Happy New Year, Centennial Family! I hope all of you are well. This last Sunday, we found ourselves at the start of a new sermon series titled Jesus In A Lived Life: The Joseph Narrative. I would like to provide a few insights into this series for y’all’s consideration.
First, we are in a narrative portion of the Old Testament. This means the flow of things are going to be a little different. This is mainly due to the genre that we find ourselves in, which is historical narrative. In our previous two series (Peter’s Journey With The Savior and A Promised Coming), the Bible passages were typically shorter because of the nature of the genres (jampacked letters and super-deep prophesies). This will not be the case for this series. Another way to name the genre we are in—historical narrative—is a true story. There will only be a few times when I take us out of the story to see particular emphatic points. Outside of those few sermons, we will be following the true story of God’s people of the time (Joseph and his brothers).
Second, the title of the series is important. Just as I mentioned before, we are following a true story. Like the Gospels, the Joseph narrative of Genesis 37-50 shows our faith system in action. My prayer is that we will see Jesus’ working on our behalf in the muck and mire of a life being lived. What do we do with dreary Monday mornings, work strife, family strife, wayward children, hypocrites everywhere, our own personal and moral failures, sickness and suffering, and so on? As with all of God’s Word, I believe this series will only grow our understanding that Jesus saves, works for, and preserves us in this mucky and mired life.
It is a new year! With a new year comes many exciting things at Centennial. I promise y’all that God is working here in this church! And his workings have gotten me excited (can you tell?). Would y’all get excited with me? Each of you, please join me in praying for our church family in this coming year. May God be glorified in us in 2018 and always!
Jeremiah