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Good morning. I pray my family. Y'all, I almost want to run off the stage. Y'all, y'all standing up already like you know what's about.

Hallelujah. I'm going to read Psalm 121. I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forevermore.

That's a wonderful God. That's a wonderful God that we serve. In those, what, eight verses?

It's like, basically, you don't have to worry about anything because He has us.

We don't have to worry about anything. Daytime, night time, in between time. There's nothing that we need to worry about because the Lord has us.

So, get ready to stand to our feet and thank Him for having us. Amen.

Daytime, day time, tonight, night time, is there.

Lord has us. Amen.

Daytime, daytime, night time.

Daytime, daytime, daytime.

Daytime, daytime, daytime, daytime, daytime.

¶¶

We'll be right back.

We're all out of faith

Falling in His face

To the self-dash we go

Falling in grace

Falling in love and faith

Falling in His face

To the self-dash we go

Falling in grace

All we've got is that's the taste

Everything will bear

Look and see the glory of our God

Lift your voice together

Jesus is our end

Celebrate the wonder

When He'll be in love

Come and fix it

Everything will bear

Look and see the glory of our God

Lift your voice together

Jesus is our end

Celebrate the wonder

When He's love

This is a holy, holy

We ask for your presence, Lord

This is a holy, holy

Amen

Thank you.

Amen And we are waiting for You Let Your kingdom come

Amen and welcome Let Your kingdom come

On earth that you need in heaven

That your will be done

On earth that you need in heaven

That your kingdom come

On earth that you need in heaven

That your will be done

On earth that you need in heaven

We lift our praise

To God our Father

All the honor belongs to you

We lift our praise

To God our Father

All the honor belongs to you

We lift our praise

To God our Father

All the honor belongs to you

We lift our praise

To God our Father

All the honor belongs to you

Oh, and I want to hear you

All the glory

All the honor

And all the pain

Oh, and I want to hear you

So let your kingdom come

Let your kingdom come

On earth that you need in heaven

Let your will be done

On earth that you need in heaven

Let your kingdom come

On earth that you need in heaven

Let your will be done

On earth that you need in heaven

Let the king of my heart

Be the mountain where I run

The fountain I drink

You're good Oh, you are good Oh, you are good You're good Oh, you are good Good Oh, let the king of my heart Be the mountain where I run

The fountain I drink The fountain I drink from Oh, it's my song Because you are good Good Oh, you are good Good Oh, you are good Good Oh, you are good

Oh, you are good Good Oh, you are so good Good Oh, you are so good Good Oh, you are good Good Oh, you are good Good Oh, no Let the king of my heart Be the wind to tie my sails The anchor in the waves Always my song

Let the King of my heart be the fire inside my veins

The anchor of my days, oh, he's my soul

Let the King of my heart be the wind inside my sails

The anchor in the waves, oh, he's my soul

Let the King of my heart be the fire inside my veins

The anchor of my days, oh, he's my soul

You are good, good, oh, you are good, good, oh

You're never gonna let, never gonna let me down

You are good. You're good.

Oh, you are good, you are good

Oh, you are good, you're good

You're good, oh

You're good, you're good, oh

You are good, son

Oh, you are dead, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you are dead, oh, you

Oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, you are good, you are good

Oh, oh, oh, you are good, you are good

Oh, oh, oh, you are good

Oh, oh, oh

who believes he's good amen

if he's working in your lives praise him this morning come on he's good

he doesn't stop amen thank you father say thank you with your praise that's how he knows you

love him say thank you with your praise amen

you give life you are love you bring light

to the dark you give up you restore every heart that is broken

great are you sing that again come on every voice you give life you are love you bring light

to the darkness you give up you restore every heart that is broken

you give up you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you are love you

In our lives

So we pour out our praise

Pour out our praise

It's your praise

In our lives

So we pour out our praise

It's your name

You give life

You are love

You bring life

To the darkness

You give hope

You restore

Every heart

That is broken

Great are you

We pour out our praise It's your praise In our lives So we pour out our praise To the Lord Come on I thought you were getting excited for me

There's healing in His name

There's power in His name

Come on, think about it, say, Jesus

I need you, Jesus

I need you, our love

We pour out our praise, pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise, pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise, so great, our love, we pour out our praise,

You hold me

How great are you, Lord

So great are you, Lord

How great are you, Lord

So great are you, Lord

Great are you, Lord

That's our anthem this morning

How great is he?

If you don't realize how great he is

That you can't just drop down and praise his name

And glorify him

And worship him for everything that he does

Because he doesn't stop working in our lives

He doesn't rest

He doesn't stop

He loves you and he goes after you

And he will never stop

He is life

He is light in the darkness

He is everything

There is restoration

There is redemption

There is grace

And unending mercy

Jesus

If you don't recognize that

What are we doing here

We can't recognize him for that

I don't know

Did I love myself

That you love

You are worthy of so much father And we will give it all to you We will lift your name We will praise you We will glorify you Just thank you for being that father for us

There's nothing that I can't go through That I can't smile through it Because I know you've got my back Jesus

There is no darkness There is no obstacles That I know I can't handle Because you are right there

Taking care of them for me So grateful So grateful So grateful We just love you Let's lift your name up Let's praise you Higher and higher and higher Let's never stop Let's get louder Let's make this room full Let's fill this room Till it echoes out the doors In this whole county In this whole city

And here's how wonderful In everything You are doing In this name That Jesus Christ Is the one Here that we have Come to worship And everybody sees That Jesus Christ Is the name That we are lifting high

There is no way That we are fit And there is no other name But in your name Jesus Christ Amen

Oh Thank you Father Oh Jesus

It's offering you All the glory and honor As you are Father All of us however We lift you up our will lift you up YOUR SO GREAT

You are SO GREAT

you are good and you are great

we love you father

thank you for setting our hearts on you this morning

thank you for putting us in a place to receive the word

I want to pray that you are with Curtis

as he shares the word this morning

make an impression on us

so that when we walk out those doors

we are glorifying you

amen

good morning church

we have kind of given the hospitality team a break in October of doing some of the announcements and stuff

because I wanted to take that on because we have a few things to point out with you guys and to bring you through

I want to say welcome if you're visiting with us today

we are

we know that you could have chosen a lot of different places to be we're glad you're here

there's some visitor cards located in the chairs in the chairs in front of you

if you can't just grab one give us just a little bit of information about you promise we won't bug you we won't throw a bunch of stuff at you we just want to be able to connect with you and just kind of contact you and and there's also a card there has some frequently asked questions about our church and our ministry in case you might have some questions about who we are and what we're doing and where we're going in the days ahead

maybe you can't be there because of work

but if you can if you can bring a pre-cooked dish

so they like spaghetti

lasagna

something something like that that'll feed

a large group

you can bring it to the church ahead of time

this week we'll freeze it

and make sure it gets warmed up and thawed out and all that good stuff so we can have everything prepared for for them uh friday if you're unable to stay and help serve but it's from 4 30 to 6 by 5 30 we're wrapping up 6 o'clock we're out the door so you still got plenty of time to run and go catch a movie or whatever you guys do on on friday nights and so uh you know maybe some of you aren't like the rest of us and you're always desperately seeking a babysitter so you can get out and have that time yeah uh so anyway but that's this friday there is a link

that uh to this put on group me where's brandon this morning who's brandon

as a ministry you're going to be hearing a lot more about we had a meeting this past week with saved by grace we're in the midst of getting uh our mission wing uh prepped right now for housing um saved by grace has an office right down here on 341 they mainly help a lot of the transit and homeless people right here on 341 and there's a lot of folks that need a place to to stay for a few weeks or maybe uh in between jobs uh maybe single moms that are getting out of some hard relationships and they're gonna vet the families and what we're

gonna do is we're gonna love on these families and give them a place to stay as they get uh just uh back uh their feet back on the ground there's there's uh bedding in there and we're gonna bring in couches and and all that good stuff so they at least have microwaves and fridge and all that good stuff as well too I'll let you know that our target date is December 1st to begin really opening that up but we're gonna have some needs in that as far as maybe reaching out loving on these folks and um bringing some maybe some some uh meals and food and stuff like that uh we might need some

some help with some bedding and uh we'll keep you posted on that but again December 1st is the target date on that that would that we're shooting for and um I think I think that's really all the announcements we've got a few other things to take care of first but before uh before we roll the video I want to go ahead and uh let's go ahead and dismiss the kids if you guys will follow Mr. Chris and Miss Debbie there you go

thank you guys for serving thank you wow look at all the kids amen amen and uh we want to again uh in in light of our 180 ministry we want to share this video with you as well what if you go ahead and roll that for us

my name is Chuck Westcott and this is my 180 I was born and bred right here in Brunswick Georgia and uh just grew up in a normal normal family and uh knew right from wrong

but uh just seemed like uh wrong appealed to me more than right did sneaking out drinking alcohol which led to marijuana which led to all the other drugs out there and uh just continued to spiral downward downward downward downward was on my way to work one morning

and ran up and ran up and ran up and ran up and ran up and ran up and ran up and ran up under him and uh it uh it broke my face and my ribs my arms uh I was in the hospital uh intensive care for a month uh took me about seven months to heal up when I was on my way to the hospital I knew that I was close to dying I knew that I could die

and the whole way to the hospital I was crying out to to a god if there was one and and making deals with him god if you if you'll help me this time I'll stop doing my drinking I'll stop doing my drugging I'll live for you I'll go to church god I'll I'll do it all

as I got the hospital they they got me back together and it like I said it was about an eight month progress and the doctor told me at the end of it that he said Chuck he said there's nothing that we did

medically that you're here you had lost too much blood everything was was negative you should not be here but you're here god had answered my prayer he kept me alive and so I came home and and I read in the bible where it's you know it's not good for man to be alone and I remind me god of that I said god I'm alone I want a wife but I don't want just a woman I want a godly wife

where do you go to find a godly wife I mean I I know you used to go to the clubs but there ain't no godly women there so I said I can't cruise around to the churches and say I'm gonna go to this church and that church and I'm gonna you know go looking for a wife so I just

here's what I did you know the internet it's amazing thing I went on the internet and I went to a christian website and just so happened my wife had went on that same website about the same time I did we began a conversation

we dated long distance for two years god had convinced me that that was that was the woman that he had for me and so I took her fishing luckily the fish weren't biting so I reached in my tackle box and I gave her an engagement ring

and she said yes thank the lord and we got married

we wrote all those things down on a budget and we had them all figured up and we looked at it

and we looked at what we were making and we were like whoa look at this it was almost to the penny

what we were tithing and I said well took the budget I ripped it up threw it in the trash I

said okay God so much for the budget but we're gonna tithe we're gonna do it and since we've

been married over seven years we have yet to miss a payment God has met all of our needs and he's

given us most of our wants we came to Rhema and we want to get involved and so we want to be a part

of what God's doing here at Rhema and Jan is over the women's ministry God's allowed me to go back

into the jail here in Bronco and share the gospel with those men and just you know I've never ever

woke up one day and regretted accepting Christ I've got many regrets but I have never woke up and said

man why did I get saved I just my advice to people now is guard your testimony because that's what people

see you know all this other stuff that we we dress up we do this we do that people are watching our

testimonials and watching our life that's what matters what matters is what we're doing for the

kingdom not for ourselves thank y'all amen amen Angela we're saying

this month last month we highlighted our home groups and uh I've got Rob's mic here

and uh I'm going to ask uh Angela I've got a couple people who are going to be sharing this month and we

just want to encourage you let you know why Wednesday night why Wednesday our prayer service

is so important why we get together and why our focus is on prayer why we do what we do and I wanted

to I don't want to share too much because it seemed like I'm trying to put words in Angela's mouth but I

wanted you to hear from some of the faithful that come on Wednesday nights look I know Wednesdays are

busy for us we got everything in the world going on that we could we could say reason why we don't come

and a lot of people don't come on Wednesdays because I'll be honest with you it's work to just pray

it's work to just uh petition the Lord and it's not always just uh we don't there's not a lot of

bells and whistles and what goes on but we've seen God answer prayer in some miraculous ways and I'm

telling you I'm telling you I'm telling you so goes Wednesday nights so goes the heart of a church

so goes the time of prayer goes the heart of a church it is a deep reflection on where the church is

and we've seen our church grow in spiritual maturity and Wednesday nights as we gather so I just want to

not as a conviction but also as a reminder to come and be a part of what God's doing on Wednesday

nights Angela hey gang so I love that because I love stories of redemption I'm all like get it

together get it together you have to go up on stage um so when Curtis asked me to talk about

Wednesdays I was like yes I'll do it pick me I'll do it because it's such a phenomenal time um my

daughter and I started coming on Wednesdays because we couldn't go to home group on Sundays and

Thursdays because it didn't work for my schedule so we wanted to get connected so we came on

Wednesdays and in doing that I found the greatest little midweek family that I could ever find and

I absolutely love these folks so every week when we come we pray for each other and we pray for you

and we cry together and we laugh together we talk about each other's families we make fun of Curtis

sometimes we boo him when he tries to cancel our study but then he lets us have it and uh so we just

have a really great time of prayer and of love and of care for each other and if you want to be part of

that I ask you to come we will save you a space um there's about 10 or 15 of us that come and the the

kind of format of it is that we pray first so we lift up our community there's days where we pray for a

half an hour just for kids in this town um we pray for our teachers for our families and we pray for

you and it's just beautiful you can feel the Holy Spirit in this space um the part that I love the

best is that there's worship too so it's like a home group but it's here and we get to have worship

and that's my favorite and we're all like ugly crying and yelling out to the Lord and it's just

beautiful so um then we have a Bible study and I I think it's fantastic we sit

can you afford to not add it can you afford to be empty going into Thursday and Friday and Saturday and just waiting for Sunday to come to be filled back up by the Lord we start at 630 we do have child care it's four year olds and up right now but starting in January we hope to have preschool as well so don't let that be a deterrent because we love your kids so thanks for listening to me amen amen thank you Angela

and speaking of prayer I want to thank you guys again for all the all of you who continue to have reached out to me and encourage me as I continue to heal through this knee surgery and this has been probably one of the most unfun things I've had to do again and pray they never do it again amen so but that's part of getting older and having your body write checks that your mind can't cash any longer

so my days of basketball are probably long gone but who knows hey I've got some great news for you today great news for you today we are finally getting back into our expository study of Genesis yes you clap you clap you think you're excited but you're not going to be excited so there you go we I say you're not going to be excited because if you're new to us today

most most most of the time what we do is we take and we we take an expository study of a book of the Bible we've been going for quite some time through the book of Genesis it's a long book I get it and so we took a break because I had I had the Lord challenge me through his spirit that we needed to spend some time on encouragement so we did a series and I shared this with some of my family here on Wednesday nights we did a series on encouragement and I'll tell you last week I kind of wrapped it up because I kind of

came back from surgery I kind of wrapped up on that on the last message in there and as it ended between Sunday and Monday the amount of text messages and emails I received on Sunday and Monday with you guys saying about how God had just blessed you God is moving the word that I'm so glad that you have given this series on encouragement it's what we needed to hear this applied to me blah blah blah blah blah I was thinking to myself wow maybe I should do another series

maybe I shouldn't go back to Exodus because I knew that I knew in my time of prayer that I was called to put it on pause for a while and do this series but you know we never do things to please man or for man but I'll tell you this sure is nice knowing that sometimes when you get out standing here on this stage and you pour your heart out there's some connections that are being made

and I'll tell you and I'll tell you and I'll tell you and I'll tell you and I'll tell you it sure is it sure is easy to follow the devil sometimes and say well just give them some more stuff surely you can find another series out there to go through but I haven't but the Lord said you haven't prayed about that you prayed about the other you would be doing a series because you want to do it and so now we get back into Exodus I'm not going to do a whole bunch of re-exodus Genesis

Genesis maybe we need to take an exodus from Genesis we get back into Genesis and I'm not going to do a whole bunch of recap but this is a horrible chapter that's probably why I stopped before we were in chapter 34 it is a horrible chapter I'll just tell you that right up front it's one of those things that you read it and you're like why is this in the scriptures

why in the world would God allow this to be put with such detail we're not even I wanted to get through all of 34 because I wanted to do it all at once okay just but all the notes I was taking we would have been here for an hour and 20 minute sermon I'm not going to do that to you today trust me okay so anyway as we look at this why in the world would God have all of this with such detail and we find out the answer later on when Paul writes his second

letter to Timothy and that is that all scripture is breathed by God and for teaching so there's something in here that is applicational for us and that's what I've been wrestling with how do I bring about application for us and all this terrible stuff that's going on how do I bring about application for us in this time in this age for us today without stretching or embellishing anything in the scripture and oh my gosh I almost lost it so there we go

and that's it so there we go

just a distressing chapter it's a dysfunctional family and you know we've we've said this before and I'll give you my just my definition of a dysfunctional family is one in which conflict and miss and misbehavior on the part of an individual family member occurs continually and regularly leading other members to accommodate such actions okay and if if that's the case then welcome to dysfunction junction okay the life of the

patriarchs so we have patriarchs we've been patriarchs we've we've had it all okay you remember Abraham Abraham Abraham was was not a pretty picture he had a conflict with his wife Sarah and his and the maids the maids servant Hagar and the two of them have boys and that the front that came out from the Union and that was terrible the dysfunction of the life of Isaac their son because Isaac had a couple of boys Esau and Jacob okay Esau was Isaac's favorite Jacob was Rebecca's favorite okay and the conflict

developed and this dysfunction led for a lifetime and now we get to jacob's family and in and it's

like it gets worse from one generation to the next it gets worse and worse and worse and so and this

is notable because these are the men that god chose to form the nation of israel crazy it's it's

crazy and i hope that encourages you because i was going to start off and say this morning

how many of you come from a dysfunctional family okay and so everybody has yeah i think we can all

find it in the corners in the recesses of our families we look at it we go holy cow my family

is jerry springer it's messed up it's it's it's messed up and so really you could take this

chapter and divide it up into three sections we're only going to get to two of them today

the first section uh the first section is rape okay i told you we're four four or five verses

in and bam this this takes takes place i told you it's dysfunction verses one through five the second

section is recompense okay um and that's because of the rape there's there's a there's a price to be

paid for this and finally we'll get to it next week and that's retaliation that'd be verses 13 through 31

in this okay but just to go back in your mind to get a grasp on this person jacob that we're dealing

with right here jacob as a person and jacob as a father personally he was a deceiver he was a

deceiver collectively as a father he was passive he was passive you think about it back in chapters

29 and 20 and 30 when his wives plural he has two no he has four wives okay because he has the

maidservants they he marries them as well too they're all competing to have the most kids right

they have this whole competition thing and every time one of them would get pregnant they would say

oh the lord is showing me favor now jacob's gonna love me more than he loves loves her and so they're

going back and forth and they had this whole weird mandrake thing going on and this whole competition

and jacob seems totally passive like okay honeys whatever you want to do have your little war in

there i i'm getting the best of all the worlds i get to sleep with everybody everybody's having kids

you all want to have competition great i know how it happens okay right so he's getting to all of

this but but here again he's passive he's passive in leading his family jacob was the one who deceives

his brother from the blessing and he goes down and and and and deceives uncle laban when he goes to

padanaram and now he's coming back and he's going to deceive his brother esau again because you remember

when we last met he meets esau in the previous chapter he's afraid that esau is going to kill him

so what does he do he sends groups of his families ahead of him in in groups one at a time in case that

group gets killed it gives him a chance to escape okay so he sends another group another group and

finally he meets up with esau and esau is just full of love for him he's full of love and forgiveness

they embrace each other but the parting words of jacob to his brother esau uh when esau says come

with me brother jacob says no no no brother you go ahead you go on back home to seer i'll join you

i'll join you okay i'll join you later he doesn't show up to seer he has no intentions on going there

you

is that the name of god does not appear one time in chapter 34 it does in chapter 33 and we'll see it again in 35 but nowhere and it's a red flag because it shows us that god's wisdom is not present in the activities of this family they're making decisions on their own okay do you remember the place where god made himself known to jacob and jacob uh you know uh the place where that would

uh he would uh he would be known by a different name and he would always go back to and it would be it would be a retreat for him he built an altar remember what that town was called

bethel okay it was zur he gives it the name bethel meaning the house of god right and so and it was a place that god spoke to him he built an altar there and it was a place of intimacy it was a place of fellowship

and that's where jacob should have gone back to that's where jacob should have gone he should have gone back to bethel met with god

and intimately and and brought his kids and brought his family there and says let me tell you the story of what happened

let me show you what god has done for me and for us but he doesn't go to bethel we saw in chapter 33 he goes to

two places a place called sucketh and then a place called shechem okay and so uh the these two places

he tells his brother i'll see you and sir but he doesn't go down there that's down south okay he doesn't

go back to bethel either you know because he's got these decisions to make why wouldn't he go back to a

place where he knew god was he had met with god and and he had an intimate uh time with the lord we don't know

we we don't know you know it you know he had built an altar god made a covenant with him there

and it was a special place we don't we don't know it could simply be that he was just tired of where he

was you know i've been there in my life you know been there done that there's more to see in life

you know there's more places for me to go i get i get bored with this place and i'm not happy here

anymore i'm not happy and i'm and i'm bored and so it could be just as simple as that and you know

there's an interesting truth if you are not happy where you are you're not going to be happy where

you move let me tell you that right now and that may shock some of you who are planning to move i just

hate it here brunswick is nowhere nothing oh it's uh you know never never do anything here i you know

i'd really be happier if i was over there i'd be happier if i was doing this i'm happy doing that you

know you know you'll be unhappy if you if you're unhappy here you're going to be unhappy over there

because you have to take you with you i'm being serious you got to take you just a change of

location is not your answer to your unhappiness okay your little discontented self all right all right

because here's the deal you have to go with you wish you was different but it doesn't have it doesn't

happen that way the problem is not on the outside the problem is on the inside if you're discontent

you will be discontent there because contentment is something that doesn't come naturally you have

to learn it paul says in philippians i have learned i have learned to be content in all things

i have learned to be content jacob probably hadn't learned that yet he hadn't learned that

done with bethel been there done that done with shechem been there done that now now sucketh

now we're going to go to shechem and shechem is a place where the unbelievers are hanging out it is

a pagan neighborhood the hivites run run rough shot through the whole place and so he's moving to

shechem and and because of that he's going to place his entire family in jeopardy his entire family

and that's the thing with decisions isn't it that we make whatever we decide to do wherever we decide

to go those that we love those are those that are a part of us we can either place them in a place

of blessing if we if we walk in the will of god or we can place them in a place of danger if we are

making decisions outside of the will of god i mean that's that's why we talk about all the time you

know if you're if you're making these decisions outside of the will of god guess what that's called

that's called sin and we never

jonah says i'm going to take uh a princess cruise down to portugal right i don't want to deal with this anymore all right and so the mistake that he's making is thinking in this he's in this episode alone but as soon as he gets on the boat everyone else is in danger isn't it the boats going under and they're all praying to whatever god that they that they think they is going to answer their prayer and the one man of god that should be praying to god is asleep he's not praying

at all he's not he's not praying at all jonah places everybody else in jeopardy abraham decides there's a famine in the land we're going to move everybody down to egypt i'm going to lie about my wife say she's my sister puts everybody else in in jeopardy

jacob jacob how am i'm going to talk about this in a second man listen jacob puts his entire family uh in and just you know he he decides i'm done with done with bethel done you know it's time for shechem

and he goes there and you know and perhaps some of you men who are husbands and and leaders of your home some of you need to go back to the place of bethel

some of you need to walk back to the place the house of god the place of blessing the place where god called you to be with him

and he called where he is number one in your life and perhaps he's perhaps he's going to do it through this through this message here this morning

that'd be great because then we will not have met in vain this morning right you know i think about you know it was jesus who said jesus who says in revelation

chapter 2 to the church in ephesus he says remember from where remember from where you have fallen

repent and do your first works over again remember repent repeat remember repent repeat those are the three r's it's not reading

writing arithmetic okay remember repent repeat and for some of for some men god will perhaps use this chapter to get a hold of you

and your own spiritual values and your spiritual priorities and get you back to a place of blessing

all right let's begin and the first section jacob's daughter gets raped okay chapter 34

we're finally in verse 1 now dinah the daughter of leah whom she had bore to jacob went out to see the women of the land

um you know by this time dinah was probably a teenager most scholars and and uh commentators

believe she was probably between the ages of 12 and 16 years of age don't know exactly but that's

marriageable that's marriage material during this this time and uh but she would still be considered

a kid all right listen they've just moved here to this town she's the new kid in town she's a new kid

in town she's curious she's trying to find new friends how many how many of you here are in high

school or middle school ever walked into a new situation and you're just trying to find some new

friends right new situation i'm feeling out the ground seeing what's going to happen some of you

are teachers you see your students all the time find out who the who the cool girls are you know

she's going through the neighborhood who can i hang with who who do i not need to hang with all that

how however given the nature of the neighborhood that it's a it's a pagan hivite neighborhood you

would think at least mom would say you got a whole lot of brothers in your family there's a whole lot

of boys in our household you're not going out there by yourself i know in my home i wouldn't have done

if i had the my brother you're gonna you're gonna take your brother oh he's a nerd no you're taking your

brother with you we're new to this area you're not going out there by yourself you see how

responsibility doesn't i say the mom but it's dad too okay again passivity gets you in a whole heap

of trouble when you don't lead with the authority god has given you to lead your family

there's no indication that she sent anybody with him she just goes out by herself verse two

and when shechem the son of hamar they

until after he rapes her isn't that interesting there's lust involved in this obviously there's there's lust involved okay but he sees her and he he's aggressive he takes her he forces her and then he looks and goes oh but i love you we get that in a second verse four so shechem spoke to his father hamar saying get me this girl

for my wife now shechem's the son hamor's the dad okay and this town is called shechem so either the town was named after the boy or the boy was named after the town i happen to think it's the first because you'll notice in verse two it says that he's called the prince

of the land so obviously he has notoriety he's he's spoiled he's petulant he's very aggressive because even notice notice how he talks to his dad get me this girl for my wife

you little snob he's giving orders to dad okay so dinah falls in with the wrong crowd you know she's trying to meet these other girls and she's falling in with the wrong crowd

on her first date with prince charming he rapes her this is not good stuff and then he says i love you and he tells his dad i love her now there's a pattern here okay for young men

and and and bear with me here it's not always this is not always this way but often it's way

this way that young men and i'm speaking to worldly young men you hear me on that

worldly young men in a typical sort of way will give love in order to get sex

young men you hear me on that girls you hear me on that they will give love

in order to get sex they'll say this that they love you and in reality what they love is themselves

and they love what you can give them in terms of sexual favors

and you didn't know he was going to have a sex education class here this morning did you family unit

see it's being preached all over churches all across the united states here this morning

so the typical pattern is that young men will often

give love in order to get sex conversely young women will often give sex

in order to get love because they want the relationship they want intimacy they cave into that

he said he loved me i need that i'll do it he said he loved me he meant it we kinky swore

but you but you but you guys you have these guys who say i love you but but he loves her because he he

he wants he wants that physical that physical thing and so uh you know he's charming he'll turn

the charm on until until he gets what he wants but and then they'll say not only not only do i love you

but i can't live without you you hear that one too i can't i can't live without you okay and and and

and and as long as you give me what you want and then you find out the prince charming isn't so charming

after all we've already gone to several steps too deep and then verse five would begin the second

phase of this the recompense the second section now jacob heard that he that he had defiled his

daughter dinah but his sons were with his livestock in the field so jacob held his peace until um until

they came i read this and my thought goes how did this guy not come unglued seriously you're gonna

wait till the boys get home i'm telling you what i'd have found that young man i'd attract that young

man i'd at least would have went and talked to his daddy too we'd have had a three-person powwow in a

heartbeat in a minute but again jacob is passive it shows his passivity i'm gonna wait for all the

boys to come back so we can have a family meeting okay you know um sorry got sidetracked here this

would not obviously this would not be my my first course of that maybe he's in shock i don't know i

don't know i'm trying to give him the you know maybe he doesn't know how to act or how to respond

verse 6 and hamar the father

must not be done now you know it says that the brothers were they were mad they were indignant why were they indignant because somebody had been in the kitchen with dinah okay i've been waiting all week for that come on people you guys are terrible i almost got a smile from shannon it's a sympathy smile

she'd be like poor curtis poor curtis but notice notice something here with me okay this is in the the last verse we have the mention of israel not as a person this is important jacob was it was named jacob then he's renamed israel right one who fights victoriously you know with god or prince of god but for the this for the for the first time and i always try to show you as we go through genesis because there's a whole

whole lot of them first mentions the first mention and this is the first time the rule of first mention this is the first time israel is mentioned as a nation here and they're not a nation yet

they're not a nation they're only a nation in terms of a group of people forming together in this embryonic state and here the term would refer to a nation of israel referring to the people

uh to the people rather than the land not the property of israel not the land of israel but the people of israel those who have a special covenant relationship with god because of god's special covenant relationship with jacob

okay but it's disgraceful it says it's a disgraceful thing it's an outrageous thing in israel by lying with jacob's daughter for such a thing must not be done

it was customary in those days for the entire family to get together and to prove any marriage

um usually the dads would get together hey i got a son that's handsome you got a daughter that's beautiful he's hardworking whatever let's strike a deal

and the kids could even be toddlers they could be time i don't know how hardworking your toddler could be but you would say i got a son you got a daughter let's strike up a deal let's make a deal

and we're gonna we're gonna contract them to be wed uh wed to each other so before the kids even knew each other or even knew what marriage is they could so to speak be engaged

and then it's approved by the entire family it would be a family affair a a family contract which isn't a bad thing

okay i'll get to that in just a second but hear me out on this because those that are in your family are eventually going to be your future in-laws

and hopefully not your outlaws okay so it is important and they're going to be part of your family and part of their future so you want some kind of relationship

you want to make sure that you're in good relationship now and in fact but you know also in fact i would say you're looking for marriage

and you think you found if somebody in your family has constant doubts about that person that you say that you want to marry you should at least take heed and listen to them

you should at least listen especially if they have your best interests at heart take counsel move slowly move wisely

there is a multitude in the multitude of counselors there is wisdom there is there is wisdom and so that but the marriages here were arranged and i say this is not always a bad thing

because i talked to some people who are from uh who understand and this still goes on in other parts of the country where the marriages are arranged

and had a good brother explained to me he's you know he's a believer and everything but they still practice this marriage he said

listen we understand commitment better than you guys in america we are committed way before we ever emotionally make that that uh that stand

in america you do it the other way you are emotional about your decision and one day you hope you learn commitment

now i'm not saying what's better but i'm just saying let's not throw everything out there's something to be said

for understanding what commitment means and that's why when we when i do uh wedding ceremonies i will i will

emphasize that we are making a holy covenant before your friends and family but ultimately before god himself

all right so these marriages were pre-arranged but this is an emergency situation that's going on right here um there's been a rape the fathers come in the sons come in and there still has to be the approval process even though it's an emergency situation um i think we left off at 7

is that right let's go to verse 8 but hamar spoke with him saying the soul of my son shechem longs for your daughter please give her to him to be his wife make marriages with us give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves you know look at it's plural there's a lot of plural marriages with us uh jacob's got a lot of sons

okay a lot of sons and so you know i'm not i'm not excusing what shechem has done in any stretch of the imagination when i say this but as far as hamar and shechem are concerned they're at least trying to do something honorable here they're trying to make things right you know he didn't he didn't have shechem at home after this going well i don't know what we're gonna do we're gonna sweep this under the rug uh maybe we just don't do

anything you know he's not a wimp about it he steps up to the plate he admits what he has done he said i love you i'm gonna take responsibility he gets his father involved and for pagans for pagans you have to admit this is a pretty honorable gesture it's a pretty honorable gesture okay more so than what we're gonna hear about next week that jacob and his sons are about to do to them the retaliation if you haven't read it read it it'll make you go holy cow

god ain't happy with that i get ahead of myself a little bit but listen let's um let's read the last uh last couple verses and then i want to kind of do it i want to kind of uh do this backwards as we as we close this morning uh verse 10

you should you shall dwell with us he's still speaking and and um and the land shall be open to you dwell and trade in it and get property in it shechem also said to his father and to his to to her father and and to her brothers let me find favor in your eyes and whatever you say to me i will give ask me for a great bride price and gift as you will

and i will give whatever you you say to me only give me the young woman to be my wife now i want to cover verses um 11 and 12 first and go back in verse 10 and we'll close with that looking at 11 and 12

you know kind of the young man you know he's he's speaking to jacob and the boys his future father-in-law and and his and and his sons and he's he's he's he's trying to make some things right

but he's talking about a dowry and a dowry was a chunk of money that was given to the father of the bride and it's not not to pay for her not to buy him off or anything like that

it had nothing to do with compensation station it had to do with the the loss of compensation the loss of help that the dad would have because the children helped with all the chores they did all the work so dad's got one less one less hand to work in in in the house on the field and in those days

and so he's going to lose this daughter so the dowry was to compensate the the dad for maybe him having to hire another hand but he says in here he says you name the price

you name the price why because in the case of premarital intercourse in those ancient cultures now this is before the law of moses remember that this is before the law of moses okay

in ancient cultures if there was any premarital intercourse a dowry had to be presented to legitimize the union otherwise the union would be illegitimate

it'd be illegitimate and the father of the bride could ask any price that he wanted if this happened any price

later on in the law of moses when it's given in exodus 20 and later on

we'll see that according to deuteronomy chapter 22 that dude that god's going to put a cap on it because

people got exorbitant it's be 50 shekels 50 shekels that's the biggest price that you could ask for

if it came down to this but that's going to be later on in the law all right let's go back to verse 10 and

we'll close this thing out here today look at verse 10 again he says you shall dwell with us and the land

shall be open to you dwell and trade in it and get property in it no in other words come settle down

with us come let's be one big happy family let's make a big home and and

that that that that that Satan the serpent would would come and bruise the heel of the Messiah but the Messiah would crush his head in Genesis 315 and God so promised that in lineage and would would eventually would would be born from the lip from this lineage and the Messiah would come Jesus Christ and he would crush the domain of Satan and ever since that promise Satan has tried to counteract that by by his own kind of defensive

warfare warfare and killing off anyone who's in that promise line as soon as that promise was given Cain kills his brother Abel okay that takes place and I believe that Satan induced this this to happen to try to as an attempt to try to destroy the royal lineage and what does God do he raises up the line of Seth raises up a new line but as that line grows and as that line populates the whole earth becomes corrupt

and God has to judge the whole world because of God's own character and God has to judge the whole world because of God's own character and everybody is destroyed except except for eight people that belong to Noah's family okay we we we've read through all this because the royal messianic seed is incorporated in that eight people within Noah's family and so the warfare goes on and I believe that this is a hint of it here it's just another attempt to say hey look

don't don't don't don't don't don't don't be separated come join us come join us be able we'll just we'll just we'll just marry each other's we'll just marry each other's people you marry our sons we'll marry your daughters we'll just live happily ever after and there'll be there'll be no problems and that's the issue with Israel from the very beginning they continue to intermarry they continue to not separate themselves even when God said you are a holy people

you are to be separate

and I want to talk about this separation thing this morning

and end on that this morning

is that important to us today

this separation thing

does it have any application for us today

you better believe it does

you had better believe it does

it is absolutely a problem

there is a principle to remember

not only here but throughout all of scripture

2 Corinthians chapter 6

Paul writes this

do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers

he makes it very clear

now he is using a farm analogy

he is talking about a farmer

who is going to plow his field

will have at least two maybe more animals

he is not going to put two animals

that are so diversely different

together to plow his field

you want somebody with the same approximate size

same approximate temperament

you are not going to saddle up to Clydesdale

next to the miniature burrow

it doesn't make sense

we hear it in the natural

and we go

but all day long

we do it

I am willing to turn a blind eye to that

I know I am supposed to be separated

but look at her

look at her

and all you are thinking about

is no

you just want to separate

her from her clothes

come on

you are not thinking

with a separated heart

not at all

now okay

contextually

some of you argue

and you are right

that when Paul writes this

he was referring to the false teachers

in Corinth

that some of the true believers

were getting yoked

with these false teachers

who were calling themselves

Christian ministers

and he just

and he just calls them unbelievers

and don't be yoked

with those unbelievers

that is the principle

in the context of it

however

there is a broader principle

the principle

applies to

a lot of areas of life

you know

whether you get married

to an unbeliever

whether you start

a business venture

you are in

with an unbeliever

okay

that doesn't mean

we live in a Christian bubble

and you are an unbeliever

I cannot talk to you

don't be foolish

I almost said the S word

don't be foolish

because we would say

to Caitlin

when she was little

don't say the S word

you know

if you are willing

to go down that path

in your marriage

and you are willing

to go that path

in your

same direction in fact you will be pulling in opposite directions and it is very very difficult

it is devastating it is absolutely devastating and so the the that's the principle and the

principle that that's violated here is as well don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers and

in second corinthians 6 paul gives three arguments to try to convince the believers why they must

they must be separated first of all we have the nature of the believer the nature of the of the

believer the nature the it's nature that determines association you with me a pig hangs out with other

pigs and wallows around the mud a sheep hangs out with other sheep and they eat the grass in the

field right you and when your grandma told you that you are known by the company you keep there's a lot

of truth in that well well i'm just trying to help them all i'm trying to bring them all up

i'm telling you it doesn't work that way it doesn't work that way you can be a witness absolutely but if

you get down in the mud with the pigs there is no traction to push out there is no traction to push

push out and then you find yourselves loving the mud but it's not so bad once it gets dry i can

actually walk around a little better i stay here a little longer

second peter chapter one tells it tells us that christians are to have a what a divine nature

well i shouldn't i shouldn't just write these people off you know that's just human nature you're

right that is human nature well i just did this i don't get so hard on me because i just responded

in a way that's just human nature you're right that is human nature but those of us who are in christ

jesus are called to have a supernatural nature a divine nature we are called to have the nature of

christ that's how we are to be separate that's how we are to separate ourselves to to um the divine

nature to that which pleases the lord and you know when we try to walk with the world and walk with

the lord at the same time man we just break spiritual fellowship we create division we create discord and

there's a whole bunch of other stuff that goes on in there listen the very nature of a christian

demands that we are to be separate from that which is what unholy unholy

unholy the second thing in there that that um that paul's telling us in second corinthians is that

also the command of scripture tells us i mean he even he even gives a a a a little sermon in there and he refers

back to isaiah 52 11 where uh when god commands his people to come out he says i need you to come

out which implies a a a definite act on their part come out i'm calling you to come out and to be

separated suggests a devotion to god for a special purpose you have a devotion to god and for special

and separation is not just a negative act of departure but it's also a positive act of dedication

to god you can't just be separated but what do you what are you applying yourself to that's the big

question so much of our spin is i just got to stay away from stay away from that i gotta stay away

that's great but what are you giving yourself to what are you giving yourself to god is saying

you know today as christians as this talks in the old testament we we we're not spiritually defiled by

the touch you know like like they were back then to stay away don't touch this and this that and the

other to separate yourself but the principle is the same and that is we we can't associate with things

that will compromise our testimony or lead us to disobedience and really that's the that's the

ultimate question that we can just take with us this morning and ask yourself in a moment by moment

basis will this thing that i'm being led to do will it compromise my tell you heard you heard

how chuck talked about the the just the value of protecting your

you

Thank you.

in that in that in that separation as you receive the blessings of God you receive the blessings of God God becomes our father when we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and he cannot be to us the father unless we obey him unless we have fellowship with him salvation means that we share the father's life separation means that we enter fully into the father's love you with me on that means we separation

means that we are entering fully into the father's love Jesus promises this i just uh i think it's john 14 jesus promises this this deeper love uh gosh i should have written this down yes john 14 verse 21 whoever has my commandments and keeps them he it is who loves me and he who loves me will be loved by my father and i will love him and manifest myself to him

Judas not iscariot said to him lord how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world jesus answered him if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him there is a deeper love that is promised to those of us who will separate ourselves from the things of the world and give ourselves to the holiness of a sovereign righteous God that is what is

Israel is not doing that is what happens when um i mean God God called Abraham to separate himself didn't we saw that leave Ur of Chaldees separate yourself to a place i will show you God will have to again use Ezra and use Nehemiah to show to remind the people you need to be separate from all of this junk all of this stuff and too often in the church today we deal with the symptoms and not the causes in people's lives we were over here confessing the same sins

over and over again because we haven't gotten to the root of the trouble and we are not cleansing ourselves

i want freedom from sin but i don't want to separate myself i want freedom from this but i don't want to separate myself i want this for my family but i won't lead my family in this dads men wake up that's where we need to no longer be passive

you want to change in your life you want to change for your family you want to change for you personally

passivity will not get it for you

and fellas you you want that special woman in your life

a godly woman just like Chuck talked about

i'm telling you don't you don't have to go to the internet right now not yet okay not yet

and you don't have to go church hopping to try to find one not yet not yet

i'm telling you what draws a woman is a strong man

a man who is strong i didn't say to lord over you know a man who is strong in the lord

i love you sweetheart but this is what we're doing as a family

god has called me to protect you to shatter over you to to love you to to pour out everything on you

and there is a freedom for the woman that comes with that there's a blessing

that comes and there's a fulfillment that comes with that

young ladies you look for that in a man

you look for that in a man

i will i don't care i don't care

how much we are attracted to each other sweetheart

i love you and i know you love me

i know we're still in high school or whatever

but i'm telling you

we cannot take this

any farther right now

because it is going to jeopardize my testimony

it is going to lead me to a place

of disobedience

it's going to jeopardize my testimony

it's going to lead me to a place

of disobedience

i had about 30 other things i was supposed to say today i didn't get to it

and what's uh what i say sorry not sorry

worship team come on up this

let's uh

you

what are we closing out with this morning shannon what's all

redeemed how about that

redeemed

i don't really know how to end this this morning with you guys

we're going to see a we're going to see a whole bunch of retaliation next week

and

what happened this week is not good

god's not for it

god is against it

but god is also against the retaliation that's about to take place as well too

there's a way of handling things

there's a way of leading your family

god makes it plain and simple in his word

i pray that i pray that i pray that everything in me

that

that the men and young men in this in this building today

would walk in such spiritual strength

that it would be an overwhelming pleasant fragrance

to all

that think in the content of

we would learn

what it really means to have the love of christ in our hearts

we would learn what it really means to

have the love of the father

dwell

as a sovereign god promises that we have

and we would learn

that with this redemption that we're about to sing

it comes to strengthen the power to make those changes

amen

i just want you to know that

i always invite you to the front of the church to pray

john and pauline always

make their way back to the prayer room

make themselves available after the church service

if you need to go

and you need to grab your kids and head out to lunch

we've

maybe we've gone too long today than what you needed

i get it

you're not going to hurt anyone's feelings

it's okay

you're not less spiritual

it's okay

but today i don't want to rush out

today i don't want families to run out

today i don't want men to run out

and not pray over their wives

not pray over their children

take the heed

that we have

god has not called us to passivity

god has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity

but he's given us a spirit of

of love

power and sound doctrine

sound mind

follow the holy spirit

please

let's stand

please

take the time

to meet with the lord today

in jesus name

we give thanks and praise to you father

for the truth of your word

we give you thanks and praise for how you fill us with your holy spirit

thank you sovereign god for loving us infinitely

in the name of jesus we give thanks and praise

and all god's people said

we take the time

you

It says that all I could see was the struggle

Haunted by a ghost that lives in my past

Wondering the shackles upon my feet

Wondering how long is this going to lay

Then you look at this prison

And say to me son

Stop fighting the fire

It's already been worse

Wipe away every stain But I'm not who I used to be I am deep All my life I have been gone away

But when I hear you whisper Child, lift up your head I remember, oh God You're not done with me yet

Cause I am on a deep Set and breathe So I shake off these heavy chains Wipe away every stain But I'm not who I used to be Because I don't have to be

The old man inside The old man inside of me Cause his days long Let it come Because I've got a new name A new life I'm not the same And a hope that will carry me home I am deep You set me free

So I shake off these heavy chains So I shake off these heavy chains

So I shake off these heavy chains Wipe away every stain But I'm not who I used to be I'm not who I used to be Jesus I'm not who I used to be Oh God I'm not who I used to be I am deep

Thank God I'm not who I used to be I am deep

Thank you for the pastor And the discernment And the courage And the wisdom That he brought today

With the

With the not feel good sermon Lord We thank you that

That he does preach these hard sermons That he does

Give it to us raw Like it says it just in the Bible Lord He doesn't

Sugarcoat it

Or beat around the bush any Lord It gives it just how you want us to have it

Lord I thank you for that And I thank you for giving him the courage

And I thank you that You'll keep giving him the courage

To talk about these hard things

That we may not leave here Just all

Just filled with

The good stuff Lord We just thank you sometimes for the hard stuff

Because it does humble us It does make us look at things different

Lord we just thank you for our elders And our congregation Lord

We just ask that You keep our community safe And always in your care

Thank you for the time

You're welcome

Good night

We'll be right back.

Genesis 34:1-31

October 13th, 2019 Sermon by Pastor Curtis Geary

Pastor Curtis Geary · October 13, 2019 · 1:41:38

Scripture

Psalms 121:1-8
2 Timothy 3:16
Genesis 34:1-31
2 Corinthians 6:14
John 14:21

Genesis 34:1-31

Scripture

Outline