This week, we will be exploring Genesis 32 together, Wrestling According to God.
Or perhaps it should more accurately be called Wresting with God.
Jacob literally wrestles God in this chapter.
It is a hard thing to imagine. In fact, most Jewish interpreters struggle to make any sense of this chapter. And it is the very chapter that explains where the name Israel came from!
Some see Genesis 32 as a dream or a vision. Some see it as a throwback to some kind of mythical battle against demons or "river gods." Some see it as an allegorical story on prayer or an inner psychological wrestling match in Jacob's own head.
But the text is clear: Jacob wrestled a Man whom he later realized was God. In fact, it had to be God because He is the one who blesses Jacob and changes his name. And Jacob had no doubt who had that kind of power, Yahweh Himself. That's why he stops in the morning to contemplate what just happened and he names the place, Peniel, "the face of God."
Jacob sees God's face...and lives.
Jacob wrestles God...and comes away with only a limp.
Jacob encounters the God-Man who would redeem his life and ultimately provide redemption for the whole world.
It's an amazing story...and one of the key chapters in the whole Old Testament.
And I think it is also the story of us all.
We are all "God wrestlers" to some degree. We are all "heelcatchers" trying to make life work on our own. And when we encounter God, He often feels like an antagonist, like someone trying to stop us from doing what we want or hinder us from having fun or interfere with our self-sufficient lives.
But in actuality, the God-Man is seeking to redeem us.
He is a Friend who comes to save.
And we have to learn to stop fighting Him and instead cling to Him alone.
That's when we find the blessing and receive a new name.
May God open our eyes to His truth and transform us into the image of His Son!

This week, we will be exploring Genesis 30:25-31:55 together, Hard Times According to God.
This is another passage that could be under the "Strange Stories in the Bible" category.
We have weird breeding strategies, a bunch of oddball sheep and goats, stolen household gods, a daring escape on camels, a showdown at Gilead, and Jacob's first country song.
It's better than any movie out there!
But in the midst of this crazy story, God is still at work. He is slowly molding and shaping Jacob into the man that He wants him to be. Jacob doesn't make this process easy but God is faithful to complete the work that He started in him.
Praise God...because we are not the easiest clay to mold either!
God takes Jacob through hard times, through his own "wilderness experience," to teach him to trust Him alone.
And there is much that we can learn from Jacob's story.
May God strengthen us day by day, give us peace in the midst of hard times, and fix our hope on the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ!

This week, we will be exploring Genesis 29:31-30:24 together, Dysfunction According to God.
"Wow! These people are messed up!"
I remember hearing that from a new believer who was reading through Genesis for the first time.
There are no real heroes in this passage of Scripture. Everyone fails on some level. You have an apathetic man. An unloved woman. An angry husband. An unhappy wife. Arguing parents. Neglected children. Sibling rivalry. Family conflict. Misused sex. Misused prayer. And misused people.
It is a messy, dysfunctional family filled with messy, dysfunctional people.
So what are we supposed to learn from all this? Why is this passage in the Scriptures? Why are God's people acting this way?
Welcome to reality!
All of us are dysfunctional. None of us "function," live, or love to the degree that God calls us to. We all fall short. And thus, every family, church, and community will reflect that dysfunction in some way.
All of us can find ourselves somewhere in this story...if we are willing to see.
And all of us desperately need God's amazing, abundant grace!
Even in this mess, God is at work behind the scenes, answering half-hearted prayers, showing love to the unloved, humbling the proud, encouraging the weak, healing the broken-hearted, and accomplishing His will in spite of the attitudes and actions of His people.
He redeems the mess for His glory.
And He redeems our mess when we are willing to humble our hearts, acknowledge our failures, seek His righteousness, and praise His name.
May God open our eyes to see our sinful ways and His amazing grace!

This week, we will be exploring Genesis 28:1-22 together, Grace According to God.
Grace, grace, God's grace.
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!
Grace is such a beautiful word and such a beautiful attribute of our God.
We see His grace in Jacob's life.
Jacob is a heelcatcher, a finagler, a deceiver, a coward.
There is not much "good" in him when we meet him in Genesis 25-27.
But God has a purpose for him and God pursues him despite himself.
Genesis 28 is a beautiful chapter of God's grace.
Alone, wandering, discouraged, uncertain, exhausted, fearful. Jacob does not know what is next in his life. He is on the run. From his brother, from his family, from God.
But in the middle of the darkness, God reveals His glory and His grace to Jacob. Jacob has a dream that reminds him that he is always in the presence of God and he is never too far for God to reach down to him.
He also has a revelation of the future glory and grace to be revealed in Jesus Christ!
May God open our eyes to His glory and His grace as we worship Him together this Sunday!

This week, we will be exploring Genesis 29:1-30 together, Disappointment According to God.
Have you ever felt disappointed in life?
Have you ever wondered why life hasn't turned out as you expected?
Have you ever faced the stark reality that the people, things, relationships, and circumstances of this world will never fully satisfy?
In Genesis 29, Jacob is about to get a big dose of reality. In fact, he is going to get a big dose of his own medicine.
Life has pretty much always worked out the way Jacob planned. He was able to finagle situations, make things work, use his smarts to get what he wanted. He was pretty self-confident in his own abilities.
But in Genesis 29, Jacob meets his match... Laban.
He also meets his match made in heaven... Rachel!
He is in love. He is smitten. He is excited about the future. He is walking on cloud nine. And then it all comes crashing down.
It is a major lesson in big disappointment.
And a major step in his growth in the Lord.
This Sunday, we will examine seven practical principles for life in Genesis 29 based on Jacob's experience in Haran.
May God open our eyes to the realities of this world--not so that we will live in disappointment--but so that we will put our hopes in the only One who can truly satisfy!

This week, we will be exploring Genesis 26:34-28:9 together, The Blessing According to God.
In many ways, this passage is a sad story.
Isaac and Rebekah's marriage appears to be in shambles.
Rebekah rules the roost.
Isaac is ruled by his palate.
Jacob deceives his own aged father.
Esau wants to kill Jacob.
This is the last time that we will see this family together.
But in the midst of the dysfunction, God's sovereignty and grace still function.
God overrides the foolish decisions of His people for His own redemptive purposes.
And His blessing is passed down from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob.
What is the blessing? Why is it important? And what does it mean for us today?
We will answer these questions on Sunday.
May God's blessing be poured out on us for His glory and our good!
Study guides will be available in the foyer this Sunday. A $5 donation will help cover the cost of printing. You can also access a digital file online by visiting the Digital Resources section of our website, 516church.org.

This week, we will be exploring Genesis 26:1-33 together, Digging Wells According to God.
I originally titled this chapter, "Flashback according to God." A strange title. But in Genesis 26, you really have an interruption in the narrative with a flashback to an earlier time in Isaac's marriage (before the twins) with many parallels to Abraham's life before the birth of Ishmael and Isaac.
Isaac follows in his father's footsteps in many ways...both good and bad.
But Genesis 26 as a whole focuses on Isaac digging wells.
Not the most relevant topic in today's world but a vital project when you live in the desert.
Isaac tries to restore Abraham's wells and digs four of his own--Esek, Sitnah, Rehoboth, and Shebah.
So what is the point of all these wells in Genesis 26?
Actually quite a lot.
In the midst of uncertainty, difficulty, and opposition, Isaac chooses to keep digging wells rather than building walls. He pursues peace. He learns to trust the Lord even in unfair circumstances. And he experiences greater and greater blessings from the Lord.
There is a message to all of us in Genesis 26. There is also a small glimpse into the conflict that is taking place in the Middle East even to this day.
May God fill us with His Spirit, give us His wisdom, guard our hearts with His peace, and empower us to serve Him!

This week, we will be exploring Genesis 25:29-34 together, Foolishness According to God.

Esau and Jacob are very different twins. Esau is hairy. Jacob is smooth. Esau is an outdoorsman. Jacob is an indoorsman. Esau is physically strong. Jacob is mentally strong. Esau is a fool. And Jacob is a heelcatcher who knows how to take advantage of a fool.

Genesis 25:29-34 is a strange passage in many ways. It is only six verses long but it packs massive implications for the story of Jacob and Esau. The birthright of the oldest son does not mean as much to us today but back then it meant everything, particularly in this case when the birthright is tied to the blessing of God.

Esau traded a treasure for a trifle.

He gave up the blessing for a bowl of soup.

He despised what was significant to get what was insignificant.

He put immediate gratification over enduring satisfaction in God.

Neither Esau nor Jacob are "heroes" in this story. Both are acting selfishly. But whereas Jacob is a finagler, Esau is a fool. And his foolishness exhibits a heart that is totally oblivious and obstinate toward God.

This week we will revisit the differences between Esau and Jacob and the struggles in the family. We will then examine the danger of putting the temporal over the eternal, of pursuing immediate gratification over enduring satisfaction in Christ.

May God fill us with His Spirit so that we will walk in His wisdom and pursue the things that really matter in this life and in eternity!