WEBVTT 00:00:02.580 --> 00:00:12.280 - Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons Podcast. 00:00:12.280 --> 00:00:14.840 We're so glad you chose to listen today. 00:00:14.840 --> 00:00:16.240 In this week's message, 00:00:16.240 --> 00:00:18.580 we explore the lives of Jacob and Esau, 00:00:18.580 --> 00:00:20.520 two brothers whose choices led them down 00:00:20.520 --> 00:00:22.140 very different paths. 00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:23.720 As we look at how God's blessings 00:00:23.720 --> 00:00:25.680 impacted their family's legacy, 00:00:25.680 --> 00:00:28.080 we're invited to reflect on our own journey of faith 00:00:28.080 --> 00:00:30.040 and what it means to be blessed by God 00:00:30.040 --> 00:00:31.840 and to be a blessing to others. 00:00:31.840 --> 00:00:32.840 Thanks for listening. 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:46.280 - Well, good morning. 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:47.800 If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, 00:00:47.800 --> 00:00:51.440 I want to invite you to join us in Genesis chapter 35. 00:00:51.440 --> 00:00:55.080 We're gonna start with verse 16 here in just a little bit. 00:00:55.080 --> 00:00:56.080 If you're a first time guest, 00:00:56.080 --> 00:00:57.360 I do thank you for being here. 00:00:57.360 --> 00:00:59.280 Thank you for worshiping with us. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:01.320 One small favor, if you wouldn't mind. 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:03.520 For all of the first time guests in the service, 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:06.640 we would love, my wife and I will be back here to my left. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.440 We would love for you to come back there 00:01:08.440 --> 00:01:09.520 and for us to meet you. 00:01:09.520 --> 00:01:11.420 We're nothing special, but you are. 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:13.000 And we want to be able to meet you, 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:15.240 to thank you, to learn your name. 00:01:15.240 --> 00:01:17.820 And if you do have any questions about Willow Ridge Church, 00:01:17.820 --> 00:01:20.800 we would love the opportunity to answer those for you. 00:01:20.800 --> 00:01:22.320 So if you wouldn't mind taking a couple minutes 00:01:22.320 --> 00:01:24.000 after the service is over with, 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.080 and we will be back there in the back. 00:01:26.080 --> 00:01:28.760 A couple of things, Harvest Hangout, it is tonight. 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:30.920 Want to encourage everyone to be there. 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:33.240 It is from five to 6.30. 00:01:33.240 --> 00:01:35.320 Wonderful time for us to gather together 00:01:35.320 --> 00:01:37.920 as a church family, fellowship together, 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:41.760 but then also how we can bless and be in ministry, 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.240 in partnership, and begin relationship 00:01:44.240 --> 00:01:45.700 with those in our community. 00:01:45.700 --> 00:01:47.440 So this is something for you to come to. 00:01:47.440 --> 00:01:49.080 Hopefully this is something that you've already 00:01:49.080 --> 00:01:51.440 been inviting, but for you to invite others to, 00:01:51.440 --> 00:01:54.680 and would love, love, love to spend time. 00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:59.680 There is candy, popcorn, hot dogs, and snow cones. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:06.280 No broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts. 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:09.560 All of this candy is organic and healthy, 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:13.280 and does not have anything processed in it, 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:14.520 just like the hot dogs. 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:17.420 All right, so glad that you guys can come 00:02:17.420 --> 00:02:18.800 and hang out with us. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:22.540 Do want to remind you, church, if you could be praying 00:02:22.540 --> 00:02:24.900 tonight after the Harvest Hangout, 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:28.500 about 22 men from our church, we will be leaving 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:30.540 and departing and heading up to Black Mount 00:02:30.540 --> 00:02:33.200 and Children's Home to serve for the better part 00:02:33.200 --> 00:02:34.040 of next week. 00:02:34.040 --> 00:02:37.620 We'll be returning on Thursday after lunchtime. 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:39.860 Please be in prayer for this team. 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:42.180 You know, it has been a wild week. 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:43.200 I'm so grateful. 00:02:43.200 --> 00:02:46.340 So many of our men have stepped up, not only to go, 00:02:46.340 --> 00:02:48.500 but when you find out that you're gonna do a mission trip 00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:50.060 seven days before you're supposed to leave, 00:02:50.060 --> 00:02:51.580 it can get a little overwhelming. 00:02:51.580 --> 00:02:54.220 And from everybody on staff to various men 00:02:54.220 --> 00:02:56.180 that have stepped up this week to help us plan 00:02:56.180 --> 00:02:58.820 and coordinate that, it's just been remarkable. 00:02:58.820 --> 00:03:02.280 And so many of you I know are prayers, 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:03.500 and will be praying for us. 00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:05.900 I want to encourage you to do that. 00:03:05.900 --> 00:03:08.620 The work there is daunting. 00:03:08.620 --> 00:03:11.060 There's a lot to be done, and we just count it 00:03:11.060 --> 00:03:13.540 as a privilege and an honor that God would choose us 00:03:13.540 --> 00:03:15.740 to have the opportunity to go up there and do that. 00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:18.340 So pray for us as we go up there to minister. 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:21.660 If you are a man who's going on the trip, 00:03:21.660 --> 00:03:24.420 just a reminder, we will meet in room 200, 00:03:24.420 --> 00:03:26.260 that's next door in building two, 00:03:26.260 --> 00:03:28.380 the large room on your right as you go in, 00:03:28.380 --> 00:03:32.180 for just a few minutes after the service is over with, 00:03:32.180 --> 00:03:34.700 just to make sure that we all have our details 00:03:34.700 --> 00:03:38.500 that we need so that we can leave out this evening. 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:40.940 Well, before we pray, I want to read this verse to you. 00:03:40.940 --> 00:03:44.300 In Ephesians chapter one, verse three, 00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:46.180 God's word says this. 00:03:46.180 --> 00:03:49.600 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:03:49.600 --> 00:03:53.260 who has blessed us in Christ, 00:03:53.260 --> 00:03:57.800 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 00:03:57.800 --> 00:03:59.960 Would you join me in prayer? 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:01.700 God, we come to you this morning thanking you 00:04:01.700 --> 00:04:03.620 for the wonderful privilege that we have 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:05.640 to open up your word. 00:04:05.640 --> 00:04:07.340 God, I echo what Pastor Dave said. 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:12.220 Word may in our worship, in our study, 00:04:12.220 --> 00:04:15.700 may we know that we are in the presence of the living God. 00:04:15.700 --> 00:04:18.660 God, do what you would do with us, 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:20.120 or speak through me. 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:22.940 If there's any part of this that is of me, 00:04:22.940 --> 00:04:26.900 Lord, remove it, so that you will be seen, 00:04:26.900 --> 00:04:28.820 so that you will be heard, 00:04:28.820 --> 00:04:31.040 and so that you will be glorified. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.720 In the name of Jesus, we pray, amen. 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:36.780 So if you're there with us, in just a moment, 00:04:36.780 --> 00:04:40.580 we're gonna start reading in Genesis 35, verse 16. 00:04:40.580 --> 00:04:42.020 We'll read all the way through. 00:04:42.020 --> 00:04:44.780 We come to, I think this is the third time so far 00:04:44.780 --> 00:04:46.420 over the book of Genesis that we come into 00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:49.820 one of these special passages of scripture, right? 00:04:49.820 --> 00:04:52.980 We see in chapter 36 at the very top, 00:04:52.980 --> 00:04:54.340 at least the top of my Bible, it says, 00:04:54.340 --> 00:04:58.540 Esau's descendants, it's the genealogy that we come to. 00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:00.860 And oftentimes within those, I think the lesson 00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:03.780 that we've learned is it's easy to skip over those. 00:05:03.780 --> 00:05:06.900 We'll get some final details here in 35, 00:05:06.900 --> 00:05:09.180 and then we'll get an abbreviated genealogy, 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:10.940 and then in chapter six, we're gonna get 00:05:10.940 --> 00:05:15.940 a very, very, very, very, very, very, very long genealogy. 00:05:15.940 --> 00:05:17.980 So here's what we're gonna do today. 00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:21.780 Today, we're gonna draw out what God has for us within this. 00:05:21.780 --> 00:05:23.820 I'm gonna go ahead and tell you, for those of you, 00:05:23.820 --> 00:05:26.060 I shared a couple weeks ago, we were saying, 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:27.460 hey, a genealogy's coming up. 00:05:27.460 --> 00:05:29.780 I'll be praying for me, 'cause we've got some names to read, 00:05:29.780 --> 00:05:31.540 and we're not necessarily naming our kids. 00:05:31.540 --> 00:05:34.380 A lot of these names, right, they haven't really taken off 00:05:34.380 --> 00:05:36.340 the way that maybe some of us thought that they would. 00:05:36.340 --> 00:05:41.100 And so, but we are not gonna go past 36, verse nine. 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:43.140 And so if you're curious, we'll kind of speak 00:05:43.140 --> 00:05:45.060 to what the rest of that is about. 00:05:45.060 --> 00:05:46.780 If you would like to read that, 00:05:46.780 --> 00:05:49.660 I definitely encourage you to. 00:05:49.660 --> 00:05:51.940 Next week, though, we're gonna be starting in, 00:05:51.940 --> 00:05:54.740 and excited about that, with looking at the life of Joseph, 00:05:54.740 --> 00:05:57.220 one of my favorite Old Testament people 00:05:57.220 --> 00:05:58.980 that we see in God's word. 00:05:58.980 --> 00:06:03.780 And so I encourage you to join us back next week 00:06:03.780 --> 00:06:04.660 as we go through that. 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:06.860 So let's start, Genesis 35, we're gonna read 00:06:06.860 --> 00:06:10.180 verses 16 through 21 as we get started. 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:14.040 Then they journeyed from Bethel. 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:19.820 When there were still some distance from Ephrath, 00:06:19.820 --> 00:06:23.920 Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:28.740 And when the labor was at its hardest, 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:32.220 the midwife said to her, do not fear, 00:06:32.220 --> 00:06:34.560 for you have another son. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:40.500 And as her soul was departing, for she was dying, 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:43.940 she called his name Benoia, 00:06:43.940 --> 00:06:45.700 but his father called him Benjamin. 00:06:45.700 --> 00:06:51.860 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, 00:06:51.860 --> 00:06:54.380 that is Bethlehem. 00:06:54.380 --> 00:06:59.520 And Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. 00:07:00.760 --> 00:07:02.460 It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, 00:07:02.460 --> 00:07:04.560 which is there to this day. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:09.980 Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:14.100 beyond the tower of Eder. 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:16.540 So here's what we see as they travel, 00:07:16.540 --> 00:07:20.260 this thing's important as we iron out the final details 00:07:20.260 --> 00:07:23.580 of this part of the history of God's people, 00:07:23.580 --> 00:07:24.700 the history of God's story, 00:07:24.700 --> 00:07:28.100 as we jump into the next part for Joseph. 00:07:28.100 --> 00:07:31.800 As they travel, Rachel, the favorite wife of Jacob, 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:34.880 goes into labor and gives birth to Benjamin, the 12th son. 00:07:34.880 --> 00:07:39.920 And now what we see is the 12 tribes, or Israel, are complete. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:41.800 We've seen the names leading up to, 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:46.660 but historically this is when we find the fullness of this. 00:07:46.660 --> 00:07:51.280 And as what will be a little bit of a theme in Genesis 35, 00:07:51.280 --> 00:07:52.900 in her giving birth, she dies. 00:07:52.900 --> 00:07:56.620 The next verse that we'll read in just a second, 00:07:56.620 --> 00:08:01.620 it's kind of a random, why is that verse there? 00:08:01.620 --> 00:08:03.620 Not a whole lot of commentary, 00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:06.560 we'll try to explain it a little bit. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:11.100 Verse 22, while Israel lived in that land, 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:17.360 Reuben went and lay with Bilhi, his father's concubine, 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:20.420 and Israel heard of it. 00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:23.260 So let's just kind of pause there. 00:08:23.260 --> 00:08:25.580 If this is your first Sunday with us, 00:08:25.580 --> 00:08:27.920 let me invite you into the dysfunction 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:31.540 that is oftentimes found in the families of Scripture, 00:08:31.540 --> 00:08:32.980 and this is one that we find. 00:08:32.980 --> 00:08:35.320 We will see that these families 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:37.200 have some really big problems, 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:38.960 and they will also continue to have 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:40.420 these really big problems. 00:08:40.420 --> 00:08:41.760 I don't know about your family, 00:08:41.760 --> 00:08:44.540 but there's things that we've seen so far in Scripture 00:08:44.540 --> 00:08:45.820 that are not necessarily the tendencies 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:47.540 that are happening in my family, 00:08:47.540 --> 00:08:50.800 but what we can draw from is the dysfunction that's there, 00:08:50.800 --> 00:08:51.980 the problems that are there, 00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:54.320 and the problems that continue. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:57.780 If you don't remember, Reuben is the son of Leah, 00:08:57.780 --> 00:09:01.460 Jacob's first wife, the one he was tricked into marrying, 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:06.140 and so sometime after Rachel, the preferred wife, dies, 00:09:06.140 --> 00:09:09.700 Jacob's firstborn son sleeps with his father's concubine 00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:11.720 who had born him children. 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:17.220 We continue on, now the sons of Jacob were 12. 00:09:17.220 --> 00:09:22.300 The sons of Leah, Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, 00:09:22.300 --> 00:09:27.300 Simeon, Levi, Judah, Iscar, Zebulun, 00:09:27.300 --> 00:09:30.780 the sons of Rachel, Joseph, and Benjamin, 00:09:30.780 --> 00:09:35.060 the sons of Vilha, Rachel's servants, Dan and Naphtali, 00:09:35.060 --> 00:09:39.220 the sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant, Gad and Asher, 00:09:39.220 --> 00:09:42.100 these were the sons of Jacob who were born to him 00:09:42.100 --> 00:09:43.860 and paddened them around. 00:09:43.860 --> 00:09:49.740 Verse 27, and Jacob came to his father Isaac and Mamre, 00:09:50.260 --> 00:09:53.060 and Kerath, that is Hebron, 00:09:53.060 --> 00:09:55.780 where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. 00:09:55.780 --> 00:09:59.220 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years, 00:09:59.220 --> 00:10:00.540 and Isaac breathed his last, 00:10:00.540 --> 00:10:03.420 and he died and was gathered to his people, 00:10:03.420 --> 00:10:05.180 old and full of days, 00:10:05.180 --> 00:10:10.720 and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:16.620 That's the end of chapter 25, 35. 00:10:16.620 --> 00:10:21.120 Isaac dies at the age of 180 years old. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:24.980 His two sons who have had animosity between them 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:28.620 but have come back together, 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:33.020 come back together again and they bury him. 00:10:33.020 --> 00:10:37.740 And what we see here in the life of Jacob 00:10:37.740 --> 00:10:42.740 is he's experiencing the deaths of two people 00:10:42.740 --> 00:10:45.940 that he's got some complicated relationships with. 00:10:46.940 --> 00:10:50.940 This isn't two relationships that he has 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:55.060 that neatly fit together. 00:10:55.060 --> 00:10:57.760 It's relationships with deceit, 00:10:57.760 --> 00:10:59.340 it's relationships with lying, 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:01.580 it's relationships with mistrust, 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:04.220 it's relationships with forgiveness, 00:11:04.220 --> 00:11:06.280 it's a relationship about coming together, 00:11:06.280 --> 00:11:08.620 it's relationships that have been torn apart. 00:11:08.620 --> 00:11:11.300 And we see this. 00:11:11.300 --> 00:11:12.940 And I think that the Bible here 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:15.060 is giving us some great reminders. 00:11:15.060 --> 00:11:17.860 I mean, it feels like, why is there so and so in the Bible 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:20.920 where it will say so and so lived a certain amount of time 00:11:20.920 --> 00:11:23.740 and then they died and then they lived and then they died 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:25.780 and they lived and then they died. 00:11:25.780 --> 00:11:28.700 And as a pastor, this might sound really morbid, 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:32.520 but it is a wonderful part of our scripture that we have 00:11:32.520 --> 00:11:35.420 because I believe what God is doing graciously 00:11:35.420 --> 00:11:37.940 through his word is reminding his people 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:41.340 who can sometimes begin to think that they're invincible, 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:43.820 who sometimes begin to think that every breath, 00:11:43.820 --> 00:11:46.340 that every moment isn't a blessing, isn't an honor, 00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:48.860 isn't a gift from God, we begin to think, 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:51.900 oh, sure, another day, another day, another day, 00:11:51.900 --> 00:11:55.420 I will live to be this, but it is the great reminder 00:11:55.420 --> 00:11:58.180 that at one point in time in the course of history 00:11:58.180 --> 00:12:00.500 that you and I, we will pass. 00:12:00.500 --> 00:12:07.760 And a group of people will gather in a space, 00:12:07.760 --> 00:12:09.820 sometimes small, sometimes large, 00:12:10.780 --> 00:12:13.580 they'll tell stories, they'll shed tears, 00:12:13.580 --> 00:12:21.460 and even oftentimes they'll look back and they'll remember 00:12:21.460 --> 00:12:24.540 and they'll talk. 00:12:24.540 --> 00:12:27.820 Last night, my family and I went in, 00:12:27.820 --> 00:12:30.300 yesterday was my mom's birthday. 00:12:30.300 --> 00:12:35.180 I've got in here her age. 00:12:35.180 --> 00:12:39.140 I'll ask for forgiveness later. 00:12:39.140 --> 00:12:42.700 My mom turned 69 years old yesterday. 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:44.940 We gathered in her house, we had a wonderful time, 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:47.440 and we started talking. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:52.740 And recently, we've had a family member that's passed, 00:12:52.740 --> 00:12:57.260 and in just typical conversation that comes up, 00:12:57.260 --> 00:12:59.620 which by the way, teenagers, 00:12:59.620 --> 00:13:04.900 I remember being your age a long time ago. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.320 And I remember thinking like, wow, 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:12.520 my parents and grandparents sure do talk about people 00:13:12.520 --> 00:13:14.140 who died a lot, right? 00:13:14.140 --> 00:13:18.800 And I used to like, why are we always talking about this? 00:13:18.800 --> 00:13:20.160 And then now I've come to that age 00:13:20.160 --> 00:13:23.160 where we just talk about people who died a lot. 00:13:23.160 --> 00:13:27.400 So extend us grace and you will be there one day as well. 00:13:27.400 --> 00:13:29.720 But we didn't just talk about this person that died, 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:33.320 we started talking about other individuals as well. 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:35.720 We talked about my grandfather, 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.900 who passed away over 20 years ago. 00:13:38.900 --> 00:13:42.240 We talked about my aunt who passed away 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.600 just a few years ago, this was her son who had passed, 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.160 and we began to share stories and have all of these things. 00:13:48.160 --> 00:13:51.800 And it's this reminder in here that in our life, 00:13:51.800 --> 00:13:54.560 there will come a point in time in a day 00:13:54.560 --> 00:13:57.760 where there's no tomorrow for the do-over, 00:13:57.760 --> 00:14:01.280 that there's no next hour to have that conversation, 00:14:01.280 --> 00:14:03.840 that there's no point in time where we can say, 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:06.760 well, you know what, next time I'll handle it this way, 00:14:06.760 --> 00:14:09.080 that there becomes a point in time in our life 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:13.880 where it's over and we pass. 00:14:13.880 --> 00:14:18.360 But in Christ, there's a hope for a future. 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:23.500 And without Christ, there's not a hope for a future. 00:14:29.280 --> 00:14:34.280 In having the opportunity to speak at a lot of funerals, 00:14:34.280 --> 00:14:38.880 I've noticed that one of the greatest compliments 00:14:38.880 --> 00:14:43.880 you can give someone, both in life or in their passing, 00:14:43.880 --> 00:14:49.800 is to say, you know, that person was blessed. 00:14:49.800 --> 00:14:55.600 Or if you're still living, you know, that person is blessed. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:57.920 It's a phrase that we use, 00:14:57.920 --> 00:15:00.040 it's used by people of faith, 00:15:00.040 --> 00:15:02.080 it's used by people not of faith, 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:04.680 it's used by religious people, it's used by Christians, 00:15:04.680 --> 00:15:07.280 it's used by those who aren't religious, 00:15:07.280 --> 00:15:10.840 but we use this word that so and so is blessed 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:12.680 or so and so was blessed. 00:15:12.680 --> 00:15:15.400 Now I believe that when the world speaks of that, 00:15:15.400 --> 00:15:18.840 what they often refer to and refer to someone as blessing 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:22.560 is they look at the production of their life 00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:24.080 and they see of what's there, 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:26.000 whether that's financial production, 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.280 whether that's influence production, 00:15:28.280 --> 00:15:30.160 whether that's family production 00:15:30.160 --> 00:15:32.600 and relationship production, 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:34.120 and they look at that and they say, 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.760 you know, that person is, based off of what I see 00:15:36.760 --> 00:15:39.200 of what they have done, that person is blessed 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:40.840 or that person was blessed. 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:43.100 But we as Christians also do that 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:46.280 and I think what we are doing is we're giving a summation, 00:15:46.280 --> 00:15:48.520 at least I hope we are, of that person, 00:15:48.520 --> 00:15:50.760 of what we see in their life, 00:15:50.760 --> 00:15:53.080 of what we see that they've produced, 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:55.600 but also what we know of them, 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:57.480 what we know of their story, 00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:00.360 what we know of them and their relationship with God 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:01.760 and what we see in that. 00:16:01.760 --> 00:16:06.240 And so we look at the summation of a person in their life, 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:08.680 of who they are, of what God has done in them, 00:16:08.680 --> 00:16:12.160 and while their finances might be overly exceeding, 00:16:12.160 --> 00:16:14.140 while their life might be filled with stress 00:16:14.140 --> 00:16:16.100 and with issues and all the factors of what's there, 00:16:16.100 --> 00:16:18.940 we can look at that and say, man, they're blessed. 00:16:18.940 --> 00:16:22.440 God blessed them. 00:16:23.680 --> 00:16:28.680 What we see so far in Scripture 00:16:28.680 --> 00:16:35.640 and what we've read in Ephesians 1 as we began this, 00:16:35.640 --> 00:16:40.640 that as a Christian, where our mine house to go 00:16:40.640 --> 00:16:46.680 is that our source of what it means to be blessed 00:16:46.680 --> 00:16:51.280 is found and is centered in our relationship with God. 00:16:52.820 --> 00:16:54.660 If I were to ask you, do you want to be blessed, 00:16:54.660 --> 00:16:56.600 you would say, absolutely. 00:16:56.600 --> 00:16:58.440 If you ask me, do you want to be blessed, 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:00.900 you bet that I do. 00:17:00.900 --> 00:17:05.900 But in Christianity, what we find is that our blessing 00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:10.300 is found in whose we are, 00:17:10.300 --> 00:17:13.340 not just in who we are. 00:17:13.340 --> 00:17:19.400 So Christianity teaches that who I belong to is Jesus. 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:21.960 I belong to him. 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:27.920 I am his, and the beauty of that is he is mine. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.720 And so from that determines, though, who I am. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:35.520 Who I belong to, Christ, determines who I am. 00:17:35.520 --> 00:17:36.880 It determines what I do. 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:38.300 It determines how I think. 00:17:38.300 --> 00:17:39.720 It determines how I speak. 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:41.360 It determines how I live my life. 00:17:41.360 --> 00:17:45.560 So if you see the overall sum and the production of my life, 00:17:45.560 --> 00:17:47.980 I hope what you see is whose I belong to, 00:17:47.980 --> 00:17:49.400 not just simply who I am. 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:52.360 In correct theology, you see, flips that. 00:17:52.360 --> 00:17:55.480 In correct theology, reverses that. 00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:57.560 In correct theology says who I am, what I do, 00:17:57.560 --> 00:18:00.560 how I think, how I speak, how I live my life, 00:18:00.560 --> 00:18:02.380 then determines who I belong to. 00:18:02.380 --> 00:18:07.520 So act right, do right, live right, belong to God. 00:18:07.520 --> 00:18:10.360 Act right, do right, live right, become blessed. 00:18:10.360 --> 00:18:12.000 Act right, do right, believe right, 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:13.340 well, this is what we have. 00:18:13.340 --> 00:18:15.040 But what we find and what we know is that 00:18:15.040 --> 00:18:19.600 who I belong to matters. 00:18:19.600 --> 00:18:25.160 It's been the story that we see as we've slowly 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:28.400 and methodically begin to work our way through Genesis. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:29.800 It's why chapters like this matter, 00:18:29.800 --> 00:18:32.520 as we take a step back and we look 00:18:32.520 --> 00:18:35.640 from one generation to the next. 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:39.740 You see, Jacob doesn't pass here, 00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:42.400 but we see a movement of what's next. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:47.400 From Scripture, we've seen with Adam and Eve 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:51.460 in Genesis 1, 22, and God blessed them, 00:18:51.460 --> 00:18:55.200 saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:56.600 "and fill the waters and the seas, 00:18:56.600 --> 00:19:01.000 "and let the birds multiply on earth." 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:04.360 Right, the blessing of God coming in this 00:19:04.360 --> 00:19:08.200 perfect relationship of whose they were. 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:11.440 And God blessed them. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:13.400 It's not that they did something and then got blessed. 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:14.600 God says, "No, no, no, here's what I'm gonna do. 00:19:14.600 --> 00:19:15.700 "I'm gonna bless you." 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:19.320 We see in the call of Abraham where this story 00:19:19.320 --> 00:19:22.500 began for us and seeing this genealogy 00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:24.360 come all the way through to now, 00:19:24.360 --> 00:19:25.680 we found ourself for the grandson, 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:27.720 and we'll see ourself in the great grandson 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:31.240 here in next week, Genesis 12, verses two and three. 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:32.640 The blessing of God to Abraham, 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:34.620 "And I will make you a great nation, 00:19:34.620 --> 00:19:39.560 "and I will bless you and make your name great." 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:41.760 For a purpose and a reason, 00:19:41.760 --> 00:19:43.840 "So that you will be a blessing. 00:19:43.840 --> 00:19:46.540 "I will bless those who bless you, 00:19:46.540 --> 00:19:51.200 "and him who dishonors you I will curse. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:56.200 "And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 00:19:56.200 --> 00:20:01.380 There's this layer of obedience that Abraham is called to. 00:20:01.380 --> 00:20:04.400 There's this layer of obedience of what we've studied, 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.320 of what we've seen, and what we'll continue to see, 00:20:06.320 --> 00:20:09.200 that we see in the life of God's people, of what's there, 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:12.840 but we have to understand that what God is doing, 00:20:12.840 --> 00:20:15.920 what God has done, what God has set in place, 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:17.620 what God is orchestrating. 00:20:17.620 --> 00:20:20.880 Because of what we're finding in these chapters, 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:25.880 and it's why, and I hope you're enjoying this study 00:20:25.880 --> 00:20:29.480 as much as you can with me as we work through Genesis, 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:31.080 because it's telling the story of what we'll see 00:20:31.080 --> 00:20:32.360 and what we'll be coming to understand 00:20:32.360 --> 00:20:33.360 all throughout the Old Testament, 00:20:33.360 --> 00:20:35.560 all throughout the New Testament. 00:20:35.560 --> 00:20:37.320 It's the story of what God's doing. 00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:39.680 It's the story of God's name. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:42.560 It's the story of God's people. 00:20:42.560 --> 00:20:45.280 It's the story of God creating for himself a people. 00:20:45.280 --> 00:20:47.600 It's the story of God mobilizing a people. 00:20:47.600 --> 00:20:50.200 It's the story of the proclamation of God's people. 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:51.520 And it's the story of God. 00:20:51.520 --> 00:20:54.200 It's not the story of me, and it's not the story of you, 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:55.160 and it's not the story of Abraham, 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:57.280 but it's the story of God. 00:20:57.280 --> 00:20:59.560 And so from the very beginning, 00:20:59.560 --> 00:21:02.680 what we see is the blessing that blesses. 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:05.460 The blessing that blesses. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.800 God comes to Abraham, and he says, 00:21:09.800 --> 00:21:12.160 "I'm gonna make you a great nation." 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:16.360 He says, "As many as the stars in the sky. 00:21:16.360 --> 00:21:20.480 "I'm gonna make you a great nation, many people. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:23.340 "I'm gonna make," God says, "I'm gonna make within you. 00:21:23.340 --> 00:21:26.060 "I'm gonna make your name great." 00:21:26.060 --> 00:21:29.160 God's gonna change it because before his name was Abraham, 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:31.520 and his name's gonna become Abraham. 00:21:31.520 --> 00:21:33.720 He's gonna become Father Abraham. 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:36.320 He's the Abraham that we see in Scripture, 00:21:36.320 --> 00:21:39.600 and that others will know as they study the story of God. 00:21:39.600 --> 00:21:43.840 God says, "I'm gonna give you great protection. 00:21:43.840 --> 00:21:46.460 "I'm gonna bless those who bless you, 00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:49.160 "and curse those who dishonor you." 00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:54.240 And God says, "All of this is for a purpose." 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:56.880 Not so that in this, so that Abraham can build 00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:59.760 within himself the sense of morality, 00:21:59.760 --> 00:22:02.800 the sense of his kingdom, that Abraham can build 00:22:02.800 --> 00:22:07.760 for himself, for his greater name to expand his borders. 00:22:07.760 --> 00:22:09.400 But God says, "I'm gonna do all of this 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:11.920 "for this great calling." 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:14.160 It's the part of this that can be easily missed. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:17.060 It's the part of this that can be intentionally ignored. 00:22:17.060 --> 00:22:19.280 It's the part of this that we can forget 00:22:19.280 --> 00:22:23.120 and move beyond from, but this great calling. 00:22:23.120 --> 00:22:26.000 God says that you will be a blessing. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:29.160 It's not just to receive the blessing, 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:31.280 but it's to be the blessing, 00:22:31.280 --> 00:22:36.280 and from this, all families will be blessed. 00:22:36.280 --> 00:22:41.400 And as we look at a transition from one generation 00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:46.400 to the next, of what we've seen from Abraham 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:51.960 to Isaac to Jacob, we can't ignore the fact 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.000 that this doesn't end with Abraham. 00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:58.420 This isn't a nation that ends. 00:22:58.420 --> 00:23:01.960 This isn't a business that closes. 00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:04.800 It's not a strategy that fails. 00:23:04.800 --> 00:23:11.200 And so if we were to jump, as right now, 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:16.360 there's this strange assortment at Lowe's 00:23:16.360 --> 00:23:22.240 of Happy Halloween and Merry Christmas as you walk in. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:27.120 It's like, I don't even know what's what anymore 00:23:27.120 --> 00:23:28.440 as we walk in. 00:23:28.440 --> 00:23:34.760 I did see at Costco, though, for some of our young families, 00:23:34.760 --> 00:23:39.760 they've got Christmas inflatables of Bluey's whole family. 00:23:39.760 --> 00:23:44.400 So I waited 'til your kids were out, 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:46.240 and now you can go and buy those, right? 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:49.380 All right, we see this. 00:23:49.380 --> 00:23:53.480 God calls Abraham, and to Abraham and Sarah, 00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:57.400 he promises Isaac, and God fulfills, 00:23:57.400 --> 00:24:03.800 and God is faithful, and then God blesses 00:24:03.800 --> 00:24:09.080 them with Jacob and Esau, and then from that, 00:24:09.080 --> 00:24:14.080 God chooses Jacob, and then God names Jacob. 00:24:14.080 --> 00:24:18.680 God names him Israel. 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:22.880 We see the plan of God of working and moving 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:24.640 and the formation of his people, 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:27.400 his people that he promised to bless, to be a blessing. 00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:33.000 And if we jump forward, the reason that somehow 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:34.880 I ended up at Lowe's and Bluey, 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:42.000 the oncoming of Christmas, we see in God's word 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:45.400 that from the lineage, from the names that we just read, 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:50.400 from the tribe of Judah, God sends Jesus. 00:24:51.320 --> 00:24:53.480 God sends Jesus. 00:24:53.480 --> 00:24:59.440 A family to be a blessing. 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:06.320 A family that was blessed for a purpose and a reason. 00:25:06.320 --> 00:25:12.680 And we all see this movement. 00:25:12.680 --> 00:25:16.280 We all see this trajectory. 00:25:16.280 --> 00:25:18.800 We've got the beauty of it that we know the beginning 00:25:18.800 --> 00:25:21.840 and we know the end, and we know the details in between. 00:25:21.840 --> 00:25:26.780 And none of this is found in the goodness of Abraham. 00:25:26.780 --> 00:25:32.280 None of this is found in the faithfulness of Isaac. 00:25:32.280 --> 00:25:37.400 None of this is found in the consistent morality of Jacob. 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:42.120 But as the story of Scripture, it's found 00:25:42.120 --> 00:25:45.400 in the holiness of God and in the plan of God. 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:48.160 But we see this family. 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:53.320 We see this family that's called to be, 00:25:53.320 --> 00:25:55.960 that is blessed to be a blessing. 00:25:55.960 --> 00:26:00.160 And as we look through, so this is the theological pieces 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:03.880 that we draw from this, but what does it mean 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:07.040 when we look at, and we look at our family? 00:26:07.040 --> 00:26:10.040 And I'm not just talking about those of you 00:26:10.040 --> 00:26:13.160 that are married, with kids. 00:26:14.520 --> 00:26:17.640 I'm talking about the family that we have of some of those, 00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:20.040 it is that dynamic within your family, 00:26:20.040 --> 00:26:22.160 but some of you, it's different within that, 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:24.920 of what does it mean to be a blessed individual? 00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:27.440 What does it mean to be blessed 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:29.600 so that we can be a blessing to others? 00:26:29.600 --> 00:26:31.540 What does that mean within our life, 00:26:31.540 --> 00:26:35.640 that when I am his, 00:26:35.640 --> 00:26:41.160 what are some of those markings that I see? 00:26:41.160 --> 00:26:45.760 What are some of those identifiers that reassure me 00:26:45.760 --> 00:26:49.920 and that push my heart and my life 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:53.180 to greater devotion for him? 00:26:53.180 --> 00:26:56.280 And I think we see some of these 00:26:56.280 --> 00:27:01.320 as we've been journeying through chapter 12 now, 00:27:01.320 --> 00:27:02.720 through chapter 35. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:06.640 And as we've talked about and as we've seen, 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:10.320 we're not talking about a perfect family. 00:27:11.320 --> 00:27:13.920 But we're talking about a family that God has chosen. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:16.480 We're talking about a family 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:18.880 that finds their identity in him. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:22.860 We are talking about a family of faith. 00:27:22.860 --> 00:27:25.600 So what does that look like? 00:27:25.600 --> 00:27:27.280 What have we seen? 00:27:27.280 --> 00:27:28.580 The first thing that I think we've seen 00:27:28.580 --> 00:27:31.360 from 12 to 35 is this. 00:27:31.360 --> 00:27:33.760 We see a believing family. 00:27:33.760 --> 00:27:35.500 We see a believing family. 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:39.000 You know, they were not a perfect family, 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:42.840 but they were a believing family. 00:27:42.840 --> 00:27:45.120 What does it mean to be believing? 00:27:45.120 --> 00:27:47.960 It means they trusted, they had faith, 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:51.160 they talked, they knew. 00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:54.180 There was a confidence that was there. 00:27:54.180 --> 00:27:58.580 There was a determination that was rooted within them 00:27:58.580 --> 00:28:02.500 of who he was and therefore who they are. 00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:04.760 Well, let's not miss, if you were to go all the way back 00:28:04.760 --> 00:28:08.360 to Genesis chapter 12, what we find is that Abraham 00:28:08.360 --> 00:28:10.080 was not a pastor's kid. 00:28:10.080 --> 00:28:13.640 Abraham did not come from a family of missionaries. 00:28:13.640 --> 00:28:16.160 Abraham did not come from a family of priests. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:19.240 Abraham did not come from a family, from a land, 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:22.040 from a people who knew God and worshiped him. 00:28:22.040 --> 00:28:26.040 That God chose for himself this pagan man 00:28:26.040 --> 00:28:29.440 from a pagan family, from a pagan nation, 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.600 and then God says, hey, hey, just really quick, 00:28:31.600 --> 00:28:33.300 here's what I'm gonna do with you. 00:28:33.300 --> 00:28:37.400 And I know you don't know and I know you don't understand, 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:40.200 but here's what you gotta do, you gotta believe. 00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:41.600 You gotta believe. 00:28:41.600 --> 00:28:43.520 He said, I think for so many of us, 00:28:43.520 --> 00:28:47.480 what we're trying to grab a hold of, to hold on to, 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:51.200 is a full comprehension of what it means to follow God 00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:52.440 and still sitting there and saying, 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:55.880 well, no, no, no, no, I just gotta have faith like a child. 00:28:55.880 --> 00:28:57.960 I gotta have faith for this next step. 00:28:57.960 --> 00:28:59.920 I've gotta have a faith for this next piece. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:02.760 I just gotta believe, I gotta believe, I gotta believe. 00:29:02.760 --> 00:29:06.320 And while knowing is great, man, study God's word, 00:29:06.320 --> 00:29:09.280 dive into it, consume as much of it as you can, 00:29:09.280 --> 00:29:12.400 read books, listen to messages, ask questions, 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:14.780 do all those things, where it begins is with faith, 00:29:14.780 --> 00:29:16.480 where it begins is with believing. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:21.840 And as you lead in your life, as you lead in your family, 00:29:21.840 --> 00:29:25.480 as you lead in this world of what it means to be blessed, 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:28.760 may what marks you above all things 00:29:28.760 --> 00:29:33.800 is that you believe. 00:29:33.800 --> 00:29:36.080 Believe. 00:29:37.080 --> 00:29:39.600 Believe in God. 00:29:39.600 --> 00:29:42.180 Believe in Christ. 00:29:42.180 --> 00:29:45.680 And then from this, what we have seen, 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:50.040 what we will see is they're a following family. 00:29:50.040 --> 00:29:51.400 They're a following family. 00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:57.840 Now, they were a family who wandered. 00:29:57.840 --> 00:30:02.360 From Genesis 12 to Genesis 35, 00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:07.800 they're a family who moved and who moved a lot. 00:30:07.800 --> 00:30:11.140 Physically, they wandered. 00:30:11.140 --> 00:30:15.480 And what's amazing with that is what Scripture does 00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:19.440 is it takes their physical wanderings from Abraham, 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:23.440 from Isaac, from Jacob, and connects their physical 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:26.260 wanderings to their spiritual wanderings. 00:30:26.260 --> 00:30:32.220 You know, they weren't always neat and buttoned up. 00:30:33.220 --> 00:30:38.220 They weren't always the individuals in the family 00:30:38.220 --> 00:30:40.460 who got it right. 00:30:40.460 --> 00:30:43.620 They weren't always the ones who sought 00:30:43.620 --> 00:30:48.620 and who desired to always follow God in all things. 00:30:48.620 --> 00:30:52.140 Now, I don't know about you, but when I look at my life, 00:30:52.140 --> 00:30:54.260 when I look at my family, when I look at those things, 00:30:54.260 --> 00:30:58.940 while the desire is there, the litmus test of what lines up, 00:30:58.940 --> 00:31:01.540 it isn't lining up 100% of the time. 00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:05.940 But they were a following family. 00:31:05.940 --> 00:31:12.660 But even in their wandering, when God called them back, 00:31:12.660 --> 00:31:20.380 their desire above all things was not an explanation 00:31:20.380 --> 00:31:25.140 of practices, but was a desire to join Him. 00:31:25.140 --> 00:31:29.160 Again, where you are in your life, 00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:35.180 where you've wandered, is your desire to follow. 00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:39.340 The third thing that we see from this family 00:31:39.340 --> 00:31:43.040 is they were a worshiping family. 00:31:43.040 --> 00:31:45.520 They were a worshiping family. 00:31:45.520 --> 00:31:48.620 They were a family who had idols, 00:31:48.620 --> 00:31:51.920 but they were also a family who built altars. 00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:57.740 I love this, that when we see so many times 00:31:57.740 --> 00:32:00.980 in Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, 00:32:00.980 --> 00:32:03.780 when these moments happened, when God showed up, 00:32:03.780 --> 00:32:07.040 now, there wasn't a church for them. 00:32:07.040 --> 00:32:10.420 There wasn't a temple to go to. 00:32:10.420 --> 00:32:14.780 There wasn't an organized form of what was there 00:32:14.780 --> 00:32:16.600 for them to partake in. 00:32:16.600 --> 00:32:21.740 But in their moments of life, as they journeyed through, 00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:24.980 they would build altars, they would establish places, 00:32:24.980 --> 00:32:27.580 they would remember back on God's faithfulness, 00:32:27.580 --> 00:32:29.820 they would say things about Him, 00:32:29.820 --> 00:32:32.820 they would talk about who they know Him to be, 00:32:32.820 --> 00:32:36.100 that in these pieces that they would worship Him. 00:32:36.100 --> 00:32:37.440 Now, they were a family, if you don't remember 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.740 from last week, as they get ready to move, 00:32:39.740 --> 00:32:42.140 as God's dealing with Jacob and the things 00:32:42.140 --> 00:32:43.660 that are going on in Jacob's life, 00:32:43.660 --> 00:32:46.180 that He calls Jacob and his family to get rid of the idols, 00:32:46.180 --> 00:32:48.300 and Jacob's like, hey, hey, well, here's what we gotta do. 00:32:48.300 --> 00:32:51.100 Like, we know, we acknowledge there's some idols, 00:32:51.100 --> 00:32:52.500 but we're called to worship God, 00:32:52.500 --> 00:32:55.460 we're called to follow Him, we're called to believe in Him, 00:32:55.460 --> 00:32:57.420 and so what we do is we gotta cast out the idols 00:32:57.420 --> 00:32:59.920 so that we can worship Him. 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:02.460 And I don't know about you, but sometimes 00:33:02.460 --> 00:33:07.460 when I come into worship, the preventative peace in my life 00:33:07.460 --> 00:33:10.500 that is pausing me from experiencing 00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:12.820 the blessing that is worship, 00:33:12.820 --> 00:33:16.460 it's not the performance of a song, 00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:18.980 but it's the idol of my heart. 00:33:18.980 --> 00:33:24.100 And what I've gotta do is I've gotta get rid of the idols 00:33:24.100 --> 00:33:26.020 so that I can worship the Creator. 00:33:26.860 --> 00:33:28.100 I've gotta get rid of the idols 00:33:28.100 --> 00:33:31.780 so that I can worship the one and true and holy God. 00:33:31.780 --> 00:33:36.860 And then what we see from this family 00:33:36.860 --> 00:33:40.620 is that they were a forgiving family. 00:33:40.620 --> 00:33:47.100 I believe that this, what we find in this family 00:33:47.100 --> 00:33:52.160 is a family who often fell short, 00:33:53.860 --> 00:33:58.760 but who passionately knew grace. 00:33:58.760 --> 00:34:04.960 They were forgiven and they forgave. 00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:08.160 Time and time again. 00:34:08.160 --> 00:34:12.660 Did you hear what they did? 00:34:12.660 --> 00:34:16.060 Did you see what they were a part of? 00:34:16.060 --> 00:34:22.420 It becomes more and more difficult 00:34:23.420 --> 00:34:28.420 for me to hold animosity to those 00:34:28.420 --> 00:34:34.380 who have sinned against me 00:34:34.380 --> 00:34:39.720 when I understand my sin against God. 00:34:39.720 --> 00:34:48.060 That every sin is an offense at the very least 00:34:48.900 --> 00:34:53.900 is an offense at the very character 00:34:53.900 --> 00:35:00.460 and nature of a holy God. 00:35:00.460 --> 00:35:07.260 And He, in my offense, 00:35:07.260 --> 00:35:12.460 not just loves me through it, 00:35:12.460 --> 00:35:16.940 not just forgives me in spite of it, 00:35:17.780 --> 00:35:22.780 but who made a sacrifice because of me. 00:35:22.780 --> 00:35:30.820 I watch families, I watch individuals 00:35:30.820 --> 00:35:37.540 who fail in living in the blessing of forgiveness 00:35:37.540 --> 00:35:45.380 because they harbor, they harbor the sin of anger. 00:35:45.780 --> 00:35:50.780 They take on themselves and ignore 00:35:50.780 --> 00:35:54.980 what has been given to them. 00:35:54.980 --> 00:36:01.720 So we see this family in the midst 00:36:01.720 --> 00:36:07.520 of all that's gone on, a faithful God 00:36:07.520 --> 00:36:09.620 who is working and moving. 00:36:09.620 --> 00:36:12.220 We see that same continual story 00:36:12.220 --> 00:36:15.420 of a faithful God who saves His people, 00:36:15.420 --> 00:36:17.740 a faithful God who calls His people, 00:36:17.740 --> 00:36:20.460 and a faithful God who blesses 00:36:20.460 --> 00:36:23.460 so that they will be a blessing. 00:36:23.460 --> 00:36:27.420 But there's another brother. 00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:33.080 You see, the end of 35 is with Jacob, 00:36:33.080 --> 00:36:39.340 but then 36, all of 36 is with Esau. 00:36:40.180 --> 00:36:45.180 Two brothers, twins. 00:36:45.180 --> 00:36:49.340 I know a little bit about twins. 00:36:49.340 --> 00:36:52.280 They're fantastic. 00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:57.100 But we see this dynamic of what's there. 00:36:57.100 --> 00:37:01.900 So let's just read the first nine verses. 00:37:01.900 --> 00:37:03.460 I think the first nine verses tell us 00:37:03.460 --> 00:37:06.040 what we need to know from this chapter. 00:37:07.860 --> 00:37:12.860 These are the generations of Esau that is Edom. 00:37:12.860 --> 00:37:20.380 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites. 00:37:20.380 --> 00:37:26.100 Ada, the daughter of Lan, the Hittite. 00:37:26.100 --> 00:37:30.860 Oholabamah, the daughter of Anah, 00:37:30.860 --> 00:37:33.700 the daughter of Zibion, the Hivite. 00:37:34.740 --> 00:37:39.740 And Basmuth, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. 00:37:39.740 --> 00:37:46.300 And Ada bore to Esau Eliphaz. 00:37:46.300 --> 00:37:51.380 Basmuth bore Reuel. 00:37:51.380 --> 00:37:57.380 And Oholabamah bore Jeush, Jalem, and Korah. 00:37:57.380 --> 00:38:03.660 These are the sons of Esau who were born to him 00:38:03.780 --> 00:38:04.980 in the land of Canaan. 00:38:04.980 --> 00:38:11.380 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, 00:38:11.380 --> 00:38:16.900 in all the members of his household. 00:38:16.900 --> 00:38:21.260 His livestock, all his beasts, and all his property 00:38:21.260 --> 00:38:23.940 that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. 00:38:23.940 --> 00:38:26.700 And he went into a land away from his brother Jacob. 00:38:26.700 --> 00:38:30.140 For their possessions were too great 00:38:30.140 --> 00:38:32.000 for them to dwell together. 00:38:32.980 --> 00:38:36.060 The land of their sojournings could not support them 00:38:36.060 --> 00:38:38.420 because of their livestock. 00:38:38.420 --> 00:38:44.780 So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. 00:38:44.780 --> 00:38:50.140 These are the generations of Esau, 00:38:50.140 --> 00:38:56.300 the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. 00:38:56.300 --> 00:39:01.120 It's very interesting. 00:39:02.020 --> 00:39:06.260 When you study and when you look at genealogies, 00:39:06.260 --> 00:39:12.180 it's interesting to see not just who people came from, 00:39:12.180 --> 00:39:16.020 but where people came from. 00:39:16.020 --> 00:39:18.880 To be able to track and to be able to look at, 00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:21.380 and there's been a, I would argue, 00:39:21.380 --> 00:39:23.540 maybe a billion dollar industry, right, 00:39:23.540 --> 00:39:26.580 going on with the genetic tracing of what people can do 00:39:26.580 --> 00:39:28.060 so they can find out these things about them. 00:39:28.060 --> 00:39:30.260 This is something that we've been interested in 00:39:30.260 --> 00:39:32.100 and that we've had. 00:39:32.100 --> 00:39:33.500 But what scripture points us to 00:39:33.500 --> 00:39:38.500 is if Jacob's lineage will take us to Jesus, 00:39:38.500 --> 00:39:40.980 a family chosen, a family blessed, 00:39:40.980 --> 00:39:43.980 a family blessed to be a blessing, 00:39:43.980 --> 00:39:46.220 a family that we see these characteristics with, 00:39:46.220 --> 00:39:49.900 that we see them coming from not what they've decided 00:39:49.900 --> 00:39:52.340 in and of themselves to be, but whose they are, 00:39:52.340 --> 00:39:55.620 which then influences who they are. 00:39:55.620 --> 00:39:56.460 What about Esau? 00:39:56.460 --> 00:39:59.720 What about his twin brother? 00:40:00.680 --> 00:40:03.760 Same house, same parents, same teaching, same standards. 00:40:03.760 --> 00:40:07.680 I remember there's some dysfunction that's happening there. 00:40:07.680 --> 00:40:11.720 But what we're gonna see different. 00:40:11.720 --> 00:40:18.800 We see Jacob to Jesus and what we see here is Esau 00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:23.100 to the Edomites. 00:40:23.100 --> 00:40:26.960 You know, that doesn't mean anything to me. 00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:30.400 When we look at history, there's some things 00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:33.200 that we understand about the Edomites. 00:40:33.200 --> 00:40:38.240 The Edomites were not for God's people, 00:40:38.240 --> 00:40:39.640 but opposed to God's people. 00:40:39.640 --> 00:40:43.240 And if you follow the lineage, 00:40:43.240 --> 00:40:48.500 there's a man who's born whose father 00:40:48.500 --> 00:40:52.100 is from the line of Esau. 00:40:52.100 --> 00:40:57.920 This man will play a role in scripture, 00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:00.100 particularly in this season of time 00:41:00.100 --> 00:41:02.800 that we're gonna be talking about here in the next few weeks 00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:05.540 as the Christmas season approaches. 00:41:05.540 --> 00:41:10.280 It's a man who also, as we know King Jesus, 00:41:10.280 --> 00:41:13.000 it'll also be a man who's given the title of King. 00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:17.040 But it's not King Jesus, it is King Herod. 00:41:17.040 --> 00:41:21.720 We'll read a story in Matthew chapter two. 00:41:21.720 --> 00:41:26.480 He's the king who has the encounter with the wise men. 00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:30.080 He's the king who feels threatened by the coming Messiah. 00:41:30.080 --> 00:41:31.960 He's the king who orders the death 00:41:31.960 --> 00:41:36.960 of all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two. 00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:40.820 But Mary and Joseph escape with Jesus. 00:41:40.820 --> 00:41:46.280 And I believe what God is painting for us, 00:41:46.280 --> 00:41:48.960 of what we see, of what we understand, 00:41:48.960 --> 00:41:53.960 is this picture of Jacob who wandered and returned 00:41:56.300 --> 00:42:01.300 but we see this story of Esau who broke and never went back. 00:42:01.300 --> 00:42:10.200 We see that in the land that God had called Jacob to be, 00:42:10.200 --> 00:42:14.820 that there wasn't enough resources, 00:42:14.820 --> 00:42:17.840 there wasn't enough things that were there for them 00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:20.140 and so Esau broke. 00:42:21.600 --> 00:42:26.360 And we see the difference in two families. 00:42:26.360 --> 00:42:31.000 You don't have to look just at Herod 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:32.300 to understand the plight, 00:42:32.300 --> 00:42:37.000 but look at the foundation of what was laid. 00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:40.860 While we saw a family of faith, we see a faithless family. 00:42:40.860 --> 00:42:42.560 We see here in the very beginning 00:42:42.560 --> 00:42:44.400 from these passages of scripture 00:42:44.400 --> 00:42:45.900 in these verses in chapter 36, 00:42:45.900 --> 00:42:48.220 we see a faithless family that would embrace culture 00:42:48.220 --> 00:42:51.940 over God, who married pagan women of the land. 00:42:51.940 --> 00:42:56.860 He simply did what seemed right to him and to the people. 00:42:56.860 --> 00:42:58.740 You see, we gotta be careful 00:42:58.740 --> 00:43:00.980 because certain points in times in your life 00:43:00.980 --> 00:43:03.140 and in my life, there are things that happen 00:43:03.140 --> 00:43:05.780 and things that exist and what culture will tell us 00:43:05.780 --> 00:43:07.860 is right and good because culture decides 00:43:07.860 --> 00:43:10.020 that it's right and good, 00:43:10.020 --> 00:43:12.420 but yet God's word stands in opposition of that. 00:43:12.420 --> 00:43:17.580 But for Esau, what he'd seen and what he had heard 00:43:17.580 --> 00:43:20.460 of, what even times he'd experienced wasn't enough. 00:43:20.460 --> 00:43:23.860 So the foundation was faithless. 00:43:23.860 --> 00:43:28.860 What we see is a disobedient family. 00:43:28.860 --> 00:43:35.060 My kids will turn 17 in four months 00:43:35.060 --> 00:43:39.220 and as you guys know, I have a hard time 00:43:39.220 --> 00:43:40.940 with a lot of things. 00:43:40.940 --> 00:43:43.420 Lately, I've been journeying back and forth 00:43:43.420 --> 00:43:48.420 into the memories of my phone to look back 00:43:48.420 --> 00:43:52.180 and see pictures of my kids. 00:43:52.180 --> 00:43:56.060 One of the things that my kids love to do 00:43:56.060 --> 00:44:01.060 as a young age was take selfies of themselves. 00:44:01.060 --> 00:44:04.780 I guess in their young mind, they didn't know 00:44:04.780 --> 00:44:07.660 that there's this thing called the cloud 00:44:07.660 --> 00:44:10.900 and those pictures will be saved for all time. 00:44:11.740 --> 00:44:14.580 I found, Emma was about seven, 00:44:14.580 --> 00:44:18.020 I don't know where we were, 00:44:18.020 --> 00:44:21.940 but she snapped a portfolio of pictures on my phone 00:44:21.940 --> 00:44:25.260 that I just had a wonderful time 00:44:25.260 --> 00:44:27.460 of reminding her about last night. 00:44:27.460 --> 00:44:34.420 As they get older, the season of life 00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:37.980 that we find ourself in is there was a season 00:44:37.980 --> 00:44:42.700 where we told our kids, this is what you must do. 00:44:42.700 --> 00:44:47.600 And we're walking into a season, 00:44:47.600 --> 00:44:51.420 don't get me wrong, on some things we tell, 00:44:51.420 --> 00:44:54.060 on a lot of things we instruct, 00:44:54.060 --> 00:44:56.540 but in a lot of ways, 00:44:56.540 --> 00:44:59.920 Grayson, buddy, you gotta make your choice. 00:44:59.920 --> 00:45:04.780 You gotta make your choice for college, 00:45:04.780 --> 00:45:08.460 for life after high school, for career. 00:45:08.460 --> 00:45:12.380 Emma, I can't determine for you 00:45:12.380 --> 00:45:13.580 what's gonna make you happy 00:45:13.580 --> 00:45:17.660 and what you are going to pursue within this. 00:45:17.660 --> 00:45:21.720 We hit the point in time where the hardest thing 00:45:21.720 --> 00:45:24.040 as a parent, and those of you who have been here before, 00:45:24.040 --> 00:45:26.580 is the releasing of your kids 00:45:26.580 --> 00:45:28.260 so that they can make their choice 00:45:28.260 --> 00:45:29.660 of what they're going to do. 00:45:29.660 --> 00:45:33.500 You see, at some point in time in Esau's life, 00:45:34.500 --> 00:45:38.460 he came to the point of making the choice. 00:45:38.460 --> 00:45:42.860 Is it following God and be obedient to him, 00:45:42.860 --> 00:45:45.540 or is it choosing something different? 00:45:45.540 --> 00:45:46.780 And he chooses different. 00:45:46.780 --> 00:45:49.020 He chooses different. 00:45:49.020 --> 00:45:51.380 The choices may be subtle, 00:45:51.380 --> 00:45:54.620 but it's disobedience to the God who calls him. 00:45:54.620 --> 00:46:00.600 I think the hard thing with Esau, 00:46:02.220 --> 00:46:03.820 if we were to look at his life, 00:46:03.820 --> 00:46:07.940 if we do a character study of what's there, 00:46:07.940 --> 00:46:10.060 that the world would look at Esau, 00:46:10.060 --> 00:46:12.860 the world of his day, 00:46:12.860 --> 00:46:15.980 and maybe even the world of our day, 00:46:15.980 --> 00:46:18.300 and say, oh, he was blessed. 00:46:18.300 --> 00:46:23.080 Large family, blessed. 00:46:23.080 --> 00:46:27.660 Faithful servants, blessed. 00:46:27.660 --> 00:46:32.180 He had resources, blessed. 00:46:33.180 --> 00:46:38.020 He had borders for himself, blessed. 00:46:38.020 --> 00:46:43.460 He had finances, blessed. 00:46:43.460 --> 00:46:51.700 But the issue is that he went for good, not godly. 00:46:51.700 --> 00:46:59.420 Verse eight, the wording of what's there, 00:46:59.420 --> 00:47:00.720 I think, is so important. 00:47:01.240 --> 00:47:06.240 So Esau settled. 00:47:06.240 --> 00:47:16.520 He settled for the blessings of the world. 00:47:16.520 --> 00:47:21.480 He settled for the sinful desires of his heart. 00:47:21.480 --> 00:47:27.160 He settled for the cravings of his flesh. 00:47:28.440 --> 00:47:33.440 He didn't follow, he didn't obey, and he didn't believe. 00:47:33.440 --> 00:47:40.160 And so in the world's terms, maybe he was blessed, 00:47:40.160 --> 00:47:45.240 but in godly terms, he was cursed. 00:47:45.240 --> 00:47:53.640 Jesus, in the beginning of his public ministry, 00:47:53.640 --> 00:47:57.920 begins to teach about blessing. 00:47:58.920 --> 00:48:02.960 My challenge for us as a church today 00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:09.920 is this, what will you settle your life on? 00:48:09.920 --> 00:48:17.000 When you look at your today and your tomorrow, 00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:22.760 when you look back at your past to learn for the future, 00:48:24.840 --> 00:48:29.840 where will you settle your life? 00:48:29.840 --> 00:48:32.780 Do you want it to be blessed? 00:48:32.780 --> 00:48:35.640 Absolutely you do. 00:48:35.640 --> 00:48:39.540 But do you want the blessing of Jacob? 00:48:39.540 --> 00:48:42.800 Or do you want the blessing of Esau? 00:48:42.800 --> 00:48:46.960 Jesus, in the beginning of his ministry, 00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:52.920 gives us the greatest definition of blessed. 00:48:53.280 --> 00:48:56.640 These verses aren't on the screen, 00:48:56.640 --> 00:49:00.600 'cause I just want you to listen to his words. 00:49:00.600 --> 00:49:03.160 I want you to see about how what he talks about 00:49:03.160 --> 00:49:06.080 begins to attack the very fiber 00:49:06.080 --> 00:49:08.560 of what our world determines, 00:49:08.560 --> 00:49:12.280 and oftentimes what our hearts want. 00:49:12.280 --> 00:49:19.960 Matthew five, and he opened his mouth and taught them. 00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:24.040 And taught them, saying, 00:49:24.040 --> 00:49:28.080 blessed are the poor in spirit, 00:49:28.080 --> 00:49:31.420 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:49:31.420 --> 00:49:36.900 Blessed is those who mourn, 00:49:36.900 --> 00:49:41.020 for they shall be comforted. 00:49:41.020 --> 00:49:45.440 Blessed are the meek, 00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:49.980 for they shall inherit the earth. 00:49:49.980 --> 00:49:56.440 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 00:49:56.440 --> 00:50:00.840 for they shall be satisfied. 00:50:00.840 --> 00:50:04.880 Blessed are the merciful, 00:50:04.880 --> 00:50:09.820 for they shall receive mercy. 00:50:09.820 --> 00:50:14.080 Blessed are the pure in heart, 00:50:15.180 --> 00:50:16.900 for they shall see God. 00:50:16.900 --> 00:50:21.220 Blessed are the peacemakers, 00:50:21.220 --> 00:50:25.520 for they shall be called sons of God. 00:50:25.520 --> 00:50:32.480 Blessed are those who are persecuted 00:50:32.480 --> 00:50:34.100 for righteousness' sake, 00:50:34.100 --> 00:50:38.400 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:50:38.400 --> 00:50:44.800 Blessed are you when others revile you, 00:50:45.540 --> 00:50:47.140 and persecute you, 00:50:47.140 --> 00:50:50.980 and utter all kinds of evil 00:50:50.980 --> 00:50:53.420 against you falsely on my account. 00:50:53.420 --> 00:50:58.140 Rejoice and be glad, 00:50:58.140 --> 00:51:02.160 for your reward is great in heaven. 00:51:02.160 --> 00:51:08.100 For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 00:51:13.260 --> 00:51:17.580 Church, be blessed in Christ. 00:51:17.580 --> 00:51:20.520 Be blessed in him. 00:51:20.520 --> 00:51:25.000 Be blessed in who he is. 00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.960 Be blessed in that you are his, 00:51:29.960 --> 00:51:35.280 so that you can go and understand 00:51:35.280 --> 00:51:37.120 what it means to be blessed, 00:51:37.120 --> 00:51:39.800 is to be a blessing to others. 00:51:39.800 --> 00:51:42.160 Would you pray with me? 00:51:42.980 --> 00:51:45.640 (pages turning) 00:51:45.640 --> 00:51:56.020 God, we thank you for the complexity 00:51:56.020 --> 00:52:02.100 of your Word. 00:52:02.100 --> 00:52:05.940 We thank you that at the end 00:52:05.940 --> 00:52:10.380 of one season into the next, 00:52:11.860 --> 00:52:14.780 your Word so graciously lays out 00:52:14.780 --> 00:52:17.700 the difference between two. 00:52:17.700 --> 00:52:22.380 What was in common was much. 00:52:22.380 --> 00:52:26.580 Family same. 00:52:26.580 --> 00:52:33.740 Influence. 00:52:33.740 --> 00:52:36.460 Wealth. 00:52:36.460 --> 00:52:39.220 Power. 00:52:40.940 --> 00:52:42.380 But what's different 00:52:42.380 --> 00:52:48.460 is found in whose they are. 00:52:48.460 --> 00:52:55.300 God, may we agree in our mind and in our heart 00:52:55.300 --> 00:53:02.660 that as children of God, we are blessed beyond blessed. 00:53:09.260 --> 00:53:11.060 And Lord, may we not look at it 00:53:11.060 --> 00:53:14.980 like the summation of a bank account 00:53:14.980 --> 00:53:20.300 of what we've acquired, of what we hold, 00:53:20.300 --> 00:53:23.080 of what we are privileged with, 00:53:23.080 --> 00:53:26.900 but Lord, may we look at our blessing 00:53:26.900 --> 00:53:31.020 in a means, in an opportunity, 00:53:31.020 --> 00:53:33.560 in a calling to be a blessing, 00:53:33.560 --> 00:53:38.700 to live a life of faithfulness, 00:53:39.620 --> 00:53:42.900 to live a life of following, 00:53:42.900 --> 00:53:45.700 to live a life of belief, 00:53:45.700 --> 00:53:48.740 to live a life of forgiveness, 00:53:48.740 --> 00:53:52.100 that in every aspect of who we are, 00:53:52.100 --> 00:53:57.100 or my story is not told by my faults and my failures, 00:53:57.100 --> 00:54:01.180 my story is told by my victory 00:54:01.180 --> 00:54:03.860 in spite of those faults and failures. 00:54:05.980 --> 00:54:10.980 And it tells the story of my Savior. 00:54:10.980 --> 00:54:18.500 Gotta thank you for this long journey 00:54:18.500 --> 00:54:23.380 that we've been on with a complicated family. 00:54:23.380 --> 00:54:26.980 Made some good choices, 00:54:26.980 --> 00:54:30.180 and made some bad choices. 00:54:33.340 --> 00:54:37.120 But for Abraham, he trusted you. 00:54:37.120 --> 00:54:41.580 For Isaac, he trusted you. 00:54:41.580 --> 00:54:43.780 For Jacob, he trusted you. 00:54:43.780 --> 00:54:50.380 And God, may we today make the same choice 00:54:50.380 --> 00:54:56.040 to trust the same God who was, 00:54:56.040 --> 00:55:00.380 who is, and who is to come. 00:55:01.980 --> 00:55:04.780 In Jesus name we pray, amen. 00:55:14.120 --> 00:55:15.080 - Thanks again for listening 00:55:15.080 --> 00:55:17.200 to the Willow Ridge Sermons podcast, 00:55:17.200 --> 00:55:18.860 and be sure to check back next week 00:55:18.860 --> 00:55:20.560 to hear another message. 00:55:20.560 --> 00:55:22.600 In the meantime, you can stay up to date 00:55:22.600 --> 00:55:24.400 with everything happening at Willow Ridge 00:55:24.400 --> 00:55:27.600 by visiting us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, 00:55:27.600 --> 00:55:30.200 and online at willowridgechurch.org.