There’s a certain erroneous way we tend to think about God’s favor. We think there is a bar, a minimum standard requirement for entry that we must reach to receive God’s favor, his love, his acceptance, and so many of us live either believing we have lived up to that standard and feeling good, or knowing we have fallen short and feeling bad. But surprisingly, God’s ways are not your ways. We find it hard to forgive, hard to get past wrongs done to us or the wrongs we have done to others, but, unlike us, God is ready to forgive. And his forgiveness will lead to blessing. In this sermon on Genesis 48, in which Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh, the children of Joseph, Pastor Luke Herche focuses us in on the fact that God is determined to bless, despite what we think, by the logic of his grace. Therefore, we can stop doubting and rest in Jesus.

Part of a series on the book of Genesis.

From Sunday Worship, November 9, 2025.

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Want to go deeper? Take some time to reflect on the sermon with the following questions:

What scenes or surprises in Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh catch your attention most, and why?

God was determined to bless his people, even when they didn’t expect it or deserve it. Where have you experienced God’s grace showing up unexpectedly in your own story?

Where do you tend to assume God’s blessing must be earned — and how does that shape your view of him, your struggles, or other people?

How does Jesus’s upside-down life, death, and resurrection redefine your idea of blessing and whom it’s for? How does God’s "logic of grace" shape how you see yourself and others?

If you trusted deeply that God delights to bless you by grace, not performance, what might change in your relationships, emotions, or decisions this week?

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All Souls (Urbana, IL) is a part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a Christian, Reformed denomination with historic and theological roots in the Protestant Reformation.