In Genesis 29:1-20, so many of the promises of God that Jacob heard at Bethel began to be confirmed. No wonder he wept. He was aware of the goodness of God toward him, not only leading him to the place he set out for, but also providing for him a potential wife in Rachel. It remains to be seen how things will work out with his future father-in-law, Laban, but at this moment in his life, all was very good.

Message

Outline

• The sixth in this series
• Where we are in the story
• God’s providence for Jacob and his plans for him!
• See how Moses tells us of the providence of God in …

1. His arrival at Haran (v.1-8)
2. His meeting with Rachel (v.9-12)
3. His employment with Laban (v.13-20)

God will guide you…
God will grow you…

The next event in Jacob’s life as recorded in Genesis 28:10-22 is highly significant. Jacob was now an exile from home, and so it was while he was on his journey to his uncle’s that the Lord God appeared to him and gave him many assurances. The result was not only that Jacob had hist first encounter with God, but also called the Lord ‘my God’, proceeding from Bethel with the promise of blessing and protection by God – all undeserved and all of grace.

Message

Outline

• The fifth in this series
• Where we are in the story
• Jacob setting out on that journey!
• See how Moses tells us of …

1. His temporary respite (v.10-12)
2. His terrifying revelation (v.13-16)
3. His grateful response (v.17-22)

What Jesus said about this event…
The promises of God – for you!

After stealing the birthright from Esau, Genesis 27:1-29 tells us how Jacob, led by his mother Rebekah, conspired to also steal the blessing that would normally be given by the father to the first-born, in this case his elder twin, Esau. By deceiving his father, and blasheming against God and following his mother’s instructions, Jacob succeeded. But all was not well within the family. And all is not well when we seek to manipulate others into doing (what we might think was) God’s will.

Message

Outline

• A well-known story
• Like a daytime TV soap opera!
• That recipe for disaster…
• See how Moses tells us of …

1. Isaac, the spiritually blind father (v.1-4)
2. Rebekah, the scheming mother (v.5-13)
3. Jacob, the complicit son (v.14-29)

Aiming for the right goal but doing it the wrong way…
The blessing of the Lord – so needed!

After the introduction of the twins, Jacob and Esau, into the family of Isaac and Rebekah, the two boys could not have been any more different. In Genesis 25:27-34, we find that Esau was a hunter and Jacob a man of ‘tents’. One was more inclined to be the outdoors type, while the other, indoors. The traits these brothers showed were probably inculcated upon them by their parents, who played ‘favourites’ among them. Isaac’s favourite was Esau. Rebekah’s favourite was Jacob. This style of parenting reared some ugly fruits – the first seen in Jacob’s stealing of Esau’s birthright and Esau’s own despising of that birthright.

Message

Outline

• Where we are in the story
• Twins and identical twins
• Dysfunctional parents…
• See how Moses tells us of …

1. The traits that defined them (v.27)
2. The parents who mistreated them (v.28)
3. The meal that divided them (v.29-34)

Understanding God’s eternal decrees…
Avoid placing the temporal over the eternal…

The character of Jacob in the Old Testament is no small, ‘bit part’ player. As one of the patriarchs, with Isaac as his father and Abraham as his grandfather, Jacob plays a vital role in the unfolding of God’s promises to Abraham ‘to bless all the nations’ through him. However, in recording the arrival of Jacob onto the scene, Moses tells it, ‘as it is’, Not all is rosy in the family, and there are hints given that not all will be easy in the lives of Jacob and his twin brother, Esau.

Message

Outline

• Why preach a series on Jacob?
• The importance of Jacob in the Scriptures
• A man saved by grace…
• See how Moses tells us of …

1. Who Jacob was born to (v.19-23)
2. Who Jacob was born with (v.24-26)
3. What Jacob was born into (v.27-28)

A vital character introduced into the plot line…
No longer defined by a physical birth!

Genesis 3:15 would have to be one of the most important verses in all of the Old Testament. Straight after Adam and Eve’s rebeliion against God’s righteous rule, the Lord himself promised that the ‘seed of the woman’ would one day come and crush ‘the head of the serpent’. This verse is widely known as the first announcement (or proclamation) of the gospel, and it is very, very good news – all fulfilled in Jesus, the seed of the woman!

Message

Outline

• A Christmas series!
• The unfolding story to grasp…
• What a text to begin with!
• See how the text tells of …

1. A sober reminder of humanity’s undoing
2. The original setting for conflict unfolding
3. The certain promise of Messiah winning

There is hope here…
There is good news here!

There’s something about the story of Joseph in the Old Testament that is so fascinating and insightful. In Genesis 39:1-23, the Scriptures tell us about what might be the lowest spot in Joseph’s bright life. And yet, when his story is taken as a vital part of the outworking of Genesis 3:15 in God’s plan of salvation, the story of Joseph is far more than the story of a ‘dreamer’ with a ‘coloured coat’, but of a man who points us all to Jesus and who shows us God’s purpose in suffering is that we become more like Him.

Full service

00:00 Introduction
00:40 Children’s talk (with thanks to Kidswise; see also Big Picture Bible Crafts #12)
Song: The Lord is King
06:34 Saints in tight spots
Hymn: Praise my soul
08:42 Prayer
14:59 Bible reading: Genesis 39
Song: Christ is mine forever more
19:13 Sermon: Joseph (Genesis 39)
Hymn: Teach me your way
42:51 Benediction
Song: Press on Mums