While in Egypt

[0:00] He has been a brother in Christ to me. He's pushed me. He's been iron sharpens iron between us. He's someone I talk to on a weekly basis, and he's ministered to me.

[0:13] God through him has ministered to me so greatly, and I can confidently say that we would not be here today if it wasn't for this man. And so it's a privilege and honor that you're helping us in ministry still to this day and just being a brother to me in Christ.

[0:27] And so come take your liberty. In this pulpit, I told them this past week, there's no strings attached. If it's in the Bible, it's fair game, and you got 100% liberty to preach what God gives you.

[0:40] Appreciate you. Love the Eccles family. Me and you guys can be seated for a minute. I'm going to just talk. You know, me and Shane have a good relationship.

[0:52] We talk weekly and multiple times a week, and we talk straight to each other. And you know, a lot of people don't understand maybe that relationship because people can get offended easily.

[1:11] I don't want to get emotional. One thing I can tell you about Shane Eccles and the Eccles family, Shane always, he sometimes may come across brash, but it's not from a bad heart.

[1:27] He never means to hurt you. He never intends to belittle you. He comes to you with what Jesus would come to those in the Bible.

[1:41] You know, Jesus wasn't popular. The Bible, obviously, there was some that followed, but a lot that obviously wanted to kill him and ended up killing him, and he rose again. We thank God for that, right? But I just thank God for this family, and you know, I walked in, and Eccles do everything with class.

[1:59] Okay? Everything with class, and I was, man, these signs, and this sign, and the mission statement, to walk in the Spirit, to preach the gospel, to make disciples, and be ambassadors for Jesus Christ through the ministry of reconciliation.

[2:13] Ambassadors. What more greater honor to be an ambassador? Tell people about the ministry of reconciliation when, you know, when you think of reconciling money, we can't pay our debts, but he paid our debts.

[2:28] He died for us on the cross, and we ask him for forgiveness. He forgives us. He's just to forgive us, and it's just so good. It's so good to be here. It's, you know, I can go on and on, and when he started this, he really didn't, he didn't want to be a licensed minister, and it was many conversations, many table conversations, and conversations over, and you know, the things that they've had to go through, and are going through, and they're still pushing through, and persevering.

[3:01] They're still pushing through, and persevering, and as we were praying, I could just, I could just, wow, there's 8,000 people here, 7,000 something in this town, about 8,000 people, and there's many crying out for hope.

[3:19] There's many crying out to know what a disciple, and to be a disciple, and I just, I just implore you that are here today, and, and, and I'm going to preach here.

[3:31] I, I was praying, and God dropped something in my spirit about, about Thursday, and I hope it makes sense. It made sense to me, but sometimes, sometimes, us preachers make sense in our mind, and they were like, my wife will be like, honey, that didn't make sense, but hey, but God is good, and, and, I'm going to take my text here today, from Genesis 42, 1 through 8.

[3:59] Now, when Jacob saw, there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, why do you look upon another? And he said, behold, I have heard, that there is corn in Egypt, get you down thither, and buy for us, from thence, that we may live, and not die.

[4:17] And Joseph's ten brethren, went down to buy corn in Egypt, but Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob, sat not with his brethren, for he said, lest perventure mischief befall him.

[4:33] And the sons of Israel, came to buy corn among those, that came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was governor over the land, and he, and he it was sold, to all the people of the land.

[4:47] And Joseph's brethren, came, and bowed down themselves, before him, with their faces, to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them.

[5:02] And he said unto them, whence come ye? And they said, from the land of Canaan, to buy food. And Joseph knew his brother, but they knew him not. Let's pray.

[5:13] Dear Heavenly Father, God, we come before you today, God. Anoint these lips of clay, Lord. Your word is anointed, God. Help me, Lord God, to convey, Lord, what you laid on my heart today, God, to touch these people, in Jesus' name.

[5:26] If you need a title today, my title is, While in Egypt. You know, the story of the dreamer, of the young Joseph, and his brother, you know, it's a popular story, and it was, at the end, when we look back and read, it was for the saving of the people of Israel.

[5:45] But, at that time, you know, in Genesis 37, when that young, 17-year-old Joseph starts telling, of the dream, and Joseph tells about, that we were in the field, binding sheaves of grain, and suddenly, your, the sheaves stood up, and yours gathered around mine, and bowed to it.

[6:04] And, and if that wasn't enough, he has another dream. And he says, the sun and the moon, and the eleven stars, were bowing to him. And, and, and, in Genesis 37, 10, Jacob rebukes his son.

[6:18] And, and it just, stirred up this hatred, towards Joseph, and, and, and on top of the coat of many colors, and, and the Bible says that, Jacob loved him more than all his siblings, in there.

[6:30] And, and, and, you know, you, you that are, here, and you have siblings, I think most, for the most part, in the 21st century, we do a pretty good job of not showing favoritism, but, you know, it still happens.

[6:42] And, think of what, what, you know, if, if you just knew straight up that your parents just didn't even love you as much as the next one. I mean, it's, it's, it's one of those where it's, it's got to be gut wrenching, you know, it, and, and, and I, I know, my father-in-law, he had to deal, deal with that as a child, and, and, and it, it's just, it's affected him his whole life.

[7:05] You know, my dad had to deal with that a little bit, and, it's, it's, it's, it affects you. You know, you still love your parents, but it affects you. And, and these boys, they, they, they hated their brother.

[7:18] They said they hated him. Right? And so one day, Jacob asked Joseph, go check on the brothers. Go, go, go and check on them. And, and, and they were supposed to be near Shechem.

[7:29] Right? And he arrives in, in Shechem. And the Bible says, he was wandering around, and a certain man finds him. You can read several translations, and, and there, it's been said that, that it was God that met him there.

[7:46] I mean, I don't know if it was an angel sent from God. I, I don't know, but he had an encounter with somebody there. Okay? He had this encounter, and, and never left.

[7:57] Shechem is a special place. Right? It's, it's Shechem was a city in ancient Israel. It was a place of, of promise and commitment. And Shechem means shoulder in Hebrew.

[8:08] Right? Where do you cry on? You cry on somebody's shoulder. It's somewhere that you go. And, and significance go through a couple, you know, Abraham, Abraham pitched his tent, and built his first altar in Shechem.

[8:22] Right? Joshua gathered the Israelites in Shechem to beg them to follow God. You see later, Joseph begs to be, his bones are carried back to Shechem.

[8:33] Shechem was the capital of the northern kingdom for a time. Shechem was a literal Levitical city of refuge. It was, it was important.

[8:44] And, that encounter with God, right? Right? Houston, California, is a special place. You want to call it that Shechem. It can, it is that Shechem for somebody.

[8:56] Yeah, we sit here and, and, and this is your third Sunday service, right? And, I mean, it's a good crowd. I was telling Shane, I mean, I know several people. It just started with their family.

[9:08] And, you have a handful of families. I know the, the good ladies from, from the church are coming over here. But, there's people coming in here. You're not all by yourself. I mean, like I said in the beginning, you guys are classy.

[9:19] Everything's, it's just the way the Eccles do things. You know, it's just, it's just the way it is. And, and the music was good. And, and, you know, it's all good. But, at the end of the day, Shane's heart, Sister Deanna's heart, is to, reach somebody.

[9:37] And, and I tell them all the time, it's just that, one person. That one person that is crying out. That one person, in the middle of the night, that is saying, God, I need you.

[9:50] I need your help. I need you. I need an answer. Because, see, we are that answer. But, see, while in Egypt, it frustrates me sometimes, because, you know, I don't want to work in Egypt.

[10:06] I just want to do the work of God. But, that's not the way it works. You know, I don't, I don't want to deal with the heartaches, while in Egypt. But, that's not the way it works.

[10:17] We know here, who to lean to. What shoulder, to cry on, in Egypt. But, while in Egypt, what do we do?

[10:29] DOJC church, we be the light, in Egypt. This, this, is, the place, that people will seek refuge, in this town.

[10:42] And, when you read, a little farther on, when you read backwards, words, sorry, they say, it was about 75 people, that eventually, came, to Egypt.

[10:59] And, when, Israel, Jacob, when he finally, came, and brought his family, when you look back, yes, God would have made another way, but, Joseph was that sacrifice.

[11:15] He had to go from the, from the pit, to prison, Potiphar's house, and he became, the right hand of Pharaoh, in Egypt. And, he never lost his faith.

[11:27] He never wavered. Yes, there was days, just like us. We have days, that we, God, are you even hearing, my prayers? God, do you see, what's going on around me?

[11:39] God, do you understand, that my finances, are getting thin? God, do you understand, that my family, is turning against me? God, do you understand? And, he's saying, just hang on, while, in Egypt.

[11:54] Because, we are never, to be comfortable, in Egypt. See, we, we, we get too, comfortable, and we eat too many, good food, in Egypt.

[12:08] And, Egypt has us, often times, lazy. And, it's not in a, physical, but in that, spiritual sense. It was, it was, I'm going to tell you, yes, you're a small church, yes, you start, but that prayer, in the beginning, God moved in here.

[12:25] Cherish that, cultivate that. And, I know your pastor, that's what he wants, that's, that's, it's intentional, but be intentional, cultivate that, don't be ashamed of that.

[12:37] Don't be embarrassed of that. Because, I'm going to tell you right now, that, you're going to look back, in a year from now, five years from now, after the Lord tarries, we don't know. But, there's going to be, new converts in these seats.

[12:51] And, they're going to grab onto that. And, you're going to be leaders, amongst them. And, they're going to look upon you. And, they're going to see, but they're going to be, how can you do this? Wow. In Egypt.

[13:02] When they understand, that Egypt is a type of the world. I know, I'm not preaching to any new converts here, but, Egypt is a typology of the world.

[13:13] And, I think, often times, we, we forget, in the day, in the mundane, and going through, going to our jobs, going that, that, there's a God that loves us.

[13:33] There's a pastor here, that loves you guys. He loves you guys. I just want to, I want to say this. If he comes to you, and he's concerned, he's, it's come out of concern.

[13:45] My friend here, you know, he's not as rough as he used to be. He's, he's, he's, he's, he's, God's worked on him. But, if he comes to you, and he says, you know, hey, I've noticed this, or, hey, you know, he's not coming to you to beat you down.

[14:02] He's coming to you out of love. And, as a man of God, he, he took on, as me, preaching the word, Bible, Jay, and James, it says, I'm accountable for what I preach.

[14:13] But, I'm accountable for my family. I'm not a pastor. When you take on the pastor role, he, he's going to answer for his family. And then he's going to answer for the church that he pastors.

[14:25] He's got to carry that weight. And, I'm going to tell you, in the conversations, he never has any ill to say about anybody. It's concern.

[14:38] And there's a difference between worry and ill. I think a lot of people, and nowadays, they, well, you know, you're talking about, no, no, no.

[14:49] As a, at a pastor's heart, when he's asking for me to pray about something, it's not, it's not ill. It's, it's concern. And know that he loves you. But see, while in Egypt, we have to push through.

[15:06] While in Egypt, we have to look at those trials in those hills that we've climbed. I'm not going to embarrass her at all, but man, I tell you what, Sister Cruz, if she was to come up here and talk about the trials that she's had to face in her life, I, I haven't had to deal with that.

[15:27] She's still faithful to God. Faithful to God. We have to have that kind of faith. That no matter what, it's that no matter what happens in Egypt, we're making it to heaven.

[15:41] When that trumpet sounds, no matter what happens, we're going to make it. That song goes through my head.

[15:54] And it needs to become a part of your repertoire. And some of those old songs, you know, this world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up.

[16:06] Somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me to heaven's open door, but I can't feel at home in this world anymore. This world is not our home.

[16:18] While in Egypt, it's not our home. You know, it's, it's where we, it's where we work. It's where we make our living. It's, it's where we get food. It's where we mingle with people. But while in Egypt, we can't get comfortable.

[16:31] While in Egypt, we can't get comfortable. This church is not going to grow. While in Egypt, we face things, but we have to understand where our help comes from.

[16:44] And I know that it could seem like a daunting task. But I'm going to tell you right now, keep pushing, keep moving.

[16:59] And God's going to prove himself. Pretty soon, a little mile is going to be running these aisles. And he may be the only one running these aisles, but I tell you, if he's running with them, run, run with him.

[17:14] Because I know his papa, his papa is going to raise him to be a worshiper. And, and, and, you know, he smiles at you, right? When you, when you, he, a kid, he smiles.

[17:25] When you just look at him, you Google, he smiles. Have that same childlike glow about you. The world could be falling down around you. Just smile.

[17:37] And know that God's in control. Just understand that while in Egypt, he has, God has his hand on you. We never want to get comfortable here.

[17:49] Never want to get comfortable. That walk, to walk in the spirit. Walking in the spirit takes a dedication. Walking in the spirit takes a daily, dying out to the flesh.

[18:04] And understand, like Moses, further on in the Bible, he was raised in Pharaoh's house.

[18:16] You know, the decree goes out, kill all the little Israelite boys. Was it two and under? I think it was, or whatever, whatever it was. I don't remember exactly. God doesn't desire any of us.

[18:28] I mean, the, the devil doesn't desire, any of us to live. He doesn't desire any of us to, to, he wants us just to throw in the towel. And you look at the life of Moses, the, the one that led through the wilderness, the, the 40 years.

[18:46] And he was eight, what, 80 years old when he started his journey. He spent 40 years in Potiphar's house. In just that short little time, it was God ordained that his mother nursed him.

[19:01] Who knows how many hours she talked to him, letting, making him to understand who he was. Just that short time that she helped him to understand who he was.

[19:13] He leaves when he gets older. And he defends his own kind. And then he goes back into hiding because he doesn't want to get in trouble for it.

[19:24] But he knew who he was while in Egypt. So what do we do? How do we, how do we continue this fight?

[19:38] How do you help your pastor grow this church while in Egypt? Prayer. I think a lot of people, a lot of people, they, they, they, they, they overlook certain things and it hit me the other day.

[19:55] And, and, and we've talked about it, you know, the, uh, Zach's two and 42. When it talks about house to house, we don't ever want to take that out. Out. We want to, we want to go house to house. We want to, we want to fellowship.

[20:08] But where did this start? Where did acts two and four happen? Happened in an upper room in a prayer meeting. And scholars say it took 10 days, about 10 day waiting.

[20:22] It was a gathering and it was a prayer meeting. And yes, you have your personal prayer. But that's what your pastor is trying to create a corporate prayer in this church.

[20:35] Because that's the only way you're going to survive. Well, in Egypt, how do we keep connected with God? It's reading his word. It's your daily devotion.

[20:46] It's being separated from this world while in Egypt. Our pastor, Pastor, Pastor, uh, Hanks was saying that today when he was preaching, you know, you can't live like a sailor all week and then expect for people to follow you.

[21:01] We have to be separate. We have to come out among them and be separate because he's holy and we need to be holy. Yes, we'll never be like him, but we want to strive to be like him.

[21:13] And I know this is a simple message. But some way, somehow, that this church is the place for those in Egypt to run to.

[21:28] However, that in my mind, I could, I could just imagine, you know, what it, what it looked like for them to go get grain, where they had to go in Egypt, to go survive, to get sustenance, to survive.

[21:40] But in Houston, California, right now, he's the most important man in the city. He's the most important man. He's carrying the oneness gospel.

[21:54] And every preacher that carries that oneness gospel in every town is the most important person. And we have to show those around. And it's not just Houston.

[22:05] It's your family. It's, I know there's, you're not, a lot of you don't live in this town. But when you start bringing, it's just that one soul. That one connection.

[22:17] While in Egypt, to help them to understand, they could be spiritually fed. See, the children of Israel came to Egypt for food sustenance.

[22:31] But we have to help those in Houston, in the surrounding area, to understand this is spiritual substance. Can't live on bread alone, but every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, the bread of his word, and his spirit.

[22:45] And I implore you today, as disciples of Jesus Christ, as ambassadors of the gospel, that you understand that, yes, Egypt, this world is where we live, but it's not our home.

[23:07] It's a temporary place. He's talking to your pastor before this. I know he's, he loves his end time stuff. And he's, he knows, he's, he's pretty good about that, that stuff.

[23:19] A lot of people don't really like to dive into that stuff. But I was talking to my wife and, you know, we, not to get political, but you look at people that are in place in the current, they, they want to get rid of the penny.

[23:32] Because it caught, it's just a drawing into the, the one world currency. It's all it is. It's just a drawing into the end time. Yeah, we don't know exactly how much time, but there's signs. And you have to understand that.

[23:44] And we have to be ready. Because I'm telling you, it's not, I don't know. I don't know. I just want to be ready. I don't want to allow Egypt to influence me.

[23:57] I don't want to allow it to be fear that influenced me. I want it to be just a walk, a pure walk with God that influences me, that helps me, that drives me, that pushes me daily to walk with him.

[24:14] And as, as we stand today, I'm going to, I'm going to wrap this up. We understand that. We have to be the, the light in a dark world.

[24:28] And I'm so glad that. This is the light in this city, to my knowledge, like, like your pastor said, and I believe this is the only UPC.

[24:39] I don't even know if there's an apostolic church as far as like a Spanish speaking word. There might be. I don't know. And I don't even know if there ever has ever been an autonomous church here. I don't know. Um, and if it's been, it's been a long time, but I'm, I'm, I'm going to, I'm going to tell you this and I'm not a prophet.

[24:58] I'm not going to prophesy and this and that. And, but I will tell you this, this is what I stand by. Matthew 16. The, the, the Bible says that Jesus saying, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

[25:13] That's the only prophecy I need. Through God, I can do anything. It's not his will that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. Everybody that you see walking down these streets that doesn't understand this oneness gospel, hasn't been baptized in Jesus name and filled with the Holy Ghost.

[25:28] It's not will that they perish. It's there. It's God's will. They come to repentance. And once they come to repentance and if they don't, and if they don't want to believe it or understand it, Hey, that's between them and God.

[25:41] But if they come to that and they understand it, they, they, that's between them and God. And I tell you right now, I pray that God blesses this church.

[25:55] And I know God's going to bless this church because I know your pastor and his wife, they're pushers, they're drivers. But while in Egypt, those of you today, the kids alike and a few of you that, that Carlos and Hannah and Jose pray for your pastor, pray for your pastor on a daily basis, pray God's wisdom, pray God's protection and pray that the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, that, that people come in, you know, the Bible says spirit of God draws.

[26:32] And it's just going to take that one. And while in Egypt, let's not allow the cares of this world. Let's not allow the trials, the tribulations, the troubles to.

[26:45] Take a focus off where we're going. Heaven is our home. And, and, and let's come to the front here.

[26:55] And I want to pray because. I believe that. God, God, I know he's going to use this church.

[27:08] And let's pray. God, I thank you, Lord, today, God. Oh, help us, Lord God, to walk in your spirit, Lord God, today, Lord. will I be!

[27:32] I like you, one day!