Genesis 39 Discussion Guide
Sermon Date: Sept. 3, 2023
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sept Coat Drive - Donate any sized women’s winter coats any Sunday through Sunday Sept. 24 in the lobby at Westview. All coats will go to the women of New Community, a Christian ministry which seeks to help women coming out of incarceration of addiction.
CG Fair - Sept. 3rd & 10th, join us out in the lobby after the gathering to meet new people looking to find community through City Groups!
Evangelism Tool - The Holy Spirit is using CLB’s google reviews to bring people in. Please consider leaving a review, as an evangelistic tool
WHY CITY GROUPS?
The point of a City Group is to help us apply God’s Word to our everyday lives through the power of the Holy Spirit, and to multiply faithful intimates of Jesus who make more disciples of Jesus. So we gather regularly to give ourselves to three basic Christian practices: sharing stories, reading the Bible, and praying.
PRAY
Ask if anyone would like to open up in prayer and ask God to bless your time together
STORY
Break the ice with a testimony..
Who has prepared their 5-7 minute story?
Who can give testimony of God’s goodness right now? (i.e. answered prayer, provision, transformation, etc.)
VISION FOR THIS DISCUSSION
It seemed as if Joseph’s life took a turn for the worse being sold into Egyptian slavery. But as God would have it, Joseph would become a well-favored servant to Potiphar, the captain guard for Pharaoh. As Joseph remains a favored and faithful servant of God, but ends up getting falsely accused of a crime and thrown into prison. But God continues to show His faithful love and favor upon Joseph’s continual trust and obedience.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PASSAGE
Use the OIA (Observation, Interpretation, Application) tool to read, study, and use Scripture to grow in knowing and following God.
OBSERVATION
Take time to read the passage and make observations.
Any repeated words, phrases?
Any comparison/contrast between characters, topics, passages/stories?
Specific characters—named or unnamed?
Any connecting words/phrases to bridge verses, stories, or ideas?
(“therefore..”, “however..”, “In the same way..”)
INTERPRETATION
-What? (What’s being said in the text?)
What do we see about the character of Joseph so far?
What do we see about how Potiphar sees him as his servant?
What is Jacob’s response when tempted by Potiphar’s wife?
What do we see about God’s favor upon Joseph?
-Why? (Why is it being said?)
Read v. 9. This would have been a sin directly against Potiphar. Why do you think Joseph responded like this?
Why is God giving undeserved favor (aka grace) to Joseph? Why does God give us favor/grace?
Why do you think God is allowing Joseph to be falsely accused when he was being faithful?
Read Matthew 5:11 & James 1:2-4. Why do you think God allow difficult things to happen to faithful followers?
-So what? (So what does God want me to do about it?)
Read the prophecy of Jesus in Isaiah 53:3-12. Jesus is the only true example of bad things happening to a good person.
So what does this tell us to do when we face temptations in the midst of trials and mistreatment? So what are we NOT to do?
Read James 1:12-15. So what does this tell us about where temptation comes from?
Joseph shows us that his desire is to enjoy the unfailing love of God is stronger than his desire to enjoy the momentary pleasure of sin. This is the only way to win the battle against sin.
Joseph not only desires God more than sin, but he first shows us something crucial. Joseph doesn’t fight sin, he FLEES from sin! So what are you doing to flee from sin in your life?
Read Psalm 119:1-11 So what can we do to help us desire faithfulness to God more than sin?
So what ways are you regularly, intentionally positioning yourself to experience God’s faithful love like Joseph in order to keep from sinning against Him?
APPLICATION
-Inward Application (for myself)
Head—What are the biggest obstacles or lies we can believe about God when we are being tempted to sin?
Heart—Beneath every sin, there is a deep-seated motive in our hearts. We want something. And we want it so bad, we are willing to rebel and sin against God. What do you think are the things we want most when we sin against God?
Hands—A great tool to help process and reveal those desires beneath the sin is something called the “Gospel Tree”. Click here or go to clb.church and click Groups >> Spiritual Habits to view the guided worksheet that can help you prayerfully process, uproot, and replace those sinful desires with godly desires.
-Outward Application (for others around me)
Head—What biblical counsel would you give to a Christian who is constantly participating in habitual sin?
Heart—What questions would you ask someone who feels like they can’t seem to flee and see victory from a particular sin?
Hands—Who in your life is God calling you to care for and have a conversation with so they can take steps toward enjoying God’s unfailing love rather than living in sin and shame?
PRAYER
Feel free to ask the group for any pressing prayer requests that would be good to pray over together.
Use the TACOS acronym to let the text you studied pray for you:
Thanksgiving - “Father, thank you…”
Adoration - “Father, You are…”
Confession - “Father, I confess…”
Others - “Father, I pray for…”
Self - “Father, please help me…”
*If size or group dynamics seem to hinder prayer, consider dividing into groups of men/women or groups of 3-4 to reduce barriers to praying out loud.