“In the Beginning – lessons from Genesis 1” Genesis 1:1-5, 24-27 A 10-year old girl asked her father, “Where do humans come from?” Her father replied, “God made Adam & Eve & they had children & then grandchildren, & so on.” Two days later the girl asked her mother the same question, “Where do humans come from?” Her mother answered, “Many years ago there were monkeys from which humans evolved.” The little girl was now confused, so she went back to her father & said, “Dad how

Lessons from the Life of Joseph (8) “Forgiveness & Reconciliation” Genesis 43:1-14 & 45:1-7 Last week we were reminded that God sometimes allows us to get into situations that bring us face to face with our sin & disobedience. Joseph’s older brothers tried to cover up the evil they did to him twenty years earlier. They tried to suppress their guilt. But now finding themselves in big trouble in Egypt, their consciences began to trouble them. “They said to one another, ‘Surely

Lessons from the Life of Joseph (7) “Character & Conscience” Genesis 41:41-42:38 The Pharaoh and all his officials were deeply impressed with Joseph’s wisdom & his personality. The power of his godly character shone through everything Joseph said & did but the source of that power, the foundation of his godly character, was the Spirit of God. Pharaoh asked the revealing question: “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the Spirit of God?” (v 38) If indeed Egypt was

Lessons from the Life of Joseph (6) “From Prisoner to Prime Minister” Genesis 41 After many long years Nelson Mandela was released from prison in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 11th. 1990. Just over four years later, following South Africa’s first fully democratic election, he became President of his country. The story of this remarkable man is told in his book “Long Walk to Freedom”. The many things Nelson Mandela suffered, the injustice, the humiliation, the lonelin

Lessons from the Life of Joseph (5) “God’s Time, God’s Plan” Genesis 40:1-23 Last week we saw how Joseph was given a free, one-way ticket to prison – to a dark & dirty dungeon. He had been falsely accused and humanly speaking was in a hopeless situation. Yet we saw that even in that terrible place the Lord was with him. If Joseph had been bitter against his boss for treating him so unfairly, he might have simply sat down & felt sorry for himself. He could so easily have fusse

“Suffering for Doing Right” Genesis 39:16-23 & 40:1-15 Have you ever been falsely accused of something? How did you feel? I read about a guy called John who was driving home late one night when he picked up a hitchhiker. As they were driving along, John began to be suspicious of the guy he had just picked up. He wondered to himself, “Is he trying to steal my wallet?” As he was driving John felt to see if his wallet was in the pocket of his coat that was on the seat between hi

Lessons from the Life of Joseph (3) “Success & Temptation” Genesis 39:5-15 & 1 Corinthians 10:11-13 Joseph made the decision to trust God. He may have been a slave in the house of the Egyptian official Potiphar but his attitude of trust lifted him above his circumstances – and God blessed everything he did. He didn’t have to say anything. People noticed. Potiphar noticed. He was not only impressed with the way Joseph worked. He not only admired Joseph’s upright character and

Lessons from the Life of Joseph (2) “Triumphing in Trial” (Genesis 37:23-36 & 39:1-7) Last week we began our series of messages looking at the life of Joseph. Even though he lived 3,900 years ago the incredible story of this young man speaks powerfully to us today. Joseph grew up in a complicated and dysfunctional family. He had ten older brothers who were very unkind to him. Joseph’s father Jacob sent him to see how his brothers were getting on with the family flocks. Joseph

Lessons from the Life of Joseph (1) “A Family Divided” Genesis 37:1-28 Joseph was a young man of only seventeen. Already in his life he had experienced many trials. He grew up in a very complicated family for his father Jacob did not simply have one wife - he had two wives and two concubines. And he had children from each one of them. When still a very young boy Joseph had been uprooted from his home many hundreds of kilometres north in Haran, in present-day Syria. His father

The Failure of Human Scheming and the Triumph of God's Grace The Life of Jacob 2 Genesis 27:1- 28:22 The Bible is an amazing book. It never covers over the faults and weaknesses of even the famous men and women of faith. As we read their stories we come to realise that they are so very like us. They are real human beings with real struggles. From them we can learn so much about our own hearts and our own need for God's grace. Jacob is a classic case of someone who, despite cl

Noah and the Flood Genesis 6:5-22; 7:1-5,17-8:5 Last week we studied how sin came into the world and how Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Genesis goes on to tell us what happened to some of Adam and Eve's children and gives a long list of some of their descendents. They lived much longer in those days than we do now. We then come to a new section in Genesis and that is the story of Noah, which we find in chapters 6 through to 9. The story of Noah, which chi

Things Go Badly Wrong – the Fall Genesis 3:1-24 Genesis chapter 3 is one of the saddest, yet one of the most important, chapters in the whole Bible. Without it the rest of the Bible, and indeed human history, does not make much sense. Genesis 3 records the tragic entrance of sin into the world. The account in Genesis 3 is never treated in the rest of the Bible as anything other than historical fact. It may be presented in pictorial form but is a record of what actually happen

God Makes Man & Marriage Genesis 2:4-25 Today is a special Sunday as we are all together for a Family Service. So Mums and Dads I hope to speak to the kids as well as to the adults. Boys and girls, I hope you too can listen carefully and learn something this morning from God's Word. Let me ask the adults if they remember what we spoke about last week! Right – we studied the very first chapter in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis 1, which tells us all about God creatin

Studies in Genesis The Creator and Creation Genesis 1-2:3 Where do you come from? This is a question we often hear in a multi-cultural society such as NZ. When I lived and worked in Hong Kong and China, Chinese people would often ask me where I was from. I told them I was from Africa. Of course they didn't believe me – “but you are not black,” they would say. In NZ we have immigrants from many different countries. Of course we also have many international students - from over

Joke on gas men Jesus came to earth not just to save people but to make disciples. Jesus’ heart is not just to save you and leave it as that – hoping you survive, struggling on your own through your Christian life, and living a miserable life. No! He wants you to be a disciple. He wants you to have the strength to live your life victoriously and to influence other people. He wants you to grow in faith. The Lord commissions us as his disciples, his followers, to go out and mak