2 Cities Church Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Big Idea: Grace requires you to declare your guilt.

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 43:1-34

I. You can’t avoid it.  1-14

Now the famine in the land was severe. When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.” But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ ” “Why have you caused me so much trouble?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?” They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?” Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our dependents. I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable! If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever. If we had not delayed, we could have come back twice by now.” Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balsam and a little honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds. Take twice as much silver with you. Return the silver that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man. May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”

 

II. There’s no detour around it. 15-25

The men took this gift, double the amount of silver, and Benjamin. They immediately went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, “Take the men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they will eat with me at noon.” The man did as Joseph had said and brought them to Joseph’s house. But the men were afraid because they were taken to Joseph’s house. They said, “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower us, seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the doorway of the house. They said, “My lord, we really did come down here the first time only to buy food. When we came to the place where we lodged for the night and opened our bags of grain, each one’s silver was at the top of his bag! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us. We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in the bags.” Then the steward said, “May you be well. Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. The steward brought the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and got feed for their donkeys. Since the men had heard that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon.

 

III. Only through guilt can you get to grace. 26-34

When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift they had carried into the house, and they bowed to the ground before him. He asked if they were well, and he said, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive?” They answered, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” And they knelt low and paid homage to him. When he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” Joseph hurried out because he was overcome with emotion for his brother, and he was about to weep. He went into an inner room and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.” They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is detestable to them. They were seated before him in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment. Portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, and Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of theirs. They drank and became drunk with Joseph.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need God’s grace for the first time today. 
• Become: I need God’s grace all over again today. 
• Be Sent: I will be an agent of grace this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Describe the last act of grace you received.  How did it make you feel?
2. Did you have to admit your guilt last week?
3. Why is grace often described as a gift?
4. Which is the stronger emotion- guilt or grace? Explain your answer. 
5. Do ongoing struggles hinder your ability to embrace God's grace fully?
6. Does God ever tire of offering his grace?  Explain your answer from Scripture. 
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you feel free from grace this week. 

Big Idea: You can’t outrun guilt.  

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 42

I. We’re all guilty of something. 1-6

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at each other? Listen,” he went on, “I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we will live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.” The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

II. Guilt will always catch up with you.   7-17

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied. Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land.” “No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food,” they said. “We are all sons of one man. We are honest; your servants are not spies.” “No,” he said to them. “You have come to see the weakness of the land.” But they replied, “We, your servants, were twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no longer living.” Then Joseph said to them, “I have spoken: ‘You are spies!’ This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one from among you to get your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned so that your words can be tested to see if they are true. If they are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.

III. It’s a beast when guilt comes back around.    18-26

On the third day, Joseph said to them, “I fear God—do this and you will live. If you are honest, let one of you be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households. Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this. Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.” But Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!” They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. Joseph then gave orders to fill their containers with grain, return each man’s silver to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out. They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left there.

IV. There’s only one person who can take away your guilt.    27-38

At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver there at the top of his bag. He said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned! It’s here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What has God done to us?” When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them: “The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. But we told him, ‘We are honest and not spies. We were twelve brothers, sons of the same father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’ The man who is the lord of the country said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’ ” As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! When they and their father saw their bags of silver, they were afraid. Their father Jacob said to them, “It’s me that you make childless. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me!” Then Reuben said to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him to you.” But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.”

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to remove my guilt today. 
• Become: I will live guilt-free this week. 
• Be Sent: I will graciously help someone find freedom this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. What is your first response when someone claims you are guilty?
2. Should we point out other’s guilt?  Explain your answer.
3. Can you make the pain of guilt worse by trying to hide it?
4. How often do you remind God of your guilt?
5. Should we try to hide our guilt from the people that we love?
6. Did you live this week like you were free from the weight of guilt?  Explain your answer. 
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to remove the burden of guilt this week. 

Big Idea: No faith is too weak; no family is too wicked for God.

Matthew 1:1-3a

This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).

In the Beginning: Judah

Genesis 38:1-30

I. Things go wrong from the start.   1-5

At that time Judah left his brothers and settled near an Adullamite named Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua; he took her as a wife and slept with her. She conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er. She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and named him Onan. She gave birth to another son and named him Shelah. It was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.

II. Wickedness runs in the family.   6-11

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. Now Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord’s sight, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and produce offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he released his semen on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so he put him to death also. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He might die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

III. Don’t frolic with foreign faith.   12-18

After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers. Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” So she took off her widow’s clothes, veiled her face, covered herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He went over to her and said, “Come, let me sleep with you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me for sleeping with me?” “I will send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied. But she said, “Only if you leave something with me until you send it.” “What should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

IV. Why would God choose this family?   19-30

She got up and left, then removed her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on. When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get back the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her. He asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “There has been no cult prostitute here,” they answered. So the Adullamite returned to Judah, saying, “I couldn’t find her, and besides, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’ ” Judah replied, “Let her keep the items for herself; otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.” About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law, Tamar, has been acting like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out,” Judah said, “and let her be burned to death!” As she was being brought out, she sent her father-in-law this message: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Examine them. Whose signet ring, cord, and staff are these?” Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her intimately again. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand, and the midwife took it and tied a scarlet thread around it, announcing, “This one came out first.” But then he pulled his hand back, out came his brother, and she said, “What a breakout you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread tied to his hand, came out, and was named Zerah.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to wash away my wickedness.
• Become: I need the Holy Spirit to make my faith stronger.
• Be Sent: I will not let my past prevent me from pushing back darkness.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Is it okay to learn about other faiths without damaging your own faith?
2. Has one bad decision led to a series of terrible consequences in your life?
3. Have you ever been ashamed of your weak faith?
4. Have you ever tried to help God by taking matters into your own hands?
5. When did you realize that your family didn’t deserve God’s grace?
6. Do you believe God couldn’t use you because of mistakes in your past?
7. Pray for the courage to push back darkness despite your mistakes and failures.

AMA: Don’t let the government overtake the gospel in your group.

Philippians 3:20

Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Is there room for politics in the church?

1 Timothy 2:1-4 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Psalm 33:12; Jeremiah 29:7; Acts: 5:29; Romans 13 2. Where’s the balance? Proverbs 21:1 A king’s heart is like channeled water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever he chooses.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 146:3;  Daniel 3:17; John 19:10-11

3. How far is too far? Exodus 20:1-4 Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Do not have other gods besides me. Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.

Deuteronomy 11:13-21; Philippians 3:20; Matthew 6:24; Psalm 146:3

Next Steps:

• I need to settle my relationship with Jesus today.
• I want to start a relationship with others this week.
• I will not settle for shallow relationships in my group.

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

AMA: Building awesome bonds requires bearing awkward burdens.

John 1:16-17 

Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 

1. Sanctity of life.

Leviticus 18:21 “You are not to sacrifice any of your children in the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. Genesis 9:6; Exodus 21:12; 20:13; Psalms 139:13-16; Psalm 127:3-5; Jeremiah 1:4-5; John 8:7; Romans 12:19. 2. Sexual ethics. Leviticus 18:22 You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable.

Genesis 2:24–25; 19:1-11, Leviticus 18:22; 20:13, Romans 1:24–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 12-20; Galatians 5:13-26; 1 Timothy 1:8-11.

3. Social Justice. Matt 25:40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matt 25:40

Luke 10:37; 1 Corinthians 13; James 2:8

Next Steps:

• I need to settle my relationship with Jesus today.
• I want to start a relationship with others this week.
• I will not settle for shallow relationships in my group.

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

AMA: 3 boundaries for relationships in the church.

1. Across the block.

Galatians 6:2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ 2. Across the bridge. Amos 3:3 Can two walk together without agreeing to meet?

Come together:

1. The Sabbath- - Mark 2:27: Deuteronomy 5:13-15
2. Baptism- Matthew 3:13-17 and Mark 1:9-11; Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 2:41, 8:12; Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12
3. Communion- Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
4. Drinking alcohol- - 1 corinthians 6:12, 8:13; John 2:10

3. Across the border. 1 John 4: 1-3 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.

The basics of our faith:

1. Son of God- God the Son
2. Virgin birth
3. Sinless lamb
4. Bodily resurrection (not a ghost) after a physical death
5. Salvation only through his sacrifice (not your works)
6. 
   

Next Steps

• I need to settle my relationship with Jesus today.
• I want to start a relationship with others this week.
• I will not settle for shallow relationships in my group.

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

Big Idea:  Enough spiders can tie down an elephant.

John 17:20-26

Enough spiders can tie down an elephant.

1. One Faith.

John 17:20-21 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.

2. One Family.

John 17: 22-23I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

3. One Forever.

John 17: 24-26 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.”

Next Steps:

• I want to become part of God’s family today.
• I want to connect with a life group this week.

Big Idea:  Jesus is praying for you today.

John 17:6-19

Jesus is praying for you today.

1. Jesus prays for your faithfulness.

John 17:6-8 “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, because I have given them the words you gave me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.

2. Jesus prays for your effectiveness.

John 17: 9-12“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours. Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

3. Jesus prays for your joyfulness.

John 17: 13-16 Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

4. Jesus prays for your holiness.

John 17: 17-19 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Next Steps:

• I prayed for Jesus to touch my soul for the first time today.
• When life gets difficult, I will trust God’s truth this week.

Big Idea:  Only eternal glory is worth dying for.

John 17:1-5

Only eternal glory is worth dying for.

1. God always acts for his own glory.

John 17:1 Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,

2. Only God's glory is eternal.

John 17: 2-3 …since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.

3. Courage to conquer.

John 17: 4-5 I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.

Next Steps:

• I have been living for my own glory.  Today, I exchange my glory for Jesus’s glory for the first time.
• I renounce my glory and live for Jesus’s glory only this week.

Big Idea:  Christus Victor is the only Latin you’ll ever need.

John 16:16-33

Christus Victor is the only Latin you’ll ever need.

1. Triumph over toils.

John 16:16-24 “In a little while, you will no longer see me; again in a little while, you will see me.” Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he’s telling us: ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again a little while, you will see me,’ and, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They said, “What is this he is saying, ‘In a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.” Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.

2. Power in prayer.

John 16:25-28 "In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

3. Courage to conquer.

John 16: 29-33“His disciples said, “Look, now you’re speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Next Steps:

• I need Jesus to make me new for the first time today.
• I will face my toils with courage tomorrow.