Sermon Summary: God’s Orchestration Through Struggle

Nick’s sermon, based on Genesis 45, focused on the powerful theme of God’s sovereignty and His ability to work through even the most painful and challenging circumstances to bring about reconciliation and blessing. The narrative of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers served as the central illustration, highlighting how God’s hand was evident in a situation that initially seemed marked by betrayal and suffering.

Nick began by acknowledging the transformative power of God’s Spirit, noting that the message’s impact goes beyond human preparation and delivery. He emphasized the importance of reading and understanding the biblical narrative, particularly the dramatic climax of Joseph’s story.

The core of the sermon revolved around Joseph’s emotional and revelatory moment when he disclosed his identity to his brothers. After sending everyone else away, Joseph wept loudly, expressing the release of years of pent-up pain and trauma. He then reassured his brothers, stating that their act of selling him into slavery was part of God’s plan to preserve their lives during the famine. This pivotal moment underscores the sermon’s central theme: God’s ability to turn adversity into divine purpose.

Nick explored the concept of faith, challenging the congregation to consider whether their faith could withstand periods of intense struggle and suffering. He asked, “Is there room in our understanding of how God works in our lives and how much he cares for us that even when it seems that the wheels come off our lives completely and things don’t work out as we planned or don’t work out as we want, do we have the faith that says we can still trust you Lord?” He urged listeners not to waste their struggles with regret, bitterness, or doubt, but to recognize that God uses these experiences to reveal Himself in profound ways.

The sermon delved into the emotional depth of Joseph’s experience, acknowledging the years of pain, rejection, and unanswered questions he endured. Nick emphasized that trauma is real and that many people carry deep wounds. He encouraged listeners to bring their pain before God, trusting that He can transform their suffering into a source of blessing. He said, “This that was set to destroy me actually brought me to a place of blessing.”

Nick highlighted the extraordinary gathering of diverse individuals in the church, attributing it to God’s orchestration. He stressed that God’s grace, freely given, is more valuable than any worldly possession or power. He encouraged listeners to embrace their struggles, recognizing that God has brought them to this moment for a purpose.

The sermon addressed the concept of freedom, distinguishing between worldly notions of freedom and the true freedom found in Christ. Nick asserted that Joseph’s freedom came from his heart, free from the pain of past injustices and rooted in the knowledge that he was in God’s perfect plan. He urged listeners to fix their eyes on heaven, trusting that God has brought them to their present circumstances.

Nick challenged the congregation to adopt a perspective of faith, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. He emphasized that God is good and in control, even when circumstances suggest otherwise. He encouraged listeners to declare God’s faithfulness, regardless of their current struggles.

He used the story of his son, an airline pilot, to illustrate the importance of remaining calm and relying on established procedures in the midst of crisis. This analogy highlighted the idea that even in chaotic situations, there is a plan and a God who is in control.

Nick concluded by emphasizing the transformative power of faith. When individuals embrace faith, they not only experience God’s grace but also become a light to others. He encouraged listeners to share their testimonies, recognizing that God’s truth sets people free.

The central message was a call to trust in God’s sovereignty, even when life is difficult. Nick encouraged his listeners to make the choice to trust God, to acknowledge that, even in the midst of trouble, God is working. He finished by calling the church to worship, and to respond to God.

Bible References:

• Genesis 44: (Joseph testing his brothers)
• Genesis 45: (Joseph reveals himself to his brothers)
• Acts (Apostles thrown into prison)
• Ephesians (Blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ)

Transcript

Good morning. Good to see you all. It’s great. This place is packed. Summer weather has brought
everybody out, which is great. I want to echo Mike’s prayer there. Thank you for that prayer.
There is an element of ministry, of speaking, that is entirely out of our hands. There is
preparation. There is thought. There is insight. There are all those things that we try and
put into these messages, but there is a dynamic where God then connects with it by His Holy
Spirit and brings it to life, even beyond what I can do, what I can say, what I can
present. And that’s my prayer this morning, that God will bring His Word to life in this
short space of time. And beyond anything that I can offer, that the Holy Spirit will speak
to us through His Word. And so we’re on Genesis 45. Last week it was Genesis 44. We talked
about how Joseph tested his brothers by planting a silver cup in the sack and then had them
arrested on the way out. And what that whole episode, that puzzling episode, did was reveal
somehow the heart, the change that God had brought about, even invisibly, in the lives
of these brothers so that we got to the end of that passage where the sentence was being
declared that this brother who had been found to have, or supposedly found to have stolen
a cup, was going to remain as a slave for the rest of his life and all the other brothers
would go back. And then Judah, the one who had originally sold Joseph or led the way
in selling Joseph into slavery, stepped forward and said, I couldn’t bear for this to happen.
Let me stay and let my brother go free. And we saw how Judah, Jesus was the lion of the
tribe of Judah, Judah was the father of the tribe of salvation, was actually able to articulate
and actually in those actions demonstrate that Christ-like ministry of saying, let me
stand in my brother’s place and let him go free. And so we’re in Genesis 45 and this
has been a slow build up to this climax of this story. And I realize we don’t read it.
We haven’t got a lot of time this morning, but I don’t always read these passages and
say, go home and read them. But it’s important that we do read. And this is quite a dramatic
moment in the story. So Genesis 45, Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many
people in the room and he said to his attendants, out all of you. So he was alone with his brothers
when he told them who he was. Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians
could hear him. The word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace. I am Joseph, he said
to his brothers, is my father still alive? But his brothers were speechless. We would
be, wouldn’t you? They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of
them. Please come closer, he said to them. So they came closer and he said again, I am
Joseph your brother whom you sold into slavery in Egypt, but don’t be upset and don’t be
angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of
you to preserve your lives. This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last
five more years and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God has sent me ahead
of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was
God who sent me here, not you, and he is the one who made me an advisor to Pharaoh,
the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father
and tell him this is what your son Joseph says. God has made me master over all the
land of Egypt. God has made me. So come down to me immediately. You can live in the region
of Goshen where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks
and herds and everything you own. I will take care of you there for there are still five
years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise your household and all your animals will starve.
No pressure. Then Joseph added, look, you can see for yourselves and so can my brother
Benjamin that I really am Joseph. Go tell my father of my honored position here in Egypt.
Describe for him everything you have seen and then bring my father here quickly. Weeping
with joy, he embraced Benjamin and Benjamin did the same. Then Joseph kissed each of his
brothers and wept over them and after that they began talking freely with him. The news
soon reached Pharaoh’s palace. Joseph’s brothers have arrived. Pharaoh and his officials were
all delighted to hear this. Greg was talking about the joy of a feast, joy of celebration.
Pharaoh of all people was, ah, it’s awesome news. Joseph’s brothers have come. Let’s celebrate.
Tell your brother this is what you must do. Load your pack animals and hurry back to the
land of Canaan. Then get your father and all of your families and return here to me. I
will give you the very best land in Egypt and you will eat from the best the land produces.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, tell your brothers take wagons from the land of Egypt to carry
your little children and your wives and bring your father here. Don’t worry about your personal
belongings for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. So the sons of Jacob did as
they were told. Joseph provided them with wagons as Pharaoh had commanded and he gave
them supplies for the journey and he gave each of them new clothes. But to Benjamin
he gave five changes of clothes and three hundred pieces of silver. He also sent his
father ten male donkeys loaded with the finest products of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded
with grain and bread and other supplies he would need on his journey. So Joseph sent
his brothers off and as they left he called after them, don’t quarrel about this all along
the way, and they left Egypt and returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.
Joseph is still alive they told him and he is governor of all the land of Egypt. I mean
that’s not the sort of fanfare you expect is it when they turn back. Jacob was stunned
at the news. He couldn’t believe it but when they repeated to Jacob everything Joseph had
told them and when he saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him their father’s spirits
revived. Then Jacob exclaimed it must be true my son Joseph is alive I must go and see him
before I die. Whee! It’s a happy ending to this all we’re getting there aren’t we? He’s
on the eighth chapter of the story of Joseph and his family and the whole thing will take
us to the end another five chapters, thirteen chapters for this family. Over a quarter of
a whole book of Genesis given to this family and this story. A dysfunctional family but
through whom we can see the working at the hand of God and the unfolding of God’s plans
and purposes. Not just for them but for all of God’s people. For all those that would
come after. They were laying the foundations for the whole history of the people of Israel.
Thousands of years of history but lessons that are directly relevant to us today. Isn’t
it amazing how God’s Word can be alive talking about a family that was alive for how many
years was it four thousand many many years ago. Three thousand eight hundred and fifty
apparently years ago. It was and and yet they speak to us today in 2025. Great to be part
of this history. The overarching power of faith in God who sees way beyond our own circumstances
and way beyond our own sufferings and in his perfect wisdom and perfect love is able
to work together things to get us exactly where he wants us to be. The whole of this
story and the whole of the driver for what has happened and how these brothers have come
to be where they are is against the background of famine. The only reason that these brothers
even thought of going to Egypt in the first place was because of the famine. The desperation
they had to survive. If it wasn’t for famine they wouldn’t have been in Joseph’s presence.
If it wasn’t for famine they wouldn’t have been in a position where God could declare
all that he had done. They wouldn’t be in a position where they could find the blessing
of the reconciliation that God was bringing about. It was famine that laid the context
and the foundation for everything that they experienced. There was nothing spiritual about
it, nothing mystical or prophetic. They were forced by circumstances in which they found
themselves into a situation in which God revealed himself to them. And there’s a lesson in that
for us. We want to over-spiritualize things sometimes but there is a lesson that God will
force us through the force of circumstances sometimes, through difficult circumstances,
through challenging circumstances, through famine, through suffering, through sickness.
God will bring us to a point where he can reveal himself to us. He said Joseph could
stand it no longer and he sent everybody out and he said to his brothers, I am Joseph.
Is my father still alive? And then he said, I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into
slavery in Egypt but don’t be upset and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to
this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. And the first
question this gives me, to me and to us, is about our faith. What does faith mean?
Is there room in our understanding of how God works in our lives and how much he cares
for us that even when it seems that the wheels come off our lives completely and things don’t
work out as we planned or don’t work out as we want, do we have the faith that says we
can still trust you Lord? Can we grit our teeth and trust him come what may? The challenge
is not to waste our struggle. Whatever your struggle is, don’t waste it with regret or
bitterness or sadness or frustration or throw the faith out of the window and say well you
know where is God? If God was with me these things wouldn’t be happening to me. Whatever
it is, whatever you’re facing today, you know I can look out and see a sea of faces here
but inside there are things going on in your head, things going on in your mind, things
that you’ve got to think about, that you’ve got to face tomorrow morning or next week
or next month, things that are worrying you or causing anxiety, all of those things and
you’re thinking I don’t even know where God is in the middle of it all. Can you have the
faith that will decide to look up and look out and say Lord thank you? Joseph said to
his brothers don’t be upset and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place.
It was God who sent me here. God will use the circumstances of our lives. He will use
our struggle. He will use our pain to bring us to a point where we see Him in ways that
we couldn’t see Him any other time. It was famine that brought their blessing. It was
our struggle that will bring us to that point. It’s a tough word to wrestle with because
we don’t want that. Like I said last week, we have an idea what our lives would look
like if we were blessed but we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ and
so on the basis of the fact that we have been blessed we say well Lord thank you because
whatever happens you’re going to bring me to a point where I see you if I will have
eyes to see and ears to hear and heart to understand. Joseph had been through more than
many could bear not only the way he was treated by his brothers but the way things worked
out in Egypt. He was he was thrown in prison unjustly and so we just read that when he
was finally alone with his brothers and he came to the point of telling them who he was
he broke down and wept so loudly that the Egyptians could hear him. You forget he was
actually in Egypt it sounds like oh they could even hear him in Egypt but no he was in Egypt.
But this is trauma. This is the release of years of pain and grief. Years of injustice.
Years of wondering what on earth had happened. How did this happen? Years of unanswered questions.
Years of rejection. Years of knowing that he was hated by his brothers so much that
they even wanted to kill him. That they even were prepared to sell him off and send him
into a foreign land and forget about him and pretend to their father that he was dead.
This was how he was treated. This is trauma and he’s carried that all these years up until
this point and he’s gone through a process of transformation and God has been working
in his life and he’s also able to see how God has been working in his brother’s life
and he realized that the time has come the moment has come that God has orchestrated
it so that they are together alone in this room and he says this is it and at the moment
that he reveals his identity he breaks down in tears and weeps so loudly that everyone
can hear it. The pain is real and whatever I have experienced in life or whatever you
have experienced we can’t pretend to understand what each other have gone through but whatever
it is it’s real and for many people life is traumatic. There are many things that we
go through that are that we just carry that maybe are just in the background they’re just
there and life goes on and we plow on and we put a smile on our face and we keep going
but there are those moments where it just becomes it just begins to boil over. But as
we gather this morning in the presence of God and we put ourselves under his word the
challenge is can we freely and without hindrance lift it up to God and say whatever it is Lord
whatever you can see whatever you have been through whatever you have experienced whatever
pain you carry whatever challenges you have you have wrestled with whatever it is we say
Lord whatever it has been you have brought me here. This that was set to destroy me actually
brought me to a place of blessing. We have been in the presence of God together this
morning whatever your experience of that has been like whatever you felt like in that
process we have been in the presence of God together as the circumstances of our life
have worked together where else in the world would we all meet? Think of the diversity
of of backgrounds of careers of experiences of things that we’ve gone through there is
no other circumstance or no other context where 160 something people like us would meet
and sing songs together apart from Wetherspoons or something like that but no that’s not there
you know that they’re just it just it wouldn’t happen but God has brought us here today whatever
it is whatever your journey has been to bring you to this place God has brought you here
and whatever life has given us we have been in the presence of God this morning and we
have experienced the free gift of the grace of God something that money can’t buy you
something that success can’t buy something that power can’t buy you there’s a lot of
power play going on in the world at the moment people trying to assert themselves about who’s
the most powerful and who’s the greatest and who’s the this and who’s the that and yet
they’ve got nothing that we’ve got this morning and God has brought us with our stumbling
ways and our weak liner and the difficulties and difficulties of our struggle he’s brought
us here this morning don’t be upset and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to
this place it was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives that in a nutshell
is freedom we’ve talked a lot about freedom this morning freedom is for freedom that Christ
has set us free Erica gave a word about you know being manicured on our ankles there is
there’s been a just just a celebration of the freedom that God gives us in the gospel
there is an awful lot of talk about freedom as well you know we think somehow that somebody
else might have the key to my freedom maybe somebody in my family maybe there’s been a
breakdown in relationship like there was in Joseph’s family maybe there’s been challenge
or struggle maybe it’s how angst about the government and you know what freedoms you
know they grant us or don’t grant us and all of that that goes on and we sometimes we act
as if our freedom is in somebody else’s hands but in actual fact our freedom is in our own hands
don’t be upset and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place it was God who sent
me here Joseph was free in his heart free of the pain of what had gone on free of what other people
had done to him free of what circumstances had done to him and he knew that he was actually he
was exactly where God wanted him to be and if we want to understand the route to peace and
freedom and joy we cannot afford to fixate on what is happening to us or it’s happening around
also has happened to us in our past we have to fix our eyes on heaven and say Lord whatever it
is you brought me to this place you’ve brought me to this moment whatever I’ve gone through and I
worship you this morning we have to learn to think and to say things that are almost unthinkable and
unsayable but the Bible teaches us that they are true Joseph’s brothers must have been amazed
Joseph could have destroyed them he could have he could have ruined them there and then you thought
you were doing something powerful well I’ll show you what power looks like could have had them
thrown in prison he could have had them executed he could have he could have done anything to make
himself feel better but by the grace of God he was able to fill the situation with faith thinking
of mixing up analogies I know but Gregor talked about you know the the feast how it just became
a flow of love that it filled the whole situation with love and with generosity and with celebration
well we’ll add to that faith as well that Joseph in this situation was able to take a terrifying
situation for his brothers where they were wondering what was going to happen next and he
was able to pour in faith and say actually don’t look at it this way but see that God was in it
from the beginning he was able to get a perspective on all that had happened to him and also be able
to shine a light in his brother’s heart he could he had the all self-awareness to know what what
had happened to him he knew that God had brought him to this place but also his brothers weren’t
too sure about what was happening but he could see in them how much God had changed them as well
and he was able to shine a light on their understanding and what I want to say this
morning is don’t fear faith it’s not glib to say God is good Ian shared this at the at the prayer
evening or the worship evening whichever one it was you know God is good all the time and all
the time God is good and people say oh that sounds that’s a bit simplistic but it’s true don’t fear
the faith that says God you are good to me don’t fear the faith that says it doesn’t matter what’s
happened to me don’t fear the fact you say you know what well I’ve just got to sort out this
situation or I’ve just got to resolve this issue or I’ve just got to to to have the final say in
this circumstance and then I’ll feel better now we can have faith that says I can put all that
aside don’t fear don’t be upset don’t worry about all that because whatever has happened to me God
has brought me to this place don’t fear faith that says God is good God is in control God will have
the final say don’t fear the voice of faith that freely declares all my life you have been faithful
say yeah but yeah but yeah but yeah but yeah but
there’s no yeah but all my life you have been faithful it’s the root of freedom and joy and
peace how else do you read circumstance you know thousands of years forward and the apostles in the
book of acts are thrown into prison and they’re flogged and they’re and and they’re manacled
physically manacled and they worship God in the middle of it all it’s one of the hardest
challenges but the most powerful in terms of our growth in God and our experience of his grace
and power and it’s hard because we’re submerged in our emotions and our fears and our anxiety and
we want to make sense of it all before we can climb out of it we say things like well I’ll get
myself sorted out and then I’ll be then I’ll worship God I’ll just sort out a few things
and then I’ll be at church and waiting for the fog to clear before we make decisions
is a deception choices that we make our choice is a superpower and has nothing to do with how
we feel it’s the key to our future making choices in the midst of everything that we are going
through everything that we are facing my son Jacob is a pilot an airline pilot and he’s just
it was this time last Sunday when he passed a final test that he had to do and then he was sort
of released to be a to be a proper pilot you know flying people around here there and everywhere
and it’s quite interesting to listen to him talking about the sort of things that would
normally make our hair curl he said on his first flight somewhere they they were coming in to land
and um so well things weren’t going entirely because you can follow him on flight right
flight radar things weren’t going entirely according to plan and uh then he when he did
finally land he sent me a text and said that was a baptism by fire no why what happened and then
there’s silence nothing happened and then eventually comes oh yeah break failure on landing
he said oh wow what yeah what did you do about that well we didn’t know what to do
so we just had to fly around in circles for a little while and then work out what to do
we had to get the get the manuals out and check uh you know what what what was a good idea to
do and make a plan actually that made sense to everybody um okay fine and then and then you know
and you finally landed and everything was right yeah yeah we landed and then what did you do well
the engineer came on and he he turned the plane off for five seconds turned it back on again
everything was working
this is exciting the point i’m trying to say is that those circumstances might give us anxiety
might give us stress you know when you’re coming down to land at this world’s second busiest
airport or whatever it was and suddenly all the alarms are going off and you’re you’re like 100
feet off the ground and you then you’ve got to decide what to do he said do you ever get worried
about it he said no what’s there to worry about we’ve got procedures we’ve got plans we’ve got
you know and if we haven’t we go fly somewhere and fly around in circles until we do work it out
and then and then we bring it back and you know it’s like that sort of and i admire that sort of
training it’s that sort of self-awareness that can say actually there there’s no point panicking
there’s no point being anxious about there’s no point sweating in fact this probably helps the
rest of the passages if the pilot doesn’t get anxious and uh you know and just take a breath
and say right we’re going to fly out there we’re going to go around in a circle we’re going to work
out what’s going to happen then we’ll kind of bring it back and i know it’s not that easy but
there is there is a principle there that we can actually say okay well there is you know he said
we know we got the 400 page manual out and started flicking through it trying to look for the chapter
on brake failure i know and it’s like well there is there is that element where we know that we
are safe in the hands of god that we can take a breath that we can we can we don’t need to panic
we don’t need to flap around we don’t need to to do anything else but we can actually make a plan
we can be free in our response to god and so without conditions we say to god you are good and
i trust you and whatever has brought me to this point whatever i’ve had to face whatever i’ve
suffered whatever i’ve lost i thank you that through it all i have found you there are many
things in your life that you might have chosen not to have happen but can you see how they piece
together and how they’ve brought you to today and can we say thank you thank you god because you
have been good to me all my life you didn’t these things set out to destroy me in fact
they could have destroyed me but instead they brought me to life that’s faith
and just like joseph when you take that position of faith and the light of grace
shines in and through your life you light up the world for others to see
it’s not that’s why we have testimony and things you know when you when when we’re able to share
our faith and understanding and our understanding of what god has done in our life and what he said
and then it can it can shine a light in somebody else’s um life now they might not always respond
with oh praise the lord that’s marvelous you might think well it’s all right for you know
that people have all sorts of different responses and reactions but ultimately it is the truth that
sets us free the truth that god is in control of our lives and joseph saw that joseph knew that
if he had not gone through all he went through his declarations of faith would have been worthless
but those things never destroyed him god glorified himself in his life and in the life of his family
joseph would never have chosen to go through all that he went through he would never have
wanted his brothers to do all of that but because he found freedom in god freedom through his faith
freedom through his understanding that god was in control from start to finish he could say right
okay i’ll accept it and i’ll trust you lord because you have brought me to this place
that’s the word that i want to share this morning that there are many things that we might
might take our attention might take our energy might take our our anxiety might might rob us
of our peace so i just wish that these things hadn’t happened i wish they weren’t happening
to me or i wish my life was different or i wish this situation in my family wasn’t there or
whatever and and we take the lesson from joseph and the light that he shines into our hearts to
say actually in the middle of all of that we still have choices we’re not waiting for things
to sort themselves out not waiting for that person to come and say sorry to me i’m not waiting for
for these circumstances to to work out differently because we’ll waste our life
we’ll spend our whole life being robbed of joy and peace and faith while we wait for other people to
give us our freedom in actual fact we have the choice to take our freedom and to trust in god
and to believe in him and to say lord you’ve done it you have done it you’ve done it all and
i thank you that i’m here today in your presence with your people and i have an opportunity to grow
in faith from this day i don’t have to pick through all the stuff and unpick it all and fix
it all first before you can do anything in my life but i can i can find you today and there is
a choice that we can make this morning there is a choice that we can uh adopt to say lord thank you
what is it that troubles you what is it that you wish was different what is it that you wish
hadn’t happened what is it about your life that causes you to struggle can you as we turn our
hearts to god can you as we respond to god can you say lord whatever it is it’s brought me to today
it’s brought me to this place and i thank you that i have the choice to make that people aren’t
making choices for me theme of reconciliation and all that and the fact that broken relationships
and challenges they’re all part of our lives people people are difficult they challenge us
and they vex us but they don’t have the power over our life and our choices only we have that
and we can choose to respond in faith and so maybe the worship team could come as we
finish