Thank you, Brother Burlingame. Good morning, everyone. We hope that you're having a wonderful Sunday morning, the Lord's Day. Today we're going to start out with hymn 412, which is What a Friend We Have in Jesus. If you have a hymnal available, please open up to 412 and join us. Otherwise, as much as you know by heart, if you could sing with us, that would be great. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Heavy trials and temptations, it's their trouble anyway. We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. Thank you for joining us in singing. I don't know about you, but it's really hard for me to sing without Nancy. Alright, our Bible verse, you'll remember from last week, is Proverbs 22, 1. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving kindness, a favor, rather than silver and gold. Ready to try that again? Do you remember that from last week, Micah? Yeah, good. All right, we'll try one more time. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor, rather than silver and gold. Very good. We'll try it again at the end. All right. So this morning for our object lesson, I brought my phone. I'm not sitting here texting during church, so you don't have to worry. But I just want to talk for a few minutes about all the news that's been going on. There is almost no good news. COVID-19, wars in various places, unemployment, the national debt is in the trillions, Americans are losing their freedoms, diseases are spreading, crime is taking place. This news is very bad. Excuse me, I have a message for you. Psalm 112, seven. If you have your Bible with you, if you can open it to Psalm 112, verse seven, because we are going to read it aloud together. Psalm 112, verse seven. And if you just look up here when you find it, so we know that you're ready, have it. Okay. All right, let's read it together. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. So even though we're in a world that's full of bad news, we can trust and have confidence in the Lord because he is faithful in everything. All right, so we are going to pray for our lesson now. So if you could please join us in prayer. Dear Lord, we do thank you for this day. Thank you for the sunshine. Thank you for all of the good things that you are doing in the midst of a very uncertain time. We do pray that you continue to comfort those who need comfort, strengthen those who need strength. Lord, I pray that you would be with us during our lesson this morning. If there is anyone listening who does not yet know Christ as their Savior, that you would be working in their hearts and lives, that they would Desire to know the good news that is available to them in Jesus Christ and we do pray this in Jesus name Amen. All right last week we went over Joseph's dreams we talked about Those things so let's do some review Joseph was loved by whom? Do you know? Yes Isaac Who is Isaac to Jacob So you were kind of right. Joseph's father loved him, and Joseph's father was Jacob. He was hated by whom? His brothers. Yes, his brothers. And his father gave him what? A coat of many colors. A coat of many colors, very good. And Joseph dreamed that his father, his mother, and his brothers would one day, yes, bow down to him, very good. All right, today, if you would open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 37, we're going to begin in verse 12. One day, Joseph's 10 older brothers took their father's sheep a long way from home to find grazing pasture and water. Joseph stayed home to help his father. And in verse 12, the Bible tells us, and his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. After several days with no news from them, Jacob called Joseph. Verse 13, the Bible says, And Joseph said to his father, And Jacob said to Joseph, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks, and bring me word again. So immediately Joseph went off to do his father's bidding. He walked for about fifty miles over hills, through woods, and across valleys. Finally he came to Shechem, where his brothers were supposed to be. Joseph looked all over for them. But they were in order to be found. A man who lived there saw him wandering in the field. And the man asked Joseph, what seekest thou? And Joseph said, I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man answered, they are departed hence. For I heard them say, let us go to Dothan. All right. So for a second, we're just going to show you on a map where these places are. So right here is where they were starting out. And he was traveling from down here all the way up to Shechem to find his brothers. And he found out they weren't in Shechem, so he had to travel even further north to go to Dothan. So it wasn't like he was just walking down the road to try and find his brothers. It was a pretty far distance. So off Joseph went toward Dothan, which was about 15 miles down the road. At last, in the distance, he saw the sheep grazing. Joseph's brothers saw him coming. They recognized the beautifully colored coat he was wearing. In verse 18, the Bible says, And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. So they began to plot to kill him. And in verse 19 through 20, the Bible says, But Reuben, the oldest brother, was kinder than the others. He hoped to spare Joseph's life. Verse 21 and 22, the Bible tells us, out of their hands to deliver him to his father again. His brothers agreed. Reuben secretly planned to get Joseph out later and return him to his father. In verse 23 and 24, the Bible tells us, And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors, that was on him, and they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty, and there was no water in it. The brothers picked Joseph up, tore off his beautiful coat of many colors, and threw him into a deep, dark pit. Joseph cried. He saw there was no possible way out. His brothers would not listen to his pleas and his cries. In Genesis 42, 21, we find out that the brothers saw the anguish of his soul when he besought them, and they would not hear. Poor Joseph. He was all alone in the dark, scary pit. Or was he? When the Bible tells us about Joseph, it says over and over, and the Lord was with Joseph, and the Lord was with Joseph. Joseph was not alone after all, and we have the same promise that we can trust. Isaiah 41.10 tells us, Fear thou not, for I am with thee. No matter where we are or how hard a time we're having, It will surely help and strengthen us to know that the Lord is with us. We need to believe this truth. And in the case of Joseph, God will look after him. The brothers sat down to eat their lunch, while Reuben went to work in another part of the field. As they looked up from their food, they saw a caravan coming toward them, a group of Ishmaelite merchants going to Egypt on camels to trade their rich spices, herbs, and sweet-smelling myrrh. verse 25 the Bible tells us and they sat down to eat bread and they lifted up their eyes and looked and Behold a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh Going to carry it down to Egypt one of the brothers had an idea verse 26 through 27 and Judah said unto his brethren What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. Soon a caravan of Midianite merchants were coming toward them on their way to Egypt. They stopped them, and the bargaining began. In verse 28, the Bible tells us, Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen, And they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. We learn from Psalm 105.18 that Joseph was bound hand and foot. Then he was carried off to the land of Egypt as a slave, and he was only seventeen years old. Verse 29, the Bible tells us, And Reuben returned unto the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit, and he rent his clothes. Reuben was shocked because he realized that Joseph was not there. Finding his brothers, he said to them, The child is not, and I, whither shall I go? He couldn't bear the thought of facing their father without Joseph. It would break their dear father's heart. So they came up with a plan. Verse 31 and 32, the Bible tells us, and they took Joseph's coat, and they killed the kid of the goats, and they dipped the coat in the blood, and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, this have we found. No, now, whether it be thy son's coat or no. Jacob realized that it truly was Joseph's coat. In verse 33 through 35, the Bible tells us, and he knew it and said, it is my son's coat. An evil beast hath devoured him. Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his loins and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him. But he refused to be comforted. And he said, for I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. What a cruel, dirty trick these men have played on their dear elderly father. We should remember, though, that God warns us that we will reap what we sow. Years earlier, Jacob had lied to his father, Isaac, and deceived him. Now his sons have lied to him and deceived him. It is sad to think of how unhappy poor Jacob was when Joseph was really not dead. It is sad to think of Joseph away from home in a land that he did not know. But it is wonderful to know that God is going to watch over Jacob. And Joseph. And nothing will happen to Joseph unless God himself wants it to happen. Through all his trials, the Bible tells us, the Lord was with Joseph. There may be times when you get into troubles and problems that you don't understand. People may treat you cruelly, but remember, God knows. God cares. If you are doing right, God will take you right through the problem. All you have to do is trust Him. In many ways, Joseph is a picture or type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph was the beloved son of his father, and Jesus was the well-beloved and only begotten son of our Heavenly Father. Joseph was hated by his brothers. Jesus was hated by many of his own Jewish people. Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver, and Jesus was sold for how many pieces of silver? Thirty, very good. As you learn the things that happened to Joseph, you'll see other ways in which he was just like Jesus. Joseph would have a wonderful experience in learning to trust God in everything. His brothers meant to hurt him, but God would cause it all to turn out for good. Joseph's brothers tried to get rid of him and sold him into slavery so that his dreams would never come true. As it turned out, they did the very thing that led to the fulfillment of his dreams. The children of Israel succeeded in getting rid of Joseph, they sold him into Egypt, but this was the very thing that would later result in their salvation. Before Joseph could ever reach the palace, he must first go to the pit and then into prison. Our God still can take all of the bad things that happen to us and make them turn out for good. We're going to review our verse again. Proverbs 22, 1. Are you ready? All right. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. and loving favor rather than silver and gold. Good job. Yeah, you did really well. So we have a challenge for you for this week. Please make sure you're reading your Bible. And if you haven't been doing that, if you're one of our Sunday school class, then we'd encourage you to keep reading in Genesis because we'll be covering the life of Joseph over the next couple of weeks. And spend time praying for others. In particular, spend some time either on your own with your siblings or with your parents as a family, praying for our leaders. They're dealing with some real challenges right now, and they need God's wisdom for what to do. And, specifically, pray for their salvation. All right, remember last week we began to memorize the first ten books of the Old Testament in order, and you did very well last week. Let's see how much you remember today. I want to hear you, okay? Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel. How'd you do? Do you remember them all? Yes? Good. Very good. So now we're going to add the next 10 books of the Old Testament. If you need help and you're in our Sunday school class, you can pull out your handy dandy bookmark we gave you last week. Or if you didn't join us last week, you can turn to the index in your Bible, which is at the beginning of your Bible, to help you come up with the next 10 Old Testament books. You ready? First Kings, Second Kings, First Chronicles, Second Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs. How'd you do? Did you all write? Good. I'm going to try it one more time, and then we're going to put all 20 together and see how you do. See how many you can do without looking at your bookmark to see if you remember them. A lot of you knew quite a few of these last week. Alright, go ahead. First Kings, Second Kings, First Chronicles, Second Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs. Good. Alright, let's put them all together. Ready? Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs. I did that because I was following you. That's what happens blindly in the blind. Right, both fall into a pit. Nice job. Next week we'll add the next ten. Be ready for that. Remember our object lesson? There is a lot of bad news right now. But the Bible, because the Bible tells us, All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And there's none righteous, no, not one. And the penalty for our sin is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. Can you think of good news that God wants us to know about? Any at all? Yes. Right, that Jesus died for our sins. And in Psalm 52 7 tells us, So my dear, you have beautiful feet because you brought us good news. Thank you for that. That good news is the gospel of salvation. Jesus took our penalty on himself when he went to the cross of Calvary and died and was buried. And three days later he arose from the grave because God accepted his payment on our behalf so that we can spend eternity in heaven with God. If there has not been a time in your life when you heard this bad news. That you're a sinner. And the good news. That Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Believing that what God says about all of this is true. You can do that by putting your complete trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross and calling upon him to save you from eternal separation from God. And we urge you to do that today. Thank you very much.