His truth endures to all generations. So let's stand up and give Him the glory. Put a praise on your lips, a melody in your heart.

A thousand times I've failed, still your mercy remains. And should I stumble again, I'm caught in your grace everlasting.

Your light will shine when all earth fades. Never ending, your glory goes beyond all pain.

Oh...

You will live above all levels. My purpose remains. The art of losing myself in bringing you praise.

Your light will shine when all earth fades. Never ending.

Your glory goes beyond all.

Oh...

My heart and my soul. I give you control. Consume me from the inside out, Lord.

Let justice and grace become my embrace. To love you from the inside out.

Oh...

You will live above all else. My purpose remains. The art of losing myself in bringing you praise.

your life will be everlasting.

Your life will shine when all earth fades.

Your life will shine when all earth fades. Never ending. Your glory goes beyond all pain.

Oh, in my heart, in my soul, I lose you control.

Consume me from the inside out, Lord.

Let justice and praise become my embrace to love you from the inside out, everlasting.

Your light will shine when all else fades, never ending.

Your glory goes beyond all fame, and the cry of my heart is to bring you grace from the inside out.

Lord, my soul cries out to you.

Oh, come on, sing it out. Everlasting.

Your light will shine when all else fades, never ending.

Your glory goes beyond all fame.

Sing it again.

And the cry of my heart is to bring you grace from the inside out, Lord, my soul.

Cry from the inside out, Lord, my soul.

Cry from the inside out, Lord, my soul.

control. Consume me from the inside out, Lord. Let justice and praise become my embrace.

To love you from the inside. Sing that one more time. In my heart. In my heart, in my

soul, I give you control. Consume me from the inside out, Lord. Let justice and praise become

my embrace. To love you from the inside out.

This morning I was thinking about how good God is. I was driving down the road a few days

ago and Caroline and I were in the car and we were singing. We were praying over someone

and we were singing, we make a miracle work, promise, keep a light in the dark. You know

that song? And we were crying out on behalf of someone else asking the Lord, please intercede,

please intercede, please intercede, please intercede. And there was a situation that happened a couple

years ago that was really tough. And we saw the glory of the Lord over and over and over

again in miraculous ways, ways we could not anticipate. And as I was driving, I was stuck

behind a train. And as I was stuck behind a train, there was a vehicle that came by. And

there were words written on that vehicle that reminded me of the miracle working God that

he is as we were singing that song. And then we saw God answer that prayer that day in just

ways that we're only God. He could do that. So I want to encourage you that, you know, sometimes

we feel like, um, these huge things happen and God does these huge things and then we forget,

you know, it's crazy to think that we would forget, but sometimes in our emotion, we forget,

not in our minds. So as this song, the water thinking about God flooding over you, that power,

that victory, that healing for that brokenhearted, that's for you. So don't be afraid to just press

into the Holy Spirit right now and say, God, I know you've done this for me and I cannot even

fathom why or how, but you are amazing. And he will remind you of the times that he has done

things for you, that he has shown himself faithful and that he has shown himself glorious because

really, isn't that what it's about? The glory of God being shown through us to others. And

yet we get to experience that in order to share that with others. So I'm going to challenge you

today as we sing this song.

This far, he has held us through the waters as they crash against. This far, he is with us. He is for us

through the stormy depths. I was sore on wings like eagles. Oh God, you carried me this far. This far.

We are Lord, He was in love with you for us. The glory of God. This far with you, that we have in the

migrantumenmusi당. This far with us is histoire of prayer and提 hosting that we have indowns with us.

This far with us, our沒事 of our profession, the ongoing services that we have.

This far with us is our, our happiness of God being treated and Duskel, that we are in the

and unfailing grace When my hope is lost in the shadows This promise, you have made It's not for you, not for you Cause there is power of my victory The hope of a broken hearted feeling

You have made It's not for you, not for you

You have made It's not for you, not for you

There is goodness, justice, rest For the weak and weary love Oh, it's meant for me

The water the water, the water is fresh and over He's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna He's gonna, he's gonna save us

Water, the water, the water is crashing over

He's gonna rescue us

When the water, the water, the water is crashing over

He's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna save us

Water, the water, the water is crashing over

He's gonna rescue us

When the water, the water, the water is crashing over

He's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna save us

Water, the water, the water is crashing over us

He's gonna rescue us

Cause there is power, victory

Hope for the broken hearted healing

It's meant for me

There is goodness, justice, wrath

For the weak and fear in love

Oh, it's meant for me

Sing that again

There is power, victory

Hope for the broken hearted healing

It's meant for me

There is goodness, justice, rest

For the weak and fear in love

It's meant for me

Cause when the water, the water, the water is crashing over

He's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna save us

Water, the water, the water is crashing over us

He's gonna rescue us

Thank you, God

Thank you, God

Thank you, you're so good

Thank you

Thank you, God

Thank you, God

Thank you, God

Thank you, God

Thank you, God

Before I spoke a word

You were singing over me

You were singing over me

You were singing over me

You were singing over me

Before I took a breath

You breathed your life in me

You have been so, so kind to me

Before I spoke a word, you were singing over me

You have been so, so good to me

Before I took a breath, you breathed your life in me

You have been so, so good to me

down Bites till I'm found Leaves the 99 And I couldn't earn it And I don't deserve it Still you give yourself away Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

I was your fault Still you love fought for me Cause you have been so, so good to me Cause you have been so, so good to me

When I felt no, so good to me When I felt no, so good to me

When I felt no worth You paid it all for me You have been so, so kind to me

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down Bites till I'm found Leaves the 99 And I couldn't earn it And I don't deserve it Till you give yourself away Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

There's no shadow you won't light up Mountain you won't climb up Coming after me

There's no wall you won't kick down

Lie you won't tear down

Coming after me

There's no shadow you won't light up

Mountain you won't climb up

Coming after me

There's no wall you won't kick down

Lie you won't tear down

Coming after me

There's no shadow you won't light up

Mountain you won't climb up

Coming after me

There's no wall you won't kick down

Lie you won't tear down

Coming after me

There's no shadow you won't light up

Mountain you won't climb up

Coming after me

There's no wall you won't kick down

Lie you won't tear down

Coming after me

There's no shadow you won't light up

Mountain you won't climb up

Coming after me

Oh no

There's no wall you won't kick down

I won't tear down

I won't tear down

I won't tear down

I'll be overwhelmed

Latter-day

Latter-day

Latter-day

Latter-day

Latter-day

To give yourself away

To give yourself away

Oh the overwhelming

Never-ending

Reckless of the night

norất of the night

ooooh

There's no shadow you won't light up

Wait until you won't climb up

Coming after me

There's no wall you're breaks

There's no wall you won't kick down, fly you won't tear down, coming after me.

There's no shadow you won't light up, mountain you won't climb up, coming after me.

There's no wall you won't kick down, there's fly you won't tear down, coming after me.

There's no shadow you won't light up, mountain you won't climb up, coming after me.

There's no wall you won't kick down, fly you won't tear down, coming after me.

There's no shadow you won't light up, mountain you won't climb up, coming after me.

There's no wall you won't kick down, fly you won't tear down, coming after me.

There's no shadow you won't light up, mountain you won't climb up, coming after me.

There's no wall you won't kick down, fly you won't tear down, coming after me.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

There's no shadow you won't break down, coming after me.

There's no shadow you won't break down, coming after me.

He's a ninety-nine

And I will be perfect

And I will be perfect

Will you send yourself away

I'm so overwhelmed

And you'll never wait

And you'll check this out

Even when I can't see the wind

Even when I can't see the wind

You'll have a way

Yes, God. Thank you, God.

Thank you, God.

Thank you, God.

Thank you, God.

God, we just want to thank you, God.

We thank you, God.

Let's just thank you, God.

For who you are.

For who you are, God.

We have no idea.

We just want to thank you, God.

Thank you, God, that you pursued us, God.

Thank you, God, that you run after us, God.

Thank you, God, that you knock down every wall, God.

Thank you, God, that you run after us, Lord,

when we're running the other way, God.

Thank you that you draw us back.

Thank you, God, that your ways are higher than our ways.

Thank you, God, that we don't get to know it all

because we can trust you, God,

with everything, God.

Thank you, God, that you're doing things

behind the scenes that we may never know

and we don't have to know.

We just thank you, God. We thank you in the hard times, God, knowing that those hard times are growing us closer to you, Father. They're refining us in the fire. The dross is coming up. We rejoice in those times of peace, God, when we can walk in knowing that we're able to breathe out. God, we thank you for the gifts that you've given us.

Help us. Help us to see those things that are gifts that we may not recognize as gifts. But most of all, God, help us understand how valuable we are to you, God, so that we can show someone else how valuable he or she is to you. Because you are a redeemer. You are a healer, God.

You are a healer, God. You are a healer, God.

Faithful you have been. Faithful you have been. Faithful you will be. You pledge yourself to me. It's why I sing your praise will ever be on my lips.

Ever be on my lips. Your praise will ever be on my lips.

That's right. That's right. That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

That's right.

My own, cause you're making me like you, you're clothing me in white, bringing beauty for ashes, cause you will have your bride, free of all her guilt, free of all her shame, and known by her true name.

And that's why I sing your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips, your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips, your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips, your praise will ever be on my lips.

Yes, you will be praised

Yes, you will be praised

With angels and saints

We sing worthy

Are you, Lord?

You will be praised

You will be praised

With angels and saints

We sing worthy

Are you, Lord?

You will be praised

You will be praised

With angels and saints

We sing worthy

Are you, Lord?

You will be praised

With angels and saints

We sing worthy

Are you, Lord?

And it's why we sing

That's right We'll ever be on our lips Your praise We'll ever be on our lips Ever be on our lips A way maker A way maker A way maker Thank you.

Thank you, God It's so hard to even think of what to say to you How do we even come before you And really thank you For what you've done When we really can't even Can't even take it in To its full extent.

And I feel like We are so excited, God About the day that we stand up into glory And really Get to see you Really get to understand you Really get to To worship you And now, you know It's our desire to do that In spirit and truth, God In the limitations of our physical body

Of our physical mind, God And we just We are just in awe of the fact that your spirit resides in that And that your mind, Christ, is in us And God, we're sorry for the times that we battle our own flesh

And we don't lean into that God And we don't lean into that God But God, we just want to thank you, God That you are faithful And that you see through that

You see through our struggle And that you see through our struggle And you come in And you give us Your mercy, God For today

Because you're faithful, God

You don't give us Your mercy, God That you don't give up on us Ever

That's unbelievable, God That you would do that for us And we stand in awe of that God

I don't even have words For today

God bless you You don't have words For today

The Lord and the Lord And that you will never be Our mercy, God

Sing our thanks Our thanks Will ever be on our lips Ever be on our lips Our thanks Will ever be on our lips

Our thanks Will ever be on our lips Ever be on our lips Our thanks Will ever be on our lips

We'll ever be on our lips, our thanks.

We'll ever be on our lips, ever be on our lips.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you.

Good morning, church.

Before we get into a few things today and into some announcements and some other things we want to share with you,

I just want to have just a couple of minutes where I've asked Summer Lewis if she would just say, make sure your mic is still on there.

If Summer would just share, I just want you to hear a brief testimony about someone who is trying to listen to the Lord and never saw a avenue of ministry to take place. And I don't want to say too much because I'll maybe say something she wants to share, but I just want to be a reflection of the Lord and never saw an avenue of ministry to take place.

And being sensitive to the Spirit of the Lord because you never know where God might lead you and might lead you to do for His name. Summer.

Okay. So, yeah, like you said, I'm Summer and I've been going here for about three years. And since then have been, do I need to get closer?

Yes.

Yay. So, since I've been coming here, I've been serving in some capacity. But this past summer, God really taught me that, you know, ministry and serving does not always look like what you think

it looks like. Sometimes, in fact, it looks like a bunch of women lying on the floor in the refuge. So, this past summer, I taught a yoga class thanks to Jan Westcott. Not really, but she sent out a message on GroupMe just asking, you know, where could she find a beginner yoga class?

And, you know, just reference of one in the area. And y'all ever have that moment where you say something and it's totally, like, not of yourself? And then you're just like, wait, hold on, God, what?

That was basically me because before I knew it, I was saying, well, I could teach one. Like, you know, I've never taught a yoga class, never ministered to anybody. But I guess I'm going to do this now because God said so.

So, I knew immediately that I wanted to have a Christ-centered yoga, you know, ministry. And so, that's what we had. And, you know, I thought it might be hard because, like I said, I've never done ministry like that before. I've never, you know, been up front in front of other people doing it by myself.

But, you know, the hard part was actually putting the yoga together, not the sermons, because every single week I had God put something on my heart that I knew immediately I wanted to say and immediately what he wanted me to say to everybody that came.

And I'm just super thankful for that. And I'm really excited because we're about to start up again on November 2nd. That's a Saturday at 830 in the morning. So, get ready early birds.

And it's going to be great. So, if you want and you're a lady, come out, please. It's a life-changing experience, in my opinion. I think it's been great.

Bobby Henderson wanted to know if the men could come, too.

I'd like to see that.

Yeah.

That's how we can raise some money, right?

But, yeah, that's it.

So, just, you know, I encourage you guys to just really listen to what God is saying to you.

And, like I said, it's not always what you think it's going to be.

Amen.

So, just have your heart open and be ready.

Amen.

I appreciate your faithfulness.

Amen.

Thank you, Summer.

Ms. Luann, come on up before we move on this morning as well, too.

I've got Rob's mic here.

I think that's Rob's.

Yes.

Again, we're just trying to encourage you with some of the ministries that we have going on here and giving you an opportunity to come and be involved in what's taking place here in the life of our church.

And I'll let Luann share on that.

Okay.

Good morning, saints of God.

You guys look pretty nice today on this chilly morning.

Not my kind of weather.

But Wednesday nights started for me over five years ago with a book study that was held right back there, led by Pastor Curtis.

And there was a small group of us that came.

And I don't know how many books we went through, but it was really very rich to come and talk about a book because I like to read.

But out of that Wednesday start, I was introduced to a couple of new authors I had never heard of, one being Keller and the other one was Symbala.

So I still, I don't know how many books we went through, maybe four, three or four books.

But I continue to read Keller, very rich, but also Jim Symbala.

And you may know him as being the senior pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle.

And you're familiar with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, one of my favorites as well.

So I still listen to Jim, Pastor Symbala as well, almost every week.

And I'll see you next week.

Prayer and worship and just time in the Word. So for me, and this is me, there's something about coming to the house of God. There's something about being here on a Sunday and on a Wednesday in the house of God. And I think I have a glimpse of maybe what David felt or was feeling.

In the Psalms. In Psalm 23, he says that goodness and mercy follows me all the days of my life. And I may dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

And in Psalm 27, he says, it's one thing I desire of the Lord, and that will I seek. And that's to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold his beauty, and to inquire in his temple.

And in Psalm 122. And in Psalm 122.1, he says, I was glad when they said, let us go into the house of the Lord.

So I just have a little glimpse of what David was feeling when he said that. And that's how I feel about being in the house of the Lord.

I gather with other people in other places, but there's something to me that's very sacred, very holy about being in the house of the Lord.

And that's what Wednesday nights is. It's an extension of Sundays.

We have praise and worship on Sundays. We have it on Wednesday nights.

And I'm so thankful for Sharice and Jill that come to sing week after week and pastor praying the guitar week after week.

And then there are others that come and fill in as well. That's just a very special and precious time.

On Wednesdays also, we have prayer.

Prayer and intercession is at the heart of this church.

A church cannot survive without it.

So to me, prayer has been birthed out of praise and worship for me in my personal life.

But it's like Wednesday nights and Sundays, it's like it has become a part of my DNA.

It's like I have to be here. I want to be here.

I'm not always here because I work out of town sometimes or maybe I'm getting in from work late and can't come.

But it's become a part of my DNA is to be in the house of the Lord.

So what I would say to you is to come and pray with us on Wednesday nights.

Now, a lot of you say, well, I don't pray out loud.

I mean, I'm not comfortable doing it, but by the Holy Spirit, I just do it and by the grace of God.

So to me, prayer, the scripture talks about praying in agreement.

Where two agree is touching anything, it shall be done.

So if you don't pray out loud, that's fine.

Come and offer your amen to a prayer.

That's powerful.

My desire is to see 120 of you here.

There's a lot that happens with 120.

You remember the upper room?

So a lot can happen with 120 of you coming together to agree in prayer.

Amen.

So I encourage you to not stay away from Wednesdays because you think you might be called on to pray.

One of the last things I'll say is that we come on Sundays and hear a powerful message.

And have you ever thought, you know, I have a question for pastor or I think I have something the Lord is sharing with me about that scripture.

But you don't have time to do that on Sundays, but on Wednesdays you can.

We have our elders sharing the word of God, and we have Taylor sharing now on Wednesdays.

Very powerful time.

Then we open the floor up for you to share what God may be speaking to you about that scripture or just offering some.

give and receive hugs on Sunday to give and receive hugs on Sunday. Some of you know that. But I need more than just Sunday. I need Wednesdays, midweek hugs. So if you need a hug in the middle of the week, come on Wednesdays. There are brothers and sisters that will hug you on Wednesdays as well. And lastly, I would say that there are some funny people that come on Wednesdays. And when I say funny, they will make you laugh.

The scripture says that laughter is like medicine. So I need a dose of medicine in the middle of the week. And maybe you do too. So if you do come on Wednesday nights. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Miss Luanne. Love you. Miss Luanne has a calling of a true pastor. She said in closing three times, didn't she? That's awesome.

See, I'm not the only one. That right, Joe? That's right, Joe. Hey, real quick, before we dismiss our children this morning, I want to say welcome to Rhema Community Church. If you're visiting with us, we give you the same mantra. I know you get tired of hearing it in your regulars, but hey, not everybody knows it. And some of you regulars still haven't filled out information to give us some information about you. There's some cards located in the chair in front of you. Please take a moment to fill that out. Give us some information. Drop it in the church.

It's just either here in the back. If you are a regular here at Rhema Community Church, we expect you to be a regular to give to the Lord and help in the ministry. And that's where that takes place as well, too. We don't pass the churches around. We ask you to be faithful to what God is doing in your life as well, too. Excuse me. I like the bow tie. That's good. That's awesome. Butterfly.

A couple of quick needs we have. Today, immediately after the church, immediately after church, if you could help us, I don't want to say just men, because some of you ladies, you're flat out strong, okay?

We need some help, all right? We have seven double bunk beds that are in one of the Mission Bay units. We need to move from one unit next door so that Taylor and I can get that floor cleaned and get urethane on that to give it plenty of time to dry and harden before we get saved by grace to be in there.

And so Taylor and Joe are going to organize that. Raise your hands, guys, so they can see where you are. And so if you could just give us, if we got some people to help, it would take literally ten minutes, seven minutes just to move the beds next door. That would help us out tremendously. I would appreciate that.

Also, Rebuild Glen was canceled from Saturday because we got rained out. Jimmy, raise your hand, please. Jimmy Osborne. Jimmy Osborne. He's on the group, me, all the information.

Excuse me. It's been rescheduled for this coming Saturday from 10 to 2. We're just doing some minor home repairs. We can put the address on the group, me, as well, too, so you'll know.

Is there some painting involved as well, too, and some pressure washing? Next month. But this coming Saturday is mainly what?

Fixing siding and a little bit of roofing. You want to stay on the ground? There's your job. You want to get on the roof? You can help with that as well, too.

So please see Jimmy. We're working with a couple of other churches to provide some help in local ministries here.

Thank you for all who came and made Friday night a blessing out of his ministries.

We had lots of food, lots of people helping. It was a great turnout.

Thanks to Brandon Grant for spearheading that and making that happen.

How many of you did we serve this past Friday, Brandon?

About 100 families down there, individuals down there.

So amen, amen to that. Thank you for the way you serve and bringing food and helping.

And again, even if you can't be there, it's from third Friday of every month is what we tackle and we take on.

Even if you can't be there physically, you can still drop something off and we'll take it down there for you.

And that's all I got. This time we wanted to dismiss our children, K-5 through 5th grade.

If you guys, are you teaching them today, Bobby Mac?

No, you just door opening. Okay, I got you.

Follow Mr. Brandon and Jimmy. Mr. Brandon and Jimmy.

Hey, let's transition for a second.

Let's take a minute so you don't have to be sitting here through all the announcements and then my message.

I would do it too.

All right. All right. Let's grab a seat. Grab our seat. Let's grab our Bibles, grab your device, whatever you got. If you have the Bible completely memorized, open up your minds and your brains to,

Genesis chapter 34. We are going to continue. We continue our series in our expository study of the book of Genesis. The series

is entitled

in the beginning. My iPad just went completely blank and I had a moment of panic right there

because I was just going to just give you a bunch of information and not stick to my bulletproof, my my rabbit.

My non rabbit trail notes in there. So I got way off track. But we're we're in chapter 34 of the expository study of the book of Genesis. We began chapter 34 last week and we talked about how 34 was an absolutely horrific chapter.

It was it was it was it's horrid. It's rancid. It's one of those things that you read and you're like, why is this in the scripture with all of its entirety with all of its great detail?

Why do we have to have Genesis 34 in there? And we begin to understand that as Paul writes a second letter to Timothy, we understand that all scripture is breathed by God and for for teaching, for correcting, rebuking.

So it's for us. There's something in there for us. And even in the in the craziness of Genesis 34 last week, we got to 34 and Jacob has a daughter whose name is Dinah and she has been raped.

She has been taken advantage of by a young man named Shechem. Shechem is obviously a very wealthy young man.

He comes the whole city, the whole town is named after him. OK, his dad's name is Hamor.

OK, so Shechem makes a he comes to a a place where he obviously there's lust involved.

He has his way with this young lady. And after he has his way with this young lady, he turns to her and he says, what?

I love you. Yeah, that's all I thought, too. Yeah, yeah, I love you.

And we talked about last week how, look, in today's in today's society, those men and women of the world, men give away love in order to get sex.

Girls will give away sex in order to get love. OK, because that's what they're starving for in that.

And so they make they make those those those decisions and they kind of sell out.

They sell out. So there's that pressure in that. But he says he but at least Shechem goes to his dad.

He says, Dad, I made a huge made a huge blunder. You know, those Israelite people that have been hanging out.

Well, one of the leaders got a daughter. Man, she's beautiful. Dinah. OK, and so and, you know, I did something I shouldn't have done, Dad.

But I love her. I want her as my wife. I want at least I'm not I'm not downplaying what he's done, but at least he's trying to make things right.

OK. And so all this all this comes about. And we said that last week.

So Shechem and Hamar, the father and son, they go and they talk to talk to Jacob.

They tell Jacob this has happened. We want to make Dinah our our daughter in law.

I want to give her you to give her to my son as her as his his wife.

And so Jacob doesn't say a word. He waits for his sons to come in from the field before any talking or any any rebuttal or any negotiation takes place.

And I said last week, I don't know about you, but I would not have sat still if this happened with my daughter.

There would have been a chasing down of the throats taking place.

I would be put in jail. I would be put in jail for what I probably would have.

I'm not saying it's right because we're going to deal with.

retaliation. The retaliation that takes place. And we pick it up in 13, but we're just going to back it up just for a second. Because Shechem, in verse 11, says to her father, which is Jacob and all his sons there, 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 say to me. Only give the young woman to be my wife.

Verse 13. So the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. So they speak deceitfully. Now, all the brothers get together and they begin to speak deceitfully.

Where would they learn that? Yeah, like father, like son. It didn't fall too far from the apple tree, did it? OK, so they they they begin.

At least the Hivites at this point, it's going to change. But at least at this this point, the Hivites are negotiating in good faith.

They're at least negotiating. They're being open and honest in negotiations. As we begin, it changes. OK, but not not the sons of Jacob right here.

As we as we see this verse 14, they said that we cannot do this thing to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised for that would be a disgrace to us.

Now, again, this is before the law of Moses, but circumcision was put in place in the patriarchal era, even under Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and by other cultures.

And by the way, especially it was especially practiced if there was going to be a union of marriage possible here.

So it wasn't for it for them to make this this statement that they want this circumcision to take place.

That wouldn't be unusual, but it would not be appealing either. OK, would not be appealing.

It would be. OK, I've been waiting 30 years for this, you know, so we get to this point and now we get to verse 15.

Only on this condition will we agree with you that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised.

Then we will give then we will give our daughters to you and we will take your daughters to ourselves and we will dwell with you and become one people.

Well, if you do this thing, then we'll become one people.

We'll all sing Kumbaya together. We'll hold hands. Everything will be great and we'll be one people.

It says one people. Now, listen, if you if you take the sexual morality out of the picture, this passage doesn't fit.

It doesn't fit because the problem is one cannot cannot come into the covenant merely this way by intermarrying just because they're intermarrying.

They think, OK, into this covenant now with with this this circumcision, that's going to make us one people.

You can't you can't do that simply by intermarrying.

This is a deceitful approach that's undertaken by the sons of Jacob.

And it's not in keeping with what's the developing covenantal theology of Israel.

There is no reference to the worship of the one true God of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob whatsoever.

This is merely a tribal transaction that's taken place.

They have found a way.

They have found a way to make things hard, hard and miserable.

And so they're going to they're going to see that here in just a second.

And I'll explain that more in just a second what I'm talking about.

But verse 17 says, but if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and we will be gone.

OK, now here's interesting.

I don't know if words ever jump off the page to you, but these jump off the page to me.

Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor son, check them.

What the heck?

It pleased them.

It pleased them.

And the young man did not delay to do the thing because he delighted in Jacob's daughter.

Now, he was the most honorable of all his father's house.

So Hamor and his son, Shechem, came to the gate of the city and spoke to the men of their city.

So So Shechem goes out and immediately has himself circumcised.

That's what I got to do.

OK, I'm your huckleberry.

in the city okay and uh all the men are hanging out there so these two guys hamor and shechem

father and son have to go and sell this to the whole town think about this they got to sell it

to the whole put yourself in their sandals uh guys listen listen we had an incident shechem

did something he shouldn't have done okay there's a young lady involved he's he's forced himself on

her but look we're trying to do the right thing we've asked the dad and the sons for her hand in

marriage and so we try not to you know those israelite people yeah okay we're trying not to

cause a big stir hearing a big stink and so we've we've talked and and they're they're willing to

give her over to be married to that's great we'll do just one thing just one thing what's that

we all got to be circumcised the whole town everybody's going to be circumcised okay who's in

i mean do you not see this you you we read these things you're like yeah no this is this is happening

okay this is happening and so they they've got to sell this idea to the to the to the elders who

then have to say we got to sell it to every man in the city because they said that's the deal every

male okay but watch how they do this watch how they sell it because this is very important because

this still happens today i'm not getting political on anything i'm just telling you truth

it still happens today looking uh beginning where we leave off verse 21 is that where it was

these men are at peace with us let them dwell in the land and trade in it for behold the land is

large enough for them let us take uh their their daughters as wives and let us give them our

daughters only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us and become one people

when every male among us is is circumcised as they are circumcised we um will not their livestock

their property and all their beasts be ours only let us agree with them and they will dwell with us

okay before we get to this first of all i just want to say okay if you know so now we see that

shechem and and hamor are not totally honest with jacob either because if you back up just for a

minute look back in verse 10 where it says where they they're speaking to jacob and his son say you

shall dwell in the land with us you shall you know have the land the land's going to be open to you

you can dwell and trade and have property and all the all these things look this is going to be

you know uh an economic benefit for you you're going to prosper materialistically if you do this thing

and you come to us you know um but then when they have to sell it to his own people when they got

to sell this whole circumcision to his own people he says again in verse 23 will not their livestock

and their property and all their beasts be ours so the first thing that they're doing is they're

bringing up the economy the economy look i know this is bad i know this is bad i know this splosh is not a

good thing i know that voting yes on this political thing is it's not what we really want it but as

long as the economy's good we're good right we can turn a blind eye to a whole bunch of stuff if the

economy's good does that ring a bell with anybody in the last 20 30 years come on people there is

nothing new under the sun as long as enough people have some revenue coming in their pockets

enough people in power will say we can turn a blind eye it's just circumcision we'll get over it sooner or

later we're going to we're going to take these people over we're going to suck in all their resources

all their livestock all their people they're eventually going to become ours jacob is a wealthy

man he's got a lot of stuff so they begin to think hmm two weeks of pain for i can do that i can do that

you know i'm sure the elders probably looked at him go i don't know all the guys are going to go for

this you know i'm not sure i don't think it this isn't this isn't a great idea but they went along

with it they end up going along with it

hoping that these unbelievers may be made right with god okay by um in this by and have be brought into a right relationship with this uh with being circumcised and that the uh through this ritual of circumcision you'll be made right with god and and that's the thought because they'll say that back in verse 16 it says that we will become one people and that's an interesting thought and and i i guess it is a possibility uh because there are still some people today that say well you're never going to

really going to be right with god until you're baptized and that's when you'll be right with god or you're never really going to be right with god until until we get them in the church and they sing these three songs and when they sing those three songs man that's going to be the thing that's going to do it you're never really going to be right with god until until until you until you have this gift of tongues until you have this this then that's when you're really right with god there are still those people that say these things that unless this ritual is

kept unless this ceremony is kept, you know, but I'm telling you, if you keep a, if you

keep a ritual and you don't live the reality of that ritual, then it means nothing. It

absolutely means nothing. You will not be made right with God by doing certain things.

You will not be made one with God's people. Any ritual apart from the reality won't make

you right. There are people who come down to the altar and say certain prayers that

will never ever see the kingdom of God. That's just the reality. There are people who go

through the baptism waters and they're, that's right. Why? Because they have never really

made that a reality in their lives. What they love is the ritual. And that's what, that's

what some people will try to say is that, that, you know, Hey, you, you, you do these things

and then you'll be right with God. And then this, that, and the other, um, I don't want

to get off too off track where we leave off. Verse 24. And all who went out of the gate

of the city, listened to Hamor and his son Shechem. And every male was circumcised, all

who went out to the gate. And so, you know, here's really what's happening. You know, they

didn't do this in order to, to lead them to the Lord and to convert them. And because

the team that they spoke to him deceivingly, the deceivingly. Okay. In other words, if

these guys get circumcised, man, they'll be incapacitated. If we can get them to do

this, they'll be, they won't be on their feet. They're not going to be fast. They won't

be able to move. It gives us a military advantage over them and we can kill them all. And that's

the whole idea. That's the whole idea. And you can imagine immediately after you go through

circumcision, how sore you would be, how painful it would be. And here's what's mystifying.

Listen, here's what's mystifying. We touched on this last week guys, but Jacob is totally

passive in all of this. He's passive and he doesn't step up. Jacob never steps up. He never

stepped in and said, first of all, Hamar, you know, this is, this is reprehensible and

Shechem. We need to have a conversation, young man. I need to have a conversation. He doesn't

do that. He waits and he waits till the boys come home. The boys are plotting. The boys are

getting ready. The boys are talking to the men of the city. And Jacob is just sort of sitting

back and watching all this happen. He's completely passive. It's patriarch. Listen,

it is a mistake to be a passive parent and not an active parent. Let me tell you that

right now. It is a huge mistake to be a path. First of all, let's take it off the table.

There's no such thing as a perfect parent. Kids, you in here today, you still living under

the house and roof of your parents. Guess what? They're not perfect. Take that off the table.

No such thing. Okay. As a perfect parent, but a passive parent will ruin a child.

A passive parent will ruin a child. A parent has got to stand up for what's right and for

what's wrong and live with conviction and pass on those values, pass on those conviction

to the, to your children. So that whenever he or she, you know, even though they may not

agree with it at the time, but whenever something comes along, they have something to go back and

refer to, to give them that standard of belief to walk in.

I bet they were. Two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males.

These are all the uplifting stories in the Bible we can read today. So here we go. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away.

Now, you should know that Dinah and these two boys, Simeon and Levi's, as mentioned here, were the sons of Jacob and their mother was, they had the same mother and dad, they had Jacob and they had Leah. Remember?

Leah was the one who wasn't loved like Rebecca was. Rebecca was the pretty one. Okay? Got all the attention. Leah was the, but these, these two boys were full brothers and they felt more of a, of a connection, obviously, than the rest of the brothers who were half brothers.

However, however, however, you have what? Reuben, you have Judah, you have Zebulun and you have Issachar. She had four, four other full, full brothers. None of them stepped up. None of them stepped up. They didn't act or react in the same way. So why did these two, why do Simeon and Levi react so violently? Well, we don't really know, but perhaps, perhaps in their own rationale.

Okay? And I'm not going to say this is right, but it could be in their own rationale is that dad's not going to do anything. Dad just sitting there on, on his hind part. Somebody, somebody got to step up and, and defend her. Somebody has to make this right. Perhaps that was their thinking.

Now, I want to move fast forward just a little bit and give you a sneak peek in Genesis 49. You don't have to turn. I'll read, read some verses for you. You can, if you want to, but Jacob's on his deathbed.

He's got the 12 tribes. He's got the 12 sons all gathered around him and, and, and he gives a prediction and he goes through each of the boys.

He calls them by name and he says something for them and it's prophetic and, and these things are going to happen. It'll be a fascinating study when we get there in, in, in 49.

But I just want to read a few things to you and look at this beginning in verse five.

He says, Simeon and Levi are brothers. Weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul, and see, again, all the way through, Jacob's still haunted by this.

He's still haunted by this.

Let my, let, let my soul come not into their counsel. Oh, my glory. Be not joined to their, their company. For in their anger, they killed men.

And in their willfulness, they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their, be their anger, for it is fierce. And their wrath, for it is cruel.

I will divide them to Jacob. I will, and scatter them in Israel. Judah, your brothers shall praise you.

Your hands should be on the neck of your enemies. Your fathers, sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub.

So, it's like he's taking the blessing off of them and he's giving it right to Judah through whom the Messiah will come.

He'll say the, the line of Judah, the, the, from the tribe of Judah. But what's interesting here is Levi, for example, was, as it says, scattered throughout Israel.

He had no land of his own. No land of his own. He, his tribe has no land. And so, and here's why they were scattered.

Because they're going to become what? The priests. They're going to become the priests.

They didn't have their own land, their own allotment, their own physical inheritance.

Because God is going to eventually say, I, the Lord, I will be your inheritance.

I will be your inheritance. And so, they were scattered.

And they were scattered because God, in his grace and in his mercy, okay, again, Levi, the tribe of Levi, took one of the worst tribes and turned them into a priesthood.

That's the grace of the Lord. He turns them into a priesthood.

Now, that's what God does, though. That's exactly what God does.

He takes a bunch of vile, filthy sinners and he turns them into a kingdom of priests.

I mean, Peter says, Peter says, a royal generation, a kingdom of priests.

And in this royal priesthood are some of the most amazing drug addicts, some of the most amazing womanizers, some of the most amazing alcoholics, some of the most...

26. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away. The sons of Jacob came upon and slain and plundered the city because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their herds and their donkeys and whatever was in the city and in the field.

And this is going to help you understand a little bit later on. A law that has mystified a lot of people. As time marches on and the law of Moses gets inaugurated, there's going to be a law that's going to be put in place known as lex talianos. And the lex talianos is the law of retribution. Okay? And so it's the eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Okay? And the lex talianos was put in place to limit vengeance. All right?

Not to enable vengeance. Not to procure vengeance. Okay? But to limit it. An eye for an eye. Because it's human nature. If you take my eye, you've just lost both of yours. Now we're even. If you knock my tooth out, guess what? You're going to need a whole set of dentures. That's how we roll. Right? Now we're even. Right? Now we're even. That's just human nature. Okay? It's to be vengeful. It's human nature to go above the

crime. Because there's anger involved in it now too. It's not just about getting even. Getting even is just, that's not good enough. That's not good enough. Okay? And so, so what do they do? They don't just take care of Shechem and do something. But they, his dad, every male, everyone, they kill them all.

And it says right here. They take all the sheep. They take all the oxen. They plunder the city. Verse 29. All their wealth. All the little ones and their wives.

They capture them. Okay? And take what was in the houses. They capture them and the plunder.

And then Jacob says to Levi. Jacob's finally going to speak up. Here he goes.

You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

My number is a few. If they gather themselves against me and attack me, I will be destroyed.

Both I and my household. We see the problem. Jacob has the eye problem. Now he doesn't need glasses.

He says, no, it's all about him. Look what you've done to me. Look at you. Look what you have done to me.

It's all about me. And they answer. But they, but they said, should, should he treat our sister like a prostitute?

What's the answer to that? No, no. I obviously know they shouldn't do that.

But Jacob is an enigma to me. He is an enigma to me because he never gets angry over the rape of his daughter.

And now he, he doesn't rebuke Shechem. He doesn't rebuke Hamor, but he rebukes his sons.

And notice he rebukes them, not for the massacre.

And he doesn't rebuke them for abusing the right of circumcision, a holy and precious thing.

Okay. He doesn't abuse, uh, rebuke them for abusing the contract that we made.

He, he rebukes them because what they did, what you did gave me a bad name.

You have ruined me. You have made my name mud in this community.

You have just wrote, dude, your reputation is already spoiled.

You conniving creep.

Your reputation is spent, but that's what he's worried about.

He's not, he says nothing about his daughter.

He says nothing about the murder, nothing about the, the, the massacre,

nothing about the, about the, the abuse of the spiritual right of circumcision.

You made me stink in the inhabitants of the land.

They're not going to like me anymore.

They're not going to like me anymore.

You've sold my reputation and the name of God is not mentioned one time.

Not mentioned one time chapter 34, boom, we're done.

Never.

We talked last week how the thing Jacob should have done was go back to where Bethel,

where God had spoke to him and get direction from the Lord.

Now I'm going to make this decision on my own.

And listen,

I want to make this decision on my own.

I want to make this decision on my own.

I want to make this decision on my own.

I want to make this decision on my own.

I want to make this decision on my own.

I want to make this decision on my own.

running around running around with all the the Shechem's that are out there trying to scope out chicks and you're letting them run around the those children of yours and they they what's going to happen. Don't be surprised if they start adopting the values of all those people you continue to just turn a blind eye to and let them run with. If you continue to put your your children and those in environments, you have no right to say, I can't believe what you're saying. I can't believe how your reaction is.

I can't believe what you have on. You better. That's where you let them spend all their time. And you're giving them no other input in their lives. Right? Because so many of us of parents, I don't get on a whole new sermon, but it holds too many parents want to be best friends with their kids and not know you're their mom and dad. Do you love them? Yes. We do die for them. Yes. But you're not their friend. You're not their friend.

You are called to love them and shield them and protect them and raise them up in the ways of the Lord. And sometimes that's easy. Sometimes it's very hard. Sometimes it's very hard. And the problem was that they Jacob put all his kids in this environment. And if we continue to let our children go into this environment without the right pressures, then what we will end up

saying is, what are you doing? What are you doing? You are making me stink in the land of the inhabitants. These people think I'm a terrible parent. Look what you're doing to me with what you're doing, the decisions, those clothes you have. Where are your clothes? That's only half of what you should have on. Nobody else sees it but me. Okay. All right.

Listen, if we continue to allow the dinos, the Davids, the Daniels to go in these wrong environments and at the wrong times and do the wrong things that you know they shouldn't be involved, that then you don't step in and you don't do something to try to counteract it.

You are hurting them. You are hurting. We see how it unfolded. This is the reason, one of the, one of the reasons why this is unfolded before us.

Okay. Because the environments today, if you don't know this, people wake up, the environments today, maybe your, your teenagers will be honest with you enough to tell you they are overtly sexual.

Overtly sexual. How many of you are in the school system today? One, one way or another that work there in school system.

Am I wrong to tell me now? No. It's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking. And there's got to be some sort, the world is going to give them peer pressure.

It's going to happen. That is part of life. But there has to be a counteractive pressure.

There has to be a counteractive pressure from the parents of the good kind, of the active kind, of the involved kind.

And that pressure isn't just dad coming home and yelling at them. That's not pressure.

Yeah, that's not pressure. That's not the good kind.

Listen, if our children don't have those solid environmental pressure monitoring by parents,

then the outside worldly pressure will cause them to fold.

They'll fold.

And they will make decisions. They will come up with plans.

They will come up with schemes that you had no idea they could ever think of.

And maybe the only thing you could say is, well, look how creative my kid is.

That's so wrong, but man, he's creative.

And, you know, I want to say this, too.

I've been really hard on Jacob.

And Jacob is flawed.

Okay?

Jacob is flawed.

But you know what?

So is Isaac.

And you know what?

So is Abraham.

So is Abraham.

And you know what?

So is everyone in this room.

Every single one of us is flawed, except for God.

Except for the Lord.

And as flawed as Jacob was, I want to at least please give him this.

That deep within him, deep within his heart, underneath all that conniving, that...

And so, you're going to see these things pick up. Because the story, praise God, doesn't end here with this sordid tale of murder and rape and deceit. Because in chapter 35 is what I call the first revival in the Bible. The first revival. Jacob gets revived. He gets revived and he wants his sons to be saved.

He wants his family to be revived. He wants his family to be revived. And he goes back to the place of Bethel. Back to the place where God spoke to him. Where he knew that the Lord was real to him. He goes back to Bethel. And he starts building an altar again. He starts calling upon the name of the Lord. He starts worshiping the Lord. And he tries to influence his family with these same spiritual values that he has.

He begins to take spiritual leadership. Man, I just got chills. He takes spiritual leadership of his family again.

It is not too late, no matter where you find yourself today, to say, today, I want to take spiritual leadership of my family again.

Let it begin anew today.

Today, some of you have been down a path, some of you men have gone down a path.

So far, you think there's no way you can return.

It is not true.

That's a lie from the pit of hell.

Come back to Bethel.

Back to the house of the Lord.

Didn't the way I just sit here to the house of the Lord.

There is goodness there.

There is mercy there.

And you know, let me tell you this.

Because I saw this in my own family.

I'm speaking to a lot of men today because you need to hear this.

I saw this in my family when I was growing up.

And, Dad, if you're listening on live, you know this is true.

I'm not throwing you under the bus.

We talked about how parents need to have that good kind of pressure.

Active, involved, that kind of thing.

Let me tell you what's not, what's not a blessing to a family, to a child, to a wife.

It's you as a father, you have those two, three, four, five-year-old kids.

And your job, you think, is to work and provide.

And you come home and rant and rave because this isn't done.

That's not this, that, and the other.

And she should be doing this.

And all you end up doing is screaming at the kids and yelling at the kids over and over again.

And you wonder why there's no real connection.

You wonder why there's no real relationship being built in there.

Okay, you with me?

And you say these things to these children, and it crushes them.

It crushes them.

That's not real parental pressure like we're talking about here.

You're not really sowing into that relationship.

Mom, that's your job to raise them.

I'll connect with you on how things are going.

I can't tell you how, I can't tell you how often I see that.

Where were we?

Let's, let's wrap this up.

So we read chapter 34, and we're all encouraged, right?

We're encouraged.

But seriously, how do we get, how do we get, draw any encouragement from this?

You know, because let me just say, if all we have is just this narrative, and all that we're giving, and we just have this narrative, and we leave out the rest of the rest of Scripture, then we're in big trouble.

We're in big trouble, because I would have nothing to tell you, except for this is a story of what you ought not do.

And let's just close in prayer, okay?

And this has something to do with a response to something that's horrific.

And what we have is more than just what's in terms of Genesis 34. And so, but what we have is the Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Okay? We got the first five books, all right? That changes things immensely. If we look at this Scripture and we understand that. In the first place, we have a dramatic piece of evidence that we need something. When we read this, and we have the Torah, we understand that we need something.

We need it desperately. Let me ask it in another way. If we read Genesis 34, we see that, man, there's a lot of people doing a lot of stuff wrong. A lot of people doing a lot of bad stuff in here.

And they're using moral terms like, she was defiled, he lay with her, he humiliate her, and the moral judgment on this is that they say that this is a thing that ought not be done, okay?

We can certainly see that, all right? Just in, you know, but we don't have a name for it. We know that it's wrong. And we might even, even in the natural law of things, we cry out,

Oh, that's just wrong. That's just wrong. Okay? Well, how is it wrong? How is it wrong? This passage, first of all, should make us yearn for the law.

It should make us yearn for the law, for the law that was given to Israel. We desperately need the law, okay?

And if we're being honest, in the imagination of most evangelical Christians here, especially given the appropriate and vital distinction between the law and grace,

we tend to juxtapose the law and grace, and we forget to follow the flow of biblical history.

Now, what do I mean by that, okay? We forget that there is grace in the law.

Now, some of you are like, I don't really want to study the Bible that much this morning. Too bad, okay?

There is grace in the law. Now, it's not saving grace. It's not redemptive grace, okay?

But there was grace in the law, okay? There was God's love given to His covenant people in the giving of the law.

No other people had the law. No other people. God gave it to the nation of Israel. No other people. Thank you, sweetheart.

It was given to Israel. That's why in Deuteronomy, at the second giving of the law,

when the younger children are now getting ready to cross over into the promised land because their parents had been rebellious and they'd all died out,

God speaks to them through Moses, and He says in Deuteronomy 4.33,

what other people has heard of God speak to them from fire and lived?

So they knew that they were special, okay?

There was grace in it that they lived, and nobody else had received the law,

and no one else had heard God spoke to them.

God had done that, and the law was eventually given to them in two tablets of stone.

They put it in the ark, and the law was central to Israel all through that time.

It was central to Israel in the time of Jesus as well,

because Jesus says not one jot or tittle will pass away until all of this has been fulfilled, right?

And Jesus came, and what did He do to the law?

Fulfilled it.

Fulfilled it.

I'm going to tie a bow on this for a second,

but this passage, first of all, should make us yearn for the law

because, first of all, the law names sin.

That's what it does, okay?

Even though all sin is an infinite insult to an infinite holy God,

okay, and the holiness of God,

in terms of the moral order,

we have to have some kind of structure about naming sins for what they are

and an appropriate response.

Even God's people have to be able to,

that kind of sin, to be able to name those things.

That's why sin is named,

and sin is categorized even,

and you have it in the book of Leviticus,

and then you have the law given to us in Exodus,

and then you have the law made very clear in the book of Numbers,

and then you have the second giving of the law in Deuteronomy,

and that's why the five books of the law,

the Torah,

it's called the five books of the law, okay?

And so we still get our moral wisdom, okay?

Still, it comes from the law that was given to Israel.

The law names things for what they are,

and it provides moral structure and moral and ethical...

And...

And so, how should we name these things? But... So, that's why we needed the law. There's another reason. The other thing is that we should... We... We should be hearing... Here is that... Like we talked about, the law also showed us that there needs to be a limitation on retaliation. That's what... That's why the Lex Italianos comes along, okay? And it was given. And... And... And so, in this passage, it should make it... Make it clear to us that we... We are... The people are...

We are yearning for the law. And so, here we have God's covenant people. They're about to be named Israel in the next few chapters. They've kind of already been called that. But this is... This is being written by Moses kind of looking back. But they will be a people who will eventually have the law. And that will change everything. Now, the law is not going to save. The law is not going to save. But we find in Romans 7,

when Paul the Apostle comes along. And he's not going to condemn the law, though. He comes along and he says that the law condemns me. The law condemns me because before the law came about, I didn't know that I was a covetous person until it said that thou shalt not covet. Well, I'll be darned.

And Paul's point is, I wouldn't have known that I was a sinner in need of a savior if the law did not instruct me to the fact that I am a sinner. I'm a sinner. Being convicted by the law, okay?

Being convicted by the law is actually one of God's gracious gifts.

And we would fall under conviction of these things.

In order that we might have an understanding that we have a need for a savior.

The law shows us how rotten and filthy we are.

And we need something to help us rectify that problem, that situation.

So the yearning for the law is quite important right here.

And it will come up again, but in a different context.

But the final point in all this that I want to make is that,

where's the hero in this story?

Genesis 34.

There isn't one.

There's not one.

You know, we're not looking at Gideon or Moses or some of these guys.

And while these guys were heroes, it shows us how flawed in their humanity they were as well, too.

But the point is, in the Old Testament, there are patriarchs.

You know, in Genesis and in Torah, there are patriarchs.

Later on, there will be prophets.

There will be judges.

There will be kings.

There will be some good ones.

There will be some bad ones.

Some of them will be great kings.

And yet, they will be full of sin.

David.

Absolutely.

But the point is, the Old Testament drives again and again,

and even in the first book of Genesis, and it's a glaring point in Genesis 34,

that there are no human heroes in this story.

No human heroes.

While we are to honor the patriarchs, they are not our heroes.

Christ and Christ alone.

God alone is sovereign.

God alone, in his holiness, is going to be the one who will give us the example,

who will bring about the righteous example.

And in every way, the Old Testament is pointing to this.

And this is what we're yearning for right now.

So when we get to Genesis 34, and we'll read it line by line and word by word,

you know, what are we to do this?

We understand that this is, we are, you know, God's gift of covenant.

And as part of the gift of the law, but we're yearning for it now.

And so, when the law appears, we're going to understand what that gift really is.

That's why I'm spending so much time telling you this now,

because we're going to get to this soon, okay?

We don't honor, we don't worship the patriarchs,

we don't have temples built for them or anything like that.

We're yearning for a Messiah at this point.

It's all pointing.

And, you know, today, maybe someone here today,

whether you realize it or not, we've gone through a lot of information,

a lot of theological stuff this morning,

but maybe someone here today is really yearning for a Savior.

Maybe some of you here today need to...

We don't meet on Sundays, we don't meet on Wednesdays, just to have another church service, just to have another Bible study, just because we're trying to come up with some creative things to do. We meet because we're asking God to bring about change. To bring about change.

And hopefully, when we read stories like this in the book of Genesis, I know it's not the most uplifting story, but it should desire us to want to trust in something, someone greater than ourselves, to bring about change in our lives, a redirection. And so that's what I'm praying for us this morning, is that maybe someone here today needs to redirect their path. Maybe someone today needs to listen to the Lord a little more tenderly, just as Summer was sharing, and just something as simple as, hey,

I could start a yoga class. Well, that's nothing this spiritually deep as what He just gave us in Genesis 34. That's not what it's about. It's about being sensitive to the Lord, and what He's trying to do in and through you

personally, and for His name's sake, and for His glory. Amen? Amen.

So let's come back to Bethel.

Let's come back to Bethel.

Let's revive ourselves, because next week, Jacob's going to be revived.

And hopefully you'll come with Him, or you'll come expecting next Sunday.

I'm going to apologize for my sinus infection and all my sniffing today, and let's stand.

Father, speak to our hearts this morning.

Speak to our hearts.

Bring about change as only you can.

Thank you for being a holy and righteous Father.

Thank you for bringing the reality to the law in front of us,

so that we would see in that reflection

our great need for a Savior.

Jesus, we love you, and it's in your strong name we give thanks and praise.

Amen.

All I am is yours.

All I am is yours.

All I am is yours.

Hold me out.

Pour me out

All I am is Lord

All I am is Lord

Pour me out

Pour me out

All I am is Lord

All I am is Lord

Surround me with your glory

Fill me with your love

Pour me out

Pour me out

All I am

Surround me with your glory Fill me with your glory Fill me through Save Me with your glory O little

With your love

Till I overflow

Yeah

You wanna see you blowing up

So I'm waiting

I step down from the throne of my heart

I'm on my side, I'm on my side

I'm on my side, I'm on my side

At your feet

All I have is yours

I sat down on the throne of my heart

All I have was yours from the start

I sit down my crown and your feet

All I have is yours

I sit down on the throne of my heart

All I have is yours

I sit down on the throne of my heart

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

So would you pour me out

Pour me out

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

All I have is yours

As we leave this place God

We never leave your presence God

Please go with us

Be with us throughout the week

Smile upon us God

Speak through us through our friends and family

And our co-workers God

Strangers on the street

Have your way in us

Pour us out God

We bless your name

We give you all the glory

The honor and the praise

In Jesus' name

And if you're able to help with the bunk beds

Please meet your pastor

And the Joe and Taylor

Over by the mission

Thank you

Thank you

If I'm lost, I'm in your presence, in me that soon will be your compassion, I will win my dreams, your love will be me, in you I will hold on and I will not fear.