"Jacob’s Dream" - Genesis 27:1-4, 15-23; 28:10-17

 September 26th, 2021

Devotional

“Jacob’s Dream” -

    Genesis 27:1-4, 15-23; 28:10-17

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Promise to Your Fathers” - Genesis 28: 10-13

   Jacob has always been a character in the Hebrew Scriptures that I’m not quite sure what to do with. On one hand, he is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. On the other hand, he did some really awful things. In fact, he was perhaps one of the best known tricksters in scripture. 

  Jacob, the one who stole the blessing of his dying father from his brother who was off doing what he was told. Jacob, the one who had to flee from his furious brother. Sent off to live his his mother’s brother, his Uncle Laban, in a distant country until his bother no longer wanted to kill him. Jacob, the one who even though he deceived his family, is still given caring advice from his father before he is sent away with another blessing. And yet, it is this same Jacob who received the powerful message from God, conveyed in a vision, that we hear about today. Hence why we aren’t quite sure what to do with Jacob in particular. 

 But then God carried on the vision through Jacob. Through Jacob the trickster. Through Jacob that we aren’t quite sure what to do with. God came to Jacob, yes that Jacob, and said: I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.Your descendants will become like the dust of the earth; you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. Every family of earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants. Why Jacob? Why now? Why will he become the one to carry on the promise given to Abraham?

 Why do you think God gave us a profound vision to Jacob, as flawed as he was?

Prayer: God, it is not lost on us that Jacob received this vision of the ancestral promise when he was running away from his own family. O Lord, if you can use someone as flawed as Jacob, may you use us as well. Speak to us today. Amen. 

Tuesday: “God’s Vision ” - Genesis 28: 13-15

  I sometimes wonder if we have some of those same questions about ourselves. Who are we to be the one through whom God is going to reach out to this community? Who are we for God to call us to be partners in spreading the Gospel message? Why us? Why now? Especially in all of our flaws and brokenness and sin?

  But then we look at people in scripture like Jacob and realize that if God can use them, then God can use us. God came to Jacob and gave him a vision that was so much bigger than anything he could imagine on his own and essentially said - I’m going to use you in this way. I know that its so big.  But trust and believe that I am going to be with you every where that you will go. 

  Friends, are those the type of visions that we are praying for today? Visions of revival? Visions that are so big that we know that they have to from God? Because that’s what I see when I look at Biblical visions like this - they are so large that they challenge even the most fearful among us and call for us to trust God. 

 What vision is God revealing to you about your life?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that sometimes we pray for things that are too small. We ask, O Lord, that you light a passion in our hearts to pray bold prayers, prayers that can only be accomplished through your will and your might. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Holy Ground” - Genesis 28: 16-17

 Do we have a vision of who God is calling us to be? Not just any vision, but a God-sized vision? A vision that we could never do on our own. One that we can only even begin to entertain because we trust that our God is able?

  Sometimes, we dream too small as the people of God. We want to do things that make sense to us and that we know that we can do. And that is well and good and has a time and a purpose. But are we limiting ourselves by what we think we can do instead of dreaming of what God wants to do through us?

  Jacob knew when he woke up that he was standing on holy ground. And that thought terrified him. He was struck by the fact that he was in the awesome presence of the Lord Almighty. So he made a monument, a sign of worship, and made a promise that the Lord would be his God. 

 When is a time that you felt that you were standing on holy ground? What was that experience like for you?

Prayer: Lord, as Jacob awoke he proclaimed “how awesome is this place!” May you awaken us as well from the slumber in our spirits. Stir in us a sense of awe that sends us out into the world to tell of all that you have done. Amen. 

Thursday: “Visioning Together” - Genesis 28: 13-15

  One of the parts that we sometimes gloss over in this narrative is that while, yes, this is God speaking to Jacob, it is speaking of his part in the much bigger vision, a story of the people of God that started well before him and will continue well after him.

 So it is with the church.  Now is the time for us to trust and believe in the Lord our God and to seek our place in the ongoing story of God’s people. How do we do that? First, we pray to the God of vision. We pray that God open up our hearts to be stirring with the Holy Spirit. We pray that God start to give us glimpses of vision in our hearts. 

  Second, we need be out in the community that God has planted us in. You are not in this place by accident. Who are the people you are called to reach out in the community for the sake of the Kingdom Jesus Christ? In order to have a Kingdom mindset, we need to pray that God give us a vision for the people here, the people we are planted to serve. 

 How are your prayer life and service connected?

Prayer: Lord, give us hearts for the people all around us who do not yet know you. Give us a prayer life that lifts them up before your throne of grace. Then send us out in your powerful name to love them, as you first loved us. Amen. 

Friday: “Woke” -Genesis 28: 16-17

   One of my favorite things to do is go to public places and just listen. To listen to the hum of people around me. Sometimes to overhear snippets of conversations that reveal the needs people have and the concerns on people’s hearts. Do we know the needs of people around us? Does our heart break for this community? Do we want people to come to know Jesus and what are we willing to do about it? If we don’t have a vision that connects with the people we are being called to reach, then we have missed the point. 

 It is time for us to awake and seek to live into the vision of God?

 How is God stirring in your heart this day? What do you think God is calling you to do?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that we aren’t always attentive to your call. We aren’t always listening for you to speak. We ask, O Lord, that you forgive us and that you speak to us again. Unclog our hearts and ears so we can hear your cry in our hearts anew and respond with a willingness to chase after you. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “God’s Name is Revealed” - Exodus 2:23-25; 3:1-15; 4:10-17 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

 Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Genesis 27:1-4, 15-23; 28:10-17

From the Sermon:

Jacob was not ____________.

While on the run, God’s grace catches up to Jacob in the form of a _____________.

Every family of earth will be blessed because of _________________________________.

We look at people in scripture like Jacob and realize that if God can use them, then God can use ____.

We are a people full of ___________.

At some point all of our excuses run out, friends, and we come _____________________________.

Now is the time for us to _______________________ in the Lord our God.

Reflection Questions:

What do you think can actually happen if we call upon the name of the Lord?

What does it mean to you to seek the face of God?

Prayer:

Lord, help me to set aside the excuses that I have used as a shield and pick up trust and confidence in you, I pray. Amen. 

“Mutual Consolation of the Saints” Matthew 18:15-20

     I am someone who remembers quite a few of their dreams after waking up. Let me tell you about one that I had recently....

     I had a dream that I was in a big worship service, full of people worshipping Jesus Christ together. It seems like the Holy Spirit is moving in powerful ways. But during the sermon, this powerful message about living your life fully for Christ, someone looks at an empty chair next to someone else in the service and says "I don't want to sit by you." Then at the end of the service, there is a call for people to walk alongside new people to the faith and someone shouts out, "I don't want to disciple her."

     It seems odd, right? Except in many of our places of worship, we may not say these things out loud, but we sure live them out with our lives. 

    Have you ever been to a worship service where you can just feel the tension in the room? There are all sorts of things that aren't said out loud but they are noticeable even to a stranger? Or maybe you have been to a gathering where things have been said, and people left, because they felt like the relationships they thought were so valuable at one point are now beyond repair?

    It doesn't have to be that way. Jesus invites us into a whole new way of being that seeks to restore relationships in a way that the world may never have seen before but is a mark of the Kingdom. Is it easy? No. But nothing counter-cultural ever is. 

    We've tried the way of the world. What if we now try the way of the community of Christ? 

Devotional “Mutual Consolation of the Saints” - Matthew 18: 15-20

 September 5th, 2021

Devotional

“Mutual Consolation of the Saints” - Matthew 18: 15-20

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Fight Well” -Matthew 18: 15-20

 For some reason, Christians do not seem to fight well. Or perhaps most humans, despite their religious affiliation, don’t know how to fight well. But, as Christians, we should know how to deal with our disagreements with brothers and sisters in the faith, because Christ gave us clear instructions. And yet…

 I have two friends. Both are Godly men. The first has been taught from the time he was little that the best way to deal with conflict is to ignore it. As a result, every time we had some sort of disagreement or he was upset at me for something, he would ignore me. Sometimes for weeks on end. And at one point in college, for an entire year. It was perhaps one of the most painful times in my life. Having someone so dear to me, ignore me, and refuse to tell me what I had done or said to prompt such a reaction. Ignoring conflict, actually only generated more suffering for both of us.

 My other friend and I found that we both had the opposite approach to conflict. We wanted to lay it all out on the table and then sift through the verbal wreckage. This was equally as unhealthy as ignoring each other. But through time, we learned how to fight well. We would pull each other aside, if something was said or done that would hurt us. We would ask to speak privately later. At that point in time we would explain in an even tone, what happened and how it had affected us. The other person just listened. Sometimes they would respond, explaining their side of the event, but we always left covenanting to try harder next time.

 How do you approach conflict naturally?

 How do you think Christ calls us to approach conflict in the body of Christ?

Prayer: God, we acknowledge that even though we want to follow you, sometimes we way we behave when we disagree does not proclaim your Lordship or light in this world. Instead, we let the darkness overcome us. Teach us this week how to handle conflict with our brothers and sisters in the faith, and let the way we approach disagreements transform us and transform the world. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Conflict” - Matthew 18: 15-20

 Jesus’ advice to the disciples about how to deal with conflict say a lot without the need for words. For some deep truths lie in the assumptions behind what is being said. First, we have not learned how to fight well as a people. We have been raised in ways that impact how we interact with other people, especially when we become upset about something. For most of us, dealing with conflict has become our personal baggage. We have been abused, verbally, psychologically, or physically (sometimes without even really being able to identify it as such) and sometimes in our attempts to not replicate those patterns we do more harm then good. In order to avoid fighting with a person, out of fear of what may come of it, we ignore conflict completely and label it to be something bad.

 How do you discern what conflict can be ignore and what conflict needs to be addressed?

Prayer: Lord, we confess that sometimes the way we handle conflict is to ignore it - when that is not what you call us to. And other times, we jump right in, letting our words become like daggers, which is not what you call us to either. Give us a spirit of discernment in how to address conflict in a way that honors you at all times and in all situations. Amen. 

Wednesday: “What is Precious” - Matthew 18: 15-20

 The second assumption about how Jesus deals with conflict is that conflict in and of itself is not a sin, but it can lead us to sin. And even those times when someone sins against you in such a way that leads to arguments or fighting, God can redeem both the sin and its results.    Conflict is a time when we can truly learn from each other. It is also one of the most revealing ways to learn about someone’s beliefs and character. For example, the reason my second friend (see Monday’s devotional) and I decided to learn to fight better was because of a realization we stumbled upon – we fight over what is precious to us. Often we assume that the other person we are engaged in conflict with knows deep truths about us that they often do not or that they understand the true meaning behind what matters to us and handle it with the same care that we do. 

 When we realized that we fight over what is precious to each of us, we began to treat it as such. We also saw it as a holy moment – a time when someone who truly cares about our walk with God, can come along side us and speak truth into the dark places in our lives. When we stumbled into sin against another human being we were in relationship with, we needed that to be pointed out to us with love and grace. 

 Think about times of conflict in your life. What did that situation reveal about you? What did it reveal about the other involved?

Prayer: Lord, today we ask that you break open any hardness in our heart that would lead us to sin because of conflict. Open up the eyes of our hearts so we can see the situation as others may see it. Help us to walk in others shoes. Give us a spirit of vulnerability and a spirit of openness to seek a resolution that lifts up your Kingdom and name. Amen. 

Thursday: “The Church of Jesus Christ” - Matthew 18: 15-20

 We are the church of Jesus Christ here on earth, today. Our relationships with each other should reflect this very truth. I think Jesus realized that as imperfect people there are going to be times when we screw up – when we don’t treat each other, as we should. When we gossip or lie about one another. When we share secretes that we shouldn’t. When we become angry about something that is said to us, by a person who may not understand the full impact their words have on our lives. But Jesus’ knows that we are called to be better then this – that he has given us the opportunity and the instructions on how to resolve conflict in such a way that brings honor and glory to the kingdom of God!

 To Christ, each and every one of us matters. Each person who has ever walked this earth and who will come after us have value that is boundless. We need to be in the types of relationship with each other that show this to the world. We need to have relationships with our colleagues and the people that we meet on the street that reflects this. To Christ, none of us has the right to claim superiority over another.

 How would you treat others differently if you saw them as someone who is precious to Jesus?

 What does it mean to be the Church of Jesus Christ?

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the importance of being in relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Allow us to also see how our conflict with one another can bring harm to you. Let us live into what it means to seek you first and foremost in our lives and not to allow our conflict to become a distraction to following your call on our lives. Amen. 

Friday: “Dos and Do Nots” - Matthew 18: 15-20

 So what does such a relationship that shines Christ’s love look like – when we have a problem with someone else in the church? If someone has done something to hurt you, you are to humbly pull them aside after praying about the situation. You are to talk to this person alone, and explain what the fault was as you understood or experienced it. If the person responds asking for forgiveness, you reconcile and move on. But if the person you sought to reconcile with refuses to listen, you bring another person into the conversation. A wise, neutral member of the body of Christ, so they can confirm what is being said and listen and respond with fresh insight. If your brother or sister still refuses to listen, then you bring the matter before the entire gathering.

 Let us pause and take a moment to examine what Jesus is not telling us to do: Jesus is not telling us to approach the one who has sinned against us in such a way that alienates them. We are not to approach them yelling or cursing. We are not to discuss the matter with others before we approach them. We are not to enter into this time of reconciliation and healing in order to prove that we are right. We are simply entering into a space to be heard in such a way that may prompt future understanding.

 We are the body of Christ on this earth to bring glory to the Kingdom of God by the grace of the Holy Spirit! Sometimes we let the pettiness of conflict consume us in such a way that fighting becomes what we identify church with, instead of this Triune reality. May we strive to be in better relationship with each other and with the world. May we take Jesus’ words to heart and make them our credo to live by in times of conflict. And in all circumstances, may we look to Christ, the one who has brought us together, to lead us to become the people we are intended to be – the people he sees us as, people of worth beyond measure.

 Have you ever tried approaching someone you are in conflict with as Christ instructs? Why or why not?

Prayer: Lord, next time we are in conflict, may we turn to your way and your word for guidance. Instead of reacting with our words and actions, may we first pray to you for wisdom and seek to see our brothers and sisters as those who are worthy of being treated with respect, even when we disagree. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “The Creation of the World” - Genesis 1:1—2:4a

Reblog from 2018. 

Sabbath. Study. Serve.

 Sabbath, Study, Serve 

Taking the Sermon Into Our Week 

Scripture of the Week: Matthew 18:15-20

From the Sermon:

The sacraments have meaning in our _________.

We fail to define what it means to be the Church, the body of Christ, and as a result, we all bring in our own expectations, which often leaves us feeling ________________.

This is how you ____________________.

Because we are on this side of eternity, the community that we create is going to be __________.

Jesus is telling us how to _____ one another when its hard.

Saying “______________” and only trying once is not going to cut it in this faith community. 

The sacraments should get into our hearts and spirits in a way that makes us want to be in right relationship with ________________________.

Reflection Questions:

How are we to behave when it is hard to love the person next to us in the pew?

What are Jesus’s instructions if someone wrongs us? And what is the guiding principle of his teaching?

How do we support one another in the body of Christ?

Prayer:

Lord, forgive us for all of the ways we have not handled conflict well within your body. Remind us again of the power of your Spirit, that binds us together and invites us into a new way of living - a way that gives you all the glory. Amen.