start of a review of church culture – what character traits we value and desire in leaders (vicar, staff, growth group leaders, Sunday school leaders…) – and how leadership can be more accountable

 

Dates:

It’s great to get together outside of usual church meeting times, so a walk has been arranged in Eastbrookend country park on Saturday 9 April. Meet at 10:30 at the Discovery Centre (RM7 0SS) There’s plenty of parking there or bus route 174 stops nearby. There are tearooms and toilets at the Discovery Centre – we can continue time together over a cuppa. If you’d like to come, but can’t walk, just come along to the tea rooms to chat and we’ll meet you after. Hope you can join us.

10 April Lord’s Supper

14 April Maundy Thursday 7 p.m. meal

Good Friday 10.30 a.m. all-age church

Easter Sunday 10.30 a.m. all-age church

19, 20 April No growth groups

Joel Edwards

(Vicar, Dagenham Parish Church)
0208 215 2962
https://www.dagenhamparishchurch.org/

I am not always on-line and so may not reply to e.mails quickly.

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Notices Special events

Pandemic Memorial Service

 

We all lost family, friends,colleagues during the pandemic . Many died of covid, many didn’t.  Dagenham Parish Church are holding a memorial service on Thursday 11th November 2021 at 7.30 pm to give the community an opportunity to remember and give thanks for those we lost. A roll call of names will be made.
It is a free event to attend, and you can book tickets on the link below, where there is a space to put your loved ones name for inclusion on the roll call.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/remembering-those-who-died-during-the-pandemic-tickets-192677793467
Alternatively, you can contact the Vicar, Joel Edwards on 0208 215 2962 “

There will be a roll call of those who have died (not just from Covid-19) since March 2020.

Please inform us of your loved one’s name to be included in the roll call.

remembering-those-who-died-during-the-pandemic-tickets-192677793467

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Please book a ticket for Sunday Church

Direct Link to booking for 9th May 9 a.m and 10.30 a.m.

Visitors Start here:

Government guidance allows us to continue to meet in the church building.  Please do not attend and use Zoom instead if

  • you are clinically vulnerable,
  • you or someone in close contact with you have sypmtoms of covid-19 in the past 10 days
  • you or someone in close contact with you have tested positive for covid-19 in the past 10 days. 

Please book a place if you intend to come.  This will help us reduce infection risk and help Sunday school to prepare.  You can book using the online system (links at top of page). 

Please see this short video of how it will work.

 

Book Tickets Here

Watch this video of how to book tickets.

 

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Is Covid-19 God’s judgement for sin?

Is Covid-19 God’s judgement for sin?

In John 9:1-3, Jesus’ disciples ask who is to blame for a person BORN with a disease. Is it him or his parents?  Jesus says that was not because of his sin or because of his parents’ sin.  We must not think we can explain the cause or guilt behind every death.

Clearly, some sins will cause my own death – e.g. careless driving. It might also cause the death of others – if they are passengers whilst I am driving like that.

But in other cases, we will not find a link between a sin and a sickness or a death. Death resulting from the corona virus is one instance of this. Unless I deliberately act to infect myself or infect others, we will not be able say ‘that particular sin caused his death’.

So why do we die if we don’t cause it by a reckless act? I wrote, “God punishes the sin that we are all guilty of with a pattern of sickness and death that we experience in various ways.”

When sin came into the world, so did death (Romans 5:12). We die because we are sinners.  The Bible says ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6 verse 23).

So each victim of the virus will die because of their sin.  Just as we all will. It makes no difference if we are Christian or not. The only person who did not deserve to die because of sin is Jesus.

We will all die, we are already guilty of sin that deserves death. The important action is to be ready for what happens after that. Some people will say ‘I don’t believe in life after death’.  Their belief or not makes no difference. If life after death happens, it happens.

The fact that Jesus rose from the dead shows there is life after death. He promised that he would take his people to share life with him after death (John 14:1-6). That will be true for us if, and only if, we trust Jesus.

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Why didn’t God do what we prayed for?

Over the past four years, we have prayed often for Eloise Taylor.  We prayed for God to heal her – whether through medicine or supernaturally.  We prayed that she and her family could be back home leading a normal family life.

Our Father has freed Eloise from suffering – by taking her home to him.  He did not enable her to return home with her family.

Like us, Jesus prayed and didn’t get what he asked for.  On the night before he died, he asked, please let me have another way, please let me not suffer for the sin of the world.  But Jesus did not get what he asked for.

Why bother praying then?  God our Father uses our prayers in his plans.  And his plans will work out for the best – in the end.  Our prayers do not change his plans.  But our Father loves to answer our prayers when we ask for things that fit with his plans.  It is like when a father intends to give his children a gift – but wants them to ask for it first (1 John 5:14).  But when we ask for things that contradict his plans, his good plans, he does not give that.

Why didn’t God allow Eloise to recover health and return to her family?  We do not know. We can trust he knows better than us.  Ask him to give you more of that trust.  And keep asking him – it is what children who trust their father do.

Joel Edwards

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HLF… Thank You

The following links are our letters of thanks to:

National Lottery Heritage Fund

Allchurches Trust

They have been highly instramental in funding the repairs to our tower and roof. It goes without without saying how grateful we are and what a help they have been in the progress we have made.

“Putting Gambling money to a good Use” Mike Reith (former Vicar at Dagenham Parish Church)

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Sundays sermon notes

Owing to the sermon on Sunday failing to record properly, we have decided to post Mus’s sermon notes in full. Sorry for the inconveinience. 

Genesis 45  This is a link to the PDF file for you to download to your PC or mobile device

Genesis 45
T: God works through human sin to bring salvation
A: Come near to the gracious Son for salvation
– Don’t be distressed or angry with yourselves (but see
sin in context)
– Don’t quarrel along the way
V: tender, warm, affectionate
Focus
Sylv and me went for a walk in a national park,
when we were having lunch i over heard some children
playing a game,
a little girl said to her mum “you can be my revenge
serpent. ”
now i’m not sure what game they were playing, or where
the little girl had heard this,

but is makes a point – the nature of the world and our old
sinful nature wants to pay back those who wrong us.
In contrast today, In this bit of the Joseph story
We see a gracious character in Joseph. Joseph doesn’t
take revenge, because he has learned something about
God and the way he works.

If we learn this and let this truth sink in, with prayer
We’ll be find greater freedom to not hold things against
people for the wrongs they’ve done to us.
We’ll have greater trust in God’s sovereignty, his rule over
all things
And we’ll experience greater peace in our relationships.
It’s a truth that defines the whole meaning of our existence
and that reaches to the heart of the gospel/the good news
of Jesus.
Context
Let’s get our bearings in the Joseph story.
Last week we ended on the big reveal.
Joseph reveals who he is to his brothers
Josephs older brother Judah as spokesperson for the
brothers gives a speech that shows they have changed.

Whereas in the past they had been jealous of joseph, their
dad’s favourite, and wanted to kill him,
nor caring at all about what it would do to their Dad,
they sell him off out of their lives, to some midianite
traders, Joseph ends up as a slave in Egypt.
But this was all part of God’s plan.
A famine strikes the known world, Josephs family in
Canaan and all of Egypt are affected.
But Joseph interpreted a dream pharaoh had that warned
about the famine years in advance, so he put Joseph in
charge of storing up all the food to prepare for the famine.
Joseph through this dream and his God given wisdom
rose to be the most important person in Egypt, bar
Pharaoh.
Long story short, the brothers come to Egypt coz they
heard there was food and meet Joseph the boss of the
land.
Joseph pretends not to know his brothers but tests them
by engineering a situation where they have the
opportunity to get rid of their dad’s favourite son.
dad’s new favourite benjamin has been framed

and is now guilty of stealing from Joseph and so will be
enslaved.
Judah pleads with the man (not yet known to him as
joseph) for him to take him instead of benjamin.
Judah’s speech shows that the brothers have been
humbled, they are sorry for what they did to joseph and in
their actions are showing repentance – a changing of
direction.
This is the major turning point of the whole joseph story
and it teaches us a very big truth about God and human
sin.
So let’s pick up the story in verse 1
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his
attendants, and he cried out, ‘Make everyone leave my
presence!’ So there was no one with Joseph when he
made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so
loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s
household heard about it.

Joseph loses control of his emotions. They are strong and
deep.
You can imagine, this is the culmination of over 30 years
since being sold by his brothers.
And here they are, bowing down to him as God had said,
humbled, sorry.
What thoughts and feelings are rushing through joseph’s
mind?!
He can’t keep it all in,
His, cool egyptian-wiseman cover is cracking
He sends everyone out except his brothers,
Now he can talk privately and intimately with his family
Verse 3
3 Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph! Is my father
still living?’ But his brothers were not able to answer him,
because they were terrified at his presence.

And now here the brothers are bowed down before one of
the most powerful men in the world, feeling guilty for what
they have done to him, their lives are in his hands.
…and they’re terrified.
But Joseph doesn’t summon a revenge serpent.
All the time he’s been pretending not to recognise them,
Moses the writer of Genesis gives us glimpses into
Josephs tenderness
Joseph’s not angry with them, he’s not taking revenge,
Now what’s in Josephs heart towards his brothers comes
out his mouth:
Verse 4
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come close to me.’
When they had done so, he said, ‘I am your brother
Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be
distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling
me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me
ahead of you.
Joseph the hated favourite son
The son as good as dead
is now exalted, alive, the lord of the earth.
This exalted son… is tender towards his humbled brothers.
Come close to me
He wants them to be near him, Come close to me
When he says – The one you sold into egypt!
He proving it’s really him
And He’s real about what they’ve done to him, but he’s not
trying to make them feel bad,
actually he’s trying to relieve their guilty emotions
Do not be distressed
Do not be angry with yourselves.
What beautiful, gracious character.
Joseph understands what they are going through, he
knows how they might be feeling.

And he wants them to be at peace.
He isn’t bitter, he’s not angry with them, he doesn’t want
them to suffer under guilt anymore.
No, he’s tender and gentle with those who trafficked him
away from his family home.
How can he be so kind?
How can we have this attitude?
This is it, this is where we learn the big truth, the secret of
Joseph’s graciousness:
Verse 5
And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with
yourselves for selling me here, because
it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.

Joseph see’s God’s bigger purpose in what his brothers
did to him.
He sees what the brothers did to him – sell him into slavery
– but he sees that against the backdrop of God’s greater
plan to save all their lives, and the lives of the surrounding
nations.
it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.
He says it twice more verse 6
6 For two years now there has been famine in the land,
and for the next five years there will be no ploughing and
reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for
you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great
deliverance.
8 ‘So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.
And this is the big truth we learn at this turning point in the
Joseph story:

God works through human sin to bring salvation.
God works through human sin to bring salvation.
Joseph understood this, that’s why he could say about the
same event:
(v4)You sold me into egypt and
(v8)It was not you who sent me here but God.
You sold me
God sent me
You sold me into Egypt – the human sin
and
God sent me ahead of you – God’s working
And this was to bring salvation
To save lives v6
To save lives by a great deliverance v7

Because Joseph understands how God works behind the
scenes,
even scenes where he is sinned against,
he is able to be forgiving towards his brothers and say
Don’t be distressed and don’t be angry with yourselves for
what you’ve done.
Joseph shows his wisdom here.
He knows what people are like.
When Christians sin, all being well we will feel guilty and a
right guilt is designed to lead us to God.
But because we are so focused on ourselves, those right
feelings of guilt can turn into sinful self hatred.
I’ve struggled with self hatred to the point of hitting myself
in the face.
its the kind of attitude that makes you want to beat
yourself up.
You realise your guilt and are angry with yourself and
sometimes that bitterness spills over and you’re angry with
other people

If you have been humbled like the brothers,
You’ve seen and owned your guilt
you are actually sorry
God doesn’t want you to be angry with yourself.
God doesn’t want his humbled people to be angry with
themselves or distressed because of their sin.
He want’s you to take your eyes off of yourself and see the
bigger picture
Your sin is part of God’s salvation tapestry
Your sin is just a strand in the tapestry- if you zoom out,
you will see God’s Son Jesus, saving you from your sin,
by dying in your place and rising from the dead.
That’s the context in which Christians should see there
sin.
hear Jesus say to you, like Jospeh to his brothers:
“Come near to me.”
Our guilt is meant to lead us to God.

Come near to Jesus, knowing what you’ve done, sorry for
what you’ve done,
Then fixing your eyes on Jesus face full of sympathy,
forgiveness, love.
Looking at him full of grace and truth,
If we are angry with ourselves, we become embittered
toward others too.
If we are not at peace in our own consciences, because
we aren’t enjoying peace with God then
it makes it harder to be at peace with others too.
We need to see the bigger picture
God works through human sin to bring salvation.
Embracing this truth will liberate us from self hatred and
bitterness.
Christian – When you lie awake at night on your bed and
the skeletons of your past, the things you are ashamed of
come creeping into your mind, instead of beating yourself
up….  Step back, see the bigger picture

Remember that God is working through human sin to bring
salvation.
God’s sovereign hand is working through those events to
bring about a gracious end, though you have sinned, God
has treated you better than you deserve, and your ultimate
end will be better than you deserve.
When you encounter your husband or wife’s sin, the thing
they seem to keep doing, the thing that really gets to you,
instead of getting angry and feeling sorry for yourself
see the bigger picture
You can step back and think…this is all part of God’s plan
to save.
God is saving.
You can not hold it against the person who sinned against
you if you see God’s bigger purpose. Like Joseph you can
say – it was not you. I know you did actually do it, but God
has a bigger purpose that your sin is apart of, so i can go
easy on you.
He has allowed sin to exist and he is working to bring us
finally into heaven through this sin saving us from it.

We can say that God is in absolute control over all things
even through human sin.
We must be crystal clear. God allows sin to happen. But
he hates it.
He is perfectly righteous and holy and good, there is no
sin in God.
Humans sin. We are responsible to God for our sin.
But God uses sin as part of his plan to save the world.
his plan was always to save people from their sin,
The ultimate example of this
Jesus, God’s son died in the place of guilty sinners to pay
for their sins, and rise from death to give them everlasting
life.
God has allowed your sin to happen so he can send his
son to die in your place, rise and forgive you – so you will
see what he is like – see his grace and praise him.
How Joseph acts here towards his brothers is a glimmer of
the character of Jesus, full of grace and truth.

Isaiah 42:3 3
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
Jesus is tender towards the broken hearted, humbled and
repentant sinner
He says come close to me, don’t be angry with yourself
Then he lifts the bowed down sinner up and provides them
with eternal life.
If you’re not a Christian
you will have experienced self hatred too
either for something you felt bad about doing
or if you have fail in something in life that is really
important to you, a relationship, a job or sport that defines
you.
If you know yourself to be a failure in life, this sense of
failure and even guilt was designed to bring you to God.

If you fail in your job or in a realtionship and it feels like the
world has ended, its because that person or work has
become your identity, and is functionally your God.
But think about it, can another person like you, really fulfill
the weight of all your hopes and dreams?
Or do people with great success in life and work find
lasting peace and happiness?
What’s more important than achievement and human
relationships
Is living in right relationship with the God who made you
and loves you.
if you know that you have messed up in anything, know
that you’ve definitely messed
when it comes to doing what pleases God,
God’s judgement for this is death
It’s a serious thing to sin against the almighty God
If you are not a christian and this is news to you, and you
are sorry for your sin against God
Here Jesus speak his words of life and grace to you:
Come near to me.
Come near to Jesus
When Jesus was sold by his own people, handed over to
death,  he paid the price of your sin – death.

And when he rose from death in power he sent his people
to tell the good news that he is lord of all the earth and can
provide everlasting life for all who believe in him.
Come near to Jesus, trust him, he will deliver you and
bring you into his kingdom to live with him forever.
…
Now God’s plan to save is coming to fruition, Joseph
sends his brothers to bring his Dad Jacob and the whole
family into Egypt where they will be saved from the famine
8 ‘So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He
made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household
and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and
say to him, “This is what your son Joseph says: God has
made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay.
10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me
– you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and
herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there,
because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise
you and your household and all who belong to you will
become destitute.”
This passage highlights Josephs deep affection and
emotion towards his brothers
His loud crying. Here he weeps, his brothers weep, they
embrace each other, kiss, and then talk. It doesn’t say
what they talked about, the point is that they are talking
again. There relationship is good. These are the tokens of
reconciliation and right relationship. I know we are british
and restrained. The egyoptian palace culture was also
cool and restrained. But in a family all over the world
talking, hugging, kissing, weeping are can be genuine
signs of healthy relationships. A good application from
this is: give someone a hug, or in a way that is appropriate
show affection to someone, a hug can be very disarming.
Enjoy talking with someone.

Please note keep it pure younger men especially.
14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin
and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And
he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterwards
his brothers talked with him.
The last thing we’ll note is the lovely moment where
Joseph is peacemaker in his family
24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were
leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!”
He knows what they are like and wants them to be at
peace with eachother.
God wants his family to be at peace with eachother.
The big truth we’ve learned:
God works through human sin to bring salvation

Will empower us to be at peace with eachother.
When we are tempted to take issue with a brother or
sister, even beacause of their sin, we do it with the heart
of Jesus the peacemaker.
We can be mindful that God is saving our brother or
sisters who has sinned and seek peace with them, either
through loving rebuke, or overlooking, whatever is best for
them, whatever makes for genuine peace.
God works through human sin to bring salvation
Come near to the gracious Son for salvation
– Don’t be distressed or angry with yourselves (but see
sin in context)
– Don’t quarrel along the way
– Be at peace with each other