"A Parent's Greatest Legacy" | August 29, 2021

hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the i campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas let's stand together let's worship i will enter his gates with thanksgiving [Music] i will enter his course with praise [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] i would [Music] he is [Music] i will sing to him [Music] [Music] thanks baby [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh praise the lord we bless him this morning our hope our life today is our hope in life and death christ the lord christ alone what is our only confidence [Music] what comes apart from his command and what will keep us [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Music] christ our hope is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] our hope today amen thank you church for your worship you may be seated so good to see each of you for worship this morning and if you're a guest joining us we welcome you we also welcome those joining us on icampus this morning and guest if you're in the room we're on icamps we have a very special gift for you today it includes our pastors a place called heaven devotional 100 days of living in the hope of eternity and hot off the press our orchestra's brand new cd to god be the glory celebrating 60 years of instrumental praise guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide and you'll find and closed this guest card please take the time to fill this out keep the card with you at the conclusion of the service take it outside these main worship center doors right there you're going to find our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you to exchange your completed card for your gifts today and answer any questions you might have regarding our church we look forward to meeting you now if you can't make it to the welcome center we have some orange boxes on your way out you can slip the card and one of those will process the card and then we will mail you out your gifts if you're joining us on icampus just follow the links on your screen to access your gift as well lots of exciting events upcoming in the life of our church let's all take a look together at the screen good morning we're so thankful to be with you in worship we have an exciting season ahead and we want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events if you are a volunteer leader in one of our ministry areas join us tonight at 5 30 for our leadership huddle we will have a time of food encouragement and a special word from dr jeffress as we prepare for an exciting fall fantastic fall sundays kick off next sunday september 5th as grammy and dove award winner michael w smith joins us in worship with the first dallas choir and orchestra invite a friend to the first of eight big sundays at first dallas our fall semester of discipleship university begins on sunday september 12th stop by the open house on the concourse today to see our class options or you can view the class catalog online sunday september 12th dr jeffress begins his new series unstoppable power a study of the book of acts this study will help you harness the same extraordinary power of the holy spirit that allowed the early church to become an unstoppable power for god finally it's good to gather together to worship we encourage everyone to help maintain a healthy environment by using our hand sanitizer stations practicing social distancing when appropriate and wearing your mask if you are not vaccinated for more information on everything happening at our church visit firstdallas.org events thank you so much for worshiping with us today i want to encourage you to become an icampus i member from wherever you are in the world we want you to be a part of what's going on here at first baptist dallas when you do so today we will send you daily devotionals from our pastor dr robert jeffress the digital edition of pathway magazine great encouraging equipping resources delivered straight to your inbox each and every month as well as an icampus imember certificate to commemorate this special day we love you guys so much we want you to be a part of what's going on here at first baptist dallas so join us today as an eye campus i member to do so simply visit firstdallas.org forward slash free gift now let's join right back in live with the remainder of today's service today's scripture is found in genesis chapter 50. you know the pastor is concluding his series on joseph and in the passage we read today we see the concluding moments of joseph's life we'll read verses 22 through 26 from the new american standard bible and those will be the words you'll see on the screens both here in the worship center and for eye canvas so that we can all read god's word together and would you stand with me so that we might honor the reading of god's word genesis chapter 50 beginning with verse 22 ending with verse 26 now joseph stayed in egypt he and his father's household and joseph lived 110 years and joseph saw the third generation of ephraim sons also the sons of maker the son of manasseh were born on joseph's knees and joseph said to his brothers i am about to die but god will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which he promised on oath to abraham to isaac and to jacob and joseph made the sons of israel swear saying god will surely take care of you and you shall carry my bones up from here so joseph died at the age of 110 years and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in egypt and may god richly bless the reading of his word keep standing now as tyler comes to lead us as we continue to praise our lord [Music] we worship the king of kings and lord of lords today he's the great i am i wanna be close close to your side so heaven is a lie i want to hear voices of angels above singing as one hallelujah [Music] great i am [Music] is [Music] loving the world [Music] hallelujah [Music] great i am [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the great eyes the great islands mountain shake before him the demons run and flee at the mention of your name king of majesty there is no power [Music] i am [Music] the great i am [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] the demons [Music] [Applause] free [Music] ready [Music] beside me [Music] we worship you lord amen you may be seated as ben lavorne our executive pastor comes with a special mission one eight milestone good morning church you know over the last year god has worked through you and through mission one eight courageous in ways that we could not have anticipated and this morning i've got an exciting announcement and update for you about a new ministry initiative that we're launching through mission 108 courageous the icampus kids ministry icampus kids will feature a 30-minute episode every week produced by our church's children's ministry that will take our world-class sunday school ministry into homes across the nation and across the world we'll present a lesson for both preschoolers and elementary kids every week will include worship led by a very popular musical artist yancey who's been to many of our events we will have a life application skit by brandon rushin who is also known to us as coach bobcat he plays many characters when he he presents these creative lessons we will have activities led by shelly taylor and ashley gross our incredible children's ministry also bible lessons taught by our own church members who are participating in our children's ministry and we will be telling kids about the gospel and christ's love for them you know it's been said that necessity is the mother of invention and that in a sense is how i campus kids ministry began during the pandemic and during quarantine we took all of our ministries online and our children's ministry was no exception to that we cooked took our kids cove ministry online we hosted our awana's ministry via zoom and their work was so engaging that we had families participating in our children's ministry from acro across the country and we saw this as an opportunity for our church you know children are on the front lines of culture today and they are being bombarded with confusing messages about what is true and and and there is programming out there in entertainment that is trying to deceive them and lead them astray parents are looking for trustworthy programming and resources that they can provide to their kids and that's what the icampus kids ministry is going to do it is a ministry of first baptist dallas it is a ministry that is built on the bible and it is a resource for parents that they can trust to make sure that their children are being taught god's word this is just one more way that we as a church are coming together to transform the world with god's word one life one child at a time so i want to thank you and i hope that you are excited about this new ministry of our church now as we continue our time of worship through giving you'll have the opportunity to give your ties and offerings in many different ways today you can leave those in the receptacles as you exit this morning you can give online at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but right now let's dedicate those tithes and offerings as well as commit our lives to the lord as we go to him in prayer together i'll invite you all over the worship center to kneel as you're able and let's go to our father in prayer heavenly father we worship you this morning we celebrate the joy that we have through jesus christ and the salvation we have in him but this week lord has also brought us continual stories of struggle and strife of people who are facing peril and persecution and oppression of people who are critically ill and we know those in this room those worshiping with us online are facing challenges in their own lives and so lord we seek your divine intervention we seek your provision and your your presence and your protection but as we do lord we we rejoice that we can come to you through our savior our mediator our redeemer and we can present our cares and concerns to the sovereign lord of the universe the one who placed all the stars in the sky the one who knows them by name the one who knows when a sparrow falls the one who knows every circumstance that we are facing and so we come before you today and we worship you lord we present to you the first fruits of the resources that you've entrusted to us our tithes and our offerings we do so in submission and obedience to you we do so in worship of you and we pray lord that you would use those resources to spread your love share your love and hope and gospel of jesus christ throughout the world through ministries like the icampus kids and pathway to victory and all of those other strategies and tools that you have entrusted to the first baptist church of dallas and we pray this in the saving name of jesus christ amen [Music] then [Music] is [Music] [Music] this old ship has been through battles for [Music] storms [Music] [Music] deep inside [Music] god has always had a people many a foolish conqueror has made the mistake of thinking that because he'd forced the church of jesus christ out of sight he'd stifled its voice and snuffed out its life but god has always had a people the powerful current of a rushing river is not diminished because it's forced to flow underground no the purest water is the stream that burst crystal clear into the sunlight after it's forced its way through solid rock there have been charlatans who like simon the magician sought to barter on the open market that power which cannot be bought or sold but god has always had its people men who could not be bought women who were beyond purchase god has always had his people there have been times of affluence and prosperity when the church's message has nearly been diluted into oblivion by those who sought to make it socially attractive neatly organized and financially profitable but god has always had a people yes it's been gold-plated draped in purple encrusted with jewels it's been misrepresented ridiculed mocked and scorned but god has always had a people these followers of jesus christ have been according to the whim of the times elevated as sacred leaders and martyred as heretic yet on through it all marches that powerful army of the meek god's chosen people who cannot be bought flattered martyred in terrentix yes all through it all god is alive [Music] is [Music] is [Applause] [Music] listen child of god it's alive discouraged pastor it's his church and it's alive lonely missionaries sow that seed with confidence the church is still alive oh saint praise the lord you're not alone and forgotten the church is still alive busy mother keep trusting in jesus the church is still alive and you're not alone there serving the lord young student just keep looking to jesus the church is still alive and faithful on earth rest in the lord god's church is still alive it's a family of god lift up your hands lift up your hands and praise the lord the church of god's church triumphant it's alive and well [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow wow wow well tyler i just made an executive decision that song is going to become the new official theme song of our new series this fall unstoppable power didn't they do a great job they are singing about what we're going to be talking about beginning september 12th in our study of the book of acts unstoppable power we're going to discover what made the church triumphant in the first century and how we can be the church triumphant in the 21st century thank you so much wonderful first dallas choir and orchestra we welcome the multitude of you who have joined us by radio and television on our first dallas eye campus and on pathway to victory from around the world next sunday sunday september 5th is the first of our eight fantastic fall sundays grammy award-winning artist michael w smith is going to be here to lead us in worship with our choir and orchestra and the whole service is going to be built around the taking of the lord's supper remember the old wolf brand chiliad friend how long has it been since you've had a big heaping bowl of wolf brand chili it's been too long how long has it been since you have taken the lord's supper i'll guarantee you the answer is it's been too long and next week as we begin this fall together i thought there's no better way for us to begin than by remembering what jesus did for us and celebrating his death and resurrection we're going to do that with michael w smith and the choir and orchestra next sunday september 5th i hope you'll be here in his book growing strong in the seasons of life swindoll recounts the true story of a tragedy one family experienced it was late afternoon when the boat's engine sputtered stalled and refused to restart gallons of water surged into the craft as it pitched on sickening six-foot swells the five members of the jagger family had done all they needed to do but it wasn't enough an exciting fishing trip was now a thing of horror the boat was sinking and they were going under grim face george jagger his three sons and his elderly father methodically tightened the buckles on their life jackets tied themselves together with a rope and slipped silently into the black and boiling atlantic george glanced at his watch as the boat finally disappeared 6 30 pm very little was said it grew dark first one boy and then another swallowed too much salt water gagged and strangled on the brine as they fought to keep their heads up the helpless father heard his sons one by one then his dad choke and drown but george couldn't surrender after eight nightmarish hours he staggered onto the shore still pulling the rope that bound him to the bodies of the other four i realized they were all dead my three boys and my father but i guess i didn't want to accept it so i kept swimming all night long he later told reporters my youngest boy clifford was the first to go i'd always taught our children not to fear death because it was being with jesus christ before cliff died his dad heard him say i'd rather be with jesus than go on fighting and that vivid atlantic memory george jagger had a chance to witness the impact of his 15 years as a father his boys died quietly with courage and dignity up to the very last minute one by one they modeled the truth passed on by their father when the ultimate test was administered in an angry sea they handed in perfect scores fortunately most of us will never witness that kind of tragedy but if you're a parent at some point in your life you will see your children go through adversity in life it may be an unexpected illness an undeserved termination from a job an unwanted divorce but whatever the adversity is your ultimate success or failure as a parent and passing on the truth to that child will become evident to all have you passed on to your children the faith they need to sustain them during the storms of life have you given proper attention to their spiritual development through the years so that they grow by rather than are crushed by the adversity they face have you yourself modeled the grace and forgiveness jesus wants us to extend to others so that your children see it and learn from it and aren't prisoners for the poison of bitterness in their life today we're going to look at two parents two fathers who successfully passed on their faith to their children as we look today at the story of the death of jacob and the death of joseph we're going to discover what our greatest legacy as a parent is to our children if you have your bibles turn to genesis chapter 47. today we've come to our last study in the life of joseph i've done a lot of series here during the last 14 years but i don't think i've ever done a series before where i've had as many people say to me individually pastor every sunday it seems like you were speaking to me or they would say you know joseph's story is my story i can't think of a character i relate to more in the bible than joseph why is that i thought about it i think it's because joseph has gone through the ups and downs that we've all experienced in different ways in life he went through unexpected changes in his life i mean think about it at one point he was the favorite of his father then almost immediately overnight he gets uh sold into slavery lands in a pit betrayed by his brothers and then through a set of miraculous circumstances he ends up as potiphar's a steward a handler of his household affairs and then he's under fairly accused of rape by potiphar's wife and lands in prison and there he's forgotten but then a supernatural event leads him to become prime minister of egypt and then he's called on to preside over the administration to save the nation of egypt and the world from a famine i mean all of these things happened joseph up and down up and down and through all of it joseph remained faithful to god today we've come to the end of joseph's life and we're going to look at the death of his father jacob and then his own death as well to discover the greatest legacy we lead to our children first of all let's look at the death of jacob who illustrates a legacy of spiritual growth chapter 47 beginning with verse 27 look at jacob's request to his children now israel that's the other name for jacob lived in the land of egypt and goshen and they acquired property in it and they were fruitful and became very numerous jacob lived in the land of egypt for 17 years so the length of jacob's life was 147 years now when the time for israel to die drew near he called his son joseph and said to him please if i have found favor in your sight place now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness please do not bury me in egypt but when i die well i will lie down with my fathers you shall carry me out of egypt and bury me in their burial place and he said joseph said i will do as you've said he said swear to me so joseph swore to him then jacob bowed in worship at the head of his bed you know it's been my experience as a pastor that many times not all the time but many times god gives his people a premonition when they're about to die so that they can get their affairs together i think that's what happened here with jacob he knew he was about to die and so he calls joseph who happens to be the prime minister of egypt and he says please make me this promise don't leave me here in egypt don't don't bury me here in egypt jacob said take my bones back to canaan that's where my future is that was a logical request he understood the promise of god given to abraham that canaan would be the land of god's people not egypt by the way parents make sure that if you make a request of your children don't make it an unreasonable request i know of parents who have made their children swear now whatever you do don't put me in a nursing home or a long-term care facility please don't do that and then sure enough their children get to a point where their parents require such care that they can't adequately care from and they're ridden with guilt over a promise they made that they can't keep don't make them make an unreasonable promise to you when you're alive or certainly as you face death this was not an unreasonable request after he made that request notice his blessing now remember jacob's son joseph had been in egypt for a number of years and while he was there he had two sons by another wife remember the sons names manasseh and ephraim these would be jacob's grandchildren whom he had not met yet so look at verse 8 when israel saw joseph sons he said who are these joseph said to his father they are my sons whom god has given me here so jacob said bring me bring them to me please that i might bless them and israel said to joseph i never expected to see your face and behold god has let me see your children as well he was seeing his grandchildren from joseph for the first time now look at verse 13. joseph took them both ephraim with his right hand toward israel's left and manasseh with his left hand toward israel's right and brought them close to him but israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of ephraim who was the younger and his left hand on manassas head crossing his hands although manasseh was the firstborn and when joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on ephraim's head it displeased him and he grasped his father's hand to remove it from ephraim's head to manasseh's head joseph said to his father not not so my father for this one is the firstborn place your right hand on his head but jacob refused and said i know my son i know he will also become a great people and he will be great however his younger brother shall be greater than he and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations now this is a strange passage you may wonder what in the world is going on here this is important to understand to understand the future of israel as well as a practical application for you and me today remember jacob's 12 sons would become the nucleus of the nation of israel but there was one son levi who was the progenitor of the priestly tribe the levites and so levi would not receive a part of the inheritance he would not be his own distinct tribe and in the same way god would bless not joseph but joseph's two sons with a portion of the inheritance of the land so joseph's two sons would make it take the place of joseph and of levi and that's how you get the twelve tribes of israel so here is jacob and he's about to bless his grandsons who each will represent a tribe it would be natural for the older son manasseh to receive the blessing an extra special blessing ephraim was the younger so joseph realizing this brings his son manasseh the oldest and places him in front of jacob's right hand he then takes ephraim and places him in front of joseph's left hand so that jose or jacob could bless manasseh with his right hand that would be the normal thing to do but jacob surprises everybody he takes that right hand that's right in front of manasseh and he crosses his hand and blesses the head of ephraim instead the unexpected son the younger son he said both will be great but ephraim will be greater now that shouldn't surprise us that god would do that god chose jacob the younger son over esau god chose isaac the younger son that later to be born over ishmael one commentator of yesteryear has talked about god's crossed hands a blessing of how sometimes god blesses that which we don't expect him to bless he surprises us have you ever experienced that before those of you who are parents maybe you have two children one is outgoing an extrovert everybody loves him or her he does well in school and everybody expects that that's the one who's going to be a success in life but it turns out that younger child more introverted maybe struggles in school somehow they're the ones that experience extraordinary success maybe you've been working at a vocation for most of your life you thought this was your life calling but then somewhere midway through your life or even later in life you change careers and it's that new vocation that god ends up blessing more than your original one those of us who are teachers of the bible whether you're a sunday school teacher or a pastor name maybe you have a message and you think man this is going to go over like gangbusters god's really going to use this and you deliver it and it falls flatter than a pancake but it's some message that you're not that excited about that you have a hard time getting into that god blesses beyond expectation god's crossed hands of blessing that's what he illustrates here now look at jacob's death verse 21 then israel said to joseph behold i am about to die but god will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers when jacob finished commanding his sons he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his life breathed his last and was gathered to his people you know i think about george will's observation that 80 percent of americans die alone in a sterile hospital room hooked up to tubes and gadgets to try to keep them alive and he said that fact is just an illustration of our denial of the naturalness or even the necessity of death people used to die at home surrounded by their families and that's what jacob did he he died with his family his children and his grandchildren around him and the bible says after he imparted a word to them he died he breathed his life at last and was gathered to his people that's an interesting phrase you find it throughout the bible he was gathered to his people i remember debating a jewish rabbi years ago and this jewish rabbi represented the position of many jews that there is no afterlife that there is nothing in the bible that uh uh says that we live after we die this life is all they that there is this rabbi said there's nothing in the bible i said well look at your own old testament and i use this illustration he has gathered with his people where do you think that is where are you gathered to if you're gathered with your people in daniel chapter 12 it says there is a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous the righteous for reward the unrighteous for eternal punishment the bible and the old and the new testament teaches that this life is not all that there is that there is a great resurrection coming for a christian second corinthians 5 8 to be absent from the body is to be at home with the lord and not just with the lord but with all who have known christ jesus as savior he was gathered with his people and look at chapter 50 verse 1 then joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him those of you who have lost a husband a wife a child a parent you know of the unspeakable grief you feel when you realize that person you love with all of your heart you will never see them again at least in this life that's what joseph felt as he said goodbye to his father that's the same emotion jesus experience as he stood in front of the sepulchre of his friend lazarus the shortest verse in the bible jesus wept but thank god that's not the end sorrow endureth the night but joy comes in the morning joseph did what his father asked him to do he asked pharaoh for permission to take the bones of his father back to canaan and so they went to canaan all of joseph's family look at chapter 50 verse 14 and after he had buried his father joseph returned to egypt he and his brothers all who had gone up with him to bury his father what gift did jacob leave to his children and grandchildren i want to suggest to you today that jacob left the invaluable gift of spiritual growth the possibility of spiritual growth let me show you what i mean in hebrews 11 verse 21 and commenting on this scene the writer says by faith jacob as he was dying blessed each of his sons of joseph and worshipped underline that and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff you find those same words in genesis 47 31 jacob said swear to me so he swore to him then israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed the last picture jacob's sons and grandsons had of their father was of jacob worshipping god now what's interesting is had jacob died earlier there may have been a different epitaph for jacob the text might have said and jacob manipulated or and jacob schemed or and jacob lied you see jacob wasn't the same man at a 147 that he had been at age 47. he had changed through the years he had transformed from that manipulator that schemer that liar that trickster into a worshiper of god and the greatest gift jacob left to his children and grandchildren was the gift the reminder that you don't have to stay the way you are through god's power you can become a different person you know many people at 87 are just a worse version of themselves than when they were at 47. some people are a worse version of themselves the older they get but jacob was a better version of himself because he drew near to god he didn't allow the problems of life to drive him away from god but to draw him near to god the best gift jacob could have left his children was a reminder that with god's transforming power you don't have to be who you were you can become a new person you know when i read the story of jacob i can't help but think of my own father if my dad were back here today standing here where i'm standing he would be the first to tell you admit to you that much of his christian life was filled with inconsistencies and contradictions and he didn't always live out what he professed to be true but in may of 1982 his life changed forever when the company he worked for the only company he had ever worked for bran of airlines suddenly went bankrupt and he was unemployed he had lost the only job he had ever lost and he lost not only with that job his paycheck but he lost his identity that was who his identity had been for 32 years the job he had with that company but my dad would tell you today that that event was the turning point in his life because for the next eight years until he died all he wanted to do was to read the bible all he wanted to do was to pray all he wanted to do was to talk to as many people as he could about jesus christ about why they needed to have faith in him for salvation i watched my brother my sister and i watched our father change before our very eyes to remind us that we don't have to stay the people that we are that's what jacob left for his children a legacy of spiritual growth it's no accident that his son joseph would model much of the same behavior in the way that he died as well and that's what you see in joseph that when he died joseph left for his family a legacy of faith a belief in the sovereignty of god first of all for the past faith that would sustain people as they looked at their past now look at chapter 50 verse 15. remember jacob the patriarch has just died when joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said what if joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong we did to him do you understand what their fear is after their father dies they begin to think among themselves and they think wait a minute maybe the reason joseph has been so nice to us so conciliatory toward us it was all an act just to please our dad and now that dad's gone maybe this is the time joseph is finally going to get even with us and so they come up with this scheme look at verses 16 and 17. so they sent a message to their brother joseph saying your father charged before he died saying thus you shall say to joseph please forgive i beg you the transgressions of your brothers and their sin for they did you wrong and now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the god of your father you hear what they're saying they sent a message to joseph saying oh joseph by the way just before dad died he gave us a message he told us to tell you be nice to your brothers they just made the whole thing up how did joseph respond with anger now verse 17 says and when joseph heard it joseph wept when they spoke to him he realized they really could not understand forgiveness and grace he wept because he wanted them to know how much he truly forgave them and loved them look at what he says in response in verses 19 and 20 one of the great verses in all of the bible they're all great but this is one of the greatest but joseph said to them do not be afraid don't be afraid for am i not in god's place and as for you you meant evil against me but god meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive brothers what you did was wrong it was terrible it was hurtful it scarred my life forever what you did was evil but god's bigger than you are god took your evil and he used it for good to bring about this present circumstance to preserve many people alive god was able to use the evil you committed against me to send me to egypt ahead of time to stockpile all of this grain to keep you alive to keep the egyptians alive to keep the whole world alive but the good didn't stop there god will use this to keep you alive to turn you into a mighty nation through which one day the savior of the world will come that's what he's talking about here in fact today thousands of years later you and i today are christians we're going to heaven one day because one man named joseph decided to forgive his brothers had he not forgiven his brothers there would have been no israel there would have been no messiah there would have been no savior and you and i would have been left to suffer hell forever separated from god because we were lost in our sins this is the good that god performed through the evil that these men committed you know one of the most important things as a parent you can leave for your children is a legacy of faith for their past a reminder that they are not the victim of adverse circumstances or adverse people the fact is god is bigger than your children's enemies and adversaries god is bigger than their circumstances god is even bigger than the mistakes they will make in the past god's grace and sovereignty is bigger than your children's mistakes that's a legacy of faith we need to leave our children god is sovereign over your past there is nothing that happens to a child of god that has not first been sifted through the will of god the love of god the plan of god the power of god and if it has come that far it has come into your life for some grand and glorious purpose that's what joseph modeled to his children a faith for the past he also gave them a faith that would sustain them in the future look at verses 24 to 25 joseph said to his brothers now i'm about to die but god will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land which he had promised on an oath to abraham to isaac and to jacob then joseph made the sons of israel swear god will surely take care of you you shall carry my bones up from here does that sound familiar to you god will take care of you god will take care of you joseph was almost imitating the same words that he heard his father utter when his father was dying he learned from the way his father died how to die and he said the same thing to his children that his father had said to him you can count on god god will surely take care of you of faith for the future you know i saw my parents die both of them at a very young age gets younger every day uh when i think about it one my dad was 64 my mom was 54 when they died and they both died the same way weren't feeling well each of them went to a doctor the doctor said you have terminal cancer you've got four months to live get your affairs together and you know my mom and dad taught me a lot of great lessons by the way they lived but the greatest lesson they taught me is in how they died they died with their faith intact and they passed on to me that message you can count on god god will take care of you that's what joseph modeled to his family and look at verse 22 of hebrews 11 by faith joseph when he was dying made mention of the exodus of the sons of israel and gave orders concerning his bones joseph said to his children god will take care of you but remember when the time comes for the exodus to occur take my bones out of egypt and bring me back to canaan and so that message was passed on to joseph's family god will take care of you and then it was passed on to the next generation god will take care of you and god will take care of you and god will take care of you that message that baton of faith was passed from generation to generation for 400 years and then god raised up the liberator of israel a man named moses and listen to this in exodus 13 19 moses took the bones of joseph with him for he had made the sons of israel solemnly swear saying god will surely take care of you and you shall carry my bones from here with you isn't that remarkable that message of faith had been passed from generation to generation until finally it was realized in moses let me ask you the question today what about you as your children and grandchildren look back at you well they have received that baton of faith have you modeled for your children what it means to spiritually grow the fact that you don't have to keep being the same person that you were have you modeled for them faith a faith that will sustain them for their past a faith that will sustain them in the future you know i think abraham lincoln said it best when he said what is important is not who my ancestors were what's important is what will my future children and grandchildren believe joseph successfully passed the baton of faith to his children and grandchildren what about you what will your children most remember about you let's bow together in a word of prayer you can't pass along faith that you don't have yourself perhaps the greatest demonstration of faith you can ever model for your children and grandchildren is a faith in the lord jesus christ for the forgiveness of your sins will your children and grandchildren be able to look back and say i know my father my mother my grandparents were in heaven because they told me the story of that day that they put their full faith and trust in jesus to be their savior and i want to do that so i'll see them again one day is there a time you can point to when you put your faith in jesus christ for the forgiveness of your sins it's the most important thing your family could ever see you do don't you want to be the one responsible for leading those children and grandchildren to an eternal relationship with god that will not only sustain them in this life but will guarantee them a next life in heaven if you've never trusted in christ as your savior regardless of your age today i want to invite you to do so i don't think it's an accident you're here or in day one or watching online today today if you would like to trust in christ as your savior i want to encourage you wherever you are to pray this prayer in your heart to god as i prayed out loud knowing that god is listening to you right now would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know i have failed you in so many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today that you love me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment from you that i deserve to take for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me from my sins thank you for loving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you in jesus name amen now if you're watching online right now and you prayed that prayer to trust in christ i want you to go to the top of your screen and click on the link that says i prayed the prayer to trust in christ as soon as you do that i'll be notified of your decision and i have some free material i want to send you right away on what it means to trust in christ as your savior please don't wait another moment don't wait for the end of the service go to the top of the screen right now and click that link i trust in christ as my savior if you're in day one or you're here in our worship center i want to invite you to take out this card that's in your bulletin and you'll notice there's a place at the bottom the third box for you to check if you prayed that prayer with me and when you check that box we'll send you the same material that we're sending our online friends so check that third box i prayed the prayer to trust in christ maybe you're a guest today you can check that first box or you want more information about our church you can check that box or you would like to join our church today i saw a list of about 25 people who said they're ready to join first baptist today and if that's you we encourage you to check that final box and we'll be in touch with you right away by the way last sunday we had a new members luncheon for those who have recently joined our church 200 were there who have joined our church just in the last week so god is bringing new people to first dallas every day now once you've finished filling out that card you can drop it off at the welcome center and receive a copy of my new devotional a place called heaven or you can drop it in the receptacles on the way out we'll process the card and get the information to you now as you leave today you'll notice on the concourse they're all kind of different tables set up advertise advertising discipleship university that begins two weeks from tonight september 12th we've got the biggest lineup of classes that will help you grow in your faith you've ever seen before so check them out something new we're offering beginning september 12th are what we call community groups we have um one two three four or five of them that are beginning how many five i can't see your hands ben how many four groups okay we've got four groups and the next gen group right all right well these community groups are groups uh that meet uh certainly for bible study but it's more than a lecture it's a time to get to know one another uh build relationships with another pray for one another an encouragement group and we're calling them community groups we're going to have four of them for single adults for young adults for median adults for senior adults and then julia and my daughter's beginning a group for next-gen girls girls from college through single adults to young adults and if you would like to be in that group julia's going to be out there the leaders of our community groups sean beach our staff members going to be out there and if you're looking for a smaller group of people that you would like to build relationships with you want to consider becoming a part of one of our community groups all the information is on the concourse now remember that tonight at 5 30 i'm asking to meet with all of the leaders in our church if you have any kind of leadership position in the church we're going to meet at 5 30 uh in center stage to have a preview of what's coming up this fall and so would love to meet with all of our leaders today at 5 30. finally remember next week is michael w smith it's the beginning of eight fantastic fall sundays here is a preview of what's coming up the next three weeks at first baptist dallas this fall we have the opportunity to open our doors to the biggest names in christian music eight big sundays in a row join us for a fantastic fall featuring michael w smith september 5th for king and country september 12th casting crowns september 19th and more the time is now to worship all together invite those who need to hear the good news of jesus christ it's a new day welcome home next sunday don't miss church now let's all stand together as we close singing his praise [Music] this is my story [Music] this is my story this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] have a blessed day church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas eye campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastures daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus hi i'm robert jeffress pastor of first baptist church in dallas we are so excited to have you join us on the eye campus today for a time of inspiring worship and biblical teaching you are part of a vast online community gathered from all over the world we consider you a part of our first baptist church family and we hope you feel a part of what god is doing in and through first baptist dallas no matter where you are we hope and pray that this is a time you will grow in your relationship with god and others as we worship our savior together welcome to worship [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] well good morning and welcome to worship at first baptist dallas today let's stand together and let's worship i will enter his gates with thanksgiving [Music] [Music] is [Music] he is [Music] of all of our praises [Music] he is the one who has given he's given my heart a brand new soul i will sing to him in [Music] thanksgiving [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] i will [Music] [Applause] oh bless his name this morning christ he is our hope he's our life today [Music] one [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] too strong oh [Music] [Applause] rise up [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] night with him [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] ah [Music] is [Music] [Applause] arise [Music] christ our hope today amen great worship church you may be seated and let's turn our attention to the baptistery i thank you tyler good morning church we have siblings for baptism this morning first this is emily hernandez emily prayed to receive christ july of this year and today she's here to follow the lord in believer's baptism [Music] emily because you have prayed to receive christ as your lord and savior and in obedience to the lord's command i now baptize you my sister in christ in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit buried with christ in the likeness of his death raised to walk in the way of life and this is annabella hernandez annabella also prayed to receive christ in july of this year and today she's here to follow the lord and believers baptism annabelle because you have prayed to receive christ in an obedience to the lord's command and i will baptize you my sister in christ in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit buried with christ in the likeness of his death grace to walk in the way of life and this is zachary hernandez [Music] zachary prayed to receive christ in june before the girls and today he is here to follow the lord and deliver his baptism zachary because you have prayed to receive christ and in obedience to the lord's command i now baptize you my brother in christ in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit buried with christ likeness of his death raised to walk and in the could we again give god praise for what he is doing we bless his name this morning we welcome everyone to worship at first baptist dallas and if you're a guest joining us we're so glad you're here and we cannot wait to meet you at the conclusion of this service we have a very special gift package for you it includes our pastors great devotional a place called heaven 100 days of living in the hope of eternity as well as our orchestra's brand new cd it just released to god be the glory celebrating 60 years of instrumental praise and guest as you came in this morning you received a worship guide you're going to find and closed this guest card please take the time to fill this out and keep it with you at the conclusion of the service take it outside these main worship center doors right there you're going to find our welcome center our staff is waiting there for you to exchange your completed card for your gift today and answer any questions you might have regarding our church we look forward to meeting you now if you can't make it to the welcome center we also have some orange receptacles on your way out you can slip the card in one of those we'll mail you a copy of your gift if you're joining us on icampus just simply follow that link on your screen to access your gift as well well to my right this morning we also welcome first baptist academy students faculty administrators members of the board of trustees as well as the first baptist academy saints football team joining us in worship this morning a special welcome to head of school and head football coach jason lavorne secondary principal jonathan seabourn and elementary principal julia shoemake there are currently 304 students enrolled in pre-k through 12th grade at fba and a total of 50 staff members could we stand this morning and recognize those joining us from first baptist academy let's stand together as we recognize each of you this morning [Applause] we're proud of our first baptist academy students and faculty lots of exciting events taking place here in the life of our church at first baptist dallas so let's all take a look together at the screen good morning we're so thankful to be with you in worship we have an exciting season ahead and we want to take a moment to tell you about a few upcoming events if you are a volunteer leader in one of our ministry areas join us tonight at 5 30 for our leadership huddle we will have a time of food encouragement and a special word from dr jeffress as we prepare for an exciting fall fantastic fall sundays kick off next sunday september 5th as grammy and dove award winner michael w smith joins us in worship with the first dallas choir and orchestra invite a friend to the first of eight big sundays at first dallas our fall semester of discipleship university begins on sunday september 12th stop by the open house on the concourse today to see our class options or you can view the class catalog online sunday september 12th dr jeffress begins his new series unstoppable power a study of the book of acts this study will help you harness the same extraordinary power of the holy spirit that allowed the early church to become an unstoppable power for god finally it's good to gather together to worship we encourage everyone to help maintain a healthy environment by using our hand sanitizer stations practicing social distancing when appropriate and wearing your mask if you are not vaccinated for more information on everything happening at our church visit firstdallas.org events thank you so much for worshiping with us today i want to encourage you to become an icampus i member from wherever you are in the world we want you to be a part of what's going on here at first baptist dallas when you do so today we will send you daily devotionals from our pastor dr robert jeffress the digital edition of pathway magazine great encouraging equipping resources delivered straight to your inbox each and every month as well as an icampus i-member certificate to commemorate this special day we love you guys so much we want you to be a part of what's going on here at first baptist dallas so join us today as an icampus i member to do so simply visit firstdallas.org forward slash free gift now let's join right back in live with the remainder of today's service our scripture passage today is found in the book of genesis in genesis 50. as you know the pastor is concluding his series on the life of joseph and these verses we'll read are the concluding moments of joseph's life we'll read verses 22 through 26 from the new american standard bible those words will be on the screens both here in the worship center and for eye campus as well so that we can all read god's word together i invite you to stand that we might honor the reading of god's word reading genesis 50 beginning with verse 22 ending with verse 26 now joseph stayed in egypt he and his father's household and joseph lived 110 years and joseph saw the third generation of ephraim sons also the sons of make here the son of manasseh were born on joseph's knees and joseph said to his brothers i am about to die but god will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which he promised on oath to abraham to isaac and to jacob then joseph made the sons of israel swear saying god will surely take care of you and you shall carry my bones up from here so joseph died at the age of 110 years and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in egypt may god richly bless the reading of his word keep standing now as tyler comes back to lead us as we continue our worship of our god [Music] we worship the king of kings and lord of lords today he is the great i am i want to be close close to your side so heaven is a lie i wanna hear voices of angels of love singing as one hallelujah holy god almighty great i am [Music] great i am [Music] i want to see dry hallelujah [Music] the greater the great island [Applause] [Music] mountains shake before them the demons [Music] [Music] great i am [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] great [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] great [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] red eyes [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] beside me [Music] great [Music] [Applause] [Music] bless his name amen you may be seated as ben lavorne our executive pastor comes now with a special mission 1 8 milestone good morning church well i am told that our fba football team here on the first two rows won 49-0 on friday night congratulations guys you know god has worked in incredible ways unexpected ways through you and through mission 1-8 courageous over the last year he has used our eye campus in ways that we never anticipated last week we had over 400 000 people who worshiped with us online through the icampus ministry and today i want to announce to you an exciting new ministry as part of mission 108 courageous a ministry called icampus kids an campus kids is going to feature 30-minute episodes each week produced by our great children's ministry they're going to be released for both preschoolers and elementary kids we're going to take our world-class sunday school ministry into homes across the nation and across the world through this great ministry we'll have popular music from artists like yancey a life application skit by our friend brandon rushin every week activities led by shelly taylor ashley gross and our great children's ministry staff will have bible lessons taught by our own kids co teachers members of this church will be teaching the bible to children across the world we'll be able to tell parents about the gospel and the hope that their children have in jesus christ you know it's often been said that necessity is the mother of invention and in a way that's a that that is how i camp last year when we couldn't meet together and we offered sunday school through our eye campus and through zoom we hosted our awana's ministry online we had families across the nation participating in our owana's ministry and we realized that god had given us an opportunity to use this as a strategy to reach the world and reach children for jesus christ you know so many children are on the front lines of cultural battles popular kids programming and tv today teaches them falsehoods about what is true about history about marriage about gender and many other issues that affect what is a biblical worldview parents are looking for a place to find truth for their kids and i campus kids as a ministry of first baptist dallas is a ministry that is built on the bible it is a trustworthy source for truth that parents can go to kids will have an opportunity each week to hear a gospel message from our pastor so children who are ready to trust in christ will have the opportunity to do that through the eye campus kids it's going to be fun it's going to be engaging it's going to be bible-based and it's part of our mission to transform the world with god's word one life at a time and you're a part of that so i want to thank you church for what you're doing to make all of this possible let's praise god for what he's doing in our church now today of course you'll have the opportunity to give your tithes and offerings and you can give those as you leave the worship center today you can leave those in the boxes you can give online at firstdallas.org forward slash give online but right now we'll dedicate those ties and offerings during this time of commitment and i'll invite you to kneel all over the worship center as we go to the lord in prayer together heavenly father we do praise you we worship you we thank you for what you're doing in our church just the opportunity to participate in your kingdom work to use the tools that you've entrusted to us to bring children across the world to a saving knowledge of jesus christ and lord we know that our world needs it we're reminded even this week through continual stories of struggle and strife people who are facing persecution and oppression peril we pray for those in afghanistan those whose lives are at risk we pray for the families who have lost sons and daughters who are waiting to hear whether their children or family members are still alive or injured we pray for those who are suffering from earthquakes and natural disasters we pray for those across our nation across our world who are critically ill even some in our church family lord we pray for those in this room and who are worshiping with us who are facing challenges and trials of all kinds in their lives and in all these cases lord we pray for your divine and supernatural intervention we know that you are the sovereign lord who place the stars in the sky and you know them by name and yet you know when every sparrow falls you know the circumstances of our lives and so it's in that spirit of worship that we come to you in submission and obedience we give to you the first fruits of those resources that you have entrusted to us in the form of our tithes and our offerings we pray that these will be pleasing in your sight and we pray lord that you would use these to advance ministries like we've heard about today to share your gospel and your love and your hope with the world and we pray this in the saving name of jesus christ amen [Music] let the turn [Music] the questions [Music] songs [Music] this old ship has been through battles before storms [Music] deep inside [Music] [Applause] [Music] in [Music] god has always had a people many of foolish conquerors made the mistake of thinking that because he forced the church of jesus christ out of sight he stilled its voice and snuffed out its life but god is always out of people the powerful current of a rushing river is not diminished because it's forced to flow underground no the purest water is the stream that burns crystal clear into the sunlight after it's forced its way through solid rock there have been charlatans who like simon the magician sought to barter on the open market that power which cannot be bought or sold but god has always had a people men who could not be bought women who were beyond purchase god has always had a people there have been times of affluence and prosperity when the church's message has been nearly diluted into oblivion by those who sought to make it socially attractive deeply organized financially profitable but god has always had his people yes it's been gold-plated draped in purple encrusted with jewels it's been misrepresented ridiculed mocked and scorned but god has always had a people these followers of jesus christ have been according to the whim of the times elevated as sacred leaders and martyred as heretics get through it all their marches on that powerful army of the meek gods chosen people who cannot be bought flattered murdered or stilled on through the ages they marched the church god's shirts triumphant alive and well [Music] [Applause] [Music] listen child of god it's alive discourage pastors it's his church and it's alive lonely missionary sow the seed with confidence the church is alive all saints you're not alone and forgotten the church is still alive busy mother keep trusting in jesus the church is alive you're not alone out there serving the lord young stupid just keep looking to jesus the church is alive and faithful fathers there is rest in the lord god's church is still alive it's a family of god lift your hands lift your hands in praise to the lord the church god's church it's triumphant it is alive and well [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow wow wow man what a song i told tyler at the first service that is now the new official theme song for this fall of first baptist church dallas the church triumphant we're going to be studying the book of acts looking at the first century church that models for us in the 21st century how we can be the church triumphant in a dark and decaying world thank you so much first dallas choir and orchestra for your fabulous music today we welcome literally the hundreds of thousands of you watching us on our first dallas eye campus and the millions of you worshiping with us on radio and television through pathway to victory next sunday september the 5th is the beginning of our fantastic fall and we're going to begin with next sunday hosting our friend michael w smith who will be here to lead us in worship with this choir and orchestra we are building the entire service around the lord's supper next sunday remember that old wolf brand wolf ran chile commercial some of you are too young to remember it but they would ask the question friend how long has it been since you've had a big heaping bowl of wolf brand chili and the answer was well that's too long let me change it a little bit how long has it been since you've observed the lord's supper it's been too long it's been too long next sunday we're going to begin the fall by remembering the whole reason we're here the death and the resurrection of jesus christ it's going to be an encouraging service a triumphant service with michael w smith be here next sunday in his book growing strong in the seasons of life chuck swandahl recounts the true and tragic story of one family it was late afternoon when the boat's engines sputtered stalled and refused to restart gallons of water surged into the craft as it pitched on the sickening six-foot swells the five members of the jagger family had done all they knew to do but it wasn't enough an exciting fishing trip was now a thing of horror the boat was sinking and they were going under grim faced george jagger his three sons and his elderly father methodically tightened the buckles of their life jackets tied themselves together with a rope and slipped silently into a black and boiling atlantic george glanced at his watch as the boat finally disappeared 6 30 pm very little was said it grew dark first one boy and then another swallowed too much salt water gagged and strangled on the brine as they fought to keep their heads up the helpless father heard his sons one by one then his dad choke and drown but george couldn't surrender after eight nightmarish hours he staggered onto the shore still pulling the rope that bound him to the bodies of the other four i realized they were all dead my three boys and my father but i guess i didn't want to accept it so i kept swimming all night long he later told reporters my youngest boy clifford was the first to go i'd always taught our children not to fear death because it was being with jesus christ before cliff died his dad heard him say i'd rather be with jesus than go on fighting in that vivid atlantic memory george jagger had a chance to witness the impact of his 15 years as a father his boys died quietly with courage and dignity up to the very last minute one by one they modeled the truth passed on by their father when the ultimate test was administered in an angry sea they handed in perfect scores fortunately most of us will never have to witness a scene like that but all of us who are parents at one point will watch our children go through some adversity in their life it may be an unexpected illness an undeserved termination from a job an unwanted divorce but at that moment of adversity our success or failures as parents will become evident to all have we imparted to our children the faith they need to see them through the storms of life have we paid enough attention to their spiritual development so that they are strengthened by rather than crushed by the adversities of life today we're going to look at the greatest legacies we as parents can pass on to our children today we've come to our final study in the life of joseph and we're going to look at the account of the death of joseph's father jacob and the death of joseph himself and then those accounts learn what our greatest legacy is as a parent if you have your bibles today turn to genesis chapter 47. today marks the end of our study on the life of joseph you know i've brought a lot of sermon series here during the 14 years i've been here but i don't think i've had any that have had this kind of response and it seems like every week somebody will come up and say pastor i think you were preaching to me today or they would say things like you know joseph's story is really my story i can relate to him more than any other character in the bible why is that i think it's because joseph has so many ups and downs in his life that seemingly came out of nowhere many twists and turns and we can all relate to that i mean here's one moment joseph is the son of privilege and his father's household then his brothers betray him and he ends up in a pit sold into slavery and then he rises up into a position of authority in potiphar's house in egypt but then out of nowhere falsely accused of rape and thrown unfairly into prison he thought he had been forgotten forever but god miraculously lifts him out of prison and places him as the prime minister of egypt and then he has to navigate the country through a severe famine and finally unexpectedly reconciled to his brothers and his father joseph's stories in many ways is our story and today we've come to the final chapter in his life let's look first at the account of the death of his father jacob jacob illustrates leaving a legacy of spiritual growth for your children now remember where we are in the story jacob and his other sons have moved to egypt they've reconciled with joseph joseph has given him the most fertile land to dwell in in egypt and now jacob is about to die look at verse 27 now israel that's another name for jacob lived in the land of egypt in goshen and they acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous jacob lived in the land of egypt for 17 years so the length of jacob's life was 147. he just about bankrupted the social security system in uh egypt doing that verse 29 when the time for israel to die drew near he called his son joseph and said to him please if i have found favor in your sight place now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in kindness and faithfulness please do not bury me in egypt but when i lie down with my fathers you shall carry me out of egypt and bury me in their burial place and joseph said i will do as you have said he said swear to me so joseph swore to him then israel bowed in worship underline that at the head of the bed you know it's been my experience as a pastor that many times god gives people a premonition when they're going to die not all the time but many times perhaps so we can get our affairs in order jacob knew he was about to die and so he made his son promise him that he would not bury him in egypt that was a strange land he wanted to be buried back with his forefathers and canaan the promised land for the new nation that would form by the way parents don't make your children swear to you something that's unreasonable i've seen this so many times a parent will say just promise me just promise me you'll never put me in a nursing home or an assisted living facility and so the child feels pressured to make that promise and then when it becomes overwhelming and the child is not able to care for his parent perhaps he's ridden with guilt over having to place his parents somewhere that they can be properly cared for don't make unreasonable promises from your children don't force them to do so either in your life or as you approach death this was not an unreasonable request you see jacob understood that god's promise for his children and his children's children would ultimately be fulfilled in canaan in the land of israel not in egypt and then notice the blessing that jacob imparted to his children but especially his grandchildren remember jacob thought he'd never see joseph he thought he was dead he didn't know that jesus joseph was prospering in egypt and that in fact during that time joseph had two sons remember manasseh and ephraim jacob had not yet been introduced to him so look at what happens in verse 8 when israel saw joseph's sons he said who are these joseph said to his father they are my sons whom god has given me here so he said bring them to me that i might bless them jacob said to joseph i never expected to see your face and behold god has allowed me to see your children as well and then he did something that's going to seem very strange look at verse 13 joseph took both of them ephraim with his right hand toward israel's left and manasseh with his left hand toward israel's right and brought them close to him but jacob stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of ephraim who was the younger and his left hand on manassas head crossing his hands although manasseh was the firstborn let me explain what was going on here remember that he had not seen his grandchildren before he was going to bless his favorite son joseph but he chose to bless joseph's children instead manasseh and ephraim now this is important in the nation of israel's history to understand jacob's sons would have been the 12 tribes of israel but jacob wanted to bless his grandchildren as a grandparent i understand that wanting to bless your grandchildren and so he was going to give joseph's inheritance to his grandchildren manasseh and ephraim don't get nervous julia but uh he was getting he wanted to bless his grandchildren now the idea was that joseph would not receive a part of the land and he didn't his grandchildren would receive it instead levi was another one of jacob's sons he was the progenitor of the priestly tribe so they didn't receive a part of the land either so the way you come up with the 12 tribes of israel is to include manasseh and ephraim in joseph's place and in levi's place and that's how you come up with 12. so joseph was excited about his sons being blessed he thought he knew how it was going to go the older one would get the greater blessing right the older over the younger manasseh was the elder so joseph place places manasseh in front of jacob's right hand so he could receive the right hand of blessing he places the younger son uh ephraim in front of his left hand so jacob the old patriarch is about to bless them but he does something very strange he takes his right hand and he crosses it over his left hand and he blesses ephraim the younger with the greater blessing instead of manasseh god usually blessed the older child but not always god chose jacob the younger over esau the older god chose to make isaac not ishmael the child of promise the one who is born later one commentator of yesteryear has talked about god's crossed hands of blessing how sometimes god does something unexpected in our life he blesses what we don't expect him to bless here's a parent with two children one is gregarious and an extrovert and excels in sports and scholastics you think that's going to be the child who is successful in life but instead it's that other child the introverted child the child who struggles the child who has difficulty making relationships somehow that is the child who ends up being successful maybe you've had this experience you choose a vocation early in life you think this is what your life calling is but somewhere halfway through your life or even later god changes circumstances and you ended up in a vocation you never expected and yet it's that vocation that you find fulfillment in and that god seems to prosper you in if you're a teacher of god's word whether you're a sunday school teacher or a pastor listening to this message have you ever had this experience you've worked and worked and worked on a message and you think it's gonna set the world on fire and you deliver it and it falls flatter than a pancake and yet a message you've hardly spent any time on you're not excited about personally it's that message that god blesses god's crossed hand of blessing he sometimes blesses what we don't expect him to bless that's exactly what jacob did when he blessed ephraim instead of manasseh now look at jacob's death then jacob verse 21 of chapter 48 then israel said to joseph behold i'm about to die but god will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers verse 33 of genesis 49 when jacob finished commanding his sons he drew his feet into the bed he breathed his last and he was gathered to his people jacob had a word that we'll look at in a moment to his sons and his grandsons he breathed his last and was gathered to his people i think about george will commentary when he said one time that the fact that 80 percent of americans die in sterile hospital rooms alone hooked up to tubes and other gadgets is just a testimony to our culture's inability to accept the naturalness even the necessity of death the fact is it used to be people died in their home they died with their families and they used those moments as teaching moments just as jacob did and when they die they are gathered to their people i remember decades ago debating a jewish rabbi and he made the statement that nowhere in the old testament is there any thought of an afterlife of eternal life and that's why he and so many jewish people believe that this life is all that there is there's no evidence of it in the old testament he said and i pointed him to this verse it says that jacob was gathered to his people where do you think that is gathered to his people in the cemetery and you find that phrase over and over again daniel chapter 12 says that there is a future resurrection coming that all people both the righteous and the unrighteous will be raised one day for god's judgment the righteous to everlasting blessing the unrighteous to everlasting punishment here you have it as well jacob was gathered to his people if you're a christian today this life is not all that there is to be absent from the body second corinthians 5 8 says is to be at home with the lord the moment you shut your eyes for the last time here on earth you're immediately in the presence of jesus christ and not him only all of your christian loved ones who have preceded you that is the promise of god's word genesis 51 then after jacob died joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him those of you who have lost a husband a wife a child a parent you can enter into the emotion of this to look in the face of the one you loved most in this world and realize you will never see them again not in this life anyway there is a grieving that comes with that realization even jesus our lord experienced that when he stood in front of the sepulchre of his best friend lazarus the bible says and jesus wept wept continually there is a sorrow that accompanies death even for christians fortunately as the psalmist said sorrow endureth the evening but joy comes in the morning after his father died he obeyed what his father asked him to do he asked pharaoh for permission to bury his father and canaan and so those 70 what would be israelites left egypt and they marched back to canaan to bury jacob genesis 50 verse 14 said after joseph had buried his father joseph returned to egypt he and his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father what legacy did jacob leave for his children he left for them a legacy of spiritual growth now listen to me carefully about this hebrews 11 21 gives us insight into what jacob did with his children and grandchildren before he died by faith jacob as he was dying blessed each of the sons of joseph and worshiped there it is leaning on the top of his staff you'll find those same words in genesis 47 31 and he said swear to me so joseph swore to him then israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed the last time the last thing jacob's children and grandchildren saw him doing was worshiping god worshiping god now had jacob died earlier in his life had he died at age 47 instead of 147 or age 67 or age 97 that would not have been the final epitaph for jacob his tombstone might have read he manipulated he lied he schemed he blamed god that was his life for so many years but how he started is not how he finished he finished by worshiping god jacob was a different man at age 147 than he had been at 47. unlike many people today jacob became a better version of himself not a worse version of himself the older that he got and jacob left for his children the reminder that you don't have to stay the way you are with god's power your life can change a legacy of spiritual growth and his sons and grandsons had a front row seat to watch the transformation of their dad you know when i think of that i think about my own father if my dad were standing here today he had been a member of this church he's the one who led my mom and all of us to join this church if my dad were here today he would admit to you that most of his christian life had been marked by inconsistencies and contradictions in his life he had not lived as he had wanted to live as a christian but in may of 1982 something happened to him that changed his life the company he had worked for for 32 years the only company he'd ever worked for braniff airlines suddenly went bankrupt my dad lost his job lost his retirement lost his identity that's who he was he identified himself with his vocation and suddenly it was all gone and my sister and brother and i watched a transformation in our dad suddenly i mean overnight he had been an addictive heavy smoker not that you go to hell for smoking but it was something that had him bound up and he felt guilty about overnight he gave up smoking he started reading his bible he started praying he started witnessing to anybody and everybody he could he didn't want to talk about anything about except about spiritual things and when he was diagnosed eight years later with inoperable cancer and told he only had a few months to live he never once blamed god for his illness he never blamed god for the loss of his job he never blamed god for the loss of his wife instead he worshipped god and that's a legacy he left for us you don't have to stay the way you are you can with the power of god change jacob a legacy of spiritual growth [Applause] and he passed that down to his son joseph now look at joseph's death joseph reminds us of a legacy of faith for your children and grandchildren of faith first of all in the sovereignty of god for your past look at verse 15 when joseph's brother saw that their father jacob was dead they said what if joseph bears a grudge against us and pace us back in full for all the wrong we did to him do you see what's going on here as soon as their father's father dies the brothers get together and say you know what maybe just maybe all this forgiveness stuff that joseph pretended to extend to us maybe it was all an act maybe it was a ruse to satisfy our dad and now that dear old dad is gone maybe now joseph is going to exact his revenge and they all were convinced that's what was going on so they came up with the scheme look at verses 16 and 17. so they sent a message to their brother joseph saying your father charged before he died saying thus you shall say to joseph please forgive i beg you the transgression of your brothers and their sin for they did you wrong and now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the god of your father you see what's going on they send a message to their brother joseph they're scared to death and they say oh by the way joseph before dad died he gave us a message to deliver to you he said tell your brothers to be nice to your brother to be nice to you tell your brother not to mistreat you tell your brother not to get even with you they made the whole thing up thinking maybe that would do the trick how did joseph respond was he angry at what he knew was a false message they had manufactured no the end of verse 17 and joseph wept when they spoke to him he was so grieved that they didn't believe his sincerity that he really did want to be reconciled to them that he really did want to forgive them and then in one of the greatest passages of all the old testament look at genesis 50 verses 19 and 20 but joseph said to them do not be afraid for am i not in god's place as for you you meant evil against me but god meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive joseph said yes what you did to me was wrong it was evil but god's bigger than you are don't beat yourself up over what you did to me god's bigger than you are god took your evil and he used it for good to preserve many people alive it's because of what you did that i ended up in egypt the prime minister of the country it was because of what you did that i was able to enact this program of stockpiling the grain so that not only would you be kept alive but all the egyptians would be kept alive and the entire world would be kept alive but it doesn't stop there the good extended for thousands of years later it was because of what the brothers did that joseph was able to save the israel israelite people and over the next 400 years that nation of israel while in bondage in egypt would grow into a mighty nation of 3 million people and moses would lead them out of egypt back to the promised land and through that nation of israel the savior of the world jesus christ would one day come and save us from our sin all of that happened all because of the evil that these brothers had committed against joseph you meant it for evil but god used it for good parents one of the greatest legacies you can leave your children is a faith in the sovereignty of god for their past instead of dwelling on adverse people who have hurt them or adverse circumstances that have conspired against them or even bad mistakes they've made god is bigger than all of those things god is bigger than your children's enemies god is bigger than your children's circumstances god is even bigger than your children's mistakes he can take all things and work them together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose that's the legacy of faith that joseph left for his brothers and his children a faith for the past he also demonstrated for them a faith for the future god will take care of his people look at genesis 50 verses 24 to 25 joseph said to his brothers i'm about to die but god will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which he promised on an oath to abraham to isaac and to jacob then joseph made the sons of israel swear saying god will surely take care of you and you shall carry my bones up from here does that sound familiar to you that's exactly what his dad had done his dad had gathered joseph and the family around and said you can depend on god god will take care of you just don't let my remains stay here in egypt and now his son joseph is saying the same thing you can count on god god will take care of you just don't leave me here forever when the time comes move my bones and take them back to canaan joseph was modeling what he had seen the way he had seen his father die you know both of my parents were christians and they taught me many wonderful truths while they were alive but the greatest thing they both taught me was the way they faced death my mom was 54 years old my dad was 64. and interestingly they died almost exactly the same way they'd gone to the doctor because they weren't feeling well the doctor told them you have inoperable cancer you've got four months to live get your affairs together and we watched both of them die we stood around their hospital bed as they were about to meet the lord and they both said their own version of god will take care of you you can count on him serve him with all of your heart that's what i remember most about my parents and when the day comes for me to go on to my reward i pray that i'll have that same faith and courage to demonstrate to my children and my grandchildren god will take care of you were they successful was joseph successful in passing that message along he told his children and grandchildren god will take care of you and they pass that baton of faith to their children and to their children and on and on and on and on and on it went until 400 years later god raised up moses and look at this in exodus 13 verse 19 and moses took the bones of joseph with him as he left egypt for he had made the sons of israel solemnly swear saying god will surely take care of you and shall carry my bones from here with you yes the baton of faith was successfully passed on nobody dropped it in 400 years of history what about you as your children and grandchildren remember you will they remember a life that was marked by spiritual growth and by a faith a faith that would sustain their past and care for them in the future abraham lincoln said it best when he said what's important is not who my ancestors were what's important is what my children and grandchildren will believe what about you what will your children remember about you let's bow together in a word of prayer the most important thing we can pass on to our children is faith our faith in jesus christ for the forgiveness of their sins but they can't be saved because of our faith god has no grandchildren we all have to be children of god but when your children look back on your life will they be able to say with confidence that they know you're in heaven because because of the story you related to them about how you came to faith in christ how you put your faith in jesus to forgive you of your sins and you knew that you were going to be in heaven one day will they be able to say that about you listen you can't pass to other people what you don't possess in your own heart and if there's never been a time where you have personally trusted in jesus as your savior it's the most important thing you could do for yourself to know that you're going to be forgiven and welcomed into heaven but it's the most important thing you can do for those children and grandchildren you love as well to point them to the only one who can provide the forgiveness of their sins today if you'd like to receive god's gift of forgiveness in your life that you can in turn pass on to others if you'd like to receive that forgiveness in your life no matter what mistakes you've made in the past they can be forgiven you can become a brand new person today if you'll trust in christ to forgive you of your sins if you'd like to receive that gift today i want to encourage you whether you're here in our worship center or watching online to pray this prayer in your heart to god knowing that he's listening to you right now would you pray this with me dear god thank you for loving me i know i have failed you in so many ways and i'm truly sorry for the sins in my life but i believe what i've heard today that you love me so much you sent your son jesus to die on the cross for me to take the punishment i deserve to take for my sins and right now i'm trusting in what jesus did for me not in my good works but in what jesus did for me to save me from my sins thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life for you and i pray this in jesus name amen if you prayed that prayer you're watching online i want to encourage you to go to the top of the screen right now and click on that link that says you prayed the prayer to trust in christ as soon as you do i'll be notified this afternoon of your decision and i have some free material i want to send you about what it means to live as a christian now don't wait any longer do it right now go to the top of the screen click on that link i prayed to trust in christ today for those of you here today in our worship center i want to encourage you to take the card that is in your bulletin and there's a place for you to register your decision today notice on that card the third box i prayed the prayer to trust in christ you can check that box and i'll send you the same material we're sending our friends if you're a first time guest you can check that first box maybe you'd like to have more information about the ministries of our church check that second box if you'd like to join first baptist dallas it's never been easier just check that final box i'd like to join first dallas we had many people do that in our first service uh we had our new members luncheon last sunday we've had over there were about 200 new members of our church that were there last sunday we've joined in the last few weeks would love you to come right now and be a part of the fellowship as well once you have finished filling out those boxes and that card you can drop it at the offer at the worship center right after the service it's right outside these doors we'll exchange your card and give you a copy of our new devotional a place called heaven or you can drop the card in one of the many receptacles on the way and we'll process the card this week and get the information to you so thank you so much for doing that on your way out today you'll see on our concourse there are many different tables advertising the different courses we're offering in discipleship university our sunday evening program that begins two weeks from tonight september the 12th many interesting classes out there the teachers are going to be out there to answer your questions about the course you can choose your course of study from some of our greatest teachers we're also starting something new september 12th during the discipleship university time and we're calling it community groups you know we have great sunday school classes the best sunday school teachers in the world here but we have felt there is a need for closer community at first baptist dallas so if you're looking for something where you can connect with people your own age not just for bible study but a time to get to know people on a deeper level pray for them enter into their lives these community groups would be something for you to consider now we're starting with five of them there's one for single adults one for young adult one one for young adult two one for three and four and then there's a fifth group for next-gen girls my daughter julia is starting our next-gen girls ministry and these groups are for people from college through single adults or through our young adults if you're a woman in any of those groups you might enjoy being in julia's group she'll be out there as well as our other community group leaders so thank you for stopping by and finding the place for sunday night september the 12th now this afternoon at 5 30 we're asking all of our leaders to come i'll be meeting with all of the leaders of our church as we preview what's going to happen this fall at first baptist dallas well we've got some exciting days ahead starting with next sunday with michael w smith let's close today with this preview of the next three weeks at first baptist dallas this fall we have the opportunity to open our doors to the biggest names in christian music eight big sundays in a row join us for a fantastic fall featuring michael w smith september 5th for king and country september 12th casting crowns september 19th and more the time is now to worship all together invite those who need to hear the good news of jesus christ it's a new day welcome home [Music] it all begins here next sunday at first baptist dallas well church let's stand together as we close and worship singing god's [Music] this praise my story this is [Music] this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] have a blessed day church well thank you so much for joining us for worship today on the first dallas eye campus it's our honor and privilege to worship chat and pray with you throughout the service if you are local to dfw let me encourage you to come on down we'd love to have you visit us in person we'd love to greet you and show you a great spot in the worship center for you to sit it would be our honor to worship with you in person in the heart of downtown dallas right here at first baptist dallas also if you are new here to the icampus or have been watching for a while and want to get plugged in let me encourage you to sign up for a free gift we'd love to provide that to you directly in your inbox and then sign you up for pastures daily devotional it's straight from the pen of dr jeffress and you will be encouraged with that great resource each and every day simply visit the link that's provided on your screen and lastly stay connected with us each and every day with our facebook global group there we encourage one another through scripture and graphics but also pray for one another so head on over to facebook and join our icampus global facebook group thank you again for joining us today for worship we look forward to seeing you next week on the first dallas i campus you

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Length: 183min 49sec (11029 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 29 2021