Joseph’s Can Can !
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17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up. 22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.
33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
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Gifts
Introduction
This is an All Age talk.
In preparation collect and bring to the service empty cans with labels stuck on:
‘I Can’, ‘Joe Can’, ‘Can He?’ ‘Can We?’ ‘We Can’.
Point out cans and ask people maybe in groups to write on the post-its provided one or more things you can do….
e.g. sing, a skill, something you are good at (flowers, polishing brasses, visiting, hospitality).
Have the Post-its collected and brought to the front.
Build the cans into a pyramid shape on table. Put the Post-its into the We Can. (& read a few of them as you do).
The Talk refers to the Can’s as follows:
He Can
Can He?
I Can
Can We?
He Can
The pyramid shape of cans reminds us that Joseph was in Egypt.
Pick up the Joe Can and Ask what was he good at? (Dreams) Put the Joe Can at top of pyramid.
Can He?
Talk about the Court Crisis in genesis 41. The Kings dream that no-one can interpret. At last the servant who was imprisoned, remembered Joseph and he was released to interpret the dream (v1-14).
Joe has interpreted dreams before.
Is he the one who can help the King - Pick up the Can He?
Joseph knows he can't do it on his own (Genesis 41:16 he calls to God for help, knowing with God’s help he can tell the king what his dream means (Gen 41:17-36)
The king calls Joseph and admits the national problem – a great famine foretold. Joseph is the person with the administrative skill to solve it (point to the ‘He Can’). The king is wise enough to use the right people according to their skills. Joe is also a wise planner and his skills as an administrator are used for Egypt and for surrounding countries (in famine)
I Can
Look what happened when Joseph recognised the gifts God had given him.
Application: God has given us gifts too – lots of gifts within this church (the body of Christ) as a whole (refer to the cans and post-its within).
Joe had two options when faced with some of the difficult things he had to go through for many years of hardship. He could have turned on God in anger or turned away from his faith in God.
He could have prayed, “God why didn’t you stand up for me against my horrible brothers? Why did you allow me to be unfairly imprisoned? Why did you let the cupbearer forget me, when I had to stay in prison for years?”
These are valid questions for someone who is going through hard times as Joseph was.
But he chose the other option, to trust in God….to trust in the God who says (Isaiah 49:15) ‘I will not forget you, I have written your name on my hands.’
We can trust in God when things don’t seem to be working out or we can turn away from God.
Can we?
Refer to the ‘Can we?’ can. The question is this – can we use our gifts in God’s service? Look again at some examples on the post-its that will benefit the community and the church – not mentioning names.
For example hospitality, Carers, giving (of time and money), backroom jobs, Sunday school, visiting, spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are not for ourselves, they are not for show – they are gifts for giving away.
Conclude with a reference to a can whose label you have not revealed yet. We Can!
Now Pray.
