Parkside Church Westside Sermons

This sermon brings the story of Isaac and Jacob to a close with the ordinary realities of life: births and deaths, family sorrows, human sin, and one generation giving way to the next. As Jacob grieves the deaths of Rachel and Isaac and faces further...

This sermon shows God graciously calling Jacob back to Bethel for spiritual renewal, even after years of failure and unfaithfulness. Jacob responds by putting away the idols in his household, reminding us that renewal involves turning from the sins...

This sermon confronts the terrible violence done to Dinah and the ways her family makes an already tragic situation worse through silence, deception, vengeance, and self-interest. While Dinah’s brothers are right that what happened to their sister...

This sermon shows that Jacob’s reconciliation with Esau is marked by surprising mercy, as the brother who once wanted to kill him instead runs to embrace and receive him. Yet Jacob remains a work in progress, reminding us that God’s people can...

This sermon shows God bringing Jacob to the end of his own strength so that he learns the blessing of God cannot be secured through striving, scheming, or self-sufficiency, but only received as a gift. Jacob enters the night grappling but leaves...

This sermon follows Jacob on the road home as he faces the unresolved guilt and fear surrounding his broken relationship with Esau, while God reminds him that he isn’t traveling alone. When the prospect of meeting Esau overwhelms him, Jacob models...

Genesis 31 shows God faithfully protecting and providing for Jacob as he escapes Laban, even though Jacob and his family remain deeply flawed. Rachel’s stolen household gods expose the futility of trusting earthly things to provide what only God can...

This sermon shows that while Laban schemes to keep Jacob under his control, he ultimately cannot frustrate God’s purposes or prevent God from keeping his promises. Jacob remains a deeply imperfect work in progress, yet God graciously provides for him...

This sermon shows God quietly building the family of promise even as Jacob’s household is consumed by jealousy, rivalry, discontent, and misplaced desires. Rachel and Leah each look at what the other has and believe that possessing it will finally...

This sermon shows how Jacob, the deceiver, finally experiences deception himself as God begins using the consequences of his own sin to humble and shape him. At the same time, the story turns toward Leah, an overlooked and unloved woman whom the Lord...