Asbury Church

What if we have been reading Genesis 32 wrong all our lives?

What if God had other plans in store for Jacob? Plans that did not require him to wrestle at the Jabbok?

It’s almost as though God tried to reveal those plans to Jacob (Genesis 32: 1-2). Jacob named the place “Mahanaim”, which translates from Hebrew to mean “Two Camps”.

Two-camps, there was “God’s camp” ⛺️ and there was “Jacob’s camp” ⛺️ In these moments, Jacob is faced with an opportunity to align himself with God’s plan to go see his brother Esau or to continue to try to take control of his own life.

Even in the midst of Jacob hearing of God’s blessings on his life, witnessing them first hand. Jacob is unable to “surrender” to God.

I’m convinced that if Jacob would have just surrendered himself to the Lord’s plan, he would not have had to wrestle at the Jabbok. What are you wrestling with?

What area of your life or situation are you trying to control?

What do you need to surrender to the Lord?

Everyone wants to win, and winning comes with a cost. In fact, I believe that nothing worth having comes without a cost.

But here’s where it gets interesting: sometimes the cost of winning is being willing to lose.

Some things are more important than life itself.

This is the lesson that Abraham faces in the final test of his life, the lesson recounted in Genesis 22.

The binding of Isaac is the greatest and most terrible story in the Bible. The terror and the awe and the horror of Abraham’s slow journey up the mountain are unlike anything else in scripture, or out of it.

It resists easy interpretation and neat categorization; it is a mystery in the deepest sense of the word. The only way to make sense of it is to connect it with Jesus on the Cross.

Family is How We Fight. I believe that with my whole heart.

But some things are even more important than family.

To win, you have to be willing to lose.

Preacher: Andrew Forrest
Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14

What if we’re just a half-step away?

What if right on the other side of a step out into trust lies something amazing?

And what if the surest way to delay God’s blessings is to be only half-way obedient?

This Sunday we’re looking at Abraham, whom I love—he’s such a great-hearted man.

But he’s not without flaws. (Who is?)

And Abraham’s failure to trust God causes great harm and delays the amazing blessings God has for him.

(It’s not any different for us.)

What if we resolved to take no more half-steps?

Preacher: Andrew Forrest

Scripture: Genesis 11:27-12:20

Date: Sunday, October 2 [11:00 AM]

When God begins to set him plan in motion that will rescue the entire world, he begins with one man and his family. Today we begin what I am calling Genesis Part 2, which recounts the history of the patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is the story of the formation of the family that will carry on the covenant
promise--in fact, it's all about family; or, to put it another way, the main theme of Genesis Part 2 is:

*Family is How We Fight.*

But those five words are not just a good summary of one of the main themes of Genesis—or the whole Bible, for that matter—they are also our marching orders for our day and time, because those five words speak to the most acute need of our current cultural moment.

Family is How We Fight.

Let’s go.

Does difference produce division? From the Tower of Babel until the present day, the answer has been “Yes.” And, it therefore follows that if difference produces division, then the way to avoid division is to erase difference and to create a unity through forced uniformity.
The Good News is that God has another way--a way to unity without uniformity.
Let’s go!