Sermon: Another Betrayal
Sermon Series: Echoes  of Jesus in the Life of Joseph
First Reading: Luke 5:12-26
Second Reading: Genesis 39:11-23
Preacher: Pastor: Vito Aiuto

"It is very difficult,  I rediscover many times each day, for us to come to terms with the stark limitations on the kinds of control it is possible to maintain over our lives and ourselves. Yet we continue to insist, both consciously and unconsciously, that we have more control than we do over our feelings, our relationships, our fates. Freud’s phrase for such fantasies, introduced nearly ninety years ago, was “omnipotence

of thought,” and we are just as committed to omnipotence today as were Freud’s contemporaries. A conviction of being in control is central to our sense of safety; yet the imposition of illusory control chokes the richness out of life. Omnipotence degrades authentic experience into shallow manipulation. The more endangered we feel, the more control we seek; the more illusory are the controls we strive to maintain, the more vitality seeps out of our lives. "

-=STEPHEN MITCHELL

 

 

The promise is not that the Lord will remove the load we cast upon Him, nor that He will carry it for us — but that He will sustain us so that we may carry it. He does not free us from the duty — but He strengthens us for it. He does not deliver us from the conflict — but He enables us to overcome. He does not withhold or withdraw the trial from us — but He helps us in trial to be submissive and victorious, and makes it a blessing to us. He does not mitigate the hardness or severity of our circumstances, taking away the difficult  elements, removing the thorns, making life easy for us — but He puts Divine grace into our hearts, so that we can live sweetly in all the hard, adverse circumstances. “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” Philippians 4:13

-J.R. MILLER