Text: Genesis 45

Topic: How to have a deeply moving religious experience.

Illustration: Man at Washington Cathedral had a deeply moving religious experience .

Churches and people of all kinds need such an experience.

What brought Joseph to a deeply moving religious experience?

Joseph's dreams of power and significance were deferred by a life of ups and downs.

Potiphar trusts him, but Mrs. Potiphar chases him.

The jailer promotes him, but the butler forgets him.

Pharaoh exalts him, and the ups and downs seem to stop.

Joseph has a family and almost fulfills the dream.

When his brothers arrive seeking help, God stirs up the dream.

To have a deeply moving religious experience we need to tell the truth about who we really are.

There are men of power who cease to bare their souls.

How many of us live our lives behind the roles we play?

Illustration: Woman reminds Dr. Forbes he "ain't nobody but Jim Forbes."

To have a deeply moving religious experience we need to affirm our solidarity with our people.

Our concern must be for more than our nuclear family.

Joseph's dream was for himself, but that his people might survive.

Our desire should be to promote liberty and justice for all people.

To have a deeply moving religious experience we need to find a cause to give our lives for.

Joseph wanted his bones to be in the place of fulfillment.

Jesus gave his life for the sake of the kingdom.

Conclusion:

We have a responsibility to live out the full meaning of God's dream.

Genesis ends with a coffin, but the next page is Exodus.