Sermon Cloud

There are some things that are simply too hideous to look at, while at the same time they are too gripping to turn away from. To come face to face with something so horrible can be life-changing. It can soften us and melt us, or it can harden us. Yet the greatness problem is not what is going on around us. It is what is going on inside of us. The ugliness of sin has created a hideous monster—self. We have learned to live with it only by ignoring it. Yet through God’s grace in our lives, he brings about circumstances that reveal to us just how bad we really are. When we come face to face with ourselves, we have come face to face with a monster that is far more gruesome than any fictional character could ever be. Yet that face to face encounter with our inner man is often the tool that God uses to wake us up. Today, in the story of Joseph, we see the awakening of a conscience as his brothers come face to face with their own hideous actions. We are reminded that only God’s grace can awaken our conscience and only that same grace can deal with our conscience and cause us to find grace and hope in Jesus.