The Power of Change

Good morning and Happy Sabbath. My name is Francelle Dubuisson and I am

currently a senior at Spring Valley Academy. I plan on attending Andrews University in

the fall majoring in Biology. I would like to start with a word of prayer. I’ve been going

to Spring Valley Academy for the majority of my life (13 years to be exact) and it will be

a huge culture shock for me next year as I enter a new chapter in my life: college.

Personally, I hate change. I love when things stay the same because I know

exactly what to expect but when my life starts to derail in just the sliest way, I start to

freak out. My junior year in high school, I experienced the most change of my life and I

loathe it. Everything was changing for me: my friendships, my interests, and I started not

to recognize the person I thought I was. My interests began to change so did my

relationships. I started pursuing in relationships that I would normally never pursue in. I

wanted to figure that I was and I thought spending time with different people would help

me but unfortunately, I was wrong. I started to distant myself from my two best friends

and got closer with people I never saw myself even being interested hanging out with.

The more I hung out with these people, the more lost I felt and that was only the

beginning. I was not very good at managed my time between the two groups instead

thinking of myself and wanting to branch off and separate myself from two people that

truly cared about me, none of this would have ever happened. As the year progressed, my

relationships got worse and worse. The group I was hanging out with in the beginning of

the year drifted apart and at point, I felt completely alone and the only person I could

blame was myself. My life was starting to change and I did not know how to deal with it.

I wanted my life to go back to the way it was before and when that did not happen, I
started to get frustrated. I feared change because I feared the unknown and did not deal

with the situation the best way I could have. Unfortunately, it led to me making some

poor decisions Looking back; I realized that everything I went through was God’s Plan

for me. God was changing me into the person he knew I could be.

Joseph is a prime example of the power of change. Please go to Genesis 37

starting on verse 3. Joseph was the youngest of twelve. His father favored him because

Joseph was born to him in his old age. His brothers, because of how envious they were of

him, they took him, stripped the robe that his father made for him off of his body, and

threw him into cistern. He was left completely alone. Then, they sold him into slavery for

twenty shekels of silver. The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt. Joseph’s brother told his

father that an animal devoured Joseph. The father mourned for days.

Meanwhile, Joseph was sold to one of Pharaoh’s officials, Potiphar. Joseph finds

great fortunes with Potiphar. He gets promotions throughout the household.

Unfortunately, these promotions began to attract the wrong kind of attention of Potiphar’s

wife. He ended up in jail because of false accusations Potiphar’s wife said against him.

At this point in his life, Joseph is in the deepest of his life’s trenches but God is still with

him. Years later, Joseph gets out of jail and is appointed second-in-command to Pharaoh

after he interprets Pharaoh’s dream, saving Egypt from a famine.

Now Joseph was known for being very prideful and would brag to his brothers. I

believe God allowed him to go through everything he’s been through from slavery to

being in jail and finally second-in-command to Pharaoh to help Joseph mature as a

person. Joseph could have easily hated his brothers for selling him into slavery and
putting him through all the trials he went through but instead he was humble and forgave

his brothers for their wrong doings.

Another Bible character that had faith in change was Abraham. Please turn with

me to Genesis 11 starting on 1. God calls for Abraham and tells him to take his family

and all his possessions, leave his country and go to a land God will show him. At the

time, Abraham was 75 years old so he could’ve easily started second guessing God and

tells him he chose the wrong person but instead had had faith in God and listened to him.

He packed his family and all of his possessions and set on a journey to Canaan.

Faith and change go hand and hand. In order to allow God to change you, you

have to have faith in Him. Job went through a series of terrible change. Job was a very

wealthy man. He had several children and owned countless animals. He had an amazing

relationship with God and shunned evil. He was known as the greatest man among all the

people in the East. Turn with me to Job 1, where we can read the story of Job starting on

verse 6. Satan and God talk about Job. God asks Satan in verse 8, “Have you considered

my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man

who fears God and shuns evil.” Satan replies, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you

not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed

the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But

now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to

your face.” The Lord gave Satan permission to do everything he has in his power to Job

but not to lay a finger on Job so that is exactly what Satan did. Job lost everything he had:

his children, his animals and everything he owned but he still remained faithful to God.
 All of these men went through a series of change but one thing they all had in

common was they were still faithful to God. As much as many people including myself

hate change, we would not grow as people if we never experienced change. As I

mentioned before, I went through so much change my junior year, but I don’t regret

going through it. I decided to spend six weeks as a camp counselor to regroup from my

junior year. Going to camp turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I made

new friends and grew mentally and spiritually. I am a very stubborn person and not

always the most forgiving person. I hate admitting when I am wrong, but going through

the changes I went through taught me that being stubborn was affecting my relationships

with others. I knew that there was no way for me to get through this if I did not accept

what was happening. I did not embrace the change and as a result, I struggled down the

road. It was really difficult for me to every admit that I was wrong about something but

now; I have learned that admitting I am wrong is okay. I’m not always going to be right. I

challenge you to instead of fearing the thought of change; you can embrace it and let it

change you for the better.

Sermon Notes

 My prayer

o “Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for another beautiful Sabbath

day. Please be with me today as I speak for the church today about

a topic I am very passionate about. Please speak through me and

allow me to touch someone’s heart today. In Jesus’ name, I pray.

Amen.

 Talk about how God changed me

o Experience at camp

o My junior year

 I wanted my life to go

 It changed me as a person

 I was not the same person I was 2 years ago

o How did Joseph grow?

 He was a more humble person

 How did Joseph solve his problems vs. how I solved mine

 After going through a tough year, I realized God made me go through all

of it to help me become a better and stronger person

o Just like Joseph, Job, and Abraham

 Going to camp changed me spiritually

 Faith and change go hand and hand

 What does it look like when someone grows because of change

 Bible verses about change

 o Deuteronomy 31: 6

o Ecclesiastes 3:1

o Hebrews 13:8

o Jeremiah 29:11

o Joshua 1:9

 Where I found my stories

o Joseph

 Genesis 37: 1-36

 Genesis 39: 1-23

 Genesis 40: 1-23

 Genesis 41: 1-56

 Genesis 42: 1-38

 Genesis 43: 1-34

o Abraham

 Genesis 12: 1-9

o Job

 Job 1

-Include verses

-Abraham: change and faith

-Job: change and faith

-What does it look like when someone grows because of change?

-How did Joseph grow?