The story of Jacob in the book of Genesis is marked by two miraculous meetings with God: Jacob's ladder and Jacob wrestling with God. Between those two events, Jacob spends two decades in his uncle Laban's household working to earn the favor of God. Spoiler Alert! God's favor cannot be earned-- that's true for Jacob and it's true for you!

This week, we have the classic Sunday School story of Jacob's Ladder and it's a little darker than normally taught to the kids.  Jacob comes from a very messy, dysfunctional family and flees because his brother Esau literally wants to kill him.  His mother Rebecca schemes and misrepresents the situation to her husband Isaac.  Isaac in turn sends Jacob away- Jacob who longs for a relationship with his father is sent away- to Uncle Laban to take a wife.  Bible scholar Bruce Waltke describes the situation so well: “Back in Beersheba, Esau lies in wait like an angry lion.  Ahead in Haran, Laban waits with his spider web to trap and suck the life from his victims.”  Jacob is between a rock and a hard place!  Then, Jacob has a dream that changes everything.  Come to New King on Sunday to see what happens!

This week we will be digging into the famous story of Jacob stealing Esau’s blessing. But what’s all this talk about blessing anyway? And what is going on in this dysfunctional family? We’ll learn all of that and more. And we’ll see that (as is often the case) there is a deeper meaning behind what we initially see. 

In Genesis 26, God promises Isaac that he will be with him and will bless him. But he soon learns that consistently believing that promise is easier said than done. And so it is with us. Jesus has promised to be with us always (Matt. 28:20) and we believe that is true!.. until we don’t. The difficulties of this life press in upon us and before we know it, we are fearful and no longer standing firm in faith in the God who is with us. Join us Sunday as we learn from the life of Isaac just what it means that God is with us always. 

Tells the story of two brothers at odds with each other. Esau, hangry from working in the fields, is desperate for his Jacob's soup. Tempted by sin, he chose temporary satisfaction over the promise of tomorrow. Like Esau, each of us are so easily ensnared by sin, but with persistent faith, we can keep our eyes on Jesus. 

We're starting a new sermon series this week in Genesis looking at the life of Isaac and Jacob.  Chapter 24 is the longest narrative in Genesis (67 verses!) and tells the story of finding a wife for Isaac.  As this long narrative unfolds, it illustrates four principles of how God normally leads us in determining His day-to-day will for our lives.  

We read through the gospels and see Jesus speaks often of the Kingdom of God, but how does God's Kingdom come? This week we are looking at 1 Thessalonians 2:13 and read that God's Word does the work, but there is work for us to do as well. 

If you have ever read any of the gospels, you might have noticed that after Jesus calls his disciples to follow him, it isn't long before he's sending them out on mission. That is because living on mission is at the heart of what it is to be a Christian. But many times we can drift from that outward focus to more of a self-focused version of Christianity that is mostly about my walk with Jesus and the things he's doing in my life. If that's happened to you, I hope this Sunday can be a missional reset, as well as give you some handles to hold onto as you begin to think of yourself as a missionary right where you are.

We are taking the next 3 weeks to learn more about our role to help advance God’s kingdom on the earth. This week we are going to see how a biblical self-understanding propels us into God’s mission. The way that you think about yourself has a tremendous impact on the way you live your life. If you see yourself the way the Bible instructs you to see yourself, you will find that the natural effect is a passion to do whatever you can do to help advance God’s Kingdom. I hope you’ll be there for all three weeks of our new series, “On Mission!”

Genesis 22 stands as not only the climax to the story of Abraham's life, but is a pivotal moment in the Old Testament narrative. It is the story of tests and faith. It's the story of fearing God and believing against all hope. It's a story that leaves us in awe of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!