WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.080 Alright, good morning again. 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:06.400 It is a joy to hop into God's word with you all. 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:10.560 So if you would please turn with me to Genesis chapter 28. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:13.199 Genesis chapter 28. 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:14.640 It's the first book of the Bible. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.640 So if you open your front cover, you'll be pretty close. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:20.960 Genesis chapter 28. 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:24.399 So while you're flipping there, I'll uh just share a little bit more about myself. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:34.240 I'm actually from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and uh uh went to UVA for undergrad and then went to RTS Jackson for seminary, and there I met my wife, Janelle. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.960 We've been married for seven years, and we have three kids. 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:42.079 Uh we have a five-year-old, a four-year-old, and a two-year-old. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.600 Um, and so we've been here since 2019. 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:50.719 So it's it's been fun to be in the DC area, and uh it's it's it's been fun to connect with you all. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:01:03.359 I had uh breakfast with Pastor Tom not long ago, and he gave me a tour of you all's beautiful building, and so we had been talking about uh coming on a Sunday, so it is good to be uh with the Saints at Alexandria Prez this morning. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.760 Uh again, uh RUF. 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:11.840 Uh we uh there's a table outside in the lobby, so I'd love to chat with you and and meet you after uh the sermon. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:23.200 And uh I'd yeah, I'd I'd love to connect and talk about maybe how um if if if if it's on your heart, how you can serve and pray for and partner with us in the ministry to college students. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:25.599 All right, Genesis chapter 28. 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:30.959 I'll kind of I'll start off in uh with a verse in chapter 27 and then I'll jump to chapter 28. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:32.319 It's also in your bulletin. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:33.840 So, you know, here's a bulletin. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:35.920 If you just turn right over, it's there. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:38.799 I'll be reading from the New Living Translation. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:41.920 I like the NLT for narratives, it just makes it a little easier. 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:47.599 Alright, so to give you a little bit of background, Genesis is the first book of the Bible. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:55.439 God created all things as good, he created humanity as good, and he created humanity to make the earth a place that reflected his own goodness. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:01.599 But they decided that they can do that apart from God, and when they decided that everything went bad. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:08.560 So he basically decides to press reset on his creation, which is the Noah and the Ark story. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:19.520 And Noah has a son, and and there's descendants along that, I guess, lineage, and now you have Abraham. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:23.759 God decides to rescue the world and restore the world through Abraham's family. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:25.759 We're now talking about Jacob. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:28.080 Jacob is Abraham's grandson. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:36.639 So God gives promises to Abraham, and through Abraham he's gonna save the world, and now we're seeing that plan continue through Jacob. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:43.520 So Jacob was the younger brother of Esau, and he takes Esau's blessing and birthright. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:51.759 From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob the blessing. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:57.840 And Esau began to scheme, I will soon be mourning my father's death. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:01.120 Then I will kill my brother Jacob. 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:05.919 Meanwhile, Jacob left, so I'm jumping forward to chapter 28. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:10.879 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:16.719 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:22.240 Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:28.479 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the heaven, from the earth up to heaven. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:32.960 And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:43.039 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father Isaac. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:46.879 The ground you are lying on belongs to you. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.080 I am giving it to you and your descendants. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:54.960 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:05.360 They will spread out in all directions, to the west and the east, to the north and the south, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:10.639 What's more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.759 One day I will bring you back to this land. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:19.920 I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:29.360 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn't even aware of it. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:35.680 But he was also afraid and said, What an awesome place this is. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:41.680 It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:45.279 The next morning Jacob got up very early. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:51.360 He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:54.160 Then he poured olive oil over it. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:05:02.000 He named that place Bethel, which means house of God, although it was previously called Luz. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.199 Then Jacob made this vow. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:17.680 If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, and if I return safely to my father's home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:22.959 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:28.879 And I will present to God a tenth of everything He gives me. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:30.959 This is the word of the Lord. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:41.600 Lord, thank you for this opportunity to gather here today. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:46.560 To be in your word. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:06:02.000 Lord, you are so good and kind that you have spoken to us and you have decided to write it down in a collection for us to meet with you generation after generation. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:06.560 Lord, I pray that right here, right now, we would meet with you. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:13.439 You've met us through singing and praying and giving and all of these different things. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:16.480 And Lord, we ask that right now you would meet us through the preaching of your word. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:19.199 Holy Spirit, fill me. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:25.600 Lord, I pray that you give me conviction and boldness and clarity, love, humility. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:31.199 Lord, cleanse my conscience from dead works that I might serve the living God. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:34.319 Lord, I pray for your hearers this morning. 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:46.560 They've come and they are expecting a word, or maybe they come and they um are just just out of it and they're just like, you know what, I'm coming here, I'm here, and Lord, I need you to even work up a desire in me for your word. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:50.480 Lord, I pray that you would do just those things. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:58.560 Lord, I pray that you would open their hearts and they would not only believe your word, but also love your word, cherish your word, delight in your word. 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:04.879 Lord, I ask that we wouldn't just be good hearers of your word, but that we would be good doers of your word. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.720 Lord, and I ask all these things in Christ's name. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:09.680 Amen. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:16.399 Do you have a place where you feel really close to God? 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:19.519 I want you to pause and, you know, think of this place in your head. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:21.439 Or maybe you close your eyes and think of this place. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:23.199 Maybe for some of you it's mountains. 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:28.319 When you get up into the mountains, or when you see a mountain range, you're just reminded of how big God is. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:30.720 Or maybe from some of you it's the ocean. 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:36.399 When you hear the waves crashing on the sand, you're just reminded of how grand God is. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.480 Or maybe for some of you, it's a beautiful church building, you know, like this one. 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:43.920 You walk in and you feel really close to God. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:57.839 These places oftentimes have something to do with tranquility or how big the Lord is, or um, it could even be that corner in our home where we snuggle up and grab a blanket and have a warm cup of coffee and we feel really close to the Lord. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:05.839 It has things to do with comfort, reminding ourselves that God is big and we are small and he cares for us. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:10.399 But what if there is a place that you likely didn't think of? 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:13.519 It's an island in the middle of nowhere. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:20.079 It's always cloudy, and when it's not cloudy, it gives scorching heat. 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:22.639 Uh when it rains, it pours. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:30.480 Uh, and there is little food, scarce water, no scenic views, and predators all around. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:40.320 What if I told you that this deserted island is a special place, and we are closer to God in this place than any other place in our lives? 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.799 This place is called weakness. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:47.519 It's called weakness. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:59.519 In this place, we are desperate, powerless, hurting, and vulnerable, but this is the place where God dwells. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:04.000 And so that's my main point for our time this morning. 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:07.840 God dwells in your weakest moments. 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:13.759 God dwells in your weakest moments. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.200 And we see this in our passage this morning. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:23.279 Jacob had just received the blessing and birthright that belonged to his older and more powerful brother Esau. 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:30.879 Basically, they were both in the womb, and God told their mother Rebecca that the younger uh would basically be over the older. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:40.480 Now, when they were born, Esau, it says um he he was uh hairy and his skin was red, and so I'm just assuming like that's blood pulsating through his veins. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:42.879 He was just like a bodybuilder type of guy. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:45.679 He was just strong and he was a hunter and a warrior. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:55.759 And the younger brother, Jacob, was you get the sense that he would he he just was a homebody and he didn't get out much and he wasn't strong like his older brother. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:10:06.399 And uh basically Rebecca, in order to fulfill the prophecy that was spoken over her, she convinced or she helped Jacob take Esau's blessing and birthright. 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:08.480 And so Esau, he is angry. 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:11.279 He's like, Jacob has taken my blessing and birthright. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:12.879 I'm going to kill him. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:15.440 And so I imagine this was scary for Jacob. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:19.840 So he his mother says, Hey, I need you to get out of here and go to Laban's house. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:21.279 This is Jacob's uncle. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:23.679 His home was no longer safe for him. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:28.720 He is wondering how he would have food and water and clothing and shelter. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:34.799 Jacob was desperate, powerless, hurting, and vulnerable. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:39.120 And Jacob laid down to sleep alone on a rock. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:40.639 And that's how you really know he's desperate. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:43.039 Have any of y'all ever slept on a rock before? 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:48.159 He was sleeping down, he laid his head down on a stone, and he had a vision of a stairway. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:50.639 Now, don't think of the stairways like out here. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:57.279 Oftentimes in the in the uh olden days in the ancient Near East, the temples were basically giant staircases. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:06.960 Even if you think of like Babylonian ziggurats, or if you have an image of maybe Aztec temples, or in even sort of the pyramids, like they're these tall structures. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:09.360 And the the whole point was at the top. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.200 This is the place where heaven and earth met. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.600 And so the Lord was standing on top of the stairway. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:16.720 Angels were going up and down the stairway doing the Lord's will. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:20.080 And the Lord gives Jacob all of these amazing promises. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:21.919 He says, I'm going to bless you. 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:23.120 Look all around you. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:24.799 All of this land is going to be yours. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:26.960 I'm going to give you many descendants. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:30.799 He says, I am going to be with you wherever you go. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:35.919 I will protect you, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:42.639 God gives Jacob these amazing promises, the same ones he gave Jacob's father and grandfather. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:50.799 And Jacob woke up and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I didn't even know it. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.240 And he calls this place Bethel. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:57.120 He calls this place Bethel. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.279 Bethel means the house of God. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:02.159 Baith means house, and El means God. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:04.799 Why does he call it Bethel? 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:09.120 Obviously, you know, there is the stairway, the gateway between heaven and earth. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:21.120 But y'all, there was nothing special about that patch of dirt and that stone that served as a pillow that he laid his head on, other than it was the place of Jacob's weakness. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:28.480 On that patch of dirt, he was desperate, he was powerless, he was hurting, and he was vulnerable. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:33.519 And this is the place where God dwelled with Jacob. 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:35.200 But here's the problem. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:38.480 So many times in our lives, don't we waste these moments of weakness? 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.399 We get in places where we are hurting or when we were we are vulnerable. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:44.799 And don't we sometimes run away from God? 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:48.080 Or don't we oftentimes run away from Christian community? 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:50.960 We kind of isolate ourselves. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:13:01.600 I know so often in ministry, our uh students will be missing from our ministry, and I'll kind of reach out to them and I'll text them, text them, and there'll be a lot of blue bubbles on the I message without a lot of gray bubbles. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:03.519 I'm just saying, hey, how are you doing? 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:06.720 Praying for you, uh, thinking about you, and then I'll see them again. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:09.279 They'll come to Bible study and they say, Man, sorry. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:12.720 Uh, the last six months have been some of the worst moments of my life. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:18.320 I'm like, I wish you let me know so we could walk with you and pray with you and we could point you to the Lord. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:23.840 But so often in these moments of weakness, we run away from the Lord and we run away from Christian community. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:32.399 And really, I think just when we think of the church globally, um, we are oftentimes in places of weakness, aren't we? 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:36.559 Christians are at a severe economic disadvantage in many countries. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:40.320 We are persecuted, insulted, looked down upon. 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:42.320 We are marginalized. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:47.440 Uh we kind of have it, we're kind of comfy here in our cultural moment in the United States. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:14:01.200 Uh, but it more and more anti-Christian hostility is growing, and the church is going to have to learn how to be weak, how to be insulted, how to be persecuted, how to be uh the last. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:07.120 And so often we are allergic to weakness. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:27.039 We want to be in power, we want to be at the center that we we only want to follow Jesus so long as it is comfortable for us, and so long as we won't lose too many friends, so often as we won't have to lose our jobs, uh, so often uh we want to follow Jesus only when it demands a minimal amount of sacrifice, just enough to where we feel like we've sacrificed something. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:33.279 But so often God wants us to be in the place of weakness. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:37.919 And if we really think about the scriptures, the storyline of the scriptures, isn't it funny? 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:42.080 Uh 1 Corinthians chapter 2, go and read that chapter uh maybe this afternoon. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:47.600 But it basically is all about how God uses foolishness to accomplish his purposes. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:49.519 Have you thought about the way God works? 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:51.919 It really doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:55.440 Why would God choose the younger brother over the older brother? 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:57.759 Why would God choose Jacob over Esau? 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:03.919 God always chooses the stranger, the alien, the person who is marginalized. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:13.919 He doesn't choose royalty, he chooses the weakest people, and oh, and just in case they weren't weak enough, he places them in the weakest situations, and that's where he does his work. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:15.200 Think about Abram. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:22.399 He chooses an idol worshiper, brings them to another land, he doesn't have anywhere that there's no place on that place that he owns. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:34.720 He's surrounded by enemies, and then in Genesis chapter 12, he says, Oh, I'm gonna send a famine, and you'll have to go to Egypt, and they're gonna, and and it just over and over again we see that God works through weakness. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.840 And so we're gonna look at that in the life of Jacob. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:43.360 I want to look at two situations that God dwells in weakness. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:49.679 So, first, God dwells in your weakest moments, even when the powerful exploit you. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:55.200 God dwells in your weakest moments, even when the powerful exploit you. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:59.200 And we see this in Genesis chapter 31, verses 10 through 13. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:11.600 So Jacob had just run away from his home, and he um finds himself at his uncle's house, like his mom directed him, and he ends up running into uh Rachel, and he falls in love with Rachel. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:18.879 This is this is uh Laban's daughter, and so he goes to Laban, his uncle, and he says, Hey, I'm in love with your daughter, I want to marry her. 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:24.240 And back then you couldn't just come empty-handed if you wanted to marry someone's daughter, and I guess even now, I guess. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:31.440 Um but but it but so Laban said, Look, you have to work for me for seven years, and then you can marry Rachel. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:43.279 So he worked seven years, and um basically, basically, uh, when when when you have a marriage ceremony, the marriage is official when you've consummated the marriage, when you intimately know that person. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:55.120 So uh he is uh excited he gets to marry Rachel and he lays with um uh a woman and he wakes up in the morning and he realizes it's not Rachel. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:59.360 He had just married the wrong woman, and so he goes to Laban and he says, What happened, man? 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:00.720 I was supposed to marry Rachel. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:04.079 And Laban says, Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention we don't do that around here. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:05.920 You gotta marry the older sister first. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:09.920 He had actually married and laid with Leah, Rachel's older sister. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:14.319 And so he is finding out that Laban is an exploiter. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:15.680 Laban is deceitful. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:16.640 And he says, You know what? 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.839 I want you to work for me for another seven years, and then you can marry Rachel. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:20.960 And so Jacob agrees. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:24.640 He he uh marries Rachel and then works for Laban another seven years. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:37.359 And he works for Laban for 20 years in total, and he finds and he finds out over and over again that Laban is a cheater, that he uh cheats Jacob out of his wages, he exploits Jacob. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:42.000 Jacob is at the mercy of someone more powerful than him in his desperate moment. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:47.680 So after Jacob had 12 sons, Jacob wants to leave and he wants to start a life on his own. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.319 And um, but Laban wanted Jacob to stick around. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:56.640 Laban is like, Jacob, my business has been booming because you've been with us. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:00.480 So back then they were a pastoralist society, an agricultural society. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:03.279 So business was basically crops and animals. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:08.319 So the flocks were thriving, the crops were thriving, and Laban is just like, name your price. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:09.759 I want to keep you with me. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:12.880 And the business was thriving because the Lord was with Jacob. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:17.680 So Jacob says, I want all the streak, speckled, and spotted lambs in the flock. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:20.480 Just so it was clear, these are mine and these are yours. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:22.319 You can't cheat me, it's obvious what's mine. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:24.160 And Laban says, That's a bet. 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:25.680 But guess what happens? 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:36.240 Laban takes all of the streak, speckled, and spotted lambs out of Jacob's care and puts them in the care of his sons, so that Jacob would go without any wages in perpetuity. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:40.559 Laban is a exploiter. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:49.200 But regardless, the Lord miraculously puts streaks, speckled, and spotted lambs in Jacob's flock, and Jacob becomes wealthy. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:54.000 And Laban and his sons start to get angry, and they start to become hostile against Jacob. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:57.359 So one day, Jacob decides, hey, it's time for us to go. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:01.359 He turns to his wives, and his wives says, Yeah, our father's actually cheated us too. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:02.400 We're ready to go. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:04.640 And it says this in Genesis chapter 31. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:06.640 Jacob turns to his wives and says, This. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:14.319 One time during the mating season, I had a dream and saw that the male goats mating with the females were streak, speckled, and spotted. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:20.640 Then in my dream the angel of God said to me, Jacob, and I replied, Yes, here I am. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:27.279 The angel said, Look up, and you will see that only the streak, speckled, and spotted males are mating with the females of your flock. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:30.240 For I've seen how Laban has treated you. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:37.440 I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, the place where you anointed the pillar of stone and made your vow to me. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:42.079 Now get ready and leave this country and return to the land of your birth. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:50.640 You see, God came to him and said, I've seen how Laban has treated you, and I want you to I want you to go back to the place of your birth. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.400 I am the God of Bethel. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:57.680 He reminds Jacob, I am the God who lives in your weakness. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:04.400 And so Jacob and his family, they leave without even telling Laban, and this was extremely disrespectful. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:08.880 So Laban is mad, and he and his sons get together and they're pursuing Jacob. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:12.160 Jacob is in a place of weakness. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:17.839 He is desperate, he is powerless, he is hurting, and he is vulnerable. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.680 He is scared that Laban is going to hurt him. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:24.240 But guess what happens? 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:29.440 Laban actually catches Jacob, and Jacob is probably scared out of his mind. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:32.480 But this is what Laban tells him in verse 29. 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:41.359 I could destroy you, but the God of your father appeared to me last night and warned me, leave Jacob alone. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:44.240 Y'all, isn't that powerful? 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:46.000 Jacob is running away. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:52.319 He's running for his life, and he doesn't even know that God is behind the scenes kind of squaring up and grimacing against Laban. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:54.720 He's like, You better not touch my son. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:56.960 He's under my protection. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:07.440 Family, I'm here to tell you this morning that the God of Bethel dwells with you in your weakest moments, even when the powerful seek to exploit you. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:17.839 God for his people will protect his people, and he is always saying over his people, leave my children alone. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:24.000 It could be when the evil one is putting temptation all around you. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:32.640 It could be when you encounter unfair treatment from the people who you work with, or the people who are your bosses, or the people who are in authority over you. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:42.079 It could be when your parents are seeking to manipulate you or your family are seeking to manipulate you, maybe your siblings, your cousins, your aunts, your uncles. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:46.720 It could be professors or school officials are seeking to take advantage of you. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:56.960 It could be that uh the people around you, they see your walk and your integrity, and they're seeking to insult you and make you small because of the ways that you are walking with the Lord. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:59.519 It could be those that are physically. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:06.000 And emotionally abusing you are seeking to torment you in all of these moments, you can feel weak. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:14.559 It feels like the powerful are surrounding you, and you are wondering where God is and if God still loves you in the midst of that. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:18.880 In those moments, you can feel like God and His promises are really far away. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:25.759 But just like Jacob, God is being faithful to you in ways you can't even see. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:33.519 In your situation, if only you can see what God is doing behind the scenes, you will rejoice right now. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:40.960 And God is advancing his plan to fulfill his good promises to you in Christ. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:51.920 In those moments where God is really far away, those are actually the moments of Bethel, where God dwells in your weakest moments. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:58.880 But secondly, God dwells in your weakest moments even when the powerful surrounds you. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:04.079 God dwells in your weakest moments, even when the powerful surrounds you. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:15.200 So sometime later, Jacob settled in Shechem, and the prince of Shechem, whose name is also Shechem, he raped Jacob's daughter, Dinah. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:22.720 And now Shechem, he was basically Shechem and his father go to Jacob, and they're basically like, we're so sorry. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:26.880 My son actually wants Dina's hand in marriage. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:32.000 But here's the thing Jacob's sons, Dina's brothers, were furious. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:34.160 But they kind of created a secret plan. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:36.319 They were like, okay, you know what? 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:39.039 We will unite families with you. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:43.279 We will give Dina's hand in marriage to Shechem on one condition. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:45.440 You all have to be circumcised. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:48.319 All of us are circumcised because we're in covenant with the Lord. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:52.960 So if you are circumcised and you accept our God as your God, everything will be good. 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:54.559 So they said, okay, we'll do it. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:57.279 So the whole town, they go and get circumcised. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:04.640 And as they are recovering from the circumcision procedure, Jacob's sons, they go and they slaughter the whole town. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:08.240 There is a lot going on in this scenario. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:13.440 But in the midst of all of this, Jacob is now back in the place of weakness. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:15.759 This is what he tells his sons. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:17.359 You have ruined me. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:22.960 You've made me stink among all the people of this land, among all the Canaanites and Perizzites. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:26.640 We are so few that they will join forces and crush us. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:31.039 I will be ruined and my entire household will be wiped out. 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:35.839 Jacob is back in the place of weakness. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:43.279 But God told Jacob to go back to Bethel, the place where God lives, and he tells him to live there. 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:52.480 So chapter 35, verse 2 says, So Jacob told everyone in his household, get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:59.920 We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:03.039 He has been with me wherever I have gone. 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:04.559 So it says they set out. 00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:30.559 Eventually Jacob and his household arrived at Luz, also called Bethel in Canaan. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:41.279 Jacob built an altar there and named the place El Bethel, which means God of Bethel, because Jacob had appeared to him there when he was fleeing from his brother Esau. 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.079 Y'all, isn't this powerful? 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:52.160 Jacob is scared out of his mind that they are going to be wiped out, and if they are wiped out, the Lord's promises will be wiped out along with them. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:57.599 In this moment, it felt like God was really far away and his promises were null and void. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:04.799 But here's the thing they didn't even know that a terror from God fell on all the people around them. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:10.079 While they were terrified, they didn't even know that the people around them were terrified of them. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:13.759 They're running for their lives and God is protecting them. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:22.400 Family, I'm here to tell you this morning that God dwells in your weakness even as the powerful surround you. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:30.160 It could be that as you're following Jesus, you feel like you're in a lose-lose situation and your back is against the wall and you are wondering where God is. 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:34.240 It can be that you feel like there's no escape from a hostile environment. 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:42.960 Maybe you're stuck in a house where everyone is toxic or stuck in a workplace where everyone is seeking to pressure you to compromise your relationship with the Lord. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:57.279 Maybe you have a physical ailment or a chronic illness and you are really wondering where is God, and you are wondering how you can truly walk with God and be faithful to God in the midst of such painful and frustrating circumstances? 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:04.480 In these moments, God can seem really far away, but that place is your Bethel. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:08.559 The place where God dwells. 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:15.119 And He is for you, and He will fulfill His promises to you no matter what. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:17.519 So, what do we do with this? 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:22.400 What do we do with the fact that God dwells in our weakest moments? 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:25.279 We boast in our weaknesses. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:29.680 The Bible tells us to boast in our weaknesses. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:38.079 Do not waste those moments of insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles while you follow Jesus. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:42.160 And the Apostle Paul shows us how to do this. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:52.960 In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 8, the Apostle Paul tells us about a time where he tells us he had a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan that was sent to torment him. 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:54.160 So he is in pain. 00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:56.640 We don't know what this kind of thorn in the flesh is. 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:02.079 It could be an illness, it could be an injury, it could be a spiritual battle, whatever it is. 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:04.240 Paul was going through it. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:09.759 And he says this three times I beg the Lord to take it away. 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:15.279 Each time he said, My grace is all you need. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:19.119 My power works best in weakness. 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:29.839 Paul says this, so now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:39.759 That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:45.440 For when I am weak, then I am strong. 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:54.799 Do not waste those moments of weakness, because this is where the power of God loves to show up. 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:56.559 What does this actually look like? 00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:03.920 You know, I know oftentimes we're like, you know what, I'm just trusting the Lord, I'm I'm leaning on Him, but what does this actually look like in real life in real time? 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:09.119 It looks like this When you are weak, pray more, not less. 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:13.920 When you are weak, embrace Christian community and not isolation. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:17.759 Receive God's word and not the devil's lies. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:22.160 When you are weak, bless those who persecute you instead of cursing. 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:25.920 Forgive those who wrong you instead of seeking revenge. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:28.880 Give thanks instead of complaining. 00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:32.160 Do good to God and to people and not evil. 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:34.960 Run from temptation and not to it. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:39.039 When you are weak, persevere when you feel like giving up. 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:45.039 These are the practical ways you walk in the power of God even in the midst of weakness. 00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:48.640 So often in life we don't know if we have the power to take that next step. 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:52.400 You say, Lord, that was my last step, and I don't know if I can keep going. 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:58.400 Trusting in God's power is taking that next step even when you don't know if you have the power to make it. 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:04.640 And you sit there and watch God provide every step of the way. 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:10.319 But you might be thinking, you know what, I don't know if God is really going to be there for me. 00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:22.480 All throughout my life, people have abandoned me, people have run away when things got tough, and really, it really feels like right now that God is far away, and I can't shake that feeling. 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:26.400 How do you know that God is with you in the midst of your weakness? 00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:29.039 And the answer is Jesus. 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:35.039 You see, all throughout Jesus' life, we see the fact that God's power works best in weakness. 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:37.279 Jesus came to us in weakness. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:38.799 He didn't come in power. 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:40.880 He didn't come in Jerusalem. 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:43.759 He was born in an animal feeding bin in Bethlehem. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:46.799 He didn't grow up among the powerful and the rich. 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:48.240 He grew up in Nazareth. 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:52.960 And somebody said in the Bible, uh, can anything good come from Nazareth? 00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:57.519 Jesus, our shorter catechism says, was born in a low condition. 00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:06.720 He ministered among the poor masses of northern Palestine and he died on a cross. 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:09.599 This was the weakest moment of his life. 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:20.960 But God is so committed to showing you that his power works best in weakness that he rose Jesus from the dead in the weakest, most tragic moment on the face of the planet. 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:27.440 This is how you know that God's power works best in weakness. 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:33.359 Jesus died for you, cleansed you, so that he might walk with you as your resurrected Lord. 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:34.559 And the Bible says this. 00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:48.559 Jesus told one of his disciples, he says, I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth. 00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:51.279 You remember that stairway in Jacob's dream? 00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:53.519 Jesus is saying, That's me. 00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:57.519 I am the place where God dwells. 00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:02.079 Jesus is saying, I am the true and better Bethel. 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:08.720 Family, if you have placed your trust in Jesus, you have Bethel with you all the time. 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:15.279 If you have Jesus, Bethel is not only with you, Bethel is in you. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:24.160 You, wherever you are, in whatever circumstance you are in, you can know that God dwells with you because you have Jesus. 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:31.440 Jesus will walk through you through through all of your trials and your sorrows and your troubles. 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:35.839 And we can be certain of this because of his finished work on our behalf. 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:47.839 Boast in your weaknesses because God dwells there, even when the powerful exploit you, and even when the powerful surround you, and God will fulfill his promises to you no matter what. 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:48.640 Amen. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:50.960 Would you pray with me? 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:55.519 Lord, thank you for the opportunity to be able to be in your word. 00:32:57.519 --> 00:32:59.920 Lord, I pray that you would strengthen us. 00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:04.480 That you would be the lifter of our heads. 00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:08.160 Lord, that you would make straight paths for us. 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:17.680 Lord, I pray that you will remove every temptation, every inclination to run away from you, to run away from your people when we are weak. 00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:23.839 Lord, I pray that your power would show up and show out in those places. 00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:31.279 Lord, those of us who are here and we're ready to give up on you, Lord, we're ready to lose hope in you, Lord. 00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:37.680 I pray that you would make that truth explosively alive in our hearts, that you dwell in our weakness. 00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:42.400 Lord, give us strength and draw us deeper into fellowship in you. 00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:47.279 Lord, I pray that you would teach us what it means to boast in our weakness. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:52.079 For when we are weak, then we are strong. 00:33:53.519 --> 00:34:00.400 Lord Jesus, we love you and thank you for your finished work on our behalf so that we can know that you are with us every step of the way. 00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:03.519 Amen.