Get To The Good Part

You intended to harm me, but God intended it to accomplish what is now being died, the saving of many lives. So then don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. God minute for good. The life of Joseph is almost like an entire movie. I could even say it's like a like a show with seven seasons. It

spans about fourteen chapters in the Book of Genesis. Holly said one time that she doesn't like sermons about Joseph because they try to do too much and trying to spand that much content there's a lot you have to track through with Joseph, all the betrayal, the hurt, the promise God made him, the process that he went through. But you're gonna like this one. And the reason that you didn't like sermons about Joseph before is because they didn't tell you the best stuff. So that's what I'm

gonna I'm not gonna skim it today. I'm gonna say something that it's really going to reach you. Holly. And So, someone was saying to me about a TV show that I would really like a while back, and they said it's really good. I said, I watched it. I didn't like it. They said, how many episodes did you watch? I said, like three or four? It was boring. And they said, well, if you can push past the first two seasons, this is like a military career. I'm not

trying to push through something trying to relax. They're not paying me to watch this. I'm paying Netflix to watch this. Am I'm pushing through. If you can really push through the first two seasons, you get to the good part. I want to talk to you today about get to the good part. Get to the good part. And I want to pray for you, because this is a prophetic

word for somebody, and I don't know who. So I pray Father, in the name of Jesus, that this word would reach from eternity right into Sunday morning or Tuesday afternoon or four am on Thursday. I pray that it'll go right here from South Charlotte, North Carolina, on this plastic pulpit and penetrate the hearts of those who need to get to the good part, those who are holding on, those who are pushing through. I declare today they're going to get to the good part. In Jesus' name. Amen,

you may be seated. Yeah, because I was kind of like, if you have to watch two seasons for the show to get interesting, is it really good? At that point? You violate my definition of a good show if it took two seasons. If I have to invest twenty hours of my life, you know how many songs I can write in twenty hours while I'm pushing through to like your stupid show just kind of tick me on made me mad while we're at it. Not only do I

not like thumbs up emojis, I prefer fist bump. And not only do I not want to push through a show that I'm supposed to be enjoying. Not only do I want to not want to endure something that's supposed to be meant for my entertainment I'm paying a subscription for. I don't even really like the word good because it's kind of common. Like I played a song for somebody one time that I had just written, and I came

out of a songwriting season. I'm still in a songwriting season right now, so just put up with me if I use analogies that are relevant to my life. I played them a song, they said, that's good. I'm like, I don't want good. I want goosebumps, like I want you to make noises and stuff that aren't even worse, like oh yeah, oh, I just I don't want that's good. In fact, I don't I don't even I don't even want you to use that word at all, Like, oh man,

that that sermon was? That was? That was good. One time somebody was preaching back to me while I was preaching and I said something. They said that's good, and I was like, no, it's life changing because I had studied it so much. It was like in my bones, not that I was so smart, just to me the way I saw it in the Bible, it was so amazing, and like, that's that's a word. I like amazing. Everybody say amazing. Put it in the chat with all caps

and seventeen exclamation points. Amazing. Put all the exclamation points after it. That's amazing. You know, That's what I want Holly to tell me when I give her a gift. I don't want her to be like, oh, this is good. I want it to be terrific. Yeah. I wrote down actually a list of words I didn't even look at the source that are better than good, great, awesome, terrific, wonderful, incredible, stupendous. Somebody say stupendous, yeah, I'll think stupendous, mind blowing hyphenated

words still a word. Ridiculous. You could tell me that's ridiculous. Oh that was ridiculous. That song was ridiculous. But good, I don't like good. You can say it was sick. You can say it was glorious. You can say it was excellent, you can say it was outstanding. You can say that was crazy, you can say that was insane. In fact, I would rather don't even use an adjective, use a superlative. That was the best ever since time began. There's never been a better one, and there never will be,

you know what I'm saying. I was kind of mad because Joseph gets kind of toward the end of this little journey full of so many twist and turns, ups and downs, and he says to his brothers, God minute for good, after all he went through, and just to use such a twenty five cent word on such an expensive experience it cost him is freedom. That cost him the better part of his life. And then the only thing he can think to say about it at the end is it was good. It was good. Take you

on a big vacation. How'd you like it? It It was good? Good. Now I want to see you freak out if I really do something that I put my heart into, or I just might not do it again. You know, it was just good. It pretty good. I guess it depens on how you say it. You know, Ah, it's good, it's good, It's good. I guess it's all in the end, and you're like, why are you taking so much time to waste? We feel kind of like the show you were talking about where you hurry up and get to

the good part. I am at the good part because the very last thing that we really hear Joseph say is one of the very first things that we see God think. Can I show you somebody say, this is good, this is good, this is getting good. It's getting good. I wasn't so sure when he started, but it's getting good now. Now go to Genesis chapter one. And this is why you didn't like stories about Joseph, because they started in Genesis thirty seven when we started reading about Joseph.

But Joseph's story didn't start in Genesis thirty seven. It started in Genesis one. And can I tell you that your story didn't start. Everybody shout your birth year outlaw, what's your birth year? What's your birth year? Put it in the chat. Put it in the chat. Put it in the chat. So we all are lying God forgive them. It didn't start then it started in Genesis one. Read this in the again. And God created the heavens and

the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, let there be light. And there was light. And God saw that the light was, and he separated the light from the darkness. God saw that the light was good. Joseph is standing in a moment that he never really could have anticipated. He just found out that his father died. He's weeping over the loss of Jacob after burying him.

His brothers are very concerned that now Joseph is going to pay them back. They didn't need to be. After the process that Joseph had gone through. Joseph wasn't so concerned about what his brothers thought or what his brothers did. Remember, he had this understanding that God meant it for good. So now with all of his brothers surrounding him, falling down at his feet and saying, don't hurt us, We'll be your slaves. The last thing Dad said, this is what he told them. The last thing Dad said is

be nice to your brothers. They're still lying. After all their lives, they haven't stopped lying. They've come to Egypt because well there's a famine where they're from. And God positioned Joseph in Egypt so he could take care of the very ones who betrayed him, which is why I ended up there to begin with. Anyway, this is the good part that we love to preach where it says you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.

So isn't it crazy that the last thing we see in the last chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, is the same thing we saw in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. In the last chapter of Genesis, Joseph says it was good. In the first chapter of Genesis, God says it was good. And what's really beautiful about it, if you want to study it, is that God's plan all through the process, never stopped being good. It never

stopped being good. It never stopped out. I wonder, can you just say that by faith it never stopped being good. He never stopped being good. So when we get into the concept of was it good, a lot of times that depends on how last week I preached on what you call small. Remember, please pretend like you remember that made me really sad. If you didn't, Yeah, I said what you call small. God often sees it big. And what you see is big, like an impossible thing. God's like,

oh boop. The little devils that you stress about all day long, and the things you can't get over. The hypothetical hurdles that you make up in your mind because you can't figure out how you're gonna get from here to there. But God already knows. Boop. Come on, let's make a sound effect. Praise right now. Boop. That's how big it is to God. That's how big it is to God. With a flick of his finger, with a word from his mouth, with a breath from his nostril,

his hand is as short. Ya. Don't make me preach us the introduction. But in the same way, we have this tendency to get confused about what God calls small we call big like our character that's big to God as small to some of us. We'll compromise our character to get clout. God says, I'll make your name great. You don't have to take any of your clothes off. On TikTok. Who am I preaching to? Like this? And in the same way that we he can confuse what God calls small with what we call big, and what

we call big and God calls small. The prophet Isaiah says, we have this problem, and I want to give you this verse. It's very powerful. In Isaiah five, verse twenty, Let's call on the prophet he said, woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. What's he talking about here?

I think you know exactly what he's talking about. I think you've experienced it, probably even in church, where people can sometimes even use religion as a cover up for prejudice. That's what Isaiah's talking about. When you call evil good and good evil. Christians can be some of the most close minded, hateful people. And I love us. I have no choice. I'm stuck with us. I decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. But I didn't know all these fools were going to be doing it with me. And see

it's in my own heart. No no, no, no, no, no no no. Before you start shouting about other people, I'm really talking about you, because sometimes you use your relationship with God as an excuse to be close minded and not get another perspective. God said it, God, believe it. That settles it. Is this stances awkward for you, it's awkward for me. You know I'm standing on the word of God. No you're not. You're stuck in tradition and people will use the message of the Bible is an

excuse to be me corny joke. I didn't tell you this one yet. This woman went to church. She hadn't been in a long time. She didn't have any nice clothes, so she was wearing clothes that was inappropriate to go to church. So when she got there, the preacher talked to her afterwards. He was like, hey, you need to wear something different when you come to church next week. That is inappropriate. So you know, you just might want to put something different on. Ask God what he wants

you to wear next week. She came back next week wearing the exact same thing. Said preacher said. She uh, so, I've said hear me the first time he met her at the door, he said, I thought, I told you before you come back to sweet asked God what you should wear the church, and I want you to go home before you come back next week, ask what you wear church. She comes back in the same thing. That's all she had. She had a rough life. She she didn't have she didn't know what to wear to church.

She hadn't been to church in a long time. She came back to the third week wearing the same stuff. The preacher was mad this time because the deacons were mad at him, so he was mad at the lady. It was a whole shine of condemnation that was going on in this little fictitious church. And he looked at her and said, I thought I told you to ask God what to wear before you came back to this church. She said, I did, he said, And what did God say?

He said? She said, he said he didn't know what I should wear to this church because he never been here. Have I ever told you that one? That's a classic, That's a classic. How many of you knew the punchline before I said it? And you're waiting for me to get to the good part? Right? Tell him, pastor tell him, tell him. We are not being you know, it's so amazing church people. So what we do is we substitute judgment and call it holiness. We call evil good, and

evil is only what others are doing. The decibel levels are going down as I get more personal. Come on, give to the good part. This is the good part. This is a good part of a sermon where it challenges your assumptions that are keeping you from accessing the blessing of God. Let me tell you another thing. The Pharisees in the Bible, they were the religious ruling party of Jesus's day, and they would come up to him to test him. So one time they came up to him,

and the man didn't have good motives. He said, Jesus, he called him good teacher, good teacher, sucking up, you know. But really he was trying to catch Jesus in a contradiction. So it's a bad idea. But he didn't know yet that Jesus was the word made flesh dwell among us. He didn't know that. So I said, good teacher, jesaid, why do you call me good? Only one is good. That's God. That verse spoke to me this week. See, I don't know if I can call myself a good man. I want to be. I try to be real, I

aspire to be. Holly says that I am. I got some dark parts, though all I can see is your halo right now. I can't tell if you're sympathetic, you're judging me. Every good man has dark parts. There is a part of every person that is really dark. Different things bring it out of us in different times. Some people's dark is more socially acceptable than others. And if the people around you haven't seen your dark part. They

haven't got close enough yet. Even Joseph, who is held up rightly as a hero kind of an example of how to deal with life's disappointments, setbacks, and let's be honest, man, he went through rape charges, he went through false imprisonment because of those charges. He went with being forgotten by the people that he helped, like all the things that we deal with just times one hundred, we deal with

little versions of these overlooks and these offenses. Well he dealt with them, you know, on the grandest, most epic scale, and he was able to say something so powerful. God intended it for good. And if you only read that, and I think this is why that you don't like the sermons about Joseph, because in our effort to just skip to that and to make it all good, you know, these little things it's all good. Romans eight twenty eight, it's all good. Romans eight twenty eight. Doesn't say it's

all good. You remember when you were working on that sermon. Tim Farrell was working on a sermon. One time. We're in a meeting and he goes, I want to preach a sermon at the rock Hill Campus called It's All Good Romans eight twenty eight. All things work together for good. I'm like Timmy, I love you. You can't preach that. That's not what Paul said. He didn't say all things are good. Right. You got people out there who have been molested. You want to preach us all good. You've

got people out there who can't pay their bills. You want to preach us all good. And I wasn't mad at him. We were just studying the text together. This is how I show love. Get it, I get in there. Yeah, this is how I show love. I said, it's not all good. If you want to preach that passage, you can preach it's going to be good. And this is what I want to preach to you about today. I want to preach to you about how to get to

the good part. But I want to warn you you can't get to the good part if you're not willing to go through the dark part. There is a dark part in every person. Even Joseph, when confronted by his brothers, was tempted. You hear me, This great hero was tempted to make them pay. And nobody probably put that part in the sermons that Holly heard about Joseph. Where Joseph was tricking them and putting the cup in the bag and hiding the cup in the bag and trying to accuse,

he still couldn't decide what he wanted to do. Like you right now, you're trying to decide how do I respond to this? How do I respond to something that wasn't good? That God let in my life wasn't good. How my dad died it wasn't good. How your dad walked out. That wasn't good. So we can't preach it's all good. Because before Joseph could get this is what blew my mind to the good part, where he could say, I will provide for your family. You see how selfless

that sounds, how responsible, how mature. I'll take care of you. Don't worry about it. It's all good. But before he could get to the good, he had to go through the dark. And so do you, and so do I, so do I. I have to realize that my first reaction is not always coming from my realist self. I am teaching better than they are shouting. Now, kid going,

I'll move you down to the front row. So people will say this, they'll just go off right, they'll just go off, cuss people out, flip people off, turn stuff over, wreck their life, all this stuff, and say, I'm just keeping it real. No, that's just your reaction. That's just you letting the dark part run the show. But greater is he that is in you, that he that is in the world that verses about Jesus. And he's in

me too. But in order to get to that part, you know, the part of you that's wise and kind and good and yeah, and I don't have to say anything back, and I'm focused. I'm good the good part. Sometimes to get to that good part, you got to keep your mouth shut through the dark part. We don't know what to do with the dark part, so we never get to the good part. So I say, get to the good part. You'll never get to the good part if you don't learn how to deal with the

dark part. So I guess they're right. You have to make it through a few seasons before it gets good. I guess they're right. You got to get through a few seasons. You got to get through some confusion, you got to get through some things. You gotta put it in perspective. After all, by the time Joseph said this verse, and I promise you, so many of you are new to church, and I want you to know, you will hear this verse preached again. It is so popular, you

will hear this verse preached out of context. Like Joseph just said it when he woke up one morning. Will you went freevile? Don't for good? Without the setup, that punchline is empty. It has been years since Joseph's brothers came back. He's had years to look back on it. He's had time to reflect on what it is that God was doing. And our problem is sometimes we just want to spoon feed people these sugar coated answers. There's a reason for everything. That's not always your job to

remind somebody of that. You know, I went off on somebody one time. There's a reason. Well tell me what it is. Since your God, what is it? Joseph said, I'm not in the place of God, But yet he acted like him because he saw what was good through what was dark. Isn't that what God did in Genesis? I never realized that Genesis fifty twenty was just the continuation of Genesis four. Light was the first thing, you know,

the seven Days of creation. God made the light, and then he made the atmosphere or the firmament, and i'd quote all seven, but we don't have time. I'll get him out of order. But there's all this stuff, you know, this is really good in the dry ground, in the plants, and then the sun. And he made the light before he made the sun, which I can't figure out other

than the fact that he is light. But all of it, you know, the fifth day, the birds of the air, and the fish in the sea, and then the land animals on the six saying look, I got them all, got them all, I got them all right, Somebody give me that if I say, good job, pastor good job. You want a cookie, you want a hey flaws, you want a star on your charm. But all of that becomes more powerful when you realize that in Genesis one four, look at this, God saw that it was good. He

doesn't need light to see. He is light, so he saw it was good while he was still doing it. Most important thing I've learned, like in creating a sermon, a song, really even in building a family and trying to create a great relationship, is that there's always a dark part, just like you have flesh, and I have flesh, and you have memories, and I have memories, and you have temptations and tendencies and I do too. Every process, not just every person, but every process has a dark part.

I can't think of a single song that I ever wrote that I didn't at one point during the song feel like Ichabod, the glory has departed. I'll never write another song. What am I trying to do? And at these moments, I don't know how to explain this to you. I know you know what I'm talking about. I'll be sitting there going Tom Petty wouldn't have liked this song. Tom Petty is dead. Tom Petty never even heard of elevation worship while he was alive. I got Tom Petty

looking over my shoulder, going, eh, not so sure. Where did Tom Petty come from in this? But like that's a part of the process. Is like pushing through that judgment. Hey, when y'all do that too, for you, it's not Tom Petty over your shoulder, Okay, it's your mom. Wow. There's a part when you go to do something for God, write a song, take a step, make an active service,

change a habit. I don't care what it is. There is a part of every process that's dark, and it can come right, I mean right before the best part. And if you let it die in the dark, you'll never get to the Like I promise you. It's not just the caffeine and me. It's like God sent me out here to say to somebody, you've got to get through this dark part of your life, of this stage

of a gouldhood. And maybe just because I've got two teenagers, I was thinking about teens who commit suicide, and it started to haunt me that, like they have no idea that high school is weird for everybody. It doesn't feel like this forever. It's not always. I mean there's still challenges and people are still people, and life is still hard, but it's not always this surge of hormones and weirdness and stuff breaking out on your face everywhere, just stuff

in your mind and wonder. No, no, no, no, no no. It won't always be this dark. It won't always be the dark. You gotta live. You gotta live. Whoever you are, you gotta live, You gotta live, You gotta live. You gotta live to see it. You gotta live, You gotta live to see I will remain confident in this that I will see. I got lights, I will see the good goodness of the Lord. Goodness, goodness. It's gonna get good. It's gonna get good. It's gonna get good and gooder

and gooder and better and better. And you haven't seen anything yet. You haven't even met your best self yet. You gotta get through this valley. Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. I gotta get through this valley. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Question, is a rod and a staff a good thing or a

bad thing? Depends on whether you're a wolf or a sheep. Now, when I belong to God, everything he does in my life, it might not feel good, but it is good because He's still good. Ya Awa through the valley. I gotta get through this valley so I can make it to the table. You prepare a table. That's kind of weak, eld Jane, I said, make it to the table. Make it to the table. Make it to the table. Leg it to the table, Make it to the table, make it to the I'm gonna make it to the table.

I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it. I gotta make it. I was for to make it. My kids need me to make it. My wife needs me to make it. My search needs me to make it. You have to make it. You have to make it. You've got to make it. It's necessary that you make it. You gotta get to the good part. You gotta get to the good part. You gotta locate Israel inside of your Jacob. Sit up, Israel, be a man, be a woman, be the one God call, stand up and do it. You

gotta make it to the table. And to make it to the table, I gotta go through the shadow. Every good thing has a dark part. So James says something I thought we should think about. He said, don't need to see brothers, sisters. Every good, somebody say good, Every good and perfect gift comes from above. I think I gave him the scripture. I'd love for you to show it now, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change. Like shifting shadows. That's all any

shadows gift. You see it again, see it again. The contrast that every good thing has a dark part. What concerns me is I see a lot of people who never get to the good part of their marriage, of their gift, their skill. I guarantee you there's no guitar players out here right now, but I guarantee you if we could ask them when they maybe even on bass shay. Before you first start learning how to play, there's a

point where your fingers hurt so bad. When I was starting to learn to play guitar, my fingers would hurt so bad. And Harold Staley, Jack crib they both told me, these two men that were teaching me guitar, they both said, you got to build up the callouses, and every time I would go to practice, it would hurt so bad. Ah, most people quit before they get the callous, because if you keep playing long enough, eventually your finger will be

able wade. Remember the before the calluses. And if you don't play for a little while now, it's not that this doesn't change. If you don't play for a while, you got to start over again. Most people quit before they get there, whether it's teenagers who in their life or let's be honest, not even in their life, but just sabotage themselves because they don't want to sit with the loneliness, and you just want to tell them, no, no, no,

don't give that away. That's too important. Don't give that away. No no, no no, no, don't do that. Get to the good part, Joseph, don't throw your brothers out. That's how God is going to build a nation. Get to the good part. I know you want to go off and freak out and tell them another that's just your reaction. That's not the reality. The real, you know, is better. So James says, don't be deceived. Every good gift comes from above. A few things I take from that one.

If it's good, it came from God. Write that down, putting in check. If it's good, it came from God. Say it fast like the micromachine. Man. If it's good, it came from God. All right. So if God blesses me through somebody or through something, it came from him. I got a bunch of birthday gifts a few days ago, thanks to everybody sent me a gift. And hey, the greatest gift is prayer, all right, so thank you. I

used to always hear a preachers say that. They'd say thank you for all of you who give to the church and all this stuff, and then, but most importantly, your prayers. I'm like, is that prayers aren't more important than the giving. We gotta feed people, we gotta help people, we gotta build the kingdom. Thank you for all of it. It's all important, you know, false dichotomy. But but uh, what was I saying? Oh? Oh, the gifts, the guests, the guests, the guests. You see this jacket I'm wearing.

Wade gave me this. And the funny thing was when I saw his handwriting on the envelope. He's given me so many gifts through the years. I said that one was from Wade. It's gonna be good. I hadn't even unwrapped the gift. I knew who gave it. When I shook the box, I knew it was something I could wear. I said, I got my preaching clothes for next week because it came from Wade. Somebody said it came from Wade. Wade knows what I like to wear. He knows blackest, slimming,

flattering to my body type. Came from Wade. It's good. I'm good this week. I got something to wear this because it came from Wade. If it comes from God, it's gonna be good. So if it's good, it comes from God, even if God does it through somebody else. I didn't hug the postman for delivering Wade's gift. It's kind of deep, right, we get dependent on people. We think people have to be good to us for God

to be good to us. No they don't. No, they don't question who got Jesus to the cross, which disciple John the one he loved, or Judas the one who betrayed him. And now you're seeing my theme of my message, right, get to the good part. The part that feels good isn't always the part that is good. You only know that when you reflect on it. Because I was thinking, if it's good, it came from God. If it came from God, it's good. What if it didn't, it's going

to be good anyway. And that's where you can preach Romans eight twenty eight. In all things God works for the good. Now, I always heard that verse. They read that much, and then it was confusing to people. All things worked together for the good. They didn't even get to the good part of the verse. They stopped on the word good. The good part is what it says next to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. So real quick, Divie, earlier I

saw you out here. You've had two tools that I've seen since you came out, not counting your notebook. You had this real quick and you had this. When we talk about what God calls good, we have to understand something about God. God doesn't call something good based on how it made you feel while it was happening. God doesn't call something good based on whether how much you expected it and how much it matched your preference. God calls it good when it serves its purpose. David, you

were singing on this. You were sitting on this. I have a feeling if you tried to sing on this it wouldn't work. It wouldn't work. It's a good store, but you can't sing into it. It's a good mic, but you can't sit on it. Quit thinking you're not good because you can't do what it wasn't even in your function or your purpose to do. When God made man on the sixth day, he said, it's very good. It's very good. It's real good. It's in my image,

it's according to my likeness. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good. It's good, it's good, it's good. Why are you saying that? Somebody told me the other day I had a good workout. I said, how is it good? Said I was throwing up. After I said huh, he said, I know it worked. Come get this stuff to be Joseph said, am I in the place of God? No, you're not in the place of God. But he had the same thought process as God. He knew that the darkness doesn't have to

go away for the light to be effective. So when you say how are you doing it, and you say I'm good, you're not lying. You're just focusing. Wow. Sometimes before you can get to the good part in your life, you have to get to the good part in your mind. So then you start saying things like lb Skinner when it rained at our first church service, where there was rain and the attendant suffered, and I was depressed, and I said, it rained. Almost nobody came. He was smiling.

I said, what are you smiling about? It was rainy and nobody came. He said, ah, But Pastor, it gave our greeter teams a chance to shine. See he had had these custom elevation umbrellas made, and he was waiting for a chance to use somebody. He saw the rain, he said it's good. I saw the rain and said, oh God. He saw the rain and said it's good. And I wonder are you waiting for it to get good in your life? And God is waiting for you to get good in your mind. For everybody who's struggling

with comparison and envy? What are you good at? The darkness doesn't want you to see that you only see without form and void. God said, let there be light. I'm just asking God over our congregation, look, shine the light on the good part. This way, the good part. Turn your flashlight on your phone right now and start shining it around. And when the people that are sitting in your apartment start asking you, what in the world are you doing, say, I'm looking for the good part.

I'm looking for the good part. I'm looking I need some light. I need some light. I need some light. I need the word of God. I need worship, I need the presence of God. And that is why my consumption becomes important, and why every week I say something to you about your phone your social media, your twenty four seven Then what do they call it? Twenty four seven? News cyclone cycle, new cycle. It's like people will say, I've got to be informed. I gotta like it is

good to be informed. But if you have to dig through that much garbage to get something good, is it really good? We're confused. Like Adam and Eve, they weren't in trouble because they ate an apple. The Bible says that they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they thought they were like God, I know it's good. We always get in trouble when we try to do God's job. God said it was good. God said it was good. God said it was good.

And Joseph is such a great picture. All the way across forty nine chapters of Genesis, he echoes back what God said when he spoke the world into existence. That good. But I don't even really want to show you this from Joseph's life. I want to show you one thing that Jesus said before I let you go. And this is where the real power is because remember, Joseph said

it was good. That's what he said when he was looking back, and that's powerful, and that really takes from ature perspective to say, oh, man, I guess this is what God. You know, it's I probably could have got there an easier way, but I guess this is what God. Okay, Lord, I accept it. Let me tell you something Jesus did. He's he's getting ready to leave his disciples. They're sad. They are what he calls grieving, and grieving doesn't just have to be over a death. You can grieve an opportunity.

You can grieve a schedule that was lost, dicta billy, you could grieve a lot of things. Jesus is dealing with grieving disciples who are going to miss his physical presence. I guess if we're going to tie it into Genesis, right, like, Jesus is the light of the world, so they're losing their light. He was what they walked by. He's the only way that his presence, his words, his actions, his example, his encouragement. They're going to lose that. Have you lost

something lately? Have you lost your light? Here's what he says. Absolutely amazing how God's word works in concert with each other. Because way after Joseph said it was good, now that I look back on it, Jesus was saying this, John chapter sixteen. But now I'm going to him who sent me. None of you asked me where are you going? Watch this? Watch this? No, no, no, Jesus knew where he was going.

They didn't know where they were going, right, So he's trying to convince them of something and that they're not so sure of. Here's what he says. Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. He's going to the cross. And this is the assurance that he gives us. He tells them verse seven, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the advocate the Holy Spirit will not come to you. So here's the here's the upgrade. I was

with you. Now my spirit will be in you. But first I gotta go. That's the dark part. The good part is you're gonna have the spirit. He's gonna convince love, joy, peace, page Kid's gonna say those general self control Galatian five two twenty three. We're not there yet. We got to the good part yet, this is the dark part. He knows what they're about to go through, and he also knows what they are going to get to, so he

is giving them something. So that while you go through this painful moment, this first season, this second season, these winter months, this dark part, this hard part of your day, this hard part of your life, this hard part of your marriage, your ministry. If you don't go through the dark part, you won't get to the good part unless I go away. Yeah, it's gonna feel different, it's gonna be confusing, you're not gonna know. This is where people

give up on God. They start reading the Bible and they read it like a fortune cookie, and the first thing that makes them confused, they say, God's not real. This stuff doesn't work. I'll really believe it. I pray and it didn't happen. But you didn't get to the good part where you find out that it is not in the answers that God becomes real. It is in wrestling with the questions that you'll find out that there is a kingdom within you, within you. That's the good part.

Thank God for all the good things around me. But it's what He does and that's the good part. And you will never get to that if you keep changing what's around you never get to the good part because you won't go through the dark part. Take a pill, get out, the dark part, blow up the relationship. Many people never get to intimacy in relationships. I'm gonna tell you why, because they won't push through the insecurity to

get to real intimacy. You've got to go through insecurity because I gotta be willing to let you see me. If we're gonna have one guy said into me, see intimacy, that's scary. I want you to see into me. So we never get to intimacy because we won't work through the insecurity of saying, yeah, I am flawed. And even in our relationship with God, Jacob spent his whole life pretending to be somebody else. But God said no, I want to get to the good part, the true part,

the real part. Many people never get to their destiny because they won't work through the disappointment, never get to the wisdom because they won't work through the bitterness. To get to the good part, you got to go through the dark part. But he's with me, He's with me. Jesus said, I'm going away, what I'll be with you. I'll be with you. It is good for you. Joseph had it right, he said it was good. Jesus took it to another level. Give me the verse. He didn't

say it was good after it happened. He said, it is good. God give us the faith, not just to look back on our life and say, ah, it all worked out. But what if you could stand in the darkest place where you don't know what's two feet ahead. What if you could stand in the darkest place where you don't know how God's going to do. What if you could stand in the darkest place where you don't know who's going to be with you. What if you could stand in the darkest place where you can't predict

how He's going to provide. What if if you could be like Jesus and say it is good for me, and if it's not good right now, it's going to be it is good. Put it up. It is good. It is good. It is good. It is for my good. And so I'm thankful that what God started doing, Thank you Lord in Genesis one when he said on the first day of creation that the light is good, he is still doing. In Genesis fifty, where Joseph looked back on everything he'd been through, I said it was good.

I need the faith, and you need the faith to be able to say if it came from God is good. If it's good it came from God. It is not good right now. It's gonna be when he gets done with it. Yet, Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Oh, God, help me appreciate the gifts that you put in my life. Some of us don't know how good it was until it's gone. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to just survive seasons of my life and

then look back and say that was good. And I didn't even know that was so good, that that was so good. I didn't even know how good it was until it was gone. We don't know it's good. Sometimes still it's gone. But what if God right now sent me to preach this word to you, to let you know that even in the valley, there's a table, and you've got to You've got to. You've got to, you've got to, you've got to go through the dark part to get to the good part. Almost forgotten, I promise,

I almost forgot. I'm not playing with you all. Almost forgot. Genesis fifty twenty two. This is why you never liked sermons about Joseph. They stopped reading at the verse twenty one. Look at twenty two Joseph stayed in Egypt along with his father's family. He lived one hundred and ten years. Every sermon I ever heard about Joseph was about the first thirty years of his life. Oh, he didn't even

get to the good part yet. I came to prophesy, You've got more life to live, You'll got more things to do, You've got more love to give, You got more, You'll got more. Joseph's state, it is up. And he lived to be one hundred and ten. He didn't die at the pit, he didn't die at the prison. He didn't die at that life. He lived one ten And I believe that I will see the goodness, goodness, the goodness, the goodness. Give me the next verse. That's not the

best part either, here's the best part. You can have Genesis fifty twenty. That's not the good part. This is the good part. And saw the third generation of Ephraim's children and the children of Makir, son of Manassa, were placed at burn on Joseph's knees. His grandbabies were sitting on his knees in the same land of his suffering. You hadn't even got to the good part yet. You hadn't even seen God's best yet. You haven't even experienced

life yet. Oh it's getting good now, it's getting good. Now, it's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good in my life. It's getting dark because it's getting good. It's getting dark because it's getting good. There's something on the other side. That's why I've been in this fight. It's getting good, that's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good. Can you at least say that. If you can't say it

is good, he say it's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting hard, it's getting good. It's getting awkward. It's getting good. It's getting rough. It's getting good. It's getting scary. It's getting good. Oh God, sir, it's good. And there was give me Genesis one. For give me Genesis one, for give me Genesis one for this? How it started this, How it is this, How the book is this, How your life end is this, How your

life starts. It's good, it's good, it's good. It's always good. It's always good. It's not always good. But it's gonna be good. It's getting good. It's getting good. It's getting good. And God, God saw that the light was good, and then verse five cents separate the light from the durness. And God called the light day and dartniss calle night, and there was evening and morning first day. God's not done yet, but it's good. And then you gotta ask yourself,

why put it back up? Why evening and morning not mourning and evening? Come on, it's getting good. It's getting good. This a God. I feels so bad for everybody who locked off. That's serving. I feel so bad if you love golf, because it's just getting gold. It's just I feel so bad for everybody who quit because it's just getting good. Watch watch live. Why evening and then morning? In that backwards No, no, you gotta remember how it started.

Genesis one, verse one, Genesis one, verse one. In the beginning, God created the heavens in the art. Give me the next one. It's getting good now the earth was formless and empty darkness. So I want you to know that God starts good in the dark. Woo, it's getting good, it's getting good. I'm clapping, I'm clapping. I'm clapping. You're in the dark part right now. That's where it starts with God. You're confused, right now, that's where it starts with God. That dark part, that's just a preview of

how big the purpose really is. So when I tell you you got to get to the good part, that's what I'm talking about. It's a process. There's a part of every process that'll make you want to quit. There's a part of every person that will make you want to murder. But I never would have preached a sermon if I would have stopped in the dark part. That part where my interior gallery of critics is saying, you call this a sermon. Yes, you already said that before.

I don't want to hear that. That's the dark part. That means it's kidding God. The evening is the prelude to the morning and the economy of God. You meant him for evil, but he took the enemy man for evil. You gotta get to the good part. If you die in the dark part, it will be a miscarriage of your calling. It's gonna get good man. You're like, I don't believe that right now. That's fine. You don't have to borrow my confidence. You're like, can I do that?

Oh yeah, Philippians one six. Paul was talking to the church at Philip I said, I am confident of this now. The reason he's saying that maybe they're not confident of this right now, Paul said, I am that he who began what kind of work? Come on, talk to me online, He who began a talk to me Columbia, talk to me River Walk. Come on, talk to he who began a talk to me Lake Norman, He who began a If it's good, it came from God, and if it

started with God, it doesn't end with people. I don't care what they did to you, saw in you, didn't see in you. You're gonna get to the good part. You're not gonna die. No no, no, no no, no no no no no no, no, no no, You're not gonna I am confident in this that he who began a good work and you will be faithful to complete it to the day of Christ. This is the partnership of the Gospel. So let's take a moment. Let's come into partnership.

Let's come into agreement together. Lift your hands, close your eyes, bow your head. You got to get to the good part. You got to get to the good part. That's not death, it's just a shadow of You got to get to the good part. Lord, in this moment of ministry, that may determine whether someone makes it or lays down and dies in a valley. I declare in decree on the

authority of your word. What the apostle Paul prophesied over the church at Philippi, I declared over Elevation Church, You're gonna go through the dark part, but you're gonna get to the good part. You're gonna be an amazing, amazing, amazing mother, and an amazing life, an amazing man, an amazing provider. You're gonna be. There are gifts in you, there are skill sets in you. They haven't been recognized yet. That's all right. It starts in the dark. It starts

in the dark. Lord. I thank you. Then, when it's two am and we can't find a friend, you are there. I thank you that when we trip and fall over our own misgivings and can't get a get a get a get a get a leg up, and we can't, we can't even find a strength to stand again, you are there. I'm gonna make it to the table. My enemies will still be there, but I'm gonna eat. I'm gonna see, I'm gonna taste the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living. May we not live our lives worshiping the idol of tomorrow or clinging to a relic of the past. May we push past the religion so we can get to the friendship. You are good. It is good. It is so in Jesus' name. Amen, excuse it's good. It's good. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, even in the valley, even in the shadow. You are good. You are with me. You're Rod and staff. They comfort. I'm

not sure about the valley. I'm not sure about the enemies. But surely goodness will follow me wherever God leads me. Clap your hands and give God praise for this word. Come on, if you receive this word but I receive it in the chatter, borrow my confidence and say, I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it. I didn't fight this hard to die, I didn't come this far to turn back. The grace of God is

on your life. May grace and peace be multiplied to you through God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone who receives us wor a clap your hands and say an't no. Well, maybe now it'll have a little different meaning when I tell you it was so good to have you with us today. Really, I appreciate you making the time, and I'm believing Romans eight twenty eight for each of our lives that God's purpose will be fulfilled. We're believing God with you for the better things that

are ahead. And we're believing that God is going to be with you even those shadows and enemies surround you. You already heard the summer. I could go on and on. I had many more scriptures. Maybe I'll do a part two of this message sometime. Just now. In the meantime, we love you. We're praying for you now, and to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than you ask her, imagine according to His power that works mightily in you, to be gloried through Christ Jesus in the

Church out forever. It's gonna be good. I'll see you next time. H