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[ Silence ] [ Music ] [ Music ] ♪ I need thee every hour ♪

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♪ Those precious hours ♪ ♪ The care of hearts like mine ♪ ♪ Has peace of mind ♪ ♪ I need thee, O God, need thee ♪

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♪ Every hour I need thee ♪ ♪ O bless me now, my Savior ♪ ♪ I'm drawn to thee ♪ ♪ Oh, I hear the air we love ♪

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♪ Say it loud, oh, dear love ♪ ♪ When the flames shall to the rock ♪ ♪ Bend on high ♪ ♪ I need thee, O I need thee ♪

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♪ Every hour I need thee ♪ ♪ O bless me now, my Savior ♪ ♪ I'm born to thee ♪ ♪ I give thee all I give thee ♪

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♪ Every hour I give thee ♪ ♪ Oh let me now thy Savior ♪ ♪ I come to thee ♪ ♪ To be with you ♪

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- Bless us, oh Lord. Speak now to our hearts. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. For several Sundays now,

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we have focused on the life of Joseph. We continue this sermon series based on this story. Joseph commanded the steward of his house saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry.

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And put every man's money in his sack's mouth. And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

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The subject of the message, the silver cup, the silver cup, Genesis chapter, the chapter, the 44th chapter, the first two verses, the silver cup.

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We've come into a new year. And we may well ask the question, what's new about this year? I had a parishioner,

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the early days of my pastoral, who when I greeted her saying good morning, she would always say, what's good about it? What's new about this year?

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And for this year to be new, for it to represent more than just a change on our calendar, it must mark a new beginning, a new kind of living, new experiences. For some it will be new and that they will engage in a different way of life. Some will become married, begin families.

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Some will have graduation experiences that will be new. Some will have new job experiences that will be new for them. And others will have new encounters with God.

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It may be new for us because God invades our lives in a peculiar way. God has strange ways of breaking in upon us in the course of this pilgrim journey.

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These kinds of experiences that we share with him constitute the mystery of our history. So we look forward to new relations in a new year. Such an event occurs in the story of Joseph.

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Joseph knows his brethren, but they do not know him. Joseph orders his steward, the manager of his household, to have the sacks of his brothers filled with grain as much as they can carry.

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They put every man's money that he had brought to Egypt to buy grain with in the mouth of his sack. And this is an act of grace. Every year is a gift.

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It's an expression of divine grace. We're given some more time on the clock of life. Time that we do not deserve. We have no right to it, that we can demand it.

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It's a gift of grace. A sign of unmerited divine favor. Joseph's brethren are given all the grain they can carry. This is an act of grace on Joseph's part.

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You know, Joseph gives his brothers food in spite of the wrong treatment he has received from them in earlier years. And that within itself is an act of grace.

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I've taken particular notice of what we do. You know, when we don't like what people are doing, we engage in what is called the politics of food. We don't like what Russia is doing.

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We don't like what Russia is espousing, that particular philosophy, that way of life. And because Russia had a different way of life when they wanted to buy grain from us several years ago,

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we said, no, we won't sell you any food. We don't agree with your philosophy, so we won't send you any food. Right now in Ethiopia,

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where we have so many people starving, and there is civil strife in Ethiopia, the north is fighting against the other section, they're the rebels.

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And we are reading reports of food that is being sent to Ethiopia, and the people are destroying the people who bring the food, and denying people who are starving

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from the lack of food from getting it because they don't share their belief, the politics of food. So when you consider what is happening in our world today

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and consider Joseph's action in spite of all that his brethren had done to him and they come to Egypt to get food, if he had acted the way some of our governments act today,

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he would have said, no, we're not gonna feed you, even though you got the money to pay for it. So this is an act of grace on Joseph's part. Joseph did what is a manifestation of special favor.

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And he did something else on which I'd like to focus. He instructed his steward to place the silver cup, silver cup in Benjamin's sack. Now let's consider for a moment Joseph's cup. It's not just an ordinary cup. It's a cup so to speak of royalty. Joseph is the

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Prime Minister of Egypt. He's the second in command. He's next to Pharaoh. And so this cup has special meaning. This cup is a symbol of spiritual power. It was used in seeking divine guidance. The cup was used in order to foresee and foretell future events, the silver cup. You know we we have a way of reading tea leaves.

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Sometimes someone would read the cards and see what's in this for me for this year, well that was a custom of looking into the cup and the way things shaped up in the cup determined what was going to happen in the future. There's an old German custom of placing lead in a cup of water on New Year's Eve so the old is

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submerged, the past is over, and one is ushered into the mystery of the future. So the cup is a symbol of the interpretation of old men's small objects, you know, are placed in the cup. So veil references could be seen in the configurations. So this cup has divine significance.

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The silver cup, Joseph had used it time and time again when he consulted with God on significant matters in his life. So this silver cup is placed in Benjamin's side, Joseph's cup. Now Benjamin is the youngest of the 12.

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Benjamin and Joseph were born of Jacob and Rachel. So Benjamin is Joseph's younger brother. And when Benjamin was born, Rachel died. She died in childbirth, but before she died,

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she named Benjamin, the first name she gave him was Benoni, son of my sorrow. And Jacob later changed this ill old man name to Benjamin, which means son of my right hand.

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So Benjamin, son of my right hand, receives special favor because you see, the right hand means, well that's my lucky hand, we say, my right hand, that's my hand

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that has special favor, special relationship is symbolized by my right hand. So Joseph has his cup placed in Benjamin's sack. So this new year, my brothers and sisters,

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we have a silver cup placed in our sack. It's given even to the youngest among us. It's given to the least among God's children. Grace is given in abundance.

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The silver cup is put in our sack. And as the story unfolds, it seems that Benjamin's life is in jeopardy. But in reality, Joseph has placed this cup in Benjamin's sack as a sign of his special favor.

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places the silver cup, his most prized possession, in Benjamin's sack. Oh yes, I say there is a cup in our sack, a silver cup. Oh maybe you haven't discovered it yet,

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but there is a cup in our sack. It's a cup of divine grace, it's a cup of love, It's a cup of opportunity, it's a cup of prosperity, it's a cup of happiness that's placed in our sack.

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And we have to but discover that cup and utilize it in order to realize what it promises. Make no mistake about it, there's a silver cup in our sack. So it was with Joseph's cup.

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And now the one that has this cup fouled in his sack will be my servant. Well, let's for a moment turn from Joseph's cup to Jesus' cup. You know, there's a story connected with medieval legend called the Holy Grail. it's the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper. According to the story

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after the Last Supper the cup came into the hands of Joseph of Arimathea who caught some blood from the wounds of the crucified Savior in the cup. Then he went to England to escape persecution and he carried this cup with him and this cup throughout his life, furnished him with food and drink and with spiritual

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sustenance. His successor was to guard it with his life, guard it faithfully. And the cup was handed down from generation to generation. That was a search for the Holy Grail. There's a great deal of literature written about it in the adventures of King Arthur and his mighty men this cup this this this this

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precious cup had special power it had special significance and and this cup had a way of selecting its own knights, its own heroes based on purity of heart. One who was to find the cup in this search for the Holy Grail only the pure in heart to find it. Galahad and others, two other knights of King Arthur

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were blessed with the sight of the Holy Cup and then Galahad transferred it to another knight after whose death that cup was said to have been taken up to heaven. Well that cup belongs to legend. Joseph's cup was a silver cup that he used there in his household but the cup of our Lord is much more than legend, it's real. It's a

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sacramental symbol that we do well to carry with us into this new year and the cup of King Arthur's Knights belongs to the realm I say of legend, it belongs to to a romance and quest of a holy grail, and only a select few are privileged to even see the cup

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and to have it in their possession. But the cup of our Lord denotes the spiritual presence and I think every one of us can say that we have that cup in our sack.

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And that's good news. that as we approach the future and as we engage on the journey, this pilgrim journey, that every one of us has a silver cup in our side. And this cup is passed from generation to generation. Go from 1987 to 1988, that's sort of a symbol also of passing from one year to the next, and we pass from one generation to the next.

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And we have a privilege of looking back across the years and we can remember those who have gone on. And somehow before they went on, they passed on something to us. They passed a cup that goes from generation to generation. There's something that still goes with me.

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Though my mother has passed on this past year, there's still something that she gave to me as a little boy. little boy, she taught me about Jesus Christ. That to me is a symbol of the cup. And that cup goes on from generation to generation. It's the cup of our Lord. And that cup is passed from age to age. And this cup is a symbol of communion. Oh, we're going to commune at the table of our Lord a little later in this service. And it's a symbol of our relationship to him and our relationship

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relationship to each other. That as they sat at the table, that he took the cup, and he drank from the cup,

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and he passed that cup to each one of the disciples. And somehow, somehow, it's that relationship that we have to him that enables us not only to partake of that cup,

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but to pass it on. You know that passage, he said, "Are you able to drink of the cup that I'm drinking?

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Well, you know, we want to be called Christians. We want to be called Christians. And that really needs to be like Christ. Well, it seems to me that he's asked of us

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the question today, are you able to drink of the cup that I drink of? He said, well, if your enemy is to smite you on one cheek, turn the other.

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Some people say, well, I'll never do that. Are you able to drink of the cup of suffering I drink up, are you able to somehow take the sufferings that endure, the persecution that I endure?" And the disciples said, "Yes, we are."

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Well, the cup is in our sacks. It's a sign of the Lord's presence. So Joseph had his cup and Jesus had his cup and every one of us has our cup, has a cup in our sacks. And this silver cup is a sign of the divine presence. Benjamin didn't know this cup was in his sack at first. It was some time before it was discovered that he'd gone on a journey a long time.

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And when they came and searched, they found it in his sack. Then he became aware of the cup's presence when it was found. Well, maybe there are those here today who may not be aware of the cup in your sack. It's the presence of God. And whether you are aware of it or not, God is hidden in your life.

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He's a cup in your sack. His presence is there. We may deny Him. We may mistreat Him. No matter what we do, that cup is in our sack.

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It's hidden in the sack. His presence is there. And that cup in our sack is our hope for the future. That silver cup in our sight is light in the midst of darkness. That silver cup in our sight is strength for our weakness.

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That silver cup in our sight is the spiritual power that's available for us in the human struggle. So let's thank God. Let's thank God for the cup in our sight. Let's thank God for His grace.

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Let's thank God for his presence. Let's thank God for his power. Let's thank God for the silver cup in our sack. Well, Joseph had his cup and Jesus had his cup. He drank from it and passed it on. And so we must drink from the cup in our sacks. our sacks. And so it means that in this year that we need to be receptive of the hospitality of the

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eternal. If we are to take what is in our sacks, they were given all that they could carry, then Benjamin has this cup put in his sack and he is to use this cup it's an expression of special favor it's an expression of divine presence it's an expression of divine power it's an expression of the fact that there is

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this supreme power who is his host. You know when I was a boy we'd go off to the cotton patch. And there's nothing I hated more than picking cotton. Your back would get tired and you'd complain and you'd say that your back was hurting. They'd say, "Oh boy, your back is hurting. You don't have a backbone. You just have a bristle. You better go out there and pick that cotton." And that was a cotton that was there. And you know, when you were trying to get water,

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they had a cup there, there was water in the field, and they said, "I've got a cup, a common cup, "everybody drink out of that cup." And in fact, even in the hall many times,

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you had a dipper, and everybody drank out of the dipper many times. And sometimes when you weren't supposed to drink out of it, I'd slip and drink out of the dipper,

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even though I was told not to. But we had this common cup, and there were those who brought their cup with them. They would go to the fields with their sacks

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and they'd bring a tin cup many times from home and they'd go out there and get water from the barrel and drink it out of the cup. And so, whatever God has provided for us,

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he has placed in our cup and he wants us to drink from that cup and we'll be able to say that God is the host. David talks about it when he talks about

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at the table of God, he says, "My cup running over." God is my host and God is preparing a banquet for me. My cup running over. So thank God that there's a silver cup in our side

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and that we have the privilege of serving him. It's a sign of divine strength in the struggle. So, knowing that this cup is in your sack, what are you gonna do with it?

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Well, let's think of what the psalmist says. He say, "I will take the cup of salvation." This new year, an expression of God's grace. What are we gonna do with it?

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He says, "I will take the cup of salvation." That means I'm gonna take the help that I need that God will provide. I wanna take the hope that's available.

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I'm gonna take that cup that refreshes my spirit. I'm going to take the cup, that's my guarantee. And I'm so glad that God has placed his cup in the baggage of human existence.

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God has placed his special favor in the baggage of human. And I'm so glad that in my life, God has placed his cup in the baggage of my life When I was just nine years of age,

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I discovered that cup, that cup of his love, that cup of his grace that he placed in my sight. Don't you have a cup in your sight? Praise God for that cup in your sight.

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We come now to the hymn of invitation. We extend the privilege of the church to accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. that silver cup that he fills with his love,

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with his grace, with his power. Say to him, "Lord, fill my cup." And he does that. Whatever may be your need for the future that we face,

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I invite you to come now. I'll let out my personal experience. I invite you to come. The door is open.

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- I love Jesus Christ. - I love all of you. I love you a lot. - Fill my cup.

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♪ Like the woman ♪ ♪ At the well ♪ ♪ I was seeking ♪ ♪ For things ♪

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♪ That could not satisfy ♪ ♪ On a vine ♪ ♪ I heard my savior speaking ♪ ♪ Draw from this well ♪

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♪ That never shall run dry ♪ ♪ Oh, feel like a woman ♪ ♪ Oh, like a man born ♪ ♪ Oh, how great is God's freedom, oh ♪

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♪ Oh, freedom, heaven ♪ [ Music ] There are millions in this world who are craving for the pleasure earthly things are for.

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What none can match the wondrous treasure that I found in Jesus Christ my Lord. ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Fill my heart with hope ♪

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♪ Oh, fill it up ♪ ♪ I will give you hope ♪ ♪ I'll lift it up wide ♪ ♪ Lord, I pray ♪

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♪ Lord, we pray ♪ ♪ Jesus, let us be good for so long ♪ ♪ Oh, when heaven ♪ ♪ When heaven ♪

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♪ Let 'em have it ♪ ♪ Give me, give me ♪ ♪ Give me till I am full ♪ ♪ Till I'm full ♪

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♪ Fill my cup ♪ ♪ Fill it up ♪ ♪ Fill it up ♪ ♪ And make me whole ♪

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♪ So my brother ♪ If the thing this world gave you leaves home, girls that won't pass away, my blessed Lord ♪ God will come and save you ♪

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♪ If you need Him ♪ ♪ To Him I only pray ♪ ♪ Oh Lord fill my cup ♪ ♪ Oh Lord fill my cup ♪

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♪ One with the Lord ♪ ♪ Heaven and earth ♪ ♪ This mercy ♪ ♪ Oh, prayer ♪

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♪ Heaven and earth ♪ ♪ Till I know, till I know ♪ ♪ Till I know, till I come ♪ ♪ Till it all, till it all ♪

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♪ All will be ♪ ♪ All will be ♪ (audience laughing) [ Music ]

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