[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in.
Welcome to church, everybody. I'm so glad that you're here. Welcome, welcome. We also want to say welcome to all of you watching online from all around the world. What's up to you? Come on high Rich family. Give them a big, warm round of applause.
We love you. We're glad that you could join us today. Grab your Bibles, if you would. We're going to spend some time in the book of Genesis right at the very, very beginning. Genesis, chapter 39 is where the Lord's leading us this morning. And as we're turning there, I want to say we had an incredible night of worship last night. Thank you so much to our worship team. We have the most incredible worship team ever. Ever. And last night was exceptional. One of our best worship nights of all time. Thank you to our worship team, to our creative arts. All the people that served you made last night incredible. Thank you guys for coming here with a great heart and a heart of expectancy. Many of you did not complain about not being able to sit down. Like, thank you so much for packing this place out and being able to just go to the presence of God with. With just a reckless abandonment. It's a beautiful thing to be a part of a worshiping church. Amen.
Amen. Also, I want to just thank you for your generosity. Many of you have chosen to stand behind us faithfully with your finances, with tithes and with offerings. And for those of you that have chosen to do that, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to spotlight a different area of the world that we're able to impact because of your generosity. And this week, I want to talk to you about our impact on Cuba. So between Danny and Peggy Thornton and their ministries, they were able to lead an incredible. An incredible team to be able to teach evangelism to pastors, to church staffs, to a bunch of leaders, teach them how to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to a nation that absolutely needs it. And your finances is able to touch people's lives, make a big difference, not just here in Longview, Texas, but around the world. And Cuba is one of those places that has been impacted because of your faithful giving. Thank you for that. If you haven't met Danny and Peggy. You're going to want to meet them. They're in first service, and so they were a little embarrassed when I started spotlighting them as they are. But they passed the glory test. They know what to do with praise and with glory. We're going to talk a little bit about that. They're incredible men and women of God, and we love being able to support. Support them. So Genesis chapter 39 is where we're going to go. We're going to speak on something that is near and dear to my heart. One of the reasons why I feel like the Lord has brought me to East Texas, and one of the things that we're seeing in our city is the desperate need for good leadership.
Good leadership. Now, one of the things we've noticed in our world is bad leadership. You see it all the time. You see it in government, you see it in Hollywood, you see it in churches. Bad leadership.
Here's the thing I want to make sure that you see. If you are a believer, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you were born to lead. The question is, are you a good leader or are you a bad leader? What does your leadership look like? You are called. Jesus tells his disciples, you're called to be the salt of the earth.
You're called to be the light of the world.
I want to show you this. In John chapter 15, Jesus looked at his disciples and he said, you didn't choose me. He said, I chose you.
I called you. I chose you, and I appointed you. Not only did I call you, but I've given you a purpose.
I've given you a destiny. There is a mandate upon your life. There is a reason why God chose to have you born in the time that he chose for you to be born. And God placed you in the particular place in geography where you were called to make a difference.
You're called to use your influence.
God says, you didn't choose me. I chose you. And I called you. I appointed you. He says this to bear fruit.
Fruit that will last. You're not called to just be fruity. You're called to bear fruit. That's one of many dad jokes I'm gonna give you today.
You were called to bear fruit. Fruit that will last. To make an eternal difference.
You are not here just to have some kids and have a few more toys than your neighbor. That's not a life. That's not purpose. You're not called to just have some hobbies.
You're not called to just have some good days. No, no, no. You are called with a divine purpose.
You're called to use the influence, the Christ that's living on the inside of you to make a difference in the world.
And Jesus speaks very clearly about that. And I'm so thankful that the world gives us fantastic examples of not just good leaders, but bad leaders as well. So we know the difference.
And as we're talking and developing what our leadership needs to look like, I'm thankful that the Lord shows us not just some snapshots of people's life when they're doing the. The best parts of things or, or the worst snapshots of their life, but God actually gives us some great examples of people that started well and finished well.
That's something that's in short supply today. We have lots of great leaders. The question is, can you finish well? You know, the Apostle Paul says, I've fought the good fight. I've ran my race, I've finished my course. Now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. He finished well. The question is, where did he start? Did he start well?
Didn't start well, but finished well. We see a lot of people in the Bible that we don't really see their, their, their past. We, they just kind of show up on the scene, people like Elijah. But there are some that we see the beginning that was good, we see the end that was good. In every part of the story of their lives, we see them working hard to lead well. Last week we spotlighted a man named Samuel that we get to look at all of his life and his leadership of Israel. This week I want to take a look at a man named Joseph.
Joseph. He's one of the few people that the Bible doesn't have a lot of bad things to say about him. So not only did he start well, he finished well. And God used him to do incredible things.
Now, the story before Joseph, the story with his parents, is a very, very powerful, what I would consider a very East Texas story.
If you know the story of Joseph's father, Jacob, you know that when Jacob had his big wedding day, he got drunk and married the wrong woman. If that's not East Texas, I don't know what is.
Seven years later, he marries that woman's sister. Now, that's a Louisiana story. That's not. We don't.
But these two sisters that Jacob marries, Joseph's parents, these two sisters are in heavy competition with one another who can have more kids.
And of course, the older sister, Leah, who was not as loved as the younger sister, Rachel, she has child after child after child. And there's this bitter feud between these two sisters of who could have more kids. And. And Rachel, Joseph's mother's begging God for a child. Begging God, begging God, begging God. And she's screaming at her husband like, it is not an easy marriage. It's not an easy life. And during this whole chaotic family scene, God brings Joseph into the picture, and his mother names him Joseph. The Hebrew interpretation for the name Joseph is means, may he add. And this was just not saying, I want my son to grow up to be a mathematician. It's saying, God, what you've given me is not enough.
I need more. I need more so I can play this game of competition with my sister. So I'm naming my child. May God add, I want more. I want more. I want more. This one is not enough, you know, that name Joseph, may he add, became more than just what he was called by. It became a mandate of his life. God used that name to show us that God is the God that loves to take what's not enough and make it more than enough.
Remember the story of the five loaves and two fish? It's not enough.
God loves to make what's not enough become more than enough.
And that became the whole mandate behind Joseph's life. God added and added and added. God added favor. God added success. Because Joseph's heart was right. We know the story of Joseph. You might have heard the story, story of Joseph and his amazing multicolored coat.
Culture would have told us that that coat would have. Would have made Joseph stand out. That coat pretty much tells his brothers who didn't like him very much. By the way, that multicolored special coat tells his brothers, I am exempt from manual labor.
What do you think that does in the hearts of your brothers when they've got to go and work out in the family business out in the field every single day? But Joseph is the special one that does not ease family tensions.
There are stories about Joseph bringing back bad reports as a tattletale, telling his father, look what they're out here doing. They're wasting your resources. The brothers didn't like him. He doesn't have to work like everybody else.
Jewish culture says they treated Joseph as the baby of the family, even though he did eventually have a younger brother, had younger siblings. But he's the baby. He's the special one. He doesn't have to do the hard work.
And his brothers did not like him. Finally, one day, after hearing Joseph's dreams that always seemed to paint the brothers in A bad light and himself in a good light. His brothers had enough, and they said, you know what? Let's kill him. Like, whoa.
If that wasn't East Texas, I don't know what is.
One of the brothers speaks up. No, no, no, don't. Let's. Don't kill him. Let's sell him. Let's make a profit.
So through a long story becoming short, they ended up selling Joseph into slavery.
Human traffic.
Slavery.
He's trafficked all the way into a different country, sold to a man named Potiphar.
Potiphar takes young Joseph and notices that there's something special about him, Ends up turning his whole house over to him. He becomes a faithful steward in the house of Potiphar.
And in this story, we learn to see that Joseph becomes an incredible leader.
In spite of all the things that he didn't have growing up, all the things that made him stick out, all the things that people hated about him, all the things that he had to walk away from, and yet the Lord still gave him success. God gave him favor because he was able to pass a couple of tests that each of us will have to pass at some point. I want to remind you, you are a leader. The question is, are you a good leader? Are you a or a bad leader?
Now, in Joseph's particular case, we see that he not only starts well, but finishes well. Because he has something that most of us hope that we can have. Character.
Not that we are characters, but that we have some character.
He had integrity. As we're talking about learning to lead today, I want to give you three things that we see as proof of great leadership in Joseph's life that I think are so important for us to understand.
Here's the first of three things. Number one, we see that great leadership starts by leading myself well.
Great leadership starts by leading myself well. Now, what does it mean for you to lead your family?
Some of us at some point in our lives will say, you need to be able to lead your family well. You need to be able to lead your children or to lead on your job. What does it mean to actually do that? Does that mean that I need everybody listening to what I say?
Does that mean I need to speak with more authority?
Here's the thing. If you don't know how to lead yourself well, anyone that's following you is just gonna be following a hypocrite. Because you're gonna say, do what I say, not as I do. You need to learn how to lead yourself well.
And we see this in so prevalent in the Life of Joseph as he sold as a slave.
Scripture tells us that, that sister Potiphar, Potiphar's wife, Joseph caught our eye. Now I was studying on the life of Joseph this past week in preparation for this message and studying some Jewish rabbinic teachings and some cultural things that they've passed down for centuries about the life of Joseph. And many, many Jewish rabbinic teachings say that Joseph was not just a good looking guy, he was exceptionally good looking.
And it makes sense when he's exempt from physical and manual labor. Like he has a different skin tone because he didn't have to work out in the heat, he didn't have to work out in the sun, so he's a little bit lighter and prettier. He got that light skin.
For those of you that were, that were born white, you don't understand those light skinned people.
That's what you wanted to be.
And not only is he good looking, their writings describe him as angelic looking.
And there are stories told. I looked at this this week. This is crazy. Stories told about Joseph later on in his life riding a chariot through Egypt and, and ladies are climbing the walls to get a look at him.
There's other stories told about women throwing jewelry into his chariot, trying to get him to stop and pay attention to them. So you can understand when sister Potiphar like sees him and says, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. This is a good looking guy. He's my slave. I can do whatever I want with him. But Joseph purposed in his heart not to defile himself.
I love when I look at the story of Joseph and how good looking he was, I'm like, thank you, Lord, you finally showed me somebody in scripture that I can, I can relate to so well.
But scripture says that Joseph had character.
And when Potiphar's wife comes in the house, he goes outside.
And when she comes outside, he goes back inside.
Day after day after day, he refuses her advances. Even though he's a slave.
He didn't have a lot of rights, but he chooses to honor the Lord to the best of his ability to keep his character. Remember, he's been betrayed by his family, sold as a slave.
He doesn't have a whole lot of options. He could have easily said, you know what? I'm just gonna make the best of a bad situation and try to do what I. No, no, no, no, no.
Scripture says it this way. In Genesis 39, when she approaches him and says, you're gonna lay with me, have a relationship with me, have an affair with me, he Says, how then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against.
Not my boss, against God?
I said, this is wicked. This is wrong.
Look at his character. How could I do this wicked thing and sin against God? And he refused to go to bed with her or to be even with her. Here's what we know, is that integrity is a spiritual responsibility before it's a social one. And many people, their leadership is only social leadership. I lead well as long as people are looking at me, as long as I do the right thing. That people would say, you're doing the right thing. No, no, no. It's much deeper than that.
Because Joseph says, no, no, no. The Lord is seeing me. The Lord sees my. My thoughts and my desires. I want to honor the Lord. This is wicked. It's a sinful thing to do. This God is watching me. Those are big words coming for someone that's been rejected and sold into slavery, far away from Israel, now living in Egypt.
Integrity is a spiritual responsibility.
So when Potiphar comes home, his wife says, this young slave of yours, he tried to rape me.
And Potiphar's heart is just broken. Like, why would you do this?
And so he has Joseph thrown into prison. Now, it's important to know that it's not just any prison.
Notice what it says about this. Look at this. In verse 20, Joseph's master took him and put him in prison. The place, look at this. Where the king's prisoners were confined.
That's important. If you have a paper Bible, underline that. If you have a digital Bible, hold your finger there for a second and highlight that.
Because the Lord put that scripture in there for us to see that even in the midst of going to prison, God put him in a special prison. Now he's rubbing shoulders with nobility.
These are the places that Pharaoh would send those that made him angry, those that were on his, on his court, those that he had as political prisoners. And so Joseph got a crash course in how to not make Pharaoh angry, which he's going to need in just a few short years.
It put him in the king's prison. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him. That's an incredible scripture. Even in prison, the Lord was with him and God showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden and gave him success in whatever he did.
Powerful words that the Lord reminds us that even in the craziest of circumstances, that God can still be with you. I love what David says, Lord, you're with me. Your rod and your Staff comfort me. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you're with me.
No matter what you're walking through. God sees he's with us. And God can still grant success in the worst of conditions.
That's good for you to know.
One thing that I know that happens especially to me, when you get into places where life gets dark, we think God's forgotten me.
He's left me here on my own.
But Joseph is proof that that's not true. I can pass the character test.
God gave him success and he just rose to the top. Now he's in charge of the prison.
Here's what we know, that when the Lord is with me, there are no wasted seasons.
This is not a waste of my time. If the Lord is with me, that's good for somebody to know. So Joseph was able to pass probably the most important test of leadership, the integrity test.
What do you do when nobody's watching? Who's the real you?
What do you do when there's pressure put on and you have the chance to compromise your morals and values?
Joseph was able to pass that test. If you want to become a great leader, if you want people to follow your leadership and lead them well, you have to pass the integrity test.
One of the things that I raise my children to do is become leaders, not followers. We had a statement in our house that when they finally got old enough to go and spend time with other people's houses or be around their friends or go to places where I wasn't going to be there to supervise, we would say you're here to be a thermostat, not a thermometer.
Some of you, it's going to take you a little while to get that. But a thermostat sets the temperature. We don't reflect the temperature. I don't tell you what temperature is. No, no, no, I said it.
You were called on your business and your family to set the temperature to reflect the heart of Christ.
Here's number two. One of the things that we see in Joseph's life that all great leaders are going to have to come to face with is that, number two, great leadership understands where the credit belongs.
We see this test failed by many, many people that are rising up, especially in Christian leadership.
They. They might be able to pass the character test. They have integrity. But what happens when things start going right?
What happens when people start complimenting you? What happens when praise comes?
What happens when the accolades come, when the gifts come?
That's an important test for each of us.
Because we see that at every phase of Joseph's life, he may start from the bottom, but he rises to the top.
And he does that by interpreting dreams, by hearing from the Lord and being able to do what nobody else could do.
And so we know that in the prison, the baker that is Pharaoh's baker and his butler, they both have dreams. And Joseph tells them the truth.
He says, I'm hearing from the Lord, and here's what the Lord is saying through your dream. He said, you're gonna come right back to work for Pharaoh and things are gonna be great. That's awesome. The other guy says, now tell me my dream. He's like, you don't want me to do that.
Your dream's not so good.
In just a couple of days, you're gonna lose your head. Like, you mean I'm gonna get angry? Like, mm, no.
And it happens later on down the road. Pharaoh himself has a dream.
And the man that was with Joseph in prison, that had his dream interpreted, says, there's a guy in prison that's full of the spirit of the Lord and he can interpret your dream. Nobody else can do this, but I know he can. So Joseph is pulled out of prison and brought in front of Pharaoh.
And this is the moment he has to pass the praise test, the glory test.
Pick this up with me, if you would.
In chapter 41, verse 15, Pharaoh said to Joseph, I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it. Look at Joseph's response. I can't do that, but God can.
It's not anything special about me. It's the spirit of the Lord. Not by might, not by power, by the spirit that says the Lord. And this is important for us to recognize that in our leadership, it is not about you.
It's about him and who we bring glory to. The glory is not for me. God doesn't share his glory.
There's a lot of bad leadership that can't pass this test of what happens when things start going right for many of us. What would happen if the most powerful person on the planet calls you and says there's something that only you can do?
We would have said, you know what?
I'm pretty good.
And if only I can do this before I give you the answer, I'm gonna need a new Ferrari. I'm gonna need a new house.
I'm gonna need some toys.
I am gonna never pay taxes for the rest of my life. Come on, somebody. If you're in a place where you got that bargaining chip. You know, if I'm so special, you're gonna give me. This is not what he does.
He says, look, there's nothing special about me.
Like David would say, God's nearness is my good.
Everything about me comes from the presence of the Lord.
And he's able to give praise, give honor back to the Lord. I can't do this, he says to Pharaoh.
But God can. God's going to help you. Here's what we know. That learning to give God glory enables me to experience things that God wouldn't show anybody else.
You get to see things nobody else gets to see. You get to experience things nobody gets to experience. Why? Because God can trust you to give him the glory for it.
When you can pass this test, God begins to elevate your leadership once again. You're called to lead. The question is, are you a good leader or a bad leader? Can you lead yourself?
Can you spiritually feed yourself? Can you trust yourself when no one's looking?
Are you able to spend time with God and spiritually feed yourself? Here's what we know. That if you're not spiritually fed, you're gonna be emotionally led. And emotionally led leaders are not fun to follow.
You're called to lead. Don't lead from your emotions.
Lead from the overflow of your time spent with the Lord. You still with me, everybody? Is this okay?
So we've talked about what it means to pass those two tests. Here's the third and final thing that we see in life in the life of Joseph is that great leadership reflects the heart of the Father in all things.
Lord, what do you want with this situation that I'm dealing with? Lord, how can you be most glorified in all of this?
So there's so many fantastic Old Testament leaders that all have one thing in common. If you look closely at their story, they're all a foreshadowing of Christ.
We talked about Samuel last week being a foreshadowing of Jesus with the way that he mediates between the Father and the people.
That's Jesus. We talk about the way that he speaks on behalf of the Father. That's Jesus.
The Word became flesh, dwelt among us. That's Christ.
The way that he leads with integrity, the way that he turns people's hearts back towards the Lord. That's Jesus. It's a reflection.
It's a foreshadowing of what would happen with Jesus a few thousand years into the future. Now we see the exact same thing happening in the life of Joseph, Joseph foreshadows Christ. There's so many things about Christ that we see through the life of Joseph. And we can start looking at Joseph through the lens of Jesus. We start recognizing the scripture, begins to come alive. We see things that we've never seen before. Remember this. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers for silver. Sound familiar?
So was Jesus.
See that? Joseph was falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit. So was Jesus. With six trials, illegal trials, falsely accused, never broke a law.
Joseph and Jesus have a lot of amazing parallels in their story. Joseph was humiliated, but passed the test.
Yet we see the heart of Jesus coming through the life of Joseph. You know the story that Joseph eventually comes into contact with his brothers again, and he still chooses grace.
When they meant it for evil, God turned it around for good.
Think about Jesus on the cross, all the things that they did out of their evil intents, and God still used it for good.
So you know the story of what happens. For those of you that were raised in church, Joseph interprets the dream. He said, this is what your dream is about, Pharaoh. You're going to have seven years of economic abundance. The next seven years, you're going to have a lot, a lot of prosperity.
And then the following seven years, things are going to be incredibly tough. A famine's going to come across this earth like no one has ever seen. You're going to have seven years of severe drought. Nothing's going to grow.
And Pharaoh said, well, okay, you have the spirit of the Lord on you. I hear that. That's exactly what I dreamed. What do we do? He said, you need to choose someone that is able to manage those seven years of abundance so that when the times come where it's difficult, you have enough to get you through.
So choose a person that has that kind of wisdom on them. And Pharaoh looks around, he's like, bro, that is you.
I now appoint you to be the number two most powerful person in the world.
And Joseph goes from the prison to the palace.
Just like that. God elevates his leadership and places him in a place of prominence so that he can save the world.
Look at this. In verse 53 of chapter 41, the seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end. And the seven years of famine began. Just as Joseph had said, there was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt, there was food. And all Egypt began to feel the famine. And the people cried to Pharaoh for food. And Pharaoh told the Egyptians, look at this. Underline this. If you would go to Joseph and do what he tells you to do.
Now, if we're seeing that Joseph is a foreshadowing of Christ, there ought to be some parallels in just what Pharaoh is saying about Joseph, and there certainly is. When Jesus does his very first miracle at a wedding in Cana, when the wine has run out, what does his mother tell the disciples? Go to Jesus. Do whatever he tells you to do. Uh oh.
He's foreshadowing Christ. Do you see it?
There's so many fantastic things that show us Christ in the life of Joseph. When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe. And everywhere, not only is Joseph showing us a picture of Christ to come in his actions and in his stewardship, Joseph's the faithful steward. Jesus is the faithful steward. Jesus tells the parable of what it means to be a faithful steward. He's speaking about Joseph. And Joseph is pushing a foreshadowing of Christ.
Let me say it this way. Just as the Old Testament leaders foreshadowed Christ, so leaders today should reflect Christ.
I'm going to pause for just a moment for you to recognize how important your leadership really is.
They're foreshadowing Christ.
We reflect Christ in our leadership.
So it says that Joseph supplies bread to the entire world. By the way, so does Jesus. Jesus says, I am the bread. I'm the bread of life.
Says, whoever comes to me, you're not going to hunger anymore.
And then Joseph ends up saving not just Egypt, but the entire world from starvation. And here's the good news. Jesus didn't come to just be Israel's Messiah. He's the world's Messiah. He didn't just come to save Israel. He came to save you. And he came to save me. Joseph is foreshadowing Christ. And just as he foreshadows Christ, we should reflect Christ and our values and the way that we live and the way that we lead.
Joseph did this under some really hard circumstances, and he had the chance to get even. For those of you that know the story, Joseph's brothers in a time of starvation hear that there is food in Egypt. And so they show up. And Joseph recognizes his brothers immediately. Uh oh.
And in that moment where he has all power, all authority to put them to death, to finally get even, he could have said, you remember that dream I had a long time ago, 30 years ago? Remember that dream? You guys were bowing down to me. Hello. I told you so.
He doesn't say that he instantly chooses grace. There's grace in the Old Testament.
And by the way, it would be easy for us to look at this story and to say, you know what? I understand Joseph. I see myself in that character. But perhaps more clearly, a better example in the story of where we fit in the story is not in Joseph. Joseph's foreshadowing Christ.
Most of us are more like the brothers.
We've betrayed Christ with our actions. We've betrayed him with our sin and our failures and our mistakes.
And the good news is there's a better Joseph that chooses grace when he sees me.
When he sees you, there's a covering for my sin. There's a covering for my mistakes.
And I love what Joseph says in response to his brothers when they finally see that this is Joseph, the one that we sold into slavery, the one that we tried to kill. Our long lost brother is in a fantastic place and a difficult place for us to process when they finally see that. And by the way, there's some incredible pranks that Joseph pulls on his brothers. He doesn't hate them, he starts hazing them. And is his greatness. You need to read that. He does all kinds of things just to mess with their minds. Like before, I tell them who I am, they don't recognize me. Let's have some fun with this, which I love personally.
If you're not familiar with the Mexican culture, know that if we're not pranking you, if we're not. If we're not.
If we're not picking on you a little bit, if we're not hazing you, we don't consider you family. It's part of my culture. So if you understand that about me and my leadership style, I'm gonna pick on you. That means I love you. If you're not picking on you, I don't like you.
I think this is proof that Joseph is the first Mexican in the Bible.
Yosef, we claim him, but look what he does in scripture. When the brothers finally figure out that this is Joseph and they are completely at his mercy, look what he does.
Verse 4 of chapter 45. Then Joseph said, I am your brother Joseph, the one that you sold into Egypt.
Gulp.
And now don't be distressed with yourselves for selling me here. Look at this. Because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. God sent me ahead of you to save your lives. So then it was not you who sent me here, but God.
He can see the hand of God in all of it. He can see the Hand of God. Not just in the good times, but in the bad ones.
The things that other people meant for evil. He said God used it for good.
Don't be distressed. You guys are my family. There's grace. There's forgiveness for you.
As I was studying and putting this together this week, there was something that the Lord led me to that I want to make sure that you see that's really important to me, and that's simply this, that great leaders, great leaders have a redemptive perspective on suffering.
In the midst of my worst days, I can see how God is redeeming, and God can redeem these parts of my life.
For those of you that are familiar with my story, know that I'm not. I'm not standing here some shining example of what it means to lead perfect. My whole life. That's not me.
I've walked through some really tough days, made some bad decisions. I know what it's like to not lead. Well, I understand.
If you know my story, you know that I got married at the age of 18. And just a few short years later, my marriage was a mess.
A horrible mess that eventually ended in divorce and me being a single dad again. If you can imagine what it's like to be a young pastor, having to walk through an ugly divorce and not being able to really share with the people how bad things have gotten. My wife had gotten addicted to meth. And let me just tell you, it's difficult to be married to a person that loves a drug more than they can ever love you.
Painful, hard, desperate.
And to stand in front of people and try to proclaim God's word when my family's falling apart does that. That doesn't sound like a very good leader to me.
I had multiple people that left the church. How could you even think about leading a church when you can't even lead your own family? I know what that feels like. I understand.
And I couldn't tell people. I wouldn't tell people from the pulpit how bad things had gotten because that wasn't my story to tell. That's her story. And I believed at some point that God was gonna redeem her. God was gonna set her free from this addiction and that things would begin to turn around. I believe in the power of God. It's difficult to keep leading when things aren't easy.
They're not good. To choose character, to choose integrity, to choose the right thing when it's hard. And in those struggles of being single again and those struggles of having to be a single dad and answer the questions of your children, like, where's my mom? That's a difficult spot for anybody to walk through.
In those moments, I remember someone spoke to me, something that was powerful, that helped me to have a redemptive perspective on suffering that would prepare my leadership for recovery.
One of the things that I was told was, you're living today, in future sermons. How do you want to preach it 20 years from now?
I began to think, okay, what am I walking through today that the Lord can redeem God? What are you teaching me in the midst of my suffering, in the midst of a broken marriage, in the midst of my single stage?
What are you teaching me? How can I learn big and even though it was difficult, even though it was hard, even though it was gross and dark and nasty, the Lord was with me.
Even in the valley of the shadow of death, when it wasn't easy, when it was painful and traumatic, and watching a person have to walk through detox and rehab that you love so much, but you know that you can't help them. I understand that.
Then a few short years later, watching myself get remarried, walk down the aisle again, finding a beautiful wife that loved the Lord, watching that redemptive part of my story became even better because I saw where God had brought me from and the pain that God had healed.
I got to watch a few short years later as my ex wife turned her life over to the Lord, found a fantastic husband. We're great friends now. You would not believe where we've come from.
God still does miracles.
I recognize that my leadership has been established because I was able to have a redemptive perspective on suffering. And you can suffer well.
You can let your leadership crumble or you can let it be forged in the fires of suffering.
Here's what we know to be true.
That there's nothing that can stop someone who refuses to be defined by their suffering, but instead allows the Lord to refine them by it. Lord, what are you showing me? What can I learn?
Am I living today in future sermons? Am I living today?
Future talks?
Am I living today? Leadership lessons I can teach my children and my grandchildren of what to do when life ain't sexy, when it's not flashy and good, when things aren't all right.
What about when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death?
What about when people talk about you, when people leave you and betray you? What about those moments where you thought people that would be with you forever turn their back on you and leave? What do you do then?
Joseph understood that test, and we can understand and pass that test as well. Today, too. Great leaders have a redemptive perspective on suffering. God, you can show me, you can get me through this. You can redeem this situation. No matter how dark it gets, you're still God. You're still in control. You still speak, you still heal, you still deliver. And you can do anything with people that you choose. At any moment, this can all turn around because you're a good God and you're still doing good things.
My friend, let me remind you, you're called to lead.
You don't just lead when it's good times, that you can lead through the bad as well.
I want to finish up right there for a moment. Would you go ahead and put away your Bibles and put away your phones and let's just take advantage of this moment that we have.
There's not many times during your week that you get to be free from your phone, free from your obligations, and all you have to do is just sit.
I want to invite you to take this moment, redeem it.
Spend just a moment with your father, asking the Holy Spirit to come to speak to you.
And whatever season you may be walking through, let's just take a moment. As school is starting again, as schedules are starting to go crazy again, as things are filling up, it's important that you just take a moment to breathe.
And whether you're walking through a difficult season or whether you're walking into the busy season, whether your character is being tested right now, you can lead well.
Would you bow your head and close your eyes? Do me a favor. Right where you are, even if you're watching online, just take a deep breath for a moment. Just breathe in, breathe out.
Lord, today we choose to center ourselves, to take this moment and to just be in your presence, knowing that in your presence, we find all that we need.
Lord, your word is very clear that we are called to lead my prayer. Lord, that I would be a leader worth following, that could lead my family well, I could lead my friendships well, my job, help me to lead well, Father, at the end of my life, at the end of our lives, we'd love to be able to stand before your presence because we finished well and hear you say, well done, good and faithful servant.
You've led well by serving me.
That's the goal.
That we would represent you well now with heads bowed and eyes closed all across this place.
How many of us would say by the simple lifting of our hands, Pastor, when you're talking about walking through a season of some suffering, when you're walking through a season of pain. You're speaking about me right now with nobody looking around. I'm not trying to embarrass you in any way, but would you lift your hand up all across this place and see, that's me. I'm walking through a hard season right now. This is difficult. This has been bad.
You can put your hands down, my friend. I'm gonna pray for you right now. And if that was you, I want you to, if you wouldn't mind, just open up your hands and place them on your knees, right where you are, Almost as if someone was handing you something you're gonna be in a position to receive from the Lord today.
As a matter of fact, if you're walking through a season where you say, you know what, Pastor, I am praising and thanking God because right now things are going really well in my life. And I'm gonna ask you to join in me and start praying together for those that things are not going well.
You might be on the mountain, but the same God that's God on the mountain is also the God of the valleys. And whether we're in good times or bad, let's find the presence of the Lord.
Let's begin to pray for those that are walking through a difficult season. Father, today we come into your presence believing that you are our source, you're our strength, you're an ever present help in the time of trouble.
And so, Father, as you walk through the seasons where life gets tough, Lord, we recognize that we can come into your presence and receive everything that we need. So, Father, we pray for our friends today that are walking through a difficult season. Father, pray that you would give them clarity of mind and thought right now. That you would fill them with your holy Spirit from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet. That they would know what to do. That they wouldn't stay in a difficult season any longer, not one second longer than they have to. And I pray that every moment of this difficult season, Father, that they would learn, that they would grow, that they'd be developed, that they'd be forged in the fires of their suffering. That they'd recognize that every good and perfect gift comes from you, from the Father of Lights that gives good gifts and you're able to redeem even the toughest of days.
Father, refine us in this season. Would you bless our brothers and sisters that are struggling today?
Help them, Father, I pray in Jesus name.
And now with heads bowed and eyes closed, maybe you came to this service today or maybe you're even watching online, you would say, pastor, if I'm going to be honest with you, I don't have a relationship with Jesus.
I don't know what it's like to be led by Jesus.
I don't have that. But I want that. My friend, you are in the right place. And no one here is going to embarrass you in any way.
But you need to make a decision today to turn your life over to the Lord, to receive his grace, to receive his salvation, his free gift for you, for others. In this place, you've been away from God. You may have been even raised in church, done all the things, but you've drifted in your relationship with God. You know that you need to come home. You've been backslidden, my friend. If you could see it right now, God himself is reaching down his hand, saying, come home. Come back to me. And if that's you, I'm going to invite you to pray a prayer with me. I'm going to ask you to pray this prayer out loud. And as a matter of fact, all of us in this room are going to pray this prayer out loud with you so that you don't feel embarrassed in any way. But you need to pray this.
Take this step of faith with me. I'll tell you the words to say. Let's all say this together. Let's say, Jesus, come on, let's say it like we mean it. Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God.
I believe that you came and died.
And I believe you rose from the grave so that I could have life and forgiveness for all of my sins.
God, will you forgive me?
I need your grace.
Will you save me?
And I'll pray this, my friend, say, jesus, I give my life to you right now, and I'll serve you all my days.
Thank you for loving me.
And with heads bowed and eyes closed, if that was you and you prayed that prayer and you meant it, I want to ask if you prayed that prayer, maybe even for the first time, but you're coming back to the Lord or you're developing a relationship with Jesus. If that was you, would you just lift your hands all across this place right now? Yes. I see you. I see you. Good, good, good, good. Many of you all across this place. You can put your hands down. For those of you that lifted up your hands, I'm not going to embarrass you in any way, but I want you to know that there's a phone number appearing right behind me on the screen if you're watching Online, there's a phone number appearing on your screen as well. I want to ask you, if you pray that prayer, text me, text the words I prayed to that number. And when you do that, I'm going to send you back a link to some things that will help you understand what just happened inside of your heart and what to do next.
Don't let this be the end of your relationship with Jesus. It starts today. Now let me help you do that. It's the greatest honor of my life to help people know God.
Good for you.
For everyone else, go ahead and look up at me if you would, and let's stand to our feet together. Today we have 19 people responding to the Lord in first and second service. Come on, somebody. That's a big deal.
Let me just tell you, if you're not seeing people repent in a church service, if you're not seeing the lost get saved, if you're not watching the sick get better, like, you need to find yourself a new church.
God is still alive. He still changes human hearts. People need to see others get saved. It's a big deal.
So I'm also gonna ask if our elders and their wives would step forward and our service ends today. These guys are gonna be available to pray with you about anything that you might need prayer for. We would love to do that then. Also, I wanna remind you, on September 11th, we have our UNITE Leadership Conference coming right back here. We're hosting that at the Belcher center at Letourneau University. And as of today, let me just tell you, we're having a flash sale.
It is 20 bucks today, so do not wait to get your tickets. There are still a few tickets left. And as a bonus, if you are a student, Your tickets are 10 bucks.
Just type the word student in the in the promo code. Student is your promo code. You're all a student in the game of life. I'm just saying I'm a student in the school of hard knocks.
No, we want you to be there. And so our pastors have gotten together all of this talent, said, can we lower the price and see if we can't get this place packed out with a lot of believers coming to increase their leadership? God wants to help you and we want to make sure that you see what unity can do in a city. It's a powerful thing. So would you please come on out and support that? Tar and Wells is coming right here to be a part of this, and it's a big deal. We want you to be a part. So tickets today are 20 bucks. So please don't wait to get your tickets. It's going to be an awesome thing. Then for everybody else, I want to pray for you. I want to bless you as you go. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week? Not just following after you, Lord, but leading well as we follow after you, we ask these things in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus and all of us said together, Amen. God bless you as you go. Have an awesome week.
[00:45:37] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening.
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[email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.
