You know the thing people value the most is their time. They can’t get it back; you can’t put it in a “time bank” for later – what you have, is what you have. People make time for the things that are important to them. And it’s always been this way. Jacob and Esau made time for what was important to them. Even though you don’t hear much about Jacob’s use of his time, Esau – as Pastor Mike will share in his message – didn’t seem to have time for anything but what he wanted. What do you spend your time on?

Today’s Christians are so fortunate. They have access to not only the Bible but to reference material to help make the message of the Scriptures as clear as possible. Not to mention the Holy Spirit, Who is available to any believer who asks for His help. But as you’ll hear in Pastor Mike’s teaching today, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, had only their faith and their relationship with God to guide them. You’ll learn how to appreciate the tools you’ve been given to make your link with God stronger.

One of the greatest hopes of Christian parents is that their children will follow them in the faith. One of the Christian parents’ greatest fears is that their children will turn away from the faith. You do the best you can – you try to expose them to the Truth of the Gospel, and you try to model what a walk with God looks like. Ultimately, though, it’s up to them how they’re going to live their lives. as Pastor Mike’s going to teach today, it’s always been this way; you’ll see this worked out in the lives of Jacob and Esau.

So, let’s say you have an only child. You love that child almost more than your own life. And God – and you know it’s God – tells you to sacrifice your child to Him. What do you do? No doubt, this would make for some interesting conversations between the parents. Surely Abraham had that talk with Sarah. But as you’ll hear in Pastor Mike’s message today, Abraham didn’t waver. He didn’t know how things would turn out. But he did know God’s promise of many descendants, so he trusted God for the outcome.

A lot of life is lived by trial and error. You’ve never done things before, so you do it wrong before you figure out how to do it right. Imagine being Abraham, doing a relationship with the God of the universe without a user’s manual! You have the record of his efforts in the Bible. You see where he got it right, and you can find out where he messed up. And you have Pastor Mike, who will talk about the consequences of Abraham’s choices in his teaching. These are things Abraham had no way of having.

The Bible calls Abraham the father of our faith. This means that he was the first of his kind. And while he was unique in that he was the beginning of what would become the Hebrew people, he is also used as the prototype for how to live a life of faith. And even though the Bible is honest, showing where Abraham messed up, Pastor Mike’s teaching today will show that God looked at Abraham’s heart, to his intentions. Abraham was trying to serve God to the best of his ability, and God honored him for that.

Can you imagine being asked to marry someone you’ve never met – never even heard of until now? To travel to their land, with the possibility of never seeing familiar settings again? If you’re honest, your answer probably would be, “No way!” But Rebekah did. She took the word of a complete stranger and chose to believe it. This is very much like when you come to Jesus, as Pastor Mike will be teaching today. God requires that you put your trust in Him, not knowing what the future’s going to bring.

It’s fun to watch a child try to outwit an adult. The concentration, trying to think of all of the angles, and coming up with an idea they’re sure will give them success. Only to be disappointed as the adult easily counteracts the child’s effort. It’s not too different from grownups trying to make a deal with God to get what they want in return. Pastor Mike will be reminding you in his teaching that God’s got all knowledge about you and what you’d like to get. God also knows what’s best for you.

Servants in ancient times sometimes weren’t treated much better than the animals. Often, they weren’t even given names because it wasn’t important – they were just given numbers. They were expected to do their jobs without being noticed or given a pat on the back. Pastor Mike’s teaching today involves a servant whose name isn’t mentioned in the story, although it is in other places. You’ll learn of this servant’s important job and its relation to the Holy Spirit. The story also shows you how you should be when doing God’s work.

It’s so common for people to judge the easiness or difficulty of a situation only by what you can see. Especially when you’ve faced a similar thing before, the tendency is to think, “I got this. Easy peasy.” Joshua thought that when going against the city of Ai. After all, God had given them a great victory at Jericho, and Ai was way smaller than Jericho. But as you’ll hear in Pastor Mike’s teaching today, appearances can be deceiving. And when you don’t seek God’s advice in everything, failure’s around the corner.