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[0:00] Well let's read in Genesis 37. This is the account of Jacob. Notice the plural.

[0:40] Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. A little exclamation mark there in the text perhaps.

[0:52] Because he had been born to him in his old age. And he made him a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them.

[1:05] They hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Joseph had a dream. And when he told it to his brothers they hated him all the more.

[1:16] He said to them. Listen to this dream I've had. We were binding sheaves of corn out in the field. When suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright. While your sheaves gathered round mine and bowed down to it.

[1:29] His brothers said to him. Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us? And they hated him all the more. Because of his dream and what he had said.

[1:41] And then he had another dream. And he told it to his brothers. Listen he said I had another dream. And this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me. And when he told his father as well as his brothers.

[1:54] His father rebuked him and said. What's this dream you've had? Your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you. And his brothers were jealous of him.

[2:06] But his father kept the matter in mind. Now his brothers had gone to graze his father's flocks near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph. As you know your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem.

[2:20] Come I'm going to send you to them. Very well he replied. So he said to him. Go and see if all is well with your brothers. And with the flocks. And bring word back to me.

[2:31] Then he sent him off from the valley of Hebron. When Joseph arrived at Shechem. A man found him wandering around in the field. And asked him. What are you looking for?

[2:41] He said I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks? Oh they've moved on from here. The man answered. I heard them say let us go to Dothan.

[2:52] So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance. And before he reached them. They plotted to kill him.

[3:03] Here comes that dreamer. They said to each other. Come now. Let's kill him. And throw him into one of these cisterns. And say that a ferocious animal devoured him.

[3:15] Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams. When Reuben heard this. He tried to rescue him from their hands. Let's not take his life. He said. Don't shed any blood.

[3:25] Throw him into this cistern here in the desert. But don't lay a hand on him. Reuben said this. To rescue him from them. And take him back to his father. But when Joseph came to his brothers.

[3:38] They stripped him of his robe. The richly ornamented robe he was wearing. And they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty. There was no water in it.

[3:49] And as they sat down to eat their meal. They looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites. Coming from Gilead. The camels were loaded with spices. Balm.

[4:01] And myrrh. And they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. And Judas said to his brothers. What will we gain if we kill our brother. And cover up his blood.

[4:12] Come. Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites. And not lay our hands on him after all. Sorry. And not lay our hands on him. After all he is our brother. Our own flesh and blood.

[4:25] And his brothers agreed. So when the Midianite merchants came by. His brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern. And sold him. For 20 shekels of silver.

[4:37] To the Ishmaelites. Who took him to Egypt. When Reuben saw. Sorry. When Reuben returned to the cistern. And saw that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes.

[4:48] He went back to his brothers and said. The boy isn't there. Where can I turn now? And then they got Joseph's robe. And slaughtered a goat.

[4:59] And dipped the robe in the blood. And they took the ornamented robe. Back to their father. And said. Oh. We found this. Examine it.

[5:11] See whether it's your son's robe. And he recognized it. And said. It is my son's robe. Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.

[5:24] Then Jacob tore his clothes. And put on sackcloth. And mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him. But he refused to be comforted.

[5:36] No. He said. In mourning will I go down to the grave. To my son. So his father wept for him. Meanwhile.

[5:47] The Midianites sold Joseph. In Egypt. To Potiphar. One of Pharaoh's officials. The captain of the guard.

[5:59] What a story. We're thinking about the importance of family. In the Bible. And you could hardly find. A more dysfunctional family. Could you. This is the classic.

[6:11] Classic family of the Bible. The 12 tribes. And here they are. Did you notice. There's some wonderful bits of irony in it. I mean for example.

[6:24] Judah saying. Let's not kill him. Let's sell him. I mean he is our brother. He's our brother. So we'll sell him. And did you notice all the bit about hating.

[6:36] At the beginning. Families are supposed to be loving places aren't they. But this family. It says they hated him for this. And they hated him for that. And then they hated him more. And then they still hated him.

[6:48] And then they were jealous of him. So. Interesting. Interesting take on. On. On family in the Bible. Well let's have a look at this subject together.

[7:02] And. See what we think. Let's pray. Father in heaven. You are. The father from whom. Every family. In heaven and earth is named.

[7:13] And. As we begin to. Think about this subject. We pray that you will draw near to us. And make this. A matter of. Wonder.

[7:24] And a matter of. Help. And a matter. Of encouragement. And. We pray that you would do us good. As we meditate in your word.

[7:35] This evening. For Jesus sake. Amen. Amen. Well when I was planning this.

[7:49] I knew we would be. At this conference. So I thought we'll just have a. An easy start. And not try and do too much. So the. The title of the series is happy families. I thought we would.

[8:00] Just look. Sort of. Generally. This evening. At what. Does the Bible say. About families. an upbringing it's a fairly simple subject isn't it shouldn't be too difficult well first of all i got stuck at the first hurdle because i found i didn't really know what family means because the more i thought about family the more i thought well how do you actually define family so i turned to my concordance and looked in the new testament for the word family you think if it's an important subject it would be mentioned using that word any suggestions as to how many times the word family occurs in the new testament um have a think family there's this sorry yeah it talks about brothers and sisters but the the word family i was so the the matter of family is there but the word family interesting that we have that that i read from ephesians the father from whom every family on in heaven and earth is named it's patria which is every other place it's used it's lineage so luke 2 24 they went to bethlehem because he was of the house and patria of david yep do you remember that bit uh and family a lineage of david acts 3 25 is the promise to abraham let me just remember what it says 3 25 you're heirs of the prophets and of the covenant god made with your fathers he said to abraham through your offspring all the peoples on earth will be blessed and the niv doesn't even translate the word family in there so i got that from my concordance i think it was every all families on earth will be blessed so i haven't i haven't even got the three that i thought i had patria is used three times and one time it's used family as family and that's the only translation i could find of family so that so one feels the rug being pulled from under one's feet can what what do you i've had i've had a go at trying to think what do we mean by family so i thought it is a social group linked across generations so you've got i think you'd have a generational thing in family so in family you have father and mother and then the next generation which you would refer to as sons and daughters do you agree with that as family that that's part of it your question is it essential is it an accident or is that a main thing and then i think the social group is linked socially not just across the generations but sideways so in family you have brother and sister brothers and sisters who relate to one another in the same generation and you can add to that cousins and all the other things that confuse me cousins second cousins however many cousins you can have and then you also have in family husband and wife so they're not related across the generations they are you know down the generations they're related

[12:04] in the same generation now is that does that get us going does that say everything is that missing something out what do you think is that a helpful idea about what we mean by family okay so grandparents would mean that you have another generation so you could have multiple generations yeah i'll pop that pop that up pop that up in a minute so hold that thought yeah so if somebody said what do you mean by family yeah so here's a question is it only human beings that have families do angels have families interesting isn't it we'll come to that text in a minute so here's a thought so people nowadays it's fashionable instead of saying church to say church family is that a fair use because you don't have a reproductive relation down the church necessarily do you through okay yeah okay so is that saying that for it to be a church family that some of the people there have got to be the ones through whom other people were born again right okay so what i'm thinking is when we say church family this bit here that idea which you all sort of sat and said yeah that seems to make sense it doesn't seem to particularly it doesn't apply in that shape and form does it older foolish yes yeah although although yeah by analogy yes it's interesting because i what the bible the bible doesn't actually use this word church family does it this is my my theory is that anglicans use this because church they tend to use church to mean the building you know st ebbs church and all saints church they mean the building so they've got to make another way of distinguishing it distinguishing the people so they say church family i don't really see why we have to do this but um the bible talks about church and he's quite happy to do that it does yeah having let's just do a little bit more thinking around this um so if this is a reasonable thought of family so what about a single parent family so is that is that a family it is a family but it's not quite you see how difficult it is to sort of pin down and then nuclear family and extended family so nuclear family is what we is not an exploding family or it might be it's it's simply mother father and 2.1 children or however many children that's sort of a nuclear family an extended family is that group and then plus aunts and uncles and grandparents that's how you do it in any western society but in the bible you would have had servants

[16:04] and handmaids and you know we're back to sort of Downton Abbey again as being a household and then if we're thinking about family we have to think how single people fit into this yeah pardon yeah there's a generation thing isn't there yeah yeah is that what was that what you mean yes yes yeah so it's interesting that with a single parent family same with family because there's a generation thing though in a church family it's only by analogy so yep it does you see why it's not such a straightforward thought as you thought

[17:09] I thought it might be so there's something about what we mean by family I think it's worth pondering before we dive in to say what parents ought to do or husbands ought to do or wives ought to do just to try and put it in a context of what how the Bible fits all this together so here's some thoughts now putting it in a bigger context family is there anything in God himself which links to family yeah God is he says you're to think of me as father son and holy spirit that seems to me to have some links with family doesn't it you've got that idea of generation father and son a relationship like father and son that we have in the human race so there's something there isn't there about family it's not father mother son and it's not father son father son and daughter it's father son spirit but there's something there do you agree with me there's something that is linking with the idea of family as we humanly understand it let's look at

[18:44] Genesis 1 26 and 20 to 28 I think there's something fundamental here about humankind and the way we are made Genesis 1 26 to 28 Genesis 1 26 to 28 so please could Maria read that out to us in a nice loud voice then God said let us make man in our likeness and let them move over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air over the livestock over all the earth and over all creatures that move along the realms so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them

[19:46] God blessed them and said to them be fruitful and increase in number fill the earth and subdue it rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground thank you very much now is there anything in that text which speaks about this matter which we are calling family and what does it link with what any suggestions anything in this text that links with what we've been talking about under the heading family and what links with what I'm sorry parent and child so how do you get that from the text yeah okay yeah yeah that seems to make sense yeah perhaps one or two things that's a little bit more directly from the text male and female yeah the male and femaleness which is pretty essential to this idea of family that is linked to God's image isn't it it says

[21:13] God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them so in some way the maleness and femaleness is associated with being in the image of God now don't ask me how because I don't think I know but there's something that links to the image of God in maleness and femaleness so that's I think that's something quite fundamental there any other things about family just got male and female have we got more than that going on in this text thank you fruitfulness verse 28 be fruitful and increase in number that's reproduction isn't it that is male and female and from male and female come the next generation so this is part of what God told humankind to do to produce children so that's a family thing isn't it now I think those are the things

[22:23] I spotted does anybody want to spot anything else before we move on I think those are the main things okay thank you yep yep yes this matter of ruling yeah I suppose from the text it's not clear whether it involves ruling as lots of individuals or ruling as a nation or ruling as nuclear families but yeah certainly ruling and that comes back to the idea of a creation of order and Genesis is about order isn't it it's about putting things into compartments or making separations between things that are different

[23:31] I mean Genesis 1 God makes the world by separating things he separates light from darkness and the waters above from the waters on beneath and the water and the dry land God's always separating things out and producing order where there was just some sort of jumble so yes I think we've got something I don't think you could dogmatically prove that from the text but you've got that sort of idea let's move on to Genesis 17 3 to 6 so now we're getting from creation into the way of redemption so we're moving on from God making everything everything went wrong in the fall of Adam and now God is beginning to put things right and to promise to do so so

[24:32] Genesis 17 verses 3 to 6 Catherine please could you read that out for us Genesis 17 3 to 6 this is Abraham thank you very much there's a lot more that could be read on there is there anything in that text that links with family or what we've put under the heading of family and what does it link with in this case father yes you will be father of many nations father in what sense do we think because we know this we know how the story goes on father in what sense sorry a patriarch yes sorry yeah he's going to be biological father isn't he and then grandfather and great grandfather this is the sort of fatherhood so there's a family thing going on here isn't there and do you remember there's a lot of a lot hangs on whether

[26:01] Abraham and Sarah can actually biologically produce offspring and that happens that turns out to be a considerable test of faith because that's what's involved so fatherhood father and motherhood having a son is very much part of this Abrahamic promise yes do we agree with that sorry fruitfulness yes I will make you very fruitful I will make nations come of you and kings will come from you so it's talking about down the generations and if you think about it the whole plan of redemption is locked into perhaps I ought to be but it seems to be pretty much locked into biological reproduction reproduction if Abraham were to be a single chap and if he weren't married then this promise would not possibly be fulfilled it depends on his having children and then his children having children and so on yeah do you remember the thing about

[27:24] Tamar do you remember it's actually in it's not actually in the next chapter is it it's which one is it 38 I won't go into all the explicit details of it but it's the problem is that it it doesn't happen for her to fulfill this biological mandate to produce children and that is the thing that she objects to because the fulfillment of God's promise of the Christ is tied into family the family of Abraham the generations the marital relations the children and grandchildren and so on yeah so when we're talking about the Old

[28:30] Testament and specifically covenant that's the word that's used was it not verse Genesis 17 this is my covenant the method by which the covenant propagates and develops and proceeds is through family through reproduction as I've just said and when you bear that in mind and you read the Old Testament no wonder there is such an emphasis on parents teaching their children no wonder there is such an emphasis on the importance of having children because at some point the Christ is going to come and he will come in this biological fashion am I right and think about that that's locked into the way the old covenant or the

[29:37] Abrahamic covenant functions I'd like to suggest that in the New Testament there is a radical change it's not an utter and complete change but it does go to the roots because in the New Testament it is possible to be a covenant member non-biologically John 1 12 and 13 you might even be able to guess what these verses say without reading them but let's read them anyway John 1 verses 12 and 13 so what I'm saying is if you think about the way the Old Testament goes down through history it's tied to biology but if you think away the New Testament goes on through history it's not tied to biology I mean it can include biology do you see what I'm saying but not necessarily so because

[30:40] John 1 12 and 13 says this which Brenda please could you read to us thank you very much so how does one join the family of God in the New Testament then what does it say by by by believing by by receiving him by believing and you notice that he emphasizes the fact it isn't through reproductive biology children born not of natural descent nor of human decision nor a husband's will but born of

[31:43] God I think there's a very important insight there regarding the nature of family and the place of family as we go from the Old Testament to the New Testament and getting that balance quite right I think it is something that we need to be quite careful about do you see the point I'm trying to make here it would let me try and say it again in some forms of theology the idea of covenant is just as it were steamrolled right the way through Old Testament and New Testament and it's kept linked to biology hence at least one of the rationales for infant baptism baptism because in the Old Testament if you're descended from Abraham you're in the covenant that's the way the covenant works and so infant

[32:51] Baptists say well if you're descended from Christians you're in the covenant because it must work the same way but actually the Bible doesn't say that does it it says the way you enter the covenant the Abrahamic covenant in the New Testament is by receiving Christ and by faith and I think that's quite a profound difference am I allowed to make that point is that see Lindsay's looking over the top of her spectacles at me with that are you yes yeah I shall I shall and I won't care how embarrassing I make it let's let's let's think now let's go ahead to the future destiny of humankind oh dear I didn't write down the reference it's

[33:54] Matthew let's see if we can find it Matthew 22 Matthew 22 Matthew 22 29 let's do 22 22 22 verses 29 to 32 perhaps Steve could read that for us please thank you very much this this is this is the bit where the

[35:02] Sadducees try this trick question on Jesus about a woman who was widowed several times in succession and whose wife will she be in in the resurrection they say as if to make out that the idea of resurrection is absurd because of the anomalies it would generate and Jesus says at the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage they will be like the angels in heaven so I take this to mean that the future destiny of humankind is that there will still be male and female there will be maleness and femaleness because that went back to being in the image of God but the expression of that in reproductive terms will no longer apply and that's a bit of a difficult thing to get your head around isn't it because come back at me in a moment but let me just express the thought again that in the resurrection if you're a

[36:07] Christian believing brother you will still in your resurrected body and resurrected makeup have the characteristics of maleness and I think that is more than just physiology it is to do quite deeply in character and personality and if you're a believing sister in the world to come you will bear all the qualities of femaleness which is not simply physiological but goes quite deep into the way you are as a person those things will remain but there will not be reproductive relationships or activity will be like the angels in heaven I think that's what it's saying anybody want to come back to me on that no I don't think they do well the angels are usually described as he but it makes you think let me start that sentence again when we think about family and maleness and femaleness we think this must be the same for everything and everybody but it isn't the same for angels so we're perhaps overlooking what a rich gift we have because it isn't just to be taken for granted as it were not every creature that

[37:33] God has created has maleness and femaleness angels apparently don't interesting isn't it angels don't have you know we couldn't if we were angels doing this bible study we would have nothing to talk about because angels don't do family apparently so I thought those were at least some points that we could anchor to God himself is father and son so it's not an arbitrary pointless thing links back to God the human mandate was to be fruitful and multiply which involves reproduction God's promises in the Old Testament are propagate through history through family and yet there is a change in the New Testament now whether you want to say it's totally radical or partly or something but there is a change in the

[38:34] New Testament and the future destiny of humankind will still be human but family won't carry on in the same way as it does in this part of the human story okay a few things to think about there so let's put those on the back burner and I had two questions that I thought we would address and they're these number one my family really messed me up and number two this is I put these into the mouths of young people we'll do better than our parents and not make the mistakes they made so I thought we'll have a look at those two things let me be honest I ran out of time with the second one so we'll really only look at the first one have a think about this my family really messed me up now that's a quite a serious thing to think and quite a serious situation to be in you don't have to be a young person to think that you could be an old person and you could look back on your upbringing and your parents and what they did to you and for you or what they didn't do to you and for you and you could get quite deeply into this thought my family really messed me up yeah so let's have a think about it and I've got two two angles on it number one parents especially fathers and then I thought I'm not sure whether I should have written that bit but parents especially fathers have a duty to pass on character forming teaching and example to their children okay I think that is a fair summary of what the bible says here's proverbs one let's turn to proverbs chapter one so you might say he's gone to the old testament but he said that children and parents was a different thing in the old testament

[40:54] I'm going to say I still think this is valid proverbs one eight and nine how does proverbs speak okay well let's hear what proverbs says proverbs one eight and nine now would Ray like to take this one for us proverbs one eight and nine thank you interesting the way that proverbs speaks here it it speaks in terms of a parent addressing a child now I know that I said especially fathers and this text doesn't bear that out because it says father's instruction and mother's teaching but just the fact that this is how it speaks is seems to be a significant thing let's look at chapter four verses one to nine chapter four verses one time this one does speak in terms of father and doesn't particularly use mother but see what it says about the value and the role of well what's put in terms of a father's instruction so Roger could you do this one for us please proverbs four verses one to nine listen my sons to the father's instruction pay attention and gain understanding and gain understanding learning so do not be safe my teacher when I was a boy in my father's house you'll tell me and the manly child talked to me and said may hold of my words with all your heart keep my commands and do you live get wisdom get understanding do not forget my words as were to do not forsake wisdom and she will protect you love her and she will love you wisdom is supreme therefore get wisdom though it costs all we have to get understanding escape her and she will exalt raise her and she will set the garden of grace and prevent you from the crown splendor thank you very much and there's a lot more like that so what do you think about this what role does the father play and what benefits does the text say will come from it what role does the father play and what benefits does the text say will come from it command yeah have you got a verse for command yes verse 4 yep commands and you will live so you've got there the what the father does he issues commands and you've got the benefit you will live so that's quite a strong statement isn't it life and death if you keep my commands you will live yep anybody want to add to that what role does the father play and what benefits does the text promise the father is the yeah so the father is the one who provides the wisdom on to the next generation yes exactly

[44:54] ideally it's an ideal picture isn't it it's what it ought to be I mean that's what an ideal is anybody like to go any further with the benefits of wisdom verse 6 protection yeah protection security she will watch over you so he's saying that if you accept this instruction there will be a protective element in your life there will be a guidance element which presumably would not be there unless this instruction comes and it's received does that make sense I mean the whole thing that Proverbs is saying is that wisdom works it doesn't work in a sort of guaranteed 100% time because this world is too twisted for that but it does work if you accept the wisdom and live by it there is protection there is life you are preserved from all sorts of folly and damage that you might otherwise run into

[46:15] I mean that's what it's saying gain understanding yes gain understanding get understanding gain understanding so you might say well it's not literally a father it's just the way that this bit of the Bible is speaking and I would say well it's interesting that this is the way this bit of the Bible chooses to speak so presumably it must be relating it to something that is wholesome anyway so I'm saying that parents and I from this sort of text especially fathers have a duty to pass on character forming teaching and example to their children so this is saying that upbringing sort of enlarge a little bit upbringing really helps really makes a difference and I've put if this is lacking then it is lacking and I think the Bible would say that parents have a very positive responsibility they can do something helpful for their children and that's what they do if they don't do it then it isn't done and the child in a sense lacks that protection and lacks that guidance does that make sense so pardon yes yes yes yes yeah as we're saying it's a this is the ideal sometimes the ideal doesn't happen if it doesn't happen it can be compensated for it might not be but it could be there might be other people as you say who are in a parent like role

[48:19] I mean school teachers come to mind what we would nowadays call mentors family friends uncles maybe even grandparents but there is that role which does do something and if it isn't there then something is lacking yeah yeah and well I don't I said especially fathers and what I was thinking was Ephesians where in the New Testament it does single out fathers that's why fathers do not exasperate your children but bring them up in the training instruction of the Lord not that mothers can't do this and it's not that other people can't do this but the ideal seems to present a particular balance towards father as being a key person in this responsible person yeah sorry predilection meaning that they enjoy it or that they are tempted towards it yeah yes

[50:05] I mean I was with the Ephesians one that we had referred to well this was sort of off piste for the references that I mentioned I suppose Paul says it there because once you start saying train and teach you perhaps also need to put in a caveat to say but make sure you don't press it too far while you're doing that because you can overdo it and it becomes counterproductive I think that's probably the sort of thing he's talking about well anyway that was my point A talking about the ideal and then I'm going to talk about B that dysfunctional family cannot prevent the work of God's grace so I'm going to put the other side of it you know family does matter and what people did to you when you were little or failed to do does make a difference on the other hand God's grace can make a bigger difference and hence our reading of Genesis 37

[51:09] Genesis 37 which we read earlier on seems to me to fail in that ideal in a number of significant ways you know if we're thinking of family the the father or I don't know well he seems to be rather out of touch with his family he doesn't seem to be providing them with guidance he hasn't set a good example you notice that he had multiple wives if you think about the old testament lots of people have multiple wives so our idea of family gets shot to pieces fairly quickly if you look in the old testament the multiple wives thing never gets a good press it always leads to problems and here we're Genesis 37 verse 3 now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he'd been born to him in old age so you get favoritism and there was favoritism between

[52:17] Joseph and his wives Genesis 30 verses 1 and 2 Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children she became jealous of her sister so she said to Jacob give me children or I die and Jacob became angry with her and said am I in the place of God who has kept you from having children and then he went off to do some decorating in the garden shed probably the safest place to be so it's not a happy family it's a dysfunctional family and I think Jacob could say well don't expect anything from me because of the way my family messed me up my brothers sold me on eBay my brothers were going to I mean fancy that they did they put him up for auction but they took the opportunity to sell him you could imagine him saying this messed my life up completely you can't expect me to be any sort of spiritual giant after the way

[53:25] I've been treated and yet he is a spiritual giant isn't he he goes on to be a man of faith a man blessed by God a man who if you could say use the word success you could say this of anybody you could say it of Joseph and he says in chapter 50 verses 18 to 21 this is right at the end of the story Genesis 50 18 to 21 his brothers then came and threw themselves down before him we are your slaves they said and Joseph said to them don't am I in the place of God you intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done for the saving of many lives and I think that that's another profound statement you intended to harm me you as my family completely messed me about you didn't love me you didn't look after me you you were malicious towards me but it wasn't out of control it didn't mean that

[54:43] Joseph couldn't be a godly man you intended it for harm but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives and I would like to suggest that that is a good answer to that question my family really messed me up okay well maybe there are things that you will always have to deal with maybe there are things that are limited in your life in a way that perhaps other people don't have a problem with but it isn't a show stopper it doesn't mean you can't be a servant of God to the fullest possible what am I trying to say in the fullest possible way God knew what was going on and he can turn it for good so please don't think you know my parents messed me up that's me done for please don't think that way go to the level of

[55:55] God's sovereignty and take refuge and comfort in that God knows and God works all things together for good including other people's mistakes including other people's malice including your upbringing God uses it for good yeah do you think that's an adequate answer well at least it's and answer that first question yeah well said yes don't you repeat it again God knows what you're going through he only gives you what you can handle everything happens for a reason yeah everything happens for reason although we might not even know what the reason is at this particular moment very helpful thank you RG so that was thought number one my family really messed me up and here's thought number two we'll do better than!

[57:49]  and let's stop then go to go to to! go to