"You Are Not Alone" on Genesis 39 by Pastor Kevin Lobert - May 18, 2025

Good morning, Telkwa Community Church. It’s a privilege to be with you all today. For those who don’t know me, my name is Kevin Lobert, and I’m the Youth Pastor at Langley Immanuel CRC. It’s been a delight to worship with you this morning, and now to bring you God’s word. While a weekend like this can be hard, it has also been so good to be with God’s people – and to see how, as one body, we can surround the Schipper’s and Wisselink’s in the power of God’s love together. It's been really moving to tangibly see that we don't have to go through grief – alone … and I'm so grateful to be here.

This morning, we’re going to be looking at a story from Genesis – a part of Joseph’s story. This is the same Joseph who had 11 brothers, who was the son of Jacob, and who was the wearer of a fancy colorful technicolor Dreamcoat, which you may recall from Broadway’s adaptation of this passage. 

If you don’t know the story, it’s a fascinating one! A quick recap: Joseph has already gone through some trials before we pick up our text. Earlier on in the story, in Genesis 37, Joseph – with very little tact – described some dreams he had of his brothers and parents bowing down to him. Well, his brothers did not like that, so that they plotted to kill him. Slightly cooler heads prevailed and instead, Joseph’s 11 brothers sold him into slavery. They then tricked their dad into thinking Joseph had died … but instead, Joseph was sold in Egypt to Potiphar, an official to Pharaoh. 

We’re picking this story up there, in Genesis Chapter 39. Also, I encourage you have your bibles or bible apps open so you can follow along, not just now while I read, but throughout the whole message. We’ll be reading the whole chapter. Genesis 39:1-23 says,

(Read Passage)

It’s a rough story, isn’t it? Makes the blood boil a little, even. This Joseph guy just can’t catch a break. He’s hated by his brothers, he’s sold to passing traders, he’s sold again into Egyptian slavery, and then as we just read, he’s falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit and is sent to prison for doing the right thing. 

The guy here does everything right, and gets all the blame. More than that – he gets falsely accused, and that is severely unjust.

This concept of being falsely accused is why movies like Double Jeopardy, The Fugitive, and Shawshank Redemption are so popular. When someone is falsely accused, our sense of justice spikes dramatically and it lights a fire in us to want to see the good one’s win.

This story about Joseph does just that. We read how Joseph was nothing but faithful to God and faithful to his master. But, just because he was “Well-Built and Handsome,” Potiphar’s wife started hitting on him. Now, he was faithful to God and refused. But eventually, she got a little more physical and so Joseph ran away, leaving evidence behind. She got mad, lied to her husband, and Joseph was thrown in jail.

This story should irk us. It should ignite a plea for justice. But because this story is so anger inducing, it also causes us to miss important information. We miss the bookends of the story. 

This story starts and ends with a focal point for us today, but we often just blow over it – even though it is a central point to this entire narrative. Find these bookmarks with me:

1. Genesis 39:2: The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master

2. Genesis 39:23: The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did

Even in all of the hardships Jospeh was going through, God was there. He was with him. As Joseph was thrown into a well. As he was sold into slavery. Even as he was sent to prison for a crime he did not commit, the Lord was with Him. Always. 

Even in our hardships, even when life seems unfair. Even when we find ourselves suffering, we can be certain that we are not alone. 

Now, that’s easy for me to say from up here, though, right? 

And that’s fair, I would never stand in front of you and say I understand what you all are going through. Of course I can’t. 

Some of you have gone through, or are going through health concerns I’ve never had to endure. Some of you are dealing with employment or economic crisis’ I know nothing about. 

Some of you have walked barefoot through the darkest valley and back, have witnessed love ones’ crumble and fall, have broken down yourselves because of the context you find yourself in … and here I am, a guest preacher, coming in here, not fully knowing your stories. 

In fact, the reason I am here today was to be present for the funeral of Rachel Schipper yesterday – a member of this church. A wife and daughter and sister and mom to members here. This body is grieving her loss, and while we grieve in the hope found in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for her – there is pain still. Suffering. Loss. And while I am here with you, I am not experiencing it in the same way. 

So, if you’re sitting there thinking, you don’t know, Kevin … you’re right, I haven’t gone through the same things as you – and I won’t stand here and claim to know exactly what you are going through.

But I can say – with certainty – because of the authority of God’s Word, that in the dark times we face, the Lord is with us. While the depths of pain you have gone through are deep – the pain that you are going through is deep, our living God went through it with you. Goes through it with you. That’s the Promise of God we will look at today.

It’s also our Big Idea:

You are not alone. God is with you, always.

Look at this story again. When Joseph was a slave, God was with him, and he prospered. Then, when Jospeh was sent to prison, God was with him, and he was granted favour. God was with Joseph – even in slavery and imprisonment. 

However, there is something that needs our attention here. 

It is easy look at this story and think – oh, God was with him and gave him favour and kindness – as if God’s presence must include some kind of prosperity. We can falsely conclude that if prosperity is not present, than God is not present either.

But that’s just not true. Prosperity and presence don’t correlate.

Remember, even in this story, Joseph was still a slave. He was still a prisoner.  He was still out of his father’s house, in a foreign land, living a life he never thought he would be living. Favour and Prosperity are relative here.

But … the Lord was with Him.

Prosperity does not correlate to Presence. 

Joseph was favoured by God – even in His suffering. By his faithfulness, he garnered favour in both Potiphar’s house and prison, but earlier in the story, God was present with him in the pits of the well just the same. 

In his richest and poorest, in his abundance and his loss, in his blessings and his suffering, God was with Joseph. 

Even after he was falsely accused, when no one believed him, and he was lonely once again – Joseph was never alone.  

I’ve never been a slave, and I’ve never been a prisoner, but loneliness and loss are things many of us have experienced in our lives. That I know many of us are experiencing even now. 

When I started at Immanuel CRC, I was fresh out of University. Just an idealistic, energetic, fairly ignorant 23 year-year-old ready to just do youth ministry. When I was hired at Immanuel, I had the unbelievable privilege of working alongside the lead pastor at the time, Pastor Bill Versteeg.

Bill was a mentor to me, and taught me everything from organizing a calendar, to how to be bold in my visits with congregants, to how prep and preach a sermon. For the first couple years of my time at Immanuel, I had this rock of a pastor who helped mentor me into my position. 

That all changed in November of my second year, though. 

Bill was having stomach pains, and the doctors thought it was gall stones. They decided to do a little surgery on him, and when they opened him up, they found cancer everywhere. After more tests, Bill was told the cancer was advanced – stage 4 – and that he had weeks to live. 

He passed away 2 months later. 

I was left in my position, still very young and very green, with no more mentor across the hall. In fact, without much warning, I was the only pastoral staff left at Immanuel. Now, we had some wonderful elders, a compassionate council, an amazing couple of administrators, and some lovely lay-leaders who stepped into the void left by Pastor Bill’s passing – and we’ll get to them later – but in the day-to-day pastoral life of the church, it was only me in that office.

I felt very alone, severely under-equipped, and fairly lost.  

But you know, despite feeling lonely in some of that work, I was never truly alone. It was then I started to lean on God more. I lost my mentor, but I still had my rock. My prayer life grew, because when things came my way, I couldn’t talk to Bill anymore … so I went to God. His presence in that time sustained me in my ministry for sure. 

We are never truly alone.

See, God’s presence in our lives means we can be bolstered up to face the suffering we endure with courage. I’m not saying I faced that season of loneliness with courage – but a more mature version of myself might now. At least, I hope. Because Scripture tells us we can.

In fact, Paul tells us that with Christ, we can even delight in the suffering we face. Read 2 Cor. 12:9-10 with me for a moment:

But he said to me [this is God to Paul], “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I [Paul] will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

For Christ’s sake, we can delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships persecutions, and difficulties. 

Now, I’m not a huge Greek buff, but I know it’s important to dig into that Ancient language sometimes when we look at Scripture, and this is one of those times. The Greek word for delight here is important. The Greek word is eudokeo – which sounds like some sort of Pokémon to me – but it actually means to be content, or to choose as better. 

So Paul is saying to be content in our suffering. Or rather, to choose the suffering we face knowing it is better for us … because when we are weak, we allow Christ’s presence, Christ’s power, and Christ in general to be the focal point in our lives. 

When we suffer, we can lean into Christ because we KNOW He suffered. Sometimes we forget just how much suffering He had to endure. Jesus lived a perfect life – a life you and I fail to live each and every day. 

And then, Jesus died an unbelievably excruciating death that we deserve because of our sin and brokenness, bearing the weight of all of human sin throughout history on his shoulders – think about that – Bearing the wrath of God for the weight of the sin of humanity throughout history. 

Flogged. Beaten. Stripped. Stabbed. Pierced. Hung on a Cross. Suffocated. Forsaken. 

Jesus knew suffering ... But He also knows Victory. 

Three days later, He rose triumphantly from the grave and now, through His Holy Spirit, Jesus is with us in our suffering too. Jesus reigns on the throne over all of creation, and yet he sits with us when we suffer, knowing what pain and suffering and loneliness feels like. Knowing what it is like to grieve, and mourn, and cry over loss. Even Jesus wept over the loss of loved ones. 

He Understands what we are going through. 

Constantly present. 

Taking delight means to choose to see Jesus in the midst of the hard times because He is there. It’s not that we have to rejoice, but we can persevere knowing we are not alone. God is present.

Just like He was with Joseph. God’s presence means we are not alone. One of the ways God is present in our lives is through his people. Through the church.

If the church is Christ’s body … if we have the Holy Spirit in us, than we are a means, or a picture of God’s presence here in this world. 

The church is a way God’s presence is revealed in this world. 

On a Macro level, if you look throughout history, you can see this. God’s presence is evident everywhere because of His work through His people. 

• Orphanages

• Hospitals

• Medical Systems

• Universities

• Crisis Intervention Agencies

• Refugee Initiatives

• Homeless Shelters

• Rehab Centres

So many things in our world that Christians originally initiated. All of these things in history that God initiated through His people. God’s presence, visible in the midst of suffering. 

But we can see it locally too. Zoom in a bit to this place, and I am sure many here could tell you countless stories of how you, God’s people, being God’s presence in the midst of suffering. 

Whether it’s with prayers, meals, care groups, labour, time and energy poured into people who are going through hardships. You are his hands and his feet. You are being used by our Holy Father to be His presence in the face of hardships here at Telkwa Community church. That’s the testimony I’m hearing from the Wisselink and Schipper families for sure. This church is the hands and feet of God. 

But – we also know that this narrative isn’t always true. There are many stories throughout history of the church not being God’s hands and feet. In fact, many people who have walked away from the church do so because the church hurt them in some way.

This is also the reality of history.

Unfortunately, just like prosperity is not a sign of God’s presence, sometimes the actions of Christians sure make God seem far away too. Christians are as fallible as anyone.

Sin entangles all of us, and anyone is capable of hurting and harming those around them. Just as suffering touches us all, so does the ability to hurt others.

There’s a saying: Hurt people hurt people.

But if everyone is hurt … that means we all, no matter what we believe, have the ability to hurt people. This is not a justification of actions, but simply a reason why we see this. 

While the church is a place that should be the presence of God, it can also be a place where suffering is experienced. 

And that makes a sermon like this difficult, because on the one hand, I know the Church is a picture of God’s presence here on this earth – we see it now, we’ve seen it throughout history…

… but on the other hand, I know church has been a place that can compound and even create hurt as well. I’ve seen that in the lives of those I love as well.

And yet – Scripture tells us to delight in our suffering. How? Well …

• Maybe church is a place that, although it can bring some hurt, we lean in. 

• Because people here, all of us, are broken too, and in our brokenness, we also belong 

• If we all hurt, maybe we can all hurt together. We can grieve together. Mourn together. 

If the church is a place 

• where hurt people are welcome, 

• where sinners are welcome, 

• where broken people are welcome

And … If church is a place where these same people offer love, support, and care for one another…

… maybe it’s a place where you can come. All of you. In your pain, and your suffering. All of you – your whole story. 

Maybe it’s a place – and more importantly, maybe it’s a people – you can lean into as well. 

Be a part of. 

Maybe in our hurt, maybe in our suffering, maybe the broken vessels found here at Telkwa Community Church, are the exact kind of people that will resonate with you? 

Maybe God can use even us to help you. Maybe God can use even you to help us?

Because like I said, history has shown us that while the church has been a place that has hurt people – it is also a place that has transformed the world and culture we live in.

Churches matter. Church community matters.

The rest of my story shows that too. 

After Bill passed away was a tough time, but I wasn’t alone. Looking back, so many people stepped in to fill that void. Elders and deacons rose kept the vision and life of the church going as we were vacant for a long time. Retired Pastors came and helped with Pulpit Supply – one of them meeting with me regularly and helping mentor me as I preached more often. My Care Group at the time, which included Matt and Rachel, were instrumental in supporting me and Nikki in our ministry at church. I had wise administrators who helped direct and encourage me, and friends who went out of their way to support me. 

Yes, there were days I felt alone in ministry, but man, during that season of life, God was sure present through His people in my life. I learned in that season, that even if we feel lonely, we are truly never alone. 

And so maybe that’s the place to end today. The Lord was with Joseph, always. Even while serving time in an awful prison for a crime he did not commit, God was with Him. He is with us too. By His Spirit. In His word. And Through His church. 

So for us, what are some things to take away?

Well… we are not alone. Are you leaning into God’s presence, or pulling away? He’s with you always, but are you with Him? That could mean a whole host of things, but how are you leaning into God’s presence today? In your joys and your sorrows. 

For Joseph, he kept living life as he knew God called Him to. He knew he couldn’t sin against God, and so He didn’t. And yet, He suffered for it. So, how do we lean into God’s presence? Some rapid thoughts for you today… 

• Maybe for you, it is reaching out to someone here, even if your impulse is to withdraw rather than press in?

• Maybe for you it is to worship more – even in your daily rhythms. Perhaps that’s in musical ways, prayerful ways, devotional ways, playful ways, relational ways, recreational ways … sacrificial ways. Maybe it means worshipping a little more.

Maybe it means finding your God places. I actually grew up on Vancouver Island, and on our drive to school every morning, we would crest a little hill which got a clear view of Mount Baker and some of the other Cascades.  

My mom would say every morning when they were visible “look at the mountains!” and we kids would just roll our eyes because that’s what you do to moms who say the same thing over and over. However, moving Edmonton – or Sky Country – after High School, and then spending a bunch of life in Hamilton Ontario where their “mountain” is an escarpment that takes 8 minutes and 250 steps to climb … 

I now find the same awe in these BC mountains. These mountains show me God’s presence.

Maybe for you it’s a hike, or a drive, or a waterfall, or an ocean, or a fishing trip, or a hammock in the trees … but where is your awe location? I know for some of you, this is especially true. 

Where is the place where you see God’s presence? 

(shift) Some of you don’t need a place. Just a reminder. 

• God is with you in your joys and your sorrows. As we mourn and as we grieve in hope. 

• God is with you through His church – even if we are a broken people. 

• God is with you, because He has always promised to be, and He never breaks a promise.  

Are we leaning into the presence of God? Because He is there. 

You are not alone. God is with you. Amen.