Genesis 50 | The Blessing | Trent Hunter

Bones are a bad sign. Inside our bones is a factory of life, the marrow inside producing our white and red blood cells. But when we die, our bones are the last part of us to hang around. But with the eyes of faith, we see more than death in our bones, but the object of God’s determination to bless us with life everlasting.

Genesis 49 | The Blessing | Trent Hunter

Surely this isn’t it. We have come to salvation in Christ, we have received the Spirit, we are members of a great church. But surely this isn’t it. In Genesis chapter 49 we have a string of blessings on the sons of Jacob; blessings filled with difficult to understand references, even for many scholars. Nevertheless, in this chapter, the last chapter of Jacob’s life, we find the answer to what we are waiting for—the same things God’s people have been waiting for since we left the garden.

Genesis 48 | The Blessing | Trent Hunter

The things we say in our last conscious moments might be meaningless. Perhaps we’re on a lot of medication. Or perhaps our mind has been eroded by some terrible disease. Otherwise, the things we say in our last years and days and moments are revealing. They reveal the place and posture of our faith. Jacob’s words at the end of his life sure did. And they are instructive for us. His eyes were dim, but he was the clearest seeing person in his room.

Genesis 46-47 | The Blessing | Trent Hunter

How do we know that our pain is actually a part of God’s plan? How do we know that so many of the hardships we know here aren’t some grand mistake in God’s attempt to get salvation done? Is he well meaning, but incapable or incompetent? Chapters 46–47 of Genesis were written to answer this question for Israel on the other side of her deliverance from Egyptian bondage.

Genesis 45 | The Blessing | Trent Hunter

There are some passages of Scripture atop which we can see a long way in every direction of the story. There are some passages of Scripture atop which we can see a long way in every direction of our lives. Genesis 45 is one of those passages. Bringing together so many of the themes and promises we’ve uncovered to this point, Genesis 45 is an emotional and memorable encounter between Joseph and his brothers.

Genesis 44 | The Blessing | Trent Hunter

Is deep change really possible for us? There are days when we’re all too comfortable with our sin. But there are other days when we properly hate our sin and when we want to be changed. And more than changed, we want to be radically different—transformed. It’s likely the case that if we want to be changed ourselves, those closest to us want us to change as well. Yes, it’s possible, and every page of the Bible advances a story of true and lasting change on the way to a perfect and final future.

Genesis 43 | The Blessing | Trent Hunter

With this sermon we’re back in the book of Genesis, picking up where we left off with Genesis 43. From here through chapter 45 we will follow Joseph’s brothers back and forth between Canaan and Egypt. Joseph won’t reveal himself for a few chapters yet. In the meantime, we find strained and at times confusing interactions between the brothers and Joseph. What is Joseph’s design in all of this? What is God doing in the lives of these brothers?

Hebrews 4:14–16 | The Incarnation and You | Dan Cruver 

The previous sermon examined how in Hebrews 10 God decisively addressed our guilty past (vv. 1-4) through the incarnation of His Son (vv. 5-10). As wonderful as that is, Hebrews 10:1-10 doesn’t directly address our present and future need. Hebrews 4:14-16 answers this question: how does the incarnation address our need when we face temptation?

Hebrews 10:1–10 | The Incarnation and You | Dan Cruver

Genesis 42 | The Blessing | Trent Hunter

Guilt doesn’t go away with time. We may put it out of our minds, but in a moment the weight of that guilt can be brought back to the surface. The problem of guilt and what to do with it shapes our lives and our world, from the smallest decisions we make, to entire political systems and agendas. The Bible is straightforward about this basic human problem. It also comes to us with an answer that can truly take it away. That answer was an unsuspecting child among animals in Bethlehem so many years ago.