Read 2 Corinthians 2:14-17.
How do you feel about this verse?
Read John 17:9-21.
What stands out to you in these verses? Why?
Where are you most encouraged? Where are you most challenged?
Where are you sent in Him?
Read John 15:1-11.
What does it look like for you to remain in Him? Who/what helps you to remain in Him?
Read 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 again.
How does this verse encourage you in light of the verses in John about who you are in Him?
Read Genesis 50. What does this text say about the nature of God? What does it say about the character of God? What does it say about the love of God?
As you read the text, where do you find yourself today? With what verse, scene or section do you most resonate? What’s confusing and what questions arise as you read the text?
At the beginning of the study, we learned God would use one family as partners in His redemption plan. Through this one family, the Messiah would ultimately come. How do you see God at work in the family of Abraham, Issac, Jacob and now Joseph?
In the New Testament, the plan of redemption includes the local church, His Faith Family. How are you seeing God work in and through our Faith Family? How are you hearing the redemption song being sung in and through your family?
Reread Genesis 50.15. What two things do Joseph’s brothers fear?
In your own words, define a “guilty conscience.”
How has your life been impacted by the guilty conscience of another?
Read Psalm 38.4. How do you resonate with this verse?
What does God see in you? What does God believe about you? How do you resonate with the truth that “God is glad to see you”? What, if anything, could you do to make God see you any differently?
Joseph’s brothers carried the weight of guilt for 40 years. Though they had the opportunity to receive forgiveness, they choose to remain in their guilt and shame. What kind of impact does that have on a life? What kind of impact does that kind of weight have on a family? How might God be inviting you even now to release your own pain of guilt or the pain and suffering that comes from the hands and hearts of another?
The text notes Joseph “weeping” seven times. What is it that causes this kind of emotional expression? When was the last time you wept over the brokenness of another? How did you sense God meeting you in that space?
Read Genesis 45.1-8 and answer the following questions. Why does Joseph remove everyone from his presence except his brothers? What causes Joseph to express this kind of sorrow? What does Joseph say to his brothers about their sin against him?
Reread Genesis 50.19-21. Note the similarity in Joseph’s response in chapter 45 and in 50. How does Joseph view what has happened to him in his past?
Consider the truth of Genesis 50.20. Where are you currently experiencing God’s Sovereignty prevailing in your life? Where are you waiting deeper still for God’s Sovereignty to prevail? Who waits with you?
Reread the final section of Genesis 50. What do you hear from Joseph? What are his last recorded words? What truth does he communicate to his family?
How does the ending of Joseph’s story encourage you to trust God with this current chapter of your story? How might others join you in this chapter, or in previous chapters of your story?
Spend some moments praying and praising God for His prevailing love.
In thinking about Bible heroes, how high would you “rank” Joseph compared to others like Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, etc.
Joseph was wronged by three different groups or individuals:
If you had been the victim of the offenses committed by these three, which would be the hardest for you to forgive?
How do you think you would have reacted if you had been Joseph waiting for two full years to be released from prison after the butler forgot him?
Why do you think it took Joseph so long to get around to revealing his true identity to his brothers? Do you think it was wrong of him to wait?
Do you think you have to get rid of bitter feelings toward someone who has wronged you before you can forgive them?
Is there someone you are harboring bitterness toward? Can you honestly say you truly hope they will join you in heaven? What would it take for you to make the choice to forgive them?
Read Genesis 41. What does this story say about the nature of God? What does it say about the character of God? What does it say about the love of God?
As you read the text, where do you find yourself today? With what verse, scene or section do you most resonate? What is confusing and what questions arise as you read the text?
Joseph’s life is marked by dreams, both his own dreams and his giftedness to interpret dreams. Does God still speak through dreams? Does He still gift people to interpret dreams? What is your understanding and experience of God speaking through dreams? How does God speak most personally to you? When have you engaged in others in understanding the implications of what God is saying?
Through years of captivity, Joseph is learning how to live without the Robe, without being the favored son, without being known. He learns to trust God in the silence. Describe a time when you learned to trust in silence? How did that season change you, what spiritual qualities emerged or were deepened in this season?
What spiritual qualities does Pharaoh recognize in Joseph? How do those qualities stir Pharaoh to trust Joseph?
Joseph consistently points to God as the One who is all-powerful. Notice the following, “God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do . . . God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do . . . The matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon” (Gen. 41:25, 28, 32). From where does Joseph’s understanding of God derive?
Consider your last week. How has God revealed Himself to you anew, afresh? What is God’s heart for you in understanding this revelation?
In this text, Joseph is moved from prison to becoming one of the most powerful men in the world. What kind of pressure or weight would that bring to Joseph? How does responding to God give greater and greater authority and responsibility to Joseph? Similarly, how is God inviting you into deeper places of knowing Him, and then making Him known? Where is God taking you on your journey with Him? Where might He be calling you, yet you are uncertain of being willing to go?
Reread Genesis 41.44-45, 50-51 and answer the following questions: Joseph says, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” What is the interconnection between suffering and blessing? How are you sensing, seeing, believing God’s fruitfulness in your own land of suffering? Joseph marries and has children. What is the significance of the names Joseph gives to his children, Manasseh and Ephraim? What story do the names of his sons tell?
Read Philippians 3.13-14 NLT. How are Paul’s words similar to Joseph’s story? How do you see this text as an affirmation of the call to move forward in your own life? In what beliefs about God, yourself, and others, do you need to let go and forget? What chapters of your story need to close? What chapters need to be unearthed, revisited, and explored afresh?
The message on Sunday ended with noticing that Joseph chooses not to reconnect with his family. What do you make of that portion of Joseph’s story? How does this part of Joseph’s story connect with yours?
How is God using your family and our Faith Family as a means to declare His goodness and grace to your neighbors, neighborhood and the nations?
