CrossTrainers

Date: June 16th 2010

Speaker: Gary Rosberg

Title: CrossTrainers and AFC Update

Happy Fathers Day Men!

What are some things that you can do to input into your kids and family

• Be available
• Be an encourager
• Pray for your family
• Do things with your grand kids and great grand kids

Take the lead in showing love for your family

Rosberg 35th Wedding Anniversary

In most places this would be a pretty great accomplishment, in here you all are looking at me  thinking “Rookie”

Rosberg Family Expansion

Two new members of the Rosberg family

• Mylee Grace
• Samuel David

Great Marriages and Families in Iowa

In January we had a pastor / spouse event here at Valley Church

In March we held our Military Marriage Conference.  Many of these men are getting ready to deploy.

AFC Military Marriage Ministry

Matthew 9:35-38 – When He saw the crowds He had compassion on them

2nd Brigade over 3000 soldiers are deploying

We went out to Camp Dodge and brought these guys Chick Fil A and didn’t think that they would come or stick around.

But around 150 guys came for the food and 147 or so stayed around to listen to us talk about marriage

We have now given out 1,000 resources to these Military guys

What if we give these guys the tools that they need BEFORE these guys go and support them while they are gone

AFC 2nd Annual Walk for Military Marriages

Saturday July 17th / Gray’s Lake / 9am – Noon

Click Here for more info

Lets pray . . .

Click HERE for the Full Audio for this message.

(notes typed by PJ)

CrossTrainers

Date: May 26th 2010

Speaker: Jerry Foster

Title: God Built – “Powerful Punks”

We’ve been learning that God is in control over devastating loss, assignments, broken hopes, prolonged waiting,

Today we learn that God is in control over people

Proverbs 21:1 God is turning the hearts of the leaders. This includes presidents, school board members, military dictators, everyone who rules anywhere.

God guides and directs each of them.

With Proverbs 21 in mind, that God can change the hearts and minds of leaders, think about what is going on in our world, about frustration in leaders across the world

Turn to your neighbor – How does that effect the way you look at the world?

Bottom line – They (leaders around the world) serve Him even in their rebellion because they breath because He allows them to breath, they think because He allows them to think

Does God make them sin? No. But He uses their sin for His purposes.

Joseph – Pharaoh was the most powerful man on the earth. He has a dream and Joseph interprets the dream. Joseph became the co leader of Egypt. It all began with a dream, that God made him dream. He couldn’t refuse the dream. That was it, the Pharoah was smack dab in the middle of God’s plan and he didn’t even know it.

Think about it – here is the most powerful man in the world, but he has no power over this dream that troubles him so much. Steve Farrar puts it really well -”God said to the powerful king, ‘dream this you little Egyptian wuss’”

Isaiah 40:12-17 – This passage is so great when we stop to think about God’s control over the nations.

Look at Isaiah 40:17 – Look at all of the powerful nations, they are nothing, they fall under the control of a sovereign God.

Turn to your neighbor – When you look at this verse what does that do to your confidence?

When we look around the world at some of the bad things that happen it can be easy for us to fear.

But we have to remember that God is in control

This makes me want to know the God that is in control. Because if I know the God that is in control, then I am secure.

When we look at the evil and harm that is going on, we have to ask the question – can they do harm? Yes. Can they do harm to a believer without the consent of God? No.

He appoints them and then He can take them out when He wants to.

Isaiah 40:21-26

Probably what we need to do is to read these verses every morning. First the verses, then the newspaper or the news.

Back to Joseph – Why was pharoah a mighty ruler at this time? Because God put him there.

Makes you wonder, what is God up to? What ruler, dictator, evil tyrant is God already working in or about to work through

So God takes this dream, plants in his subconscious and gives it to him in the middle of the night.

He has these two dreams that just haunt him. He calls together all of his helpers and other folks who can’t do anything for him.

Then along comes Joseph. Pharaoh is about to hand over his power to Joseph. Think about it, Potipher did it, the jailer did it, everyone gave their power to Joseph.

So who was in control of this? He didn’t ask for that dream.

“God is in control of powerful people” Steve Farrar

“It’s the most comforting thing in all the world to know that there is a God who is in charge of my life” Steve Farrar

I don’t know about you guys but my human nature is alway trying do to the work to get things to work out right.

I get tired of always pushing and pushing and pushing for things to work out the way I think they should work out.

The reality is that God is in control of my life. I may think that my success is my own but it really was God.

Turn to your neighbor – How do we as believers cooperate with Him and His plan in order to enjoy the maximum benefit?

I need to work harder to stay inside the boundaries of what He is doing.

Sometimes it doesn’t make sense, when we see pain or suffering

Its not mine to question why, it is mine to be obedient and to trust Him

Let’s pray. . .

Click HERE for the Full Audio for this message.

(notes typed by PJ)

CrossTrainers

Date: May 19th 2010

Speaker: Bob Stouffer

Title: God Built –  “Wait for the Lord”

Opening

You have probably heard me speak about the fertility issues early our marriage.  We tried and tried, but Cheryl could not get pregnant.

Over the course of several years, we suffered through frustration.   We tracked body temperatures and optimum periods of ovulation.

I was poked and probed by two doctors and an intern, and they discovered that I had testicular varicosity of the veins, thus constricting the production of sperm.  A little embarrassing it was.

Month-in and month-out, we tried new strategies, but no pregnancy. The doctors said our next option was in vitro fertilization, which would have cost $10,000 an attempt – with no guarantee of success.  I was a teacher making around $15,000 a year!   We said, “No, thanks.  We need to step back and be give this some more time.”

One month later, Cheryl was pregnant with Molly! Praise the Lord!  I will never forget that winter day when Cheryl poked her head into my classroom during a school day, her eyes brimming with tears, a grin spreading across her face!

Fast forward a few years.

The infertility issues continued. Cheryl had to deal with thyroid cancer, and the radioactive iodine treatment was unsafe for conception.  She got a clean bill-of-health.  We kept trying.  No success.

Cheryl’s cycle would last weeks on-end.  We decided she better have the equivalent of a hysterectomy.   So, natural childbirth was out of the question.  But we still wanted more children. We looked into adoption.  We were set to adopt through an international agency in the Dominican Republic, but adoptions were discontinued when insidious people in that country were blinding infants for black market corneal transplants.

We started figuring that God was trying to “tell” us something.  Perhaps we should be grateful to have Molly alone.

Then, my sister-in-law, Amy, found out about children who were available for adoption in Brazil.  I called Ed Nahas, who had done our home study.  I asked if we could get another copy of our home study in Spanish.  He asked if we would be willing to adopt a bi-racial child in the Des Moines area.  Adoption agencies have greater difficulty finding placements for bi-racial children, since these children eventually live in two worlds of race.

Obviously, if we were willing to adopt from the Dominican or Brazil, we would be willing to adopt a bi-racial child.

At that time, the attorney who did 60% of the private closed adoptions in Polk County was also, not coincidentally, the father of two sons who had been students at Urbandale High School while I was Principal of UHS.

In fewer than 10 days, Cheryl and I picked Hannah up from this attorney’s office!  She was 21 days old!

Praise the Lord!  We were parents again, and we had no less joy in an attorney’s office than we experienced in the birthing room!

There was a lot of waiting in those stories, wasn’t there?  Perhaps you were even frustrated for Cheryl and me at certain points of these testimonies.

But wasn’t God so good in blessing us with Molly, and wasn’t God so good in blessing us with Hannah – in his perfect timing?!!

Waiting on the Lord.

Steve Farrar has it right in his book, God Built — “Waiting is easy to write about.  But it’s hard to live out.”  (p. 147)

Discuss these questions with one other guy –

#1  Who in the Bible was willing to wait on the Lord?

• Noah, even if everyone else thought him foolish

• Moses, for 40 years as a shepherd

• Joshua, marching around Jericho and, as for his household, he served the Lord

• Job, in spite of his tragic circumstances

• Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets of God

• Hannah, who gave her son Samuel over the Lord for ministry

• David, who could have killed Saul on more than one occasion, and who had been anointed by Samuel

Steve wrote in his book, “Interesting, isn’t it, that when God looks for a man after His own heart [David], the test of that man’s heart is his willingness to wait.”  (p. 140)

• Ruth

• Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego

• John the Baptist

• Jesus

• John

• Paul

• Peter

• Stephen

#2  Who in the Bible was not willing to wait on the Lord?

• Adam and Eve

• Sarai, not waiting for the son promised by the Lord, and Ishmael was the result

• Jacob, who stole his brother Esau’s birthright

• Moses, when he took matters into his own hand and murdered an Egyptian

• King Saul, who built an altar when told not to and who didn’t kill all of his enemies’ livestock, when he was told to

In God Built, Steve Farrar wrote, “Saul was unwilling to wait.  And he lost the kingdom that could have been his for generations.  Resisting God’s training, he just didn’t have the heart to obey.”  (p. 140)

• The Prodigal Son

• All of the disciples who walked away from Jesus and His hard teaching

Text of Analysis

Joseph was falsely thrown into jail, and he was forced to wait.  But Joseph was good at waiting.  And God is good at being faithful.  Joseph waited from his 17^th birthday until his 30^th birthday until the Lord placed him in a position of honor, power, and prestige.

God “is in control over prolonged waiting.”  (p. 129)

“. . .none of us likes to wait – for anything.”  (p. 130)

We often ask, “Why doesn’t God do something miraculous and instantly change our situations when we are waiting?”  (p. 130)

“We’re sometimes compelled to wait in uncomfortable, uneasy circumstances, where the outcome is far from certain.  But even then – perhaps especially then – God is at work.”  (p. 130, emphasis in original)

Isaiah 64:4 – “No eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.”  (English Standard Version)

“. . .God is always working.  While we are waiting, God is working.”  (p. 131, emphasis in original)

South African Pastor Andrew Murray –

In difficult and unwanted circumstances –  waited and journaled –

“Let me say I am here,

1. By God’s appointment
2. In His keeping
3. Under His training
4. For His time.”

That’s good, isn’t it?!

“Joseph was being trained in prison while he waited.  He had to learn to wait on God for His timing.”  (p. 138, emphasis in original)

“You never read one word about [Joseph] complaining to the Lord or becoming bitter.”  (p. 139)

And “Going into his two-year stint of prolonged waiting, Joseph had no idea how long he would be in that mode.  The Lord had determined two years, and two years it was.”  (p. 141)

Lamentations 3:1-25   “. . .the LORD is good to those who wait for Him.”

Psalm 130:5 – “I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope.”

“If you are waiting on God, the only way that you keep hope alive is to stay in your Bible.  Read it, chew on it, and embrace the promises. . . .Keep your Bible open and live off the promises.”  (p. 148)

Questions for Consideration and Applications

• How do you draw closer to God while you are waiting on Him?
• Steve Farrar wrote, “We’re sometimes compelled to wait in uncomfortable, uneasy circumstances, where the outcome is far from certain.”  What sorts of spiritual disciplines or daily activities might help us hold onto our faith when we’re in situations like this?
• Read Psalm 25:3, 27:14, 28:9, 37:7, 37:34; 48:14, 62:5, and 147:11.  Read Isaiah 40:31 and 46:3-4.  What does the Word of God promise for those who wait patiently on the Lord?
• Andrew Murray wrote, “Let me say I am here by God’s appointment, in His keeping, under His training, and for His time.”  Which of those aspects of waiting bring/s you the most comfort and encouragement right now, and why?
• What answer to a prayer are you waiting on right now?  How patient have you been during your wait?
• What are the dangers of refusing to wait for the Lord’s timing and bulling ahead on our own schedule and in our own wisdom?

Closing

God blessed us with Hannah and Molly, but Cheryl and I could have been childless.  Children, income, possessions, prestige, and power do not, ultimately, satisfy.

God sustained the Israelites with daily manna and water.  But such bread and water pale in comparison to Jesus.  Jesus is the “living water” and the bread which brings eternal life.

Wait on the Lord.

Wait on the Lord.

Wait on the Lord.

God is enough.

God is enough.

God is enough.

Let’s pray. . .

Click HERE for the Full Audio for this message.

(notes provided by Bob Stouffer)

CrossTrainers

Date: May 12th 2010

Speaker: Gary Rosberg

Title: Focus on South Africa

Gary started with Trunk money videos

(I’m not sure what these had to do with the talk but they are hilarious – you can see them here Video 1, Video 2, Video 3 (the best one)

Our Time in South Africa

When they were in their early teens Peaceful and Promise became double orphans. In South Africa, when both parents die you become a double orphan.

Where we were in South Africa it wasn’t uncommon to have nine year old parenting a house hold. There were little kids and grandmothers, almost everyone in between was dying.

Even as we were teaching on purity many of these young women were on their way home to be raped by their uncles or grandfathers.

Promise and Peaceful were a couple of gals that I meant last time but didn’t get to really talk with them. This time I spent 2 hours talking through the six secrets with these two gals to see how these principles work in their cultural context. They were absolutely captivated by this time.

Promise and Peaceful have been a part of iThemba which means “place of hope.” 29 kids living in this program, all of them double orphans. They have been rescued from the streets and orphanages. This isn’t a foster home or orphanage. They are a family. When they turn 18 they aren’t booted out, they still come home to iThemba for Christmas and holidays even after they leave to be on their own.

Acts 1:8
When we were in SA recently I spent time with the CEO of iThemba and told him that he inspired me with this verse. This guy was the CEO of Focus on the Family Africa for 30 years. He decided to come home to his Jerusalem to start iThemba to focus on AIDS orphans.

Pastors -
Gary showed pictures from his time in Africa. Specifically talking about the Pastor’s conference that America’s Family Coaches presented.
Turn to your neighbor – Turn to a guy next to you and pray for the pastors and leaders of South Africa, this change isn’t going to come through public policy it is the turning of hearts.

Families –
We hosted the Great Marriage Experience at a church in Capetown that only held 700 people. When we got there there were people standing in the street with signs that said, “Sold out, no more room.” The guy we were with had them take the signs down and we packed the place out! Pray for us as we work to resource the pastors of this conference.
We then went to host the conference in Durban and packed out the church with 2400 people.
Turn to your neighbor – Turn to the guy next to you and pray for these families that attended these conference. That they would be a light to their communities and that they would remain strong in Christ.

Angus Buchan -
This guy is a farmer who has been anointed by God. He had a men’s conference on his farm and had 150,000 guys last time. This time 350,000 guys were on his farm field this time and we got to go! It is like a Christian woodstock, they go there for three days, camp out, grill. Tens of thousands of guys came to Christ during this event.

Turn to your neighbor – Turn to the guy next to you and pray for the men of South Africa. They are seeing what we saw with Promise Keepers and we know that this country and this continent will only be changed with the hearts of the men are changed.

iThemba -

www.focusonithemba.org

Click HERE for the Full Audio for this message.

(notes typed by PJ)

CrossTrainers

Date: April 28th 2010

Speaker: Bob Stouffer

Title: God Built – Chapter 5: “Overcoming Grievous Setbacks”

Martin Luther faced a seemingly insurmountable grievous setback.

Martin Luther was given an extra day to recant his statement but even with that time he wasn’t willing to recant what he held to as the truth.

“I can do no other, Here I stand, may God help me.”

Luther was kidnapped right after the this statement by his friends, he was taken to Wartburg Castle for protection.  It was here that he translated the Bible into German.  This seemed like negative circumstance but it wasn’t.

Today’s teaching from our book is about this, grievous setbacks

Joseph faced several seemingly insurmountable grievous setbacks.

He was nearly killed by his brothers

He was sold into slavery

He gained favor and did well in slavery but was thrown into prison

He stayed in prison a long time, longer than he needed to be.

Steve says that God Tested Joseph, “Before God promotes, God tests.”

Thomas Watson said, “God often prospers us by impoverishing us.”

I’m stronger spiritually and closer to God when I am stripped bare of all my own strength in my life.

Matthew Henry “God sometimes uses difficulty in the lives of His people that He may have the glory of subduing them, and helping His people over them.”

How should we prepare for and cope with grievous setbacks?

1.  ”It’s in times like those that you need the map of the Word of God.” (p.93)

Go to orthodoxy, 1 Timothy 4:16 “watch your doctrine closely.”

There are to many Christians who are practicing hedonists, “I just want to be happy”

We will be happiest when we follow Him, it will be difficult but important

There are to many Christian Syncretists.

We can’t combine other world religions we have to go to Scripture for the truth

2. Right living – orthopraxy – obedient application of God’s Word – is also key to the abundant Christian life.

3. In addition, I agree with Dallas Willard’s assessment that we must nurture a predisposition to righteousness, not a predisposition to unrighteous behavior.

If you are already prepared in your heart you will be ready to deal with the temptations and hard times.

When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife he was ready, he didn’t even think, he cast off his cloak and ran.

I want what God said about Joseph in Genesis 39:21-23 to be said about me.

Our main focus needs to be on Heaven, regardless of what our circumstances tell us.

Not only that but we should seek to be in the presence of the Lord moment by moment, daily!

Questions to Consider

1. When our well-laid plans have been turned upside-down, we may find ourselves lost or disoriented.  What Scriptures have given you peace, comfort, encouragement, or strength during grievous setbacks?
2. In 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul wrote, “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” (NIV) Why is right doctrine the rock-solid foundation of right living?
3. It was devastating for Joseph to gain success and power – against all odds – only to suddenly lose everything again.  At what time in your life have you felt the same way?  Did you turn to God during that time, or did you try to rely on your own strength to push through?  If the former, how did God help you?
4. Steve wrote, “Before God promotes, God tests.”  (p. 95)  Respond to Steve’s statement.
5. Thomas Watson once said, “God often prospers us by impoverishing us.”  Respond to Thomas Watson’s statement.
6. Matthew Henry once stated, “God sometimes uses difficulty in the lives of His people that He may have the glory of subduing them [the difficulties], and helping His people over them.”  Respond to Matthew Henry’s statement.
7. How can you nurture a predisposition to righteousness?  How can you avoid a predisposition to sin?
8. Look at Ephesians 3:14-20.  Ponder the phrase, “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”  In what area of your life and your circumstances might you be limiting God right now?
9. God is sovereign, but we are responsible.  Re-state that unchanging truth in your own words.

Click HERE for the Full Audio for this message.

(notes typed by PJ)

CrossTrainers

Date: April 21th 2010

Speaker: Mike Swaim

Title: God Built – Chapter 4: “Take This Job & Shove it”

Today we are going to make Joseph a bit more practical. We are going through the book of Genesis and looking at the life of Joseph. We are seeing what happened to take Joseph from victim to victor.

Psalm 37:23 “The Steps of a man are established by the Lord. And he Delights in his way.”

How many of you are righteous men? All of you. You steps are ordered by the Lord. God wanted me here speaking today.

How many of you think that God didn’t know about this volcano erupting? God knew when He made the volcano.

If you are looking at your job and feeling really frustrated it is because you are looking at the job rather than at the job provider.

Let me tell you about a job that I had-

I was the assistant to the communications coordinator for south east Asia. I was waiting for my assignment. All my friends were going into career course, grad school, teaching at West Point. I wanted to go teach at West Point but my orders were to go to Fort Louis in Washington. I was bummed and my commanding officer noticed so he tried to help me out. He said that the folks in DC wanted me to be a Company Commander in Washington before I went into a career course. One evening I had to take something over to the guy that was a little higher in rank than my boss. He said that he could rearrange my assignment but even he wasn’t able to help me. So I get to Washington, I find my self way down on the totem pole. It was a total dead end assignment.

Joseph found himself in a the same place. He went to Egypt and ended up in a dead end assignment.

Dead end assignments:

In God’s plan, there are no wasted assignments

Potipher’s house:

What could Joseph have possibly found in his assignment that would have made him think that he this assignment in Potipher’s house wasn’t a wasted assignment.

It was a great opportunity to learn the language and the culture, and to practice godliness

He learned how to depend on God. In every one of our jobs it isn’t about who we work for it is about learning to depend on God.

Prison:

With the dregs of the earth. He learned faithfulness, patience and HOW TO DEPEND ON GOD!

If you’re a computer guy are you learning how to depend on God?

If you’re a bank manager are you learning how to depend on God?

If you’re a appraiser are you learning how to depend on God?

In God’s plan, every assignment is preparation.

Dwight David Eisenhower’s Assignment – Staff Officer Forever

Eisenhower graduated from West Point and had no opportunities to command ANYTHING for the first seven years. He was sent to Panama and ended up working under a man who loved Military history, he studied this guy and learned a lot. But he kept moving from dead end assignment to dead end assignment for 16 years. Douglas MacArthur saw something in him and he took him on as an aid. He was MacArthur’s aid for 3 years until MacArthur made him an adviser to the Philippine army. 21 years in the Army and he is still in dead end jobs. Eventually he is transfered to the Pentagon where he is responsible for drawing up war plans for potential wars with Japan or Europe. This was a dead end job no one ever thought we’d be in a war with Japan. After 26 years he was finally promoted to brigadier general – in eighteen months he moved from that position to being the supreme commander of the Allied forces!!

Key phrase when it appears you’re in a dead end assignment – “And God was WITH Joseph” – God is with you.

If you are in a dead end assignment, God is with you. Colossians 3:23 “work hard as unto the Lord”

Talk with the guy next to you: What’s your current assignment?

Psalm 37:3-4

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

God will put the desires in your heart when you Trust in HIM.

Then He will bring those things to pass!

Our hope for the future is always based on God’s faithfulness in the past.

Lamentations 3:18-20 DEPRESSING!

Lamentations 3:21-26 YET! Wow! Where is your hope?

The rest of the my story

I was so fed up with the Army and I still had two years left on my commitment. The Army decided to start the ninth signal battalion. It was an experiment in starting an all volunteer army. I became a commanding officer over this experient.

The best part of the story though is that if my boss or my his boss had gotten me out of this dead end assignment I would have never been sitting in that small church in Washington where I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

Click HERE for the Full Audio for this message.

(notes typed by PJ)

CrossTrainers

Date: April 14th 2010

Speaker: Bob Stouffer

Title: God Built – Chapter 3: “God is Enough”

My wife Cheryl was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when we first moved to Des Moines.  That diagnosis got my attention, reminding me of the fragility of life, serving as but one of the dominoes which brought me to my knees in submission to Christ in 1994.  Was it fair that Cheryl got cancer?

My daughter Molly is an excellent teacher, far better than I when I was 23.  She has had three interviews for good jobs, but more experienced teachers were hired to those positions.  She seems at peace with a situation which is, quite frankly, frustrating for me.  Is it fair that Molly hasn’t found a job yet?

My son-in-law Jake took the MCATs three times before qualifying for an interview with Des Moines University on a week ago Thursday.  What if he doesn’t get into medical school?  If such is the case, he says he won’t pursue medicine, a passion of his life.  It’s what he wants to do.  He seems at peace with a situation which is, quite frankly, making me anxious for him — unusual for me.  Is it fair if Jake doesn’t get into medical school?

Last week, Cheryl and I had one of our toughest sets of experiences with Hannah yet.  For the sake of some sense of privacy, I won’t share all of the details, but, suffice it to say, I continue to ask God for guidance in raising a daughter who seems impossible for me to parent.  I’m a pretty good guy, aren’t I?  My bride is wonderful.  Why us?  Is it fair that parenting is so difficult for a mom and dad in their 50s?

All interesting questions. . . .

Two weeks ago, Mike centered on a simple, yet profound concept from the life of Joseph from Steve Farrar’s book, God Built –

Joseph made the decision to be a “victor,” not a “victim.”

A week ago, Jerry taught from Steve’s book on a topic which I wish I had able to hear, given my circumstances in life –

God works in the midst of real, devastating, threatening, and chaotic times in our life.  We can’t live in this moments.  Often, if not always, we need the distance of time to look back on how God was working through our circumstances.

When I last taught, we delved into some pretty deep doctrinal aspects of “time.”  I tried to make a case that sound doctrine (orthodoxy) leads to sound living (orthopraxy), which, hopefully, ultimately leads to a right understanding of God – the extent that such understanding is even possible.

As with Job, God gives, and God takes away.  BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!

Today, we deal with more important doctrine from the story of Joseph –

Jerry also focused on important theology to any Christian. . .

. . .THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD

Thomas Watson once said, “. . .the godly man, when he dies, ‘enters into peace,’ but while he lives, peace must enter into him.”

How?  One reason should be THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

Those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives talk about. . .

• Luck
• Chance
• Fate
• Coincidence
• Fate
• Randomness
• Accident
• Karma

Some Christians even use these terms as a part of their lives.

How does the fully-submitted follower of Christ respond to the concepts of luck, fate, and coincidence?

Central Analysis

Today, we look at the life of Joseph to determine how providence played such a significant part in his life.

And I hope you will be able to think about how God’s providence has impacted you as well.

Let’s talk about providence, according to Dr. Wayne Grudem and James Montgomery Boice.

Dr. Grudem defines providence in the following manner –

“God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that he (1) keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them; (2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and (3) directs them to fulfill his purposes.”  (p. 315)

Boice rightly points out that God’s laws govern physics.  Gravity causes this book to drop from my hand to the floor [**********].  It’s a law of nature.

In the same way, God created laws of behavior, stated as truth in His Bible.  He seeks our obedience to these laws – boundaries and guardrails which actually allow for freedom in Christ.

Boice wrote, “. . .God will permit the ungodly to go their own way, but he has determined in his wisdom that, when they go, it will be according to his rules rather than their own. . . .spiritual laws are the equivalent of the laws of science in the physical creation.”  (p. 179)

Joseph’s brothers almost murdered him.

He was sold into slavery. Was that “bad”?  No.  Good.

Being sold into slavery actually saved Joseph’s life.

God WAS WITH JOSEPH and prospered him as the head of Potiphar’s household.

Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of raping her, and Joseph was thrown into prison.

Who favored Joseph?

How?

Joseph was thrown into prison.  Was that bad?  No.  Good.

God WAS WITH JOSEPH and prospered him as the chief jailer, catching the attention of a member of Pharoah’s staff.

Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s cupbearer’s dream correctly, thus saving the cupbearer’s life, but the cupbearer forgot about Joseph for 2 years.

Joseph unfairly languished two more years in prison.  Was that bad?  No.  Good.

God forged Joseph’s character of patience, perseverance, and forgiveness.

God WAS WITH JOSEPH, calling the cupbearer’s attention to Joseph’s abilities as a dream interpreter, which ultimately brought Joseph out of prison and into a position of power second only to Pharoah.

Jerry talked about these incidences in Joseph’s life as “cross-providence.”  Events which seem devastating to us could be working together for our good, and we should never question the goodness of God in our lives.

What about the evil of this story?

What is God’s relationship to evil?

How did God influence the sinful behavior of Joseph’s brothers?

Dr. Martyn Loyd-Jones:

“. . .sinful acts are under divine control, and occur only by God’s permission and according to his ultimate purpose. . . .

“. . .God restrains and controls sin.”

Psalm 76:10 – “. . .God overrules sin for good.”

Genesis 50:20 – “. . .God never causes sin, nor approves of it. . . .People alone are responsible for their sin.”

James 1:13-15

Thomas Watson: “The Lord permits sin, but does not approve it.”

Someone walks up to you and says, “If God is in charge of everything in my life, and evil happens in my life, then isn’t God responsible for evil?”  Doesn’t that make him the author of evil?”  Based on what you have learned about providence, how would you answer someone who asked you those two questions?

God is sovereign.  He rules over all.  He causes or allows events in your life, and some of those events involve evil.

Grudem wrote, “If we were to say that God himself does evil, we would have to conclude that he is not a good and righteous God, and therefore that he is not really God at all.  On the other hand, if we maintain that God does not use evil to fulfill his purposes, then we would have to admit that there is evil in the universe that God did not intend, is not under his control, and might not fulfill his purposes. . . .If evil came into the world in spite of the fact that God did not intend it and did not want it to be there, then what guarantee do we have that there will not be more and more evil that does not intend and that he does not want?”  (pp. 328-329)

Are you a puppet on a string?

Since God is sovereign, in what sense are you still responsible for your own choices and decisions?

Do we truly have free will?

Grudem wrote, “. . .we make willing choices, choices that have real effects.  We are aware of no restraints on our will from God when we make decisions.  We must insist that we have the power of willing choice; otherwise we will fall into the error of fatalism or determinism and thus conclude that our choices do not matter, or that we cannot really make willing choices.”  (emphasis in original, p. 331)

However, Grudem pointed out, “An absolute ‘freedom,’ totally free of God’s control, is simply not possible in a world providentially sustained and directed by God himself.”  (p. 331)

Joseph was obedient and faithful to God.  Bad things often happen to good people.

Disobedient people who don’t even know a relationship with God sometimes prosper greatly throughout their lives. Good things often happen to bad people.

Is it fair that bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people?

Boice wrote, “It is all things, including evil, that God uses in accomplishing his good purposes in the world.”  (emphasis in original, p. 181)

Some men and women preach the “prosperity gospel [lower-case g].”  The essence of that gospel is that following God will automatically prosper you.

Watch what John Piper has to say about the prosperity gospel in 2 minutes, 46 seconds –

http://www.youtube.come/watch?v=PTc_FoELt8s

[YOUTUBE VIDEO OF JOHN PIPER “ON THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL”]

God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him, even in the midst of suffering.

Did Jesus deserve death on the cross?

God used that unfair death for good, for the saving of many.

Steve Farrar wrote, “So let me get this straight.

He owns it all.

He rules over all.

He has ordained all.

He controls it all.

That means I shouldn’t have trouble sleeping tonight.”  (p. 63)

I encourage you to reflect upon circumstances in your life in which the assurance of those words could be very encouraging and comforting.

I could teach about providence for several weeks.  In fact, today, I purposefully avoided the controversy between Arminianism and Calvinism, a discussion for another day.

Grudem wrote, “Every believer who meditates on God’s providence will sooner or later come to a point where he or she will have to say, ‘I cannot understand this doctrine fully.’”  (p. 336)

Last week, Jerry shared an excellent closing, which I would like to reiterate this week –

God’s plan for Joseph’s life was intentional and purposeful.  His life included suffering.  But this wasn’t random suffering.  The suffering was purposeful, and God wouldn’t leave him in his suffering.  God was refining and testing Joseph.  One day, God would bring Joseph forth as refined gold.  And He did!  Whatever your circumstances, God is purposeful.  God is intentional.

The bottom line for me?

Follow the example of Jesus.  Jesus’ will was perfectly consistent with His Father’s will.  He abided in the father.  As the Father directed Him to speak and act, He spoke and acted.  He did the work of the Father, bringing Him glory and honor.

My will should be perfectly consistent with Jesus, my Savior.  I should abide in Christ.  As the Holy Spirit directs me to speak and act, I should speak and act.

Boice wrote, “. . .our good is to enter into the destiny we were created for: to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and thus ‘to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.’”  (p. 180)

I must do the work of God, bringing Him glory and honor.

Becoming more like Jesus makes our choices more certain.

Questions to Consider

Imagine waking up one morning with the conviction that everything in your life was random.  How would that affect your attitude toward the events of your day?

Think back to some difficult or devastating event in your life.  Explain how the doctrine of providence will help you in the way you think about that event.

To what extent has thinking about the doctrine of providence increased your trust in God?

Explain how a proper understand of the doctrine of providence should lead a Christian to a more active prayer life.

Closing

Check out a YouTube video that beautifully illustrates my points about providence today.  This is a story that is very close to Jerry Foster, Jr.’s and Sr’s heart –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR8vyAYFL-I

[“Erika’s Story: Saving Lives Through Organ and Tissue Donation”  (4:31)]

Is it fair that a 16-year-old girl was killed so early in her life?

“Fairness” has nothing to do with it.

God is sovereign.

God has wrought much goodness from Erika’s death, and that goodness will continue with every person who commits to being an organ donor as a result of this testimony.

In 1774, William Cowper (pronounced Cooper) expressed God’s providence extremely well in the famous hymn, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” –

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants his footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

Deep unfathomable mines

Of never-failing skill

He treasures up his bright designs,

And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;

The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break

In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust him for his grace;

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flow’r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan his work in vain;

God is his own interpreter,

And he will make it plain.

Our focus should not be on ourselves or our circumstances.

Our focus should be on God.

Fix your eyes on Jesus.

God is enough.

FLAME ON!

Resources

Boice, James Montgomery.  Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive and Readable Theology. Downer’s Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1986.

Farrar, Steve.  God Built: Forged by God in the Bad and Good of Life. Colorado Springs, Colorado:  David C. Cook, 2008.

Grudem, Wayne.  Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, Michigan: InterVarsity Press, 1994.

Holy Bible. English Standard Version.  2001.

Click HERE for the Full Audio for this message.

Date: April 7th 2010

Speaker: Jerry Foster

Title: God Built – Chapter 2: When Your Dreams Die

Introduction:

We are talking about the life of Joseph.  The trials, the hardship, the forgiveness that Joseph experienced.

I didn’t hear Mike’s message last week but I’m assuming he told you about the overview of the book.  About the sovereignty of God.  About how sometimes it seems that God works slowly.

The one thing we do know is that God IS at work.  However, often times God is at work in the midst of our hardship and trials.

Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, how could God allow that to happen?

The thing that Joseph didn’t know at the time was that this chapter of his life would last for 13 years.  If Joseph would have known this it would have made it even more difficult.

Our own storms batter us.  We deal with them day to day.

For Joseph, the storm didn’t make since until he got through it.

“In these bewildering chapters of life you will have to give 5,10,15 years before anything makes since.” – Steve Farrar

After college I went off to Chicago, had a great ministry but ended up coming home.  I spent the next 10 years in a storm of doubt, marriage struggles, money struggles, spiritual dryness.  At the time I didn’t understand.  Now I understand.

This couple I met in Brussels, from Assyria, left everything to go to a place where they could have religious freedom and right now things are really difficult.  They are broken.  I know that down the road they will look back with a story to tell.  They will see that God’s timing was perfect.

Joseph was able to look back on his life and see God’s timing was perfect.

Think about it, Joseph’s brothers were trying to kill him.  But at just the right moment this slave caravan comes by and his brothers were able to sell him instead of killing him.

I imagine from Joseph’s standpoint being sold as a slave was the worst thing that could happen, he probably wasn’t down there jumping for joy that he was saved from death.  Joseph didn’t know what God was doing.

It had to have been difficult for him to see that God had saved him from death.  He was dealing with a devastating loss.  The loss of freedom.

Here is the big question: Could God be behind devastating losses in our life?

We can go to the book of Job.  I don’t like this book.  When I read the book of Job I come to a troubling conclusion about life in this world.

While God gives satan permission to test Job, God remains in control.  Satan didn’t realize that God would use Job’s story for thousands of years to teach His people.

Job 1:13-19  In a matter of just a few minutes, Job’s life was ruined beyond repair.  But what we know is that Job never wavered in his commitment.

Job 2:9-10 Here is where we go wrong.  We think that anything good that happens comes from God and anything bad that happens comes from satan.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 If God can control everything why does He allow bad stuff?

Cross Providences:

You know you’ve hit a Cross Providence in your life when you question the goodness of God.

Then we need to step back and ask if God is doing something different.

When I step back and look at what God is doing and I try to understand what he is doing, I am often looking through the situation through my flesh.  In my flesh I don’t have the capacity to understand God’s providence.

Psalms says that the Lord is good and the Lord does good, but in the midst of pain it can be tough to see that.

Consider this, we may never see the good on this earth.  All the pain I see around me, much of it I will never see the point of until heaven.

CS Lewis said that it very well could be that the first words out of our mouth in heaven will be, “of course.”

Once we have the whole picture things will make sense.

We have to come to the place where we know what we believe about God’s providence.

When we ask our questions, we find God working in our hearts to say you won’t understand this right now.

Take a few minutes to look through these questions from Steve’s book.

Discussion Questions:

For Joseph, in the midst of his life’s worst storms, it seemed like life had spun completely out of control.  When you have been in the midst of your own storms, what did you think about God and His plan for your life?

Being betrayed by His own brothers had to have hurt Joseph.  How can we keep from being overwhelmed by negative emotions in such moments?

If the providence of God hadn’t shown up at the exact right moment, Joseph would have died.  In His providence, has He shown up and altered your course even if it hurt?

Is it possible that you in your own life, God has shown up and spared you from an outcome that you aren’t even aware of?

Conclusion

God cannot lie

God cannot sin

God cannot do evil

If that is the case then the cross providences of our life have to be for our good.

God’s plan for Joseph’s life, for Job’s life, it was intentional, it was purposeful.

God didn’t leave them in their suffering.  He used it to refine them and test them.

When we look at our lives we need to see that God is purposeful and He won’t leave us in our suffering.

Click HERE for the Full Audio for this message.

(notes typed by PJ)

CrossTrainers

Date: March 31th 2010

Speaker: Mike Swaim

Title: God Built – Chapter 1: Strangely and Slowly; God is Working

The story of Joseph – An overview

This book deals with how men are forged

I’ve studied the life of Joseph up and down over the years but I’ve never spent this much time thinking about Joseph as I have over the last couple of days.

If you are going to be coming over the next few weeks or months you should be reading through Genesis 36-50.

If you read Genesis 36-50 each week through this study you would understand how to move from being a victim to being a victor

2 concepts on typology:

1. When you read the Old Testament you can see different types in scripture that represent different things that we experience or see in Christ. Many people look at Egypt as a type that represents “the world.” God had told Isaac not to go to Egypt when things got tough but instead to stay in the land and wait for God to provide. Keep the understanding that when we read about Egypt we are looking at mans solution for problems.

2. Joseph represents a type of Jesus. We see many things of Jesus in Joseph.

Foundations

We need to look at Luke 6:46-49

Jesus talks about people being on a solid foundation being those who are DOING the sayings of Jesus.

Even though Joseph was doing God’s plans there were still floods that came. He didn’t have sin that was creating these things, it was a flood that God had brought into his life.

From Victim to Victor

How many of you would like to go through what Joseph went through?

He was sold into slavery. He was a stranger in a strange land. He was sent to prison for something he didn’t deserve.

Lets look at Joseph’s life from the end, looking back

How old did he live? 110 years

How old was he when Pharaoh took him out of prison and put him in charge of Egypt? 30

He faced adversity from ages 17 or so to 30.

Sometimes we need to understand that our trails are for a season and are to produce something better.

If Joseph’s grew up in today’s world his story would have been a great episode of Oprah!

He came from a really dysfunctional family.

• Great Grandfather – Abraham: He had a child with his handmaid. Lied to a king to save is own hide, Twice!
• Father – Jacob: Steals his brother’s birthright. That was a big deal! He felt entitled, he was a deceiver and a thief. He got deceived by his uncle Laban and ended up with the wrong wife. He finally got the “right” wife but found out that she couldn’t have kids. This kicked off a tug of war between Jacob’s two wives and their maid servants. Joseph had a bunch of brothers with four different moms and one dad.
• Brothers: Eventually his brother’s try to kill him, but instead sell him into slavery. They make up a story to deceive their dad.

But Joseph is on his way to Egypt – 300 miles. Probably took about 10 to 20 days. He gets to Egypt, doesn’t speak the language.

Genesis 37:28, Genesis 39:1-4

The Lord was WITH Joseph.

BUT!!

Then Potiphar’s wife gets him thrown in prison.

In both of these situations he could have said, “If I hadn’t grown up in this dysfunctional family this wouldn’t be happening”

He could have been looked at what was going on and blamed those around him

We have a tendency to do this. What we need to do is to look around and say, “God what are you doing here?” instead of blaming our circumstances on everyone else.

Adversity comes. Not necessarily because you have sinned.

God was with him

God prospered him

The principles of God are true through out scripture regardless of when they are revealed.

Proverbs 3:3-4

If I love you regardless of what you do to me then I will find favor.

What is the word of God that was given to Joseph? There will come a day when your brothers and father will bow down to you.

What is the love of God to Joseph? He was with him. Regardless of what happens with anyone else, God was with Joseph.

What is the key to moving from moving from victim to victor? FORGIVENESS

I believe that forgiveness for Joseph started on the way to Egypt. I believe this because we see that Joseph won favor in Potiphar’s house. He wouldn’t have won that favor if he hadn’t forgiven his brothers and refocused his attention on God, he wouldn’t have been walking in love and wouldn’t have found favor.

HOMEWORK: Read Genesis 36-50 once a week as we go through this study.

Click HERE for the Full Audio for this message.

(notes typed by PJ)

The NEW CrossTrainers teaching series based on God Build by Steve Farrar starts on March 31.

Our world is in desperate need of bold, passionate men of integrity. Yet such men aren’t born, they’re built, shaped and formed by God to enrich their families, church, and community. But what does this process look like? And how do we get started?

The answers are found in the story of Joseph, a humble shepherd who overcame tremendous odds to become an influential leader. It’s here we discover the process that creates true men of God, where He works

Providentially, supplying everything we need in our journey
Strangely, often in ways that we won’t understand
Slowly, building our patience and trust

God Built explores the defining spiritual process that makes men of God. You’ll uncover the Biblical pattern for growth, gain insights into common frustrations and difficulties, and get equipped for the journey ahead.

Surrender yourself to Him. And become a man that’s built to last.