"Where you go, there you are" - Genesis 42 (February 14, 2016)

1. Have someone read the passage aloud.
2. Joseph responded to his brothers with both anger and sadness, what are these emotions reveal about him?
3. Why do we often ignore our emotions? How can our emotions speak to our spiritual lives?
4. How is God orchestrating a confrontation between Joseph and his brothers?
5. Why does Joseph test his brothers?
6. How is God using this situation to bring healing to Joseph and his brothers?
7. Where is a place in your life that you need God to bring reconciliation?
8. How does the map and the motivation of this passage direct us in seeking reconciliation?

Sermon Outline:
1. We Hide Our Wounds
   a. Anger
   b. Sadness

2. God Heals Our Wounds
   a. Orchestration
   b. Confrontation
   c. Reconciliation

"Let my people go!" - Genesis 41 (February 7, 2016)

1. Have someone read the passage aloud.

2. 13 years passed from the time he was sold into slavery to the moment he was freed by Pharaoh. Knowing what we know about the change in Joseph's life, how did God use that time in his life? What lessons did he teach him? What comfort can we draw from seeing that God did not waste those 13 years in Joseph's life? 

3. Read Galatians 5:1. What "freedom" is Paul talking about? What "slavery" is he referring to? 

4. What are some examples of how we live to prove ourselves? How does our justification by grace alone through faith in Christ alone free us to live to promote God's glory instead? 

5. How does our culture measure how we "make a mark" in the world? How does that differ from how God measures our mark in the world? 

6. Francis Schaeffer was fond of saying that, in God's economy, there are no little places and no people. How does Joseph's life reflect this truth? Has is that encouraging for you today?

"Dreaming in Prison" - Genesis 40 (January 31, 2016)

1. Have someone read the passage aloud.
2. What was a time when you felt alone and that God had forgotten you?
3. Read Psalm 13 (the Psalm our hymn was based off). How does David's words sit with you? Do they make you feel uncomfortable? Freeing? Not sure? Why?
4. Where does this passage offer reassurance to Joseph that God has not left him?
5. How does this help us to be assured of God's presence?
6. How, in this passage, do we see Joseph's kindness?
7. How is this a picture of what the church should be and where are there places where you can duplicate this kindness?
8. Where are the places you've seen God's remembrance / presence in your life?

Sermon Outline:
1. Our Reality

2. Our Reassurance
   a. A better revelation
   b. A better representative

3. Our Response
   a. Something to do
   b. Something to say

"Time to Flourish" - Genesis 39 (January 24, 2016)

1. Have someone read the passage aloud.
2. What are some of the ways we see Joseph flourishing in this passage?
3. Joseph seeks the wellbeing of Potiphar - why would motivate him to help this non-Israelite to flourish?
4. Joseph is tempted by a variety of things, why were the options before him so tempting? What are the appealing things in your life that tempt you?
5. How does Joseph respond to temptation?
6. Why is Joseph's resistance and fleeing from temptation counter cultural? How does this differ with the dominant narrative of our culture?
7. It's easy for us to fall into the belief that God will love us because of our gifts / abilities. How does this passage remedy this thinking?
8. Where are the places that you need to know / believe that God is with you?

Sermon Outline:
1. In the Spotlight
   a. Achievement
   b. Attractiveness

2. In the Shadows
   a. Persecution
   b. Prison

"The Scandal of Grace" - Genesis 38:11-30 (January 17, 2016)

1. Have someone read the passage aloud.
2. What are Judah's sins of commission and sins of omission?
3. Why didn't Judah look for the woman who had his signet, staff, and cord?
4. What are the things that we do to hide our sin?
5. How do you respond when your sins are found out?
6. How do we see God working in Judah's heart?
7. How does this story give you hope, faith, trust, etc. in your relationship with God?

"Learning to Lament" - Genesis 37:12-36 (January 10, 2016)

1. Have someone read the passage loud.
2. Name some of the things we experience or observe that are worthy crying over.
3. What contributes to out lack of weeping / sadness over the brokenness of the world?
4. In the passage, how did the brothers respond to the evil they had just done? Do you find yourself responding to the news of evil like either of these?
5. Where do we have a clue of hope in this passage?
6. Where is a place in your life that you need to remember, "meanwhile..."?

Sermon Outline:
1. Learning to Cry

2. Learning to Hope

"Family Feud" - Genesis 37:1-11 (January 3, 2016)

1. Have someone read the passage aloud.
2. Where do we see sin being duplicated from previous generations in this passage?
3. Where do you see this in your own life?
4. How do we break the patterns of generational sin?
5. In what ways is God's providence displayed in this passage? Regarding the dreams, how do they reflect the certainty that they will come about?
6. Why is God's providential working important to us?
7. Where is an area of your life that you need to remember God is at work?

Sermon Outline:
1. The Passing Down of Sin
   a. The Father's Favorite
   b. The Brothers' Rivalry

2. The Providence of God
   a. Giving Dreams
   b. Shaping the Dreamer