Quiet Time Series – Joseph: Epic Faith Pt.1

This bible study series will walk you through Genesis 37-50: the life and epic journey of Joseph. All along the journey, God forms in Joseph an epic faith that leads to an inevitable destiny. If you are looking to deepen and expand your faith, this bible study is for you.

Read Genesis 37

Seeds of Faith

v.2 Joseph knew what it felt like to be different (he worked for his half-brothers). Do you ever feel frustrated that your life is different than other people’s?

v.3-4 Joseph knew what it felt like to be loved and chosen. How has God shown unique love for you?

v.5-7 God speaks through visions, and that’s where our faith is born—hearing things from God that no one else hears. What great visions has God put on your heart? Or… what do think has come in the way of you hearing God’s voice?

v.8 Why do you think Joseph’s brothers responded like that?

v.10 How do you think Joseph felt about his visions after he talked to his family versus before he talked to them?

v.18 How would you feel if you were be betrayed and sold out by your own brothers? What do you learn about the process of building faith in God from what Joseph experienced?

The BIG Picture:

• What are all the emotions Joseph could have felt in Chapter 1 (positive and negative)?
• Which relationships shaped the beginning of Joseph’s epic journey the most?
• How has your family helped shape your epic journey?

Read Genesis 38

Family Matters

v.24 Joseph’s family back home went through some incredibly hard times together. How does a family’s relationship with God affect the family’s relationships with each other? What has happened in your family as a result of sin and forgetting God?

The BIG Picture:

• How do you handle your faith when your family goes through painful challenges?
• Do you think anyone really has the “perfect” family?
• Why do you think family is so important to God?

Read Genesis 39

Making God Attractive

v.2-5 How did Joseph make God attractive to Potiphar? How can you learn from his example? What would it be like if God was with you the same way he was with Joseph? What kind of relationship do you think Joseph had with God?

v.8-10 Fighting Temptation – What spiritual qualities did Joseph show that he had? What spiritual qualities is God trying to put inside you? What sins do you need to overcome so that you can build those qualities deep into your character like Joseph? Our faith grows when we fight temptation.

v.19-21 Have you ever been accused (treated unfairly) or imprisoned (stuck, can’t get out)? Do you see unfairness as an excuse to quit on God or do you stay faithful? Joseph kept his faith, and God continued to move in Joseph’s life.

v.23 What do you notice about the lives of everyone who was around Joseph? They got better! Is your life producing the same kind of transformation in the community around you?

The BIG Picture:

• How can you tell that you are really “with God” the way Joseph was?
• What sins are in the way of you developing the kind of faith that #MakesGodAttractive?

Read Genesis 40

God-Confidence

v.8 How did Joseph carry himself? What gave Joseph so much confidence, combined with great humility and respect for God?

v.23 Have you ever felt forgotten (left out)? For Joseph, this was all part of his epic journey. He didn’t know how it would end up, but he kept believing in God through it all.

Read Genesis 41

The Faith Difference

v.16 Why do you think Joseph answered this way? He could have just said, “Of course I can interpret your dream.” Maybe Joseph had a goal to inspire every person he met about how cool it is to know God.

v.28-30 Praying For Answers – God showed Joseph exactly what would happen. How often do you ask God to give you the answer to hard questions? Is there anything that you’ve given up on praying for?

v.38 Pharaoh could tell that there was something different about Joseph. Pharaoh might not have knew God, but at this moment, he decided that he wanted to be as close as possible to the God that Joseph knew. How inspired are your friends around you about God? When was the last time your faith made a difference in someone else’s life?

v.52 How does God use suffering to make us fruitful?

v.57 What would have happened if Joseph didn’t keep persevering in his faith in God?

The BIG Picture:

• Take a minute to go through everything that happened to Joseph along his epic journey. What does your epic journey look like so far? What kind of epic faith do you need?

Part 2 coming soon!!!