MTP Sermon Resources

Compromising Positions Genesis 39:11-23 September 30, 2018 • Mount Pleasant UMC I don’t know if you’re aware of it or not—and if you’re not, I want to know how you’ve escaped it—but the midterm elections are coming up in just a few weeks. I am constantly amazed, every time we have an election, that anyone still wants to run for office! There are a lot of reasons I have no desire to run for any sort of office, not the least of which is the way things from your past, things you maybe don’t even remember, are dug up and made public for everyone to see. When Barak Obama was running for office and the press began trying to hold him responsible for things his pastor had said many years before, I told my congregation at that time that none of them were allowed to run for office! I’ve re-read some of my old sermons, and some of them make me want to go apologize to the congregation that had to endure them! But seriously, in the politicized, divided world we live in, your past can very

“Compromising Positions” Sermon Study Guide for September 30, 2018 Scripture: Genesis 39:11-23 How a Good Canaanite Boy Got to Egypt Potiphar…captain of the guard Mrs. Potiphar and “one day” Anger & prison 2. How We Live in Our Own Egypt Instant ______________________________ ____________________ Choices John 10:10 - life to the full 2 Samuel 11; Psalm 51 2 Corinthians 5:20 - ambassadors Matthew 5:13 - salt of the earth Where God Puts a _______________________ Questions to Discuss or Ponder: Would you want to run for political office today? Why or why not? What would it have been like for Joseph to be in the situation he’s in for eleven years? What does Potiphar’s reaction tell you about his understanding of the situation? Richard Foster has said the largest temptations in our world are money, sex and power. Is that true? How do you see it playing out in our culture? In what way does morality extend

“Of Camels and Commas” Sermon Study Guide for September 23, 2018 Scripture: Genesis 37:19-36 (NLT) 1. Joseph’s Life & Context Hebrews 11:1 - without faith… hopelessness… Joseph in the cistern…and his brothers Dothan 2. God’s Dreams For You God’s sovereignty Egypt “God of the comeback” Camels & Commas The next 13 years… Questions to Discuss or Ponder: Why is hope so crucial in living out our lives? What happens when we lack hope? When have you felt like Joseph did while in the cistern? Have you ever had a personal Dothan? What happened? How did that shape your life after? What does it mean that your chaos is clear to God? When you think of God being sovereign, how do you react? How does that affect your daily life? What have you experienced the “God of the comeback”? Share a time where what you thought was an end was only a comma. Scripture for the Week: Monday - Genesis 38:1-11 Tuesday -

Genesis 37:1-20 September 16, 2018 • Mount Pleasant UMC Have you ever traced your family tree? Every once in a while, I get this urge to do genealogy, so I’ll get online and start trying to track down the various branches of the Ticen family tree. I’d like to know where we came from, but the furthest back anyone has ever been able to trace it, as far as I can tell, is to New Jersey, but not to where we came from originally. I do know that from New Jersey, our family settled in Ohio for a while, and then to Indiana…where we have stayed. But even though I have a list of names on a chart, I don’t know a lot of the stories behind the names except for those whom I have known, those of my more immediate family. And it is the stories that make our families who and what they are. The stories of the crazy uncle who always shows up late at the family reunion. The grandfather who served in World War I. The cousin who stopped talking to everyone years ago. The brother and sister who won’t

“A Mess of Things” Sermon Study Guide for September 16, 2018 Scripture: Genesis 27:1-20 Family tree… Joseph’s family “the dreamcoat” seventeen dreams 2. A Mess We’re a _______________________ God can use a _______________________ God can use _______________________ Practices… Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What do you know about your extended family? What do you know about the background of your family? In what way(s) have you seen a family shaped by external circumstances? internal circumstances? What were you like when you were seventeen? In what way(s) do you think Joseph was like you were? What could Joseph have done differently in dealing with his brothers and his father? “You get exactly the results that the system you work in was designed to produce.” When have you seen or experienced the truth of this principle? How does acknowledging the “messiness” of our lives free us up to live for God? Which