Sermon Video: Joseph: A Faithful Slave - Genesis 39

Genesis 39 conveys the story of the first ten years (appx.) that Joseph spent in Egypt as a slave.  While far from the life he had been living, or could have wanted, Joseph was faithful in the little things nonetheless.  The LORD was with Joseph, blessing him in his circumstances, although not removing him from them.

One such circumstance was the unwanted advances of Potiphar's wife.  To these, Joseph responded with maturity by refusing to betray Potiphar's trust and refusing to sin against God.

In the end, Joseph's integrity cost him as Potiphar's wife used her power over him to punish his refusal with a false accusation.  Yet, the LORD was with Joseph, even in prison where he remained faithful.

NOTE: The story of Potiphar's wife has bee used egregiously by some commentors as a cudgel against those who make an accusation of sexual abuse.  This is NOT what the text is teaching because Joseph was not a man with power over a women who has been accused of abusing it, he was the powerless one.  The story is about abuse of power, not gender.

Sermon Video: Judah and Tamar: "She is more righteous than I" - Genesis 38

As the text of Genesis often reveals, family drama is at the heart of the moral choices of Abraham and his descendants.  In this episode, Jacob's 4th son Judah chooses to marry a Canaanite woman with whom he has 3 sons.  Nothing seems amiss until the eldest boy is full-grown and himself married to a woman named Tamar.  At this point, three men in succession treat Tamar woefully: Er, her husband whom the LORD puts to death due to his wickedness, Onan, whose greed prompts him to sexually assault Tamar, and Judah, the father-in-law who more/less abandons her for years on end.

Ultimately, out of desperation, Tamar acts in a way that reveals Judah's own hypocrisy and culpability, something he only sees at the last minute before further injustice occurs.  The story of Judah and Tamar thus ends with a warning against self-righteousness and hypocrisy, a reminder that our actions have consequences.

Sermon Video: Joseph: An inflated ego and jealous brothers - Genesis 37, by Pastor Randy Powell

The last section of Genesis focuses on the family of Jacob, primarily the interactions between his favorite son, Joseph, and Joseph's 10 jealous brothers.

In chapter 37 we see the seeds sown of what is coming through Jacob's clear favoritism, Joseph's "tattling" on his brothers to their father, and finally Joseph's foolish decision to tell his brothers about not one but two dreams in which they bowed down to him.

With anger at Jacob's favoritism, and jealousy stoked by Joseph's apparent arrogance (or at best cluelessness), the brothers' desire to do something about it simmers until opportunity arrives.  That opportunity is the arrival of Joseph, alone, to visit them.

The hearts of Joseph's brothers were set to murder, but providential grace gave them an opportunity to choose a lesser evil by selling him into slavery.

Sermon Video: The End of an Era - Genesis 35-36 by Pastor Randy Powell

* The message begins with a tribute to one of 1st Baptist's lifelong members, Nancy Klingensmith, whose battle with cancer ended this week as she was promoted to her heavenly reward.*

The text of Genesis 35-36 serves a transitional role between the generation of Isaac & Jacob / Esau and the generation of Jacob & his 12 sons, primarily Joseph.

It reminds us of God's faithfulness and kindness to Abraham's offspring, even those who were outside of the chosen line of Jacob.

The Gospel is NOT about the Cross, justification or the afterlife??? - responding to FFOZ's heretical claim

 

"Why do you not do what I say" is an essay by D. Lancaster recently published in a promotional effort for the upcoming The Narrow Path Torah Club series that is scheduled to premier in October 2026.

The Gospel is NOT about the Cross, Justification, or the Afterlife??  That's the explosive claim in this honest essay from D. Lancaster of FFOZ revealing what will be contained in the upcoming Narrow Path Torah Club series.

Instead of salvation by grace through faith in the person and work of Christ, Lancaster offers salvation by works through following (his version of) the teachings of Jesus.  It couldn't be any clearer or any more heretical.

To read this rejection of the Gospel for yourself: https://ffoz.org/messiah/articles/why-do-you-not-do-what-i-say

To read the underlying and even more frightening essay, "How the Gospels Should Have Ended": https://ffoz.org/messiah/articles/how-the-gospels-should-have-ended

For my two-part response to that essay: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUMxme9ElkxOrTt6-kbiM3B3tOzkDvJIF