1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,540 All righty, so as has been mentioned, I'm studying math and computer science at Southern. 2 00:00:10,540 --> 00:00:23,300 And second year now, I'm kind of enjoying the mental challenge, all the coursework sometimes 3 00:00:23,300 --> 00:00:25,820 gets a little frustrating sometimes. 4 00:00:25,820 --> 00:00:34,880 But I have to say, if there's one thing that bugs me the most about my school, especially 5 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:42,800 going into the field of computer science eventually, it's that it's often hard to see how it relates 6 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,400 to my Christianity. 7 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:55,620 And I don't know about you all, but it's a common thing that I face where I've got my 8 00:00:55,620 --> 00:01:00,260 faith and my acts of faith, going to church on Sabbath, my devotions in the morning, kind 9 00:01:00,260 --> 00:01:02,660 of in one side of my life. 10 00:01:02,660 --> 00:01:08,080 And then in the other side, I have all this stuff that I have to do as a living human, 11 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:16,260 like make a living, have to eat, go buy groceries, do the laundry, do endless dishes, all that 12 00:01:16,260 --> 00:01:17,260 stuff. 13 00:01:17,260 --> 00:01:28,640 So I often wonder what significance is in all the things that I have to do on the earth. 14 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:30,860 First Corinthians talks about the work that we do, right? 15 00:01:30,860 --> 00:01:44,840 And so I can see the value in being a pastor, being a physician, being a nurse, those are 16 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:49,160 very clear, the way that there are ministries. 17 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:56,120 But in terms of daily life, in terms of bringing kids to school and stuff, it just becomes 18 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,600 kind of a grind and a drag sometimes. 19 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,820 And it's not clear what meaning it has eternally. 20 00:02:03,820 --> 00:02:09,080 So I found this verse, First Corinthians 1558. 21 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:17,160 It says, abound in the work of the Lord, for in the Lord your work is not in vain. 22 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:25,920 And the idea that I want to share with you today is that when I work in the Lord, when 23 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:30,980 we work in the Lord, our work has eternal meaning. 24 00:02:30,980 --> 00:02:35,300 So to share this idea of what it means to work in the Lord, I want to look at the story 25 00:02:35,300 --> 00:02:36,300 of Joseph. 26 00:02:36,300 --> 00:02:41,840 It's a really good book, Patriarchs and Prophets, highly recommend. 27 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:43,840 We all kind of know how the story of Joseph starts, right? 28 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,000 He's the favorite of 12 sons. 29 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,280 Jacob is his father. 30 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:57,480 And these 11 other sons get a little bit jealous of Joseph. 31 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,120 You were sharing, was it you? 32 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,160 Sharing in children's story about Jennifer. 33 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:04,160 Okay. 34 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:14,960 But anyways, talking about having a really bad day, when you, everything's going wrong. 35 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:24,000 You've, I mean, for Joseph, his bad day was worse than any that we'll experience, hopefully. 36 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:31,280 Not only had his coat of many colors been broken and torn up, he was sold into slavery 37 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:39,680 and we find him with the slave drivers on the way to Egypt. 38 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:50,360 And I think this is a, it's a good place to start in the story because Ellen White describes 39 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:55,880 a key part of Joseph's character right here, which is that Joseph believed that the God 40 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:57,640 of his fathers would be his God. 41 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,720 He then and there gave himself fully to the Lord and prayed that the keeper of Israel 42 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:03,640 would be with him in the land of his exile. 43 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,440 So you can imagine he's behind this caravan of camels. 44 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,520 He's got his hands tied, you know, kind of walking along and it, you know, at first he's 45 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,400 like totally in despair about his life as a slave. 46 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:20,760 And then he, as he comes to grips with himself, he realizes that he's going to have any hope 47 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:25,080 it's going to be in his God and having his God with him. 48 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:35,000 So I, I know I often have a hard time relating with the story of Joseph because I've never 49 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:36,760 been in slavery. 50 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,000 I've never, I've never even been to Egypt. 51 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,040 Like that's the closest thing I could do. 52 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:47,520 And, but I think there's a, there's kind of a spiritual teaching in Joseph's story as 53 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,240 well. 54 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:57,800 Because you know, I, I may not be a physical slave, but as a human, I'm born into a world 55 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,840 of slavery and bondage to sin and death. 56 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:02,840 Right? 57 00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:06,920 I may not like Joseph ever work in the palace of the king. 58 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,400 I may never be thrown into prison. 59 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,040 Hopefully not. 60 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:17,800 But I, I do have a relationship with the king of the universe. 61 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:18,800 Right? 62 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:24,840 And I do have opportunities to, to help others as Joseph did. 63 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:30,480 You know, I may not be handing out food during a famine. 64 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:31,480 Right? 65 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:37,400 But as a Christian, we all have access to the bread of life and we're called to hand 66 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,860 that out to a world and famine. 67 00:05:39,860 --> 00:05:45,480 So as we go through the story of Joseph, let's think about these like spiritual, the spiritual 68 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:52,760 significance for each of us because all of us have some similarity with Joseph. 69 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:57,760 So let's go back, go back to this, this thought here. 70 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:00,960 Joseph gave himself fully to the Lord and prayed that the keeper of Israel would be 71 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,880 with him in the land of exile. 72 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,600 So I think this is the key point. 73 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:16,280 If you, if you hear nothing else this morning, that Joseph asked God to be with him. 74 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:22,280 This was kind of the, the keystone of everything that he did after, after this while he was 75 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:23,760 in Egypt. 76 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,480 He gave himself to the Lord and he asked God to be with him in everything that he did. 77 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,800 So let's, let's see how that works out. 78 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,680 He goes to Potiphar's house, right? 79 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,920 Potiphar, rather Potiphar buys him as a slave. 80 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:47,320 He starts out, you know, probably doing, doing dishes or I don't know, making, making bricks 81 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,800 that may have been later on in Egypt. 82 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:52,320 But menial stuff, right? 83 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:56,880 He's like, there's no way that this is, this is going to improve for me. 84 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:05,200 Like going from being the, the favored son of Jacob to being a slave in Egypt is about 85 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,240 the worst thing that could happen to him. 86 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:16,440 But rather than giving up in despair, he chooses to do those two things. 87 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,980 Give him, give himself to the Lord and ask God to be with him. 88 00:07:19,980 --> 00:07:24,400 And what that does is it gives God a way to, to work through him. 89 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,840 And so God blesses his work. 90 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:37,960 He, let's see, in Potiphar's house, Joseph gains, gains success for Potiphar. 91 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,360 Potiphar puts him in charge of everything he has, right? 92 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,040 So that Potiphar only thinks about the food on his plate. 93 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:44,640 That's, that's how they say it. 94 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:46,080 I don't, I don't know how that works. 95 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:47,520 That'd be, it'd be kind of fun. 96 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:48,880 Just think about what you're eating. 97 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:55,280 Be like, hey Joseph, I would like a, I'd like a special K-loaf today. 98 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,680 He's like, all right, I got you. 99 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:05,120 But what it, what it says, what it says about Joseph is that he attributed his success to 100 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:10,800 the favor of God and even his idolatrous master accepted this as the secret of his unparalleled 101 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,000 prosperity. 102 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,440 So he doesn't conceal that God is working through him. 103 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:22,560 I think in, in my life as a student, it's easy to be so focused on my work and my studies 104 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,440 that I lose sight of God and the reason why I'm doing all this. 105 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:34,440 I think, you know, if, if you're a parent, it's easy to get so caught up in bringing, 106 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:40,480 bringing kids hither and yon to practices and to school and doing, doing laundry and 107 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:41,480 dishes. 108 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:42,760 I know my mom did a lot of that. 109 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:48,180 And then, you know, you just completely forget the, the reason for all of this and the purpose 110 00:08:48,180 --> 00:08:56,600 behind your work, which is to, you know, be, be, be lights in this world to deliver, to 111 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,680 deliver God's, God's grace to our world and family. 112 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:00,680 Right? 113 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:08,280 If you're, you know, a grandparent or something, it's easy to forget that, you know, you, you 114 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:13,160 still have an influence on the world and on your grandkids, on your kids, through your 115 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,760 prayers, your ministry. 116 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,400 You, you, you did a mission trip to Kenya, right? 117 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:26,720 A few, few years ago and there was a, through, through Facebook. 118 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:27,720 Oh my goodness. 119 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:28,720 Okay. 120 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:29,720 Okay. 121 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:30,720 Wow. 122 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:33,600 See, it's, it's incredible the effects that we can have on others' lives if we're willing 123 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:42,360 to kind of do, do the, do the thing that Joseph did and give, give our lives to God and let 124 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:44,080 him work through us. 125 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,160 So continuing on with Joseph. 126 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,760 Is he successful in Potiphar's household? 127 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:53,320 Then there's a problem that comes up. 128 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:58,000 Potiphar's wife takes a liking to Joseph and says, not okay. 129 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,960 So Joseph says, no, I will not commit this sin against my God. 130 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:09,000 It's interesting that Joseph does not say, I will not commit this sin against my master, 131 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:15,280 but says I will, I will not commit this sin against my God because it tells me that Joseph's 132 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:22,200 focus was once again, more on his God than on his work. 133 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:30,480 I don't know that there are times when we are tempted to kind of cut corners on some 134 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:37,720 decisions or to not be totally, totally faithful with, you know, when, when, I don't know, 135 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,360 often when my mom asked me to do something, I'm not working yet, but when mom asked me 136 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:47,600 to do something, I'll like kind of do it slightly wrong, but she can't tell, right? 137 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:53,000 When a teacher asks me to do some homework, you know, if one of my classmates has the 138 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,600 answer, I'll be like, yeah, I'm not doing 20 minutes of math. 139 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:57,560 Just tell me what it is, right? 140 00:10:57,560 --> 00:11:06,040 And it's, it's, it's things like these, which tell me that I am often doing my work for 141 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:10,040 the, for the work itself, not, not for God's glory. 142 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:16,680 And so Joseph, again, kept this integrity and this relationship with God so that he 143 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:20,920 was working for God. 144 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:22,520 Potiphar's wife falsely accuses Joseph. 145 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:26,040 He gets thrown into prison, they're in the dungeon. 146 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,480 It says his real character shines out. 147 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:35,720 This is, this is kind of cool because I don't know, if I were in prison, I wouldn't really, 148 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:40,240 kind of the last thing on my mind would be to have God's character shine out through 149 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:41,240 me. 150 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:49,240 You know, I'd, I'd most likely fall into despair, start figuring out how to, how to, you know, 151 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:55,480 navigate the social structures of the prison and become one of the, I don't know. 152 00:11:55,480 --> 00:12:03,160 It's the, the, the thing that stands out is that he trusted his case with God. 153 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:10,680 So another illustration of Joseph day by day receiving God's character into his life and 154 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:12,280 it shines out in the prison. 155 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:17,780 Then through, you know, the straight sequence of events, there's a, there are, there's a 156 00:12:17,780 --> 00:12:23,320 baker and a, the cup bearer to the king who have dreams. 157 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:24,320 Joseph interprets their dreams. 158 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:29,080 The cup bearer goes to, returns to the station as the cup bearer to the king. 159 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:34,880 Three years go by and then Joseph is still in prison, right? 160 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:39,720 But then the king has a dream and the cup bearer remembers that Joseph interpreted his 161 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:40,720 dream. 162 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,580 He's like, Hey, you should talk to this, you should talk to this guy in prison. 163 00:12:43,580 --> 00:12:45,960 He's like really good at this stuff. 164 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:50,960 And eventually the king consents and he says, okay, we'll, we'll call him up. 165 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:54,640 And Joseph interprets the king's dream. 166 00:12:54,640 --> 00:13:04,080 And what he, what he says is it is not in me to interpret the dream, but God will give 167 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,620 Pharaoh an answer of peace. 168 00:13:07,620 --> 00:13:14,440 So Joseph had a choice at this point, um, a choice that he had had all along in his 169 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:22,560 life, whether he was going to focus on, uh, on the opportunity for, uh, success and honor 170 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,800 to himself or to give the honor to God. 171 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,640 And he chose to give the honor to God. 172 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:35,560 And as a result, um, Pharaoh, you know, accepted his interpretation. 173 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:40,920 Uh, Joseph suggested a solution to the coming famine and was put in charge of executing 174 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:41,920 it. 175 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,560 So now Joseph is the highest in the kingdom. 176 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:48,940 Second only to Pharaoh. 177 00:13:48,940 --> 00:13:54,720 So there's a, there's a great, a great paragraph here at the, at the end of this section of 178 00:13:54,720 --> 00:14:02,080 Joseph's life, um, which I think summarizes well the lessons for us from the stories of 179 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:03,560 Joseph. 180 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:09,480 It says in constant reliance upon God, he faithfully discharged the duties of his position. 181 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:14,960 So I'm not in Joseph's position. 182 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:24,480 I am just a student at Southern, um, not the, the, the favored child of the chosen family 183 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:26,960 through which the Messiah is going to come. 184 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:27,960 Right. 185 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:35,360 But again, uh, he faithfully discharged the duties of his position, whatever his position 186 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:36,560 was. 187 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:42,760 So when, when Joseph was the, you know, a slave at the, at the bottom of Potiphar's 188 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:49,120 household, and then when he was at the very top of Potiphar's household, he had the same 189 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:54,160 character, the same, uh, trust in God working for his glory. 190 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,600 Um, and this gave his work meaning. 191 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:04,800 Uh, then when he was again, the, the bottom of the, of the jail, right. 192 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:12,520 Just, you know, probably rats running over his bed, who knows, but, um, he, he had the 193 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:15,520 same character, the same trust in God. 194 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:19,160 Then he was at the top of the jail and then at the very top of the kingdom. 195 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:25,840 So he's, he's got the full spectrum of, uh, of positions in society. 196 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:26,840 Right. 197 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:34,320 And at every place he's able to work for God and to live for God's glory because remember 198 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:39,360 what it says at the beginning, he gave himself fully to the Lord and prayed that the keeper 199 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,480 of Israel might be with him. 200 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,040 So I, I think this is an encouragement for me. 201 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:52,980 You know, I, I'm not Joseph at all, but if Joseph through the entire spectrum of human 202 00:15:52,980 --> 00:15:55,400 experience possible, right. 203 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:59,640 The lowest of the lows to the, you know, second in command in the most powerful country in 204 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:08,800 the world, if every place there, he could live for God's glory and his work had meaning 205 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:14,960 and significance, even when he was at the, at the very bottom in, in prison, then there's 206 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:19,080 hope for me that my work can have significance. 207 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:27,280 Each, each of us has a work to do and the significance does not come from, you know, 208 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:28,520 recognition in the world. 209 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:34,540 It doesn't come from how well we're paid or our social status. 210 00:16:34,540 --> 00:16:42,000 It comes from giving, giving ourselves to God and receiving God's presence in everything 211 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,520 we do. 212 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,620 There's a, there's a story I have about this in my experience. 213 00:16:49,620 --> 00:16:58,600 It's just, just a little, a little glimpse, I think of the, of the potential that God 214 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,280 has for, for working in each of us. 215 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,440 I work for a, I work for a lady in my town. 216 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:06,680 Her name is Eleni. 217 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:10,640 She's, she's a like classic grandma. 218 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:18,180 She's got, I don't know, two, three kids, like six grandkids or something. 219 00:17:18,180 --> 00:17:19,400 And she lives by herself. 220 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:21,680 Her husband has died. 221 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:27,640 And so I go over often and do gardening for her and we'll, we'll talk about her grandkids 222 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:33,440 and talk about her, all her flowers and then I'll ask about her recent trip to Greece where 223 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:37,500 she went to, you know, her hometown, saw the rest of her family. 224 00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:46,120 And there was a time this summer when she was like, Corbin, why, why are you so nice? 225 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:53,880 And I'm like, well, I really have to say it's because I'm a Christian. 226 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:59,280 It's, it's because God has been nice to me and I can be nice to others. 227 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,520 And so just, just little, little things like that. 228 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:12,040 It's, I think it's a mistake to think that just because something I'm doing is not strictly 229 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:20,480 sacred, just because I'm not actively on a mission trip or, you know, doing canvassing, 230 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:26,440 just because I'm not actively teaching Sabbath school doesn't mean that my work is significant, 231 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:27,440 right? 232 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:33,600 The significance of my work comes from giving it to God and letting him use it and reveal 233 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,120 himself through it. 234 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:41,480 From this story of Joseph, it says, through Joseph, the attention of the King and the 235 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,840 great men of Egypt was directed to the true God. 236 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:49,560 And though they adhered to their idolatry, they learned to respect the principles revealed 237 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:53,800 in the life and character of the worshiper of Jehovah. 238 00:18:53,800 --> 00:19:00,440 This is a little hard for me because what this is saying is that I may never be a part 239 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:02,440 of someone's conversion. 240 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:07,200 Joseph never converted anyone in Egypt, right? 241 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:13,200 He was simply faithful where he was and God worked through that. 242 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:20,880 But it says the Egyptians learned to respect the principles revealed in Joseph's life. 243 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:29,800 So even if there are no new members to the Adventist church because of your witness, 244 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:37,800 because of your work, even if you can't see the results of what you're doing, you can 245 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,600 know that if it's done in the Lord, it has meaning. 246 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:46,880 And you may only see that significance when we get to heaven. 247 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:55,520 And that's what we have to look forward to, that one day we'll be there and we'll get 248 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,880 to see the people who were affected through us. 249 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:08,640 But that begins now, when I day by day give myself to God and receive God's character. 250 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:15,200 So that's our calling and that's the hope we have in whatever position we have in life, 251 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:23,400 that our meaning is from God and that no matter what we do, it can have meaning if we submit 252 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:28,440 it to God and receive his character in all that we do. 253 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:29,440 Let's pray. 254 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:34,400 Dear Lord, thank you for this story of Joseph. 255 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:35,400 Thank you for everyone here. 256 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,600 I ask that you will be with each of us through this week. 257 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:48,120 Show us how to receive your character and how to work faithfully for you that you may 258 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:50,240 shine through all that we do. 259 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:56,520 Our work, everything that we undertake, may be done in your strength and may have an eternal 260 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:58,680 significance because you are with us. 261 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:05,520 Amen.