Saturday, November 09, 2019

BTLN UPDATE




Congrats Jaxon! This is Jaxon's first Btln career Helmet! The final round was between Jaxon and Aiden. Jaxon gained about five more yards on the last round to take the win and the Helmet! First time Helmet winners are the best! Congrats Jaxon!

This week we played Handball for only the second time this year. Most times when we play Handball, we use two Murderballs. This week we had so many guys that we added a third ball! Two balls is hard for the goalies, but when we add a third, it is total chaos for the goalies! In the overtime Ben's team dominated, winning 3-1!


This week our Bible study focused on the life of Joseph. Ben took the lead this week, guiding us through the story of Joseph.


Genesis 37:17-28   Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.


Joseph's brother plotted to kill him, but changed their minds, and decided to sell him into slavery instead! After being sold into slavery, Joseph was falsely accused of attempted rape and was thrown into prison. (Genesis 39:1-23) It looked as if God had forgotten about Joseph. Through an amazing set of circumstances, (that only God can set up) Joseph (with God's help) interpreted a dream for Pharaoh. Pharaoh then put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt!

Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy food because there was a famine in the land. Through another amazing set of circumstances, they had to ask Joseph for permission to buy food. At first they didn't recognize Joseph, until he revealed himself to them!



Genesis 45:1-7   Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.



It would have been easy for Joseph to get his revenge on his brothers, but instead he showed them compassion! Somehow, Joseph knew that God allowed the bad things in his life to save the lives of his entire family! This is the kind of compassion that we all need! This is the kind of compassion that God shows to us! Like Ben said, "Joseph never complained when things were going wrong in his life."  We can't always see the big picture like God does, but we know that he is still in control!



THE CAPTAIN

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