Speaker: Ben Sigman

Theme: Joseph: When People Let You Down

Weekend Music links on iTunes: All About You, God Is With Us, Your Love Never Fails, Like an Avalanche

Read: Genesis 37:12-36

Think: We spent some time at Timberlake this weekend talking about the life of Joseph. As Pastor Ben shared Joseph’s story as part of the new Biography Series, my guess is there wasn’t one of us sitting in the auditorium that couldn’t identify in some manner or another with the ways he’d been hurt, betrayed and forgotten. But if you read the full account found in Genesis and get to the end of his story, you see relationships are worth restoring.

This life is all about learning how to love like Jesus did. As part of that God wants us to value relationships and make every effort to maintain them, not just walking away whenever there is a rift, a hurt, or even a betrayal.  In fact, the Bible tells us that God has given us – yes all of us - the ministry of restoring relationships. And as you read the New Testament you’ll see just how much of it is devoted to teaching us how to get along with each other.

“If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you ... agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends” (Philippians 2:1-2 Msg).

The Apostle Paul taught that getting along with others is a sign of spiritual maturity. Christ wants his followers to be known for our love for one another, so broken relationships are a poor testimony to people who don’t yet know Jesus. There’s a great instance where Paul is dealing with a situation in which members of the church in Corinth were splitting into warring factions and even taking each other to court.  Listen to how he deals with them, he wrote, "Shame on you! Surely there is at least one wise person in your fellowship who can settle a dispute between fellow Christians" (1 Corinthians 6:5 TEV). He couldn’t believe that no one in the church was mature enough to resolve the conflict peaceably. In the same letter, he said, "I'll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other" (1 Corinthians 1:10 Msg).

If you want God's blessing on your life, you have no choice but to be a peacemaker. Jesus said, "God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God" (Matt. 5:9, NLT).  Peacemaking is hard work, but because we work in God’s strength and not our own it’s a skill we can grow with and develop as we rely on Him.

Do: At the start of Pastor Ben’s message he asked us to think of someone we’re having “issues” with… This week, take the initiative to begin the process to make peace with that person.

Pray: Lord I need your strength and your help in order to restore the difficult relationship(s) in my life… And if I’m honest, I may not even really want to, but I know I need to in order to be in your will. So Father, I ask that you would lead the way, give me the right heart and attitude as I move forward in obedience to you… as a peacemaker. Amen.