​In last week's Bible Study, we talked about how Joseph- one of the youngest sons of the Jewish patriarch, Jacob- is sold into slavery by his brothers. Taken by Ishmaelite traders to the land of Egypt, Joseph finds himself in the service of Potiphar- a high ranking official in the court of Pharaoh. For a while, Joseph prospers. His loyalty and competence earns him the trust of his master and, as a result, Joseph is given complete control over the entire household. However, Joseph's luck doesn't hold out. Once again, he is betrayed- falsely accused by Potiphar's wife of trying to assault her. Today, we take a closer look at this story of betrayal.

The Death of the Dreamer and the End of the Dream: Joseph is Sold into Slavery by His Brothers This marks the second Bible Study in a series centred around Joseph- the 11th son of the great Jewish patriarch, Jacob. Joseph is often called "the dreamer" because he is a man whom God has given special vision and insight. Joseph's dreams, however, often get him into trouble. Indeed, Joseph has at least two dreams where his family members (his eleven brothers, mother and father) all bow down to him. Naturally, his family is threatened by this dream- especially his older brothers who most certainly DON'T want to bow down to young Joseph. So, in order to eliminate the threat of this dream, Joseph's brothers decide to eliminate the dreamer himself - Joseph.

This talk marks the second in a sermon series on the vision statement of Stone Church: "The heart of Christ in the heart of the city."

Today, we focus on the issue of "generational poverty"- a term which is used to describe the pattern on successive generations of the same family dealing with the same problems (abuse, unemployment, addiction, mental health issues, etc.).  Is someone who is born into a situation of instability destined to struggle with the same issues as his or her parents?  Or can the pattern be broken?  That's the question that we'll be exploring in our sermon today as we take a closer look at Ezekiel 18.

Here, the prophet Ezekiel addresses a common proverb of the day: "The parents have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge."  Ezekiel isn't particularly fond of this saying, for reasons that will be made clear in the sermon.

Today's Bible study marks the first in a Bible study series on Joseph (son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac, and great-grand son of Abraham). Joseph is the eleventh son of a family consisting of 13 children (12 sons and 1 daughter). In terms of the family hierarchy, Joseph is low on the pecking order. However, Joseph happens to be the favourite son of Jacob, largely because he happens to be the first son of his favourite wife. Not only that, but Joseph is a young man of peculiar vision, insight and wisdom. In today's reading, Joseph tells his family of some interesting dreams he's been having lately. In one dream, he is binding sheaves with his brothers in the field when, all of a sudden, their sheaves bow down to his. In another dream, he sees the sun, the moon and eleven stars, all bowing down to him. In both dreams, Joseph sees himself ascending to greatness in his family. Naturally, this angers his brothers and makes Joseph the victim of a cruel plot.