Genesis Week 31 • God's Will or Your Agenda

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Good morning.

If you have your bible, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us

in Genesis, chapter 27.

Genesis 27 · chapter mention

As you turn there, we had announcements I want to expound.

Take a couple moments, to explain, maybe in a little bit

more depth, about a couple of things that are going on in

our kids ministry, but that also speak

to, the culture of who we are as a church, the

direction that we feel that, God is leading

us. Last year, we took a break,

an intentional, move and vision from

what we had been doing with our kids, for our

summer. we've called it a lot of different things over the course

of even my tenure. So if you think of, like, a traditional,

like, kids vbs type structure of

an event, and we moved last year to

do something called kids camp and had a wonderful,

time, a wonderful response from our kids, wonderful,

times of worship, of bible study, of activities

together. and last year, we talked about that. We were made

for worship, and so this year we're going to

continue on. So if your kids were a part of that

very similar structure, set up

activities, but different activities that we're going to be doing, during

that time, same category, but different ones that they're going to do.

but this year, we're going to do what's called made for mission.

And we're specifically going to look at the book of

acts with our kids over the

course of that week. And so we're excited about that. It is

July 15 through 18th, and I want to kind of

explain some things that are the same and the things

that are different. All right. Now, kids camp is for all of

our, kids who have completed kindergarten to

fifth grade. So we're including all of those. We break them

out, into age appropriate groups for their

activities and for their small group times. But all

gathered, together for worship, it will run from

six to 830. and so with that, parents, if you're

thinking, man, that's hard to turn around and get them a meal and do

all those things, that will be with a full meal

that evening that we'll have for them. All right? So you can

bring them here, maybe a little hungry, maybe

not a lot hungry. Like, that's probably not the day to fast,

with your second grader, before you drop them off with us.

but we'll have a full meal for them each

night, and they'll also have a t shirt, all

right. That they're going to have. Now, registration does open

today, and it runs through June

16. And we're doing all the online registration that's

really helping us and helping so many of you. But again,

we want to reemphasize. If you're like,

my 1999 flip phone is

sufficient. Right. We're gonna walk along with you

and help you get registered. Okay? Like,

we'll do that and want to help you with that.

But here's how things are a little bit different from May

5 to May 25. We're calling this early

bird registration of $25 per kid.

And then here's what we want to, kind of emphasize and

stress, okay, where some things we can

say, we'll take as many people as we can. And we

love to do that because of the planning of what we have

to do for kids camp and the buying of supplies

and the ordering of things ahead of time, because our

activities get really involved. And for some of our

activity leaders, there's weeks of planning that are going

into this, which is why registration starts so

soon and ends almost a full month

before we begin. So our early bird

registration from May 5 to May 25, it is

$5 off, but we're also doing that in house. Okay?

So if you worship, and you're a part of Willow Ridge

church during those three weeks, that's going to be the

opportunity for you to get your kids registered and then

be a part of that. But then from May 25, 26th, to

June 16, all right, the cost goes

back up. But that is, at that point in time is when

we open it up to the public for you to invite your friends

and your neighbors and all of those sorts of things. We want

to include as many people as possible, but we need to do

so in a way that helps us plan and

prepare for the week that we're gonna have. All right,

now, there is a cost for this. All

right. now, if I were to tell you, that we're gonna feed your

kid for a week, for $25.

I don't know about you, but the bradberries are saving some money that

week, right. and so, the cost definitely

does not cover, but it helps give some ownership for

registration with that. but if the cost is

an issue for any one of you, or anyone that

you know, please make us aware, all right? We do not want

that to be a reason, why people, don't come in and

are not apart.

All right. also, for our volunteers, if you

would like to volunteer for that, here's what we need.

We need you to also register. Okay. All

of our volunteers must be registered ahead of

time and through this process. And that's if

you're an adult and you want to volunteer. But that's

also if you're a 6th grader through a

12th grader that would like to volunteer,

our volunteers are not charged, but that's what

we need, to happen. All right. Our fifth graders

this year, we're going to ask that they be a part of the week if

they want to be a part as a participant in the camp. And I think

they'll be blessed, as a result of that. But if you're a 6th

grader and older, we need you to register for that.

There's background security. There's all sorts of things that

we need to go through to make sure we're not only efficient,

in doing what we need to do, but also that we're providing

the safest, experiences possible for, all of

our kids that are coming in a part of that. All right? And

so, if you're an adult

or you're a 6th grader through 12th grader and, like, you show up that week

for, like, a one night and you just want to help out because there's something

that's going on every other week, so you just pop in that night,

like, what can I do? the answer will be, here's what you can do.

We want you to pray, but we can't have you serve because

you haven't been able to do the things that we're requiring beforehand. All right?

So, we don't need. We're not trying to draw a harsh

line, but we are trying to draw a line, and we want as many

people involved as possible and a part of this

week, but managing it that way. So I'm looking forward to

this. I'm looking forward to having our

kids camp. Last year was just a wonderful time of worship.

Bible study, man. We've got some wonderful

teachers in our congregation, and to sit

back last year and to listen to them work through

in the life of David and to teach was a wonderful

blessing. And so I know that our kids are going to want to be

here and be a part of that as well. So we'd love to have

them register and sign up. Also. There's

some, there's. There's another thing that we're doing,

this summer, and I know it says it's

spring, but let's be honest, spring is like

two weeks in South Carolina summers here. All

right, so we're starting, this summer. We're trying something

different. All right. this summer. And it really speaks to the

very end. I'm going to share the heart, behind

why we're doing what we're doing with this.

we're calling them simple Sundays, and it's going to

run from May 26, to July

8. And here's what that's going to look like at our

church. And I want to say this. If you've got questions about

this, specifically, if you got questions about anything, come

see us after church. But if you've got questions

about this, we want to answer those and

eliminate any confusion that's there. but

for simple Sundays, from May 26, to July

28, here's what that looks like for us. On Sunday

mornings, we will have normal discipleship time

at 09:00 a.m. Just like we do for our kids, for

our teens, for our adults. Pastor, Dave talked about what we're going

to be offering for our adults, and we're going to continue to move

forward during our discipleship hour with what we're doing with our

kids, what we're doing with our teens. We're gonna have our normal

fellowship time from 950. And I wanna encourage you, if you

have not been here early, if you haven't been getting here early, like,

you're just missing out. You're just missing out. It was about

three months ago, and I like to kind of just have a moment where I stand

over on the side and just kind of look and observe. And I

had one of our church members, she came up to me

and I was just kind of looking out over everything, over everybody.

People that I didn't know know each other, talking, laughing, drinking

coffee, having juice together, kids laughing and have a good

time. Teenagers congregating and hanging out and

talking about their week. And she looked at me and she said, this is

a beautiful picture because this is a picture of the church.

It's a picture of the body of the fellowship. Right? And

that's why we have that. We don't have that because we

think, like, orange juice and a moon pie is going to get you through the service.

All right? we have this because it's just a

wonderful time for us to spend time together

as a family. All right? So discipleship doesn't change.

Fellowship time doesn't change. but here is what

that's going to look like. Here's what's changing. How we're,

doing our worship time together is going to

change. So I'm going to kind of describe twofold,

largely for our elementary kids, how this changes. All

right? So, from May 26 to July

28, kids who have completed

five k to second grade will join

with their families, just like they did today for the beginning

of worship, and then they will be

dismissed just like they were today. They'll

be dismissed after that first worship time that we have

together to head to the back, where they'll be taken over

to building two in room 200. And this is an

exciting part about something that we're doing a little bit differently this

summer. When they leave to go over to room

200, they're going to go in for continue

in worship and discipleship and time together,

and they will be led by our

high school youth, by our

youth leaders and a member

of Willow Ridge church staff. All right, so they're not just

being released with the high schoolers. Y'all go figure this out. Have fun. Right?

That's not it. But some of our kids that are pouring into

and growing as leaders, they're gonna take the charge in the

room. And I'm excited about that, to see teenagers for a

block of time walk alongside these students. But

then in the room as well, are gonna be some of these youth leaders

and also different Willow Ridge staff members. And

so here's what that's strategically doing for us. Right? We believe

that we are one church. Church, that has

different sections, but we are one church, and we believe that what

is happening in the life of a five year old is just as important.

What's happening in the life of a 15 year old, a 55 year

old and 85 year old. And what it helps us do in

this moment is connect the body together to

remind them that we are one in the importance of

that. And so I'm so excited, as Joel van

Ham has shared this with the kids or our teenagers, and they've

latched onto that. And there's that piece. But then the

other part, right? So we got five k to second grade will be

dismissed. But from May 22 to July 28, kids

who have completed the third grade through the fifth

grade will join their families for the

entire worship service during that time. Okay, so we

will keep them in here. Now, here's some things that we're gonna

do within the context of our service, to kind of walk

alongside them with that.

All right? We've been building in things like Easter, Christmas,

Christmas Eve, like, we build in our

times together where they have this, and we'll try to

reflect our service like we do with those.

The message time. I've been talking to the guy who

preaches, and he's

promised me that he's going to shorten it,

all right? He's promised

that he's going to. All right. so

he's going to keep his word. And if he doesn't,

then I'll have lots of conversations with lots of

parents on Monday where I'll apologize for him

with what he's done. All right? But we'll also. We'll

start a new series. We'll take a break in Genesis, and,

we're gonna be working alongside. Dawn and I were able to sit

down and we're working through the parables of Jesus

together. So all of the kids, all of us,

everybody will be working through this new series

as we do that together. Just as Berger did this

morning, he's gonna incorporate worship music,

both done in kids worship and in adult worship,

so that we have some overlap. That's so our kids

can sing the songs that they know, that we can sing the songs that

we know. And maybe each one of us learn some new

songs, with that. And then also,

Don will be working on each week for a

sermon tool that'll, let's just say, help our kids

maybe stay focused, during the summertime. All right.

I was sharing this with one of the leaders of our church, and he said,

do you think I could have a copy of that sermon tool? And I'll say, if

you want a copy of it, just let dawn know ahead of time so that she has

some extra copies for you, but a piece for them,

not to distract them during the message,

but a tool to help them

engage, with what is going on and what is

happening. The only exception, for kind of

breaking in the norm, for those will be Father's day, June

16, and July 7 is kind of a day

that we've determined, and during that, we'll

have our preschool, through fifth grade in here with us

for the entirety of the service. All right, now, if

you're a parent in here, all right, it wasn't that long

ago, that we were parents

with kids that age, Aaron and I. and I know,

like, this can kind of be a.

But it's important. It's

important. And here's

why it's important.

Why do we do this? Why did

we. And we've even joked around in staff

like, we're calling it simple Sundays, but it's just not simple.

It's not simple for us as a staff. It won't be simple for you

as a family. So why do this? I

think three reasons. Number one, church was

not intended to be a place for family isolation.

It's not. This is not a place

where you just drop off and the

family isolate and never connect. The

relationship with Jesus was always to be the

center in the drawing together of the family. So

you don't want families to isolate. Second, family

worship is needed, and it's essential.

It's essential. our kids

need to see us worship,

right? They need to watch

and see what that looks like. They need

to understand that what's happening in another room

and the commonality of the things that are there.

They need to be challenged

to be a part and to engage in

that. And I would argue for

us, we need to be challenged

as well, to welcome

into the midst a kid who

can't quite sit still the whole time,

to a kid who makes a little bit of noise,

to a kid who spills their orange juice during the middle of a

prayer. Right? We need to be

inconvenienced a little bit. And I think

God's going to use this and bless this.

The last thing, and this is kind of maybe a summation

of all of this, is we are one church and our kids are part of

this church, right? This isn't a. You turn

18 and now you're apart. We are one church and our

kids are a part of this. And what

this does is this communicates that, all right?

This isn't a plan to do

this beyond this summer. This is something,

as we prayed about and as we looked at what God would have

for us, that we believe that this was an avenue that God

was taking us down. And we look forward to the

lessons that we're going to learn and how we're going to

grow as a result of having these kids in here. So

I encourage you, as this time

approaches, to be praying for our time

together, as we do this. All right.

With that said, I'm going to get started in Genesis,

Genesis 27 · chapter mention

chapter 27. This is

a very long passage, and I'm going to just

hit a few points, with this, but trying

to be faithful, to the passage

scripture as well. I want to ask you a question,

for you to think about what

happens when God has a

plan, but you have an

agenda. As I read

through Genesis 27

this past week in my office, that's the

thought that kind of came over and over in

my mind, what happens when I

know that God has a plan?

And even specifically that God has, in his

kindness and his mercy, has allowed me to

know, to be a part the plan, to have this

plan revealed to me, to see this plan

from scripture, but that in the midst

of God's plan and God's

purpose, as I wrestle with that process

of sanctification of what's in me, as

there's the part of me that is praising and

celebrating Jesus, but still that selfish

part of the old me that from time to time wants to

raise its ugly head up, that in the midst of

that plan of God, of what I'm trying to

do is maneuver and

manipulate and deceive and to

get my agenda worked out through the plan of

God. And I think that's

what we see in

Genesis 27. Now, this

week, I didn't think this is where we

would go. In fact, when

I read Genesis 27, it took me

back to the technology of the 1980s.

If you grew up in a church in the 1980s,

specifically my generation, this is what I remember. So

some of you remember before that. Some of you remember after

that. But we didn't have screens

in kids ministry. We didn't have

tvs. We had

felt boards. Remember the felt

boards? And our teachers

would play out the Bible

story by taking these cutouts

and placing them on the felt board.

And then you had some kids

that, when they would turn around, like, you'd reposition the characters. You know what I mean?

Like you weren't paying attention. And look, what I did, right,

was that kid. And as I read

this, this story,

it took me back to Calvary

Baptist Church in South

Augusta, near Regency Mall,

sitting in the second story in the

classroom that had the record player that I

constantly got in trouble with because I tried to scratch on

it, and it didn't work.

It just tore the record players up.

It took me back to that, and I began to rest,

like, in that,

lord, like, what do you

have? Because you see so much

of oftentimes, how we read the

Bible is we want to figure

out who's the good

guy. I know who the bad

guy is, but who's the good

guy? And sometimes we see

that. Sometimes as we read through,

we see, here's the good guy. This is how God's

working. This is what God's doing. Here's the bad guy. The bad guy's trying to

stop what God's doing. The bad guy's trying to stop how God's

working. But sometimes we get stories

like this, and it's

like,

I don't see a lot of good guys.

And so I think what we're going to see when we

see this, it's the

truth that maybe doesn't warm

our heart in the beginning, but I hope it does by the

end that we're

all just bad.

But in spite of that, God is good,

and that God's working and moving to

save for himself a people,

in spite of what we want to

do and how we want to get in the way of that.

So let's read. We're going to read all the way

through all of chapter 27,

starting in verse one. Get a sip of water

first.

When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim,

so that he could not see, he called Esau

his older son, and said to him, my

son. And he answered, here I am.

And he said, behold, I am old.

I do not know the day of my death.

Now then, take your weapons, your quiver, and your

bow, and go out to the field and

hunt game for me. And prepare for me delicious

food such as I love.

And bring it to me so that I may

eat, that my soul may bless you before I

die. Paul's really quick. Like, what he's talking about with this blessing,

like this is carrying, like, some birthright

implications. And if you've been journeying with us, you

know about that, and we'll talk about that some here, as

in the message, verse five.

Now, Rebecca was listening when Isaac spoke to his

son Esau. So when Esau went to the field

to hunt for game and bring it, Rebecca said to her

son, jacob, I heard your father speak

to your brother Esau. Bring me game

and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and

bless you before the Lord before I

die. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice

as I command you. Go to the flock and bring me

two good young goats that I may prepare

from them delicious food for your father, such as he

loves. And you shall bring it to your father

to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.

But Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, behold,

my brother Esau is a hairy man, and

I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father

will fill me, and I shall seem to be

mocking him and bring a curse upon myself

and not a blessing. And his mother said

to him, let your curse be on

me, my son. only obey my

voice and go and bring them to me.

So he went and took them and brought them to his mother. And

his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father

loved. Then Rebecca took the best garments of

Esau, her older son, which were with her in the house.

And put them on Jacob, her younger

son. And the skins of the young goat. She put on his

hands and the smooth part of his neck.

And she put the delicious food and the bread. Which

she had prepared. Into the hand of her son

Jacob. So he went to his father and said, my

father. And he said, here I am. Who are you,

my son? And Jacob said to his father, I am

Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you

told me. Now sit up and eat of my game.

That your soul may bless me. But Isaac said to

his son, how is it that you have found, it

so quickly, my son? And he

answered, because the Lord, your God, granted

me success. Then Isaac said to

Jacob, please come near. That I may fuel

you, my son, to know whether you are

really my son Esau or not.

So Jacob went near to Isaac, his father, who

felt him and said, the voice is

Jacob's voice, but the hands are the

hands of Esau. And he did not

recognize him. Because his hands were hairy

like his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed

him. He said, are you really

my son, Esau? He answered, I

am. Then he said, bring it near

to me. That I may eat of my son's game and

bless you. So he brought it near to him.

And he ate. And he brought him wine. And he

drank. Then his father Isaac said to

him, come near and kiss me, my

son. So he came near and kissed him.

And Isaac smelled the smell of his

garments. And blessed him and said. See,

the smell of my son. Is as the smell

of a, field that the Lord has blessed.

May God give you the dew of heaven. And the

fatness of the earth. And plenty of grain and

wine. Let people serve you and nations

bow down to you. Be lord over your

brothers. And may your mother's sons bow down

to you. Cursed be everyone who curses

you. And blessed be everyone

who blesses you. As soon as Isaac had

finished blessing Jacob. When Jacob had scarcely gone

out from the presence of Isaac. His father Esau,

his brother, came from his hunting. He also

prepared delicious food and brought it to his father.

And he said to his father, let my father arise

and eat of his son's game. That you may bless

me. His father, Isaac said to him, who are

you? He answered, I am your son. Your

firstborn, Esau. Then Isaac

trembled very violently. And

said. Who was it that then that

hunted game and brought it to me? And I

ate it before you came and have blessed

him? Yes, he shall

be blessed. As soon as Esau heard

the words of his father. He cried out with an

exceedingly great and bitter cry. And

said to his father, bless me.

Even me also, my father. But he said,

your brother came deceitfully and has taken

away your blessing. And Esau

said, it is not

rightly named. Is he not rightly

named, Jacob? For he has cheated me

these two times. He took away my

birthright. And behold, he now has

taken away my blessing. Then he said, have

you not reserved the blessing from me? And

Isaac answered and said to Esau, behold,

I have made him lord over you and all of his

brothers. I have given to him for servants, and with

grain and wine I have sustained him.

What then can I do for you, my son? And

Esau said to his father, have you but

one blessing, my father, bless me.

Even me also, o my father. And

Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

Then Isaac, his father, answered and said to

him, behold, away from the

fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be. And

away from the dew of heaven on high.

Huh? By your sword you shall live,

and you shall serve your brother. But when you

grow restless, you shall break his yoke

from your neck.

Now, Esau hated Jacob because

of the blessing with which his father had blessed him.

And Esau said to himself, the days of

mourning for my father are approaching. Then I

will kill my brother Jacob. But the words of

Esau, her older son, were told to

Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob, her younger

son, and said to him, behold, your brother Esau

comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.

Now, therefore, my son, obey. my voice. Arise,

Frida Laban, my brother in Haran. And

stay with him for a while. Until your brother's fury turns

away. Until your brother's anger turns away from

you and he forgets what you have done to him.

Then I will send and bring you from there.

Why should I benefit of you both one

day? Then Rebekah said to Isaac,

I loathe my life because of the hittite

women. If Jacob marries one of the hittite women

like these, one of the women of the land,

what good will my life be to me?

Makes you feel a little bit better

about your family gatherings, don't they? Right?

What we see from here is

a group of people who have heard

from God and who know God's

plan, but that within

that, they're driving home

their own agenda. And I think that you and

I, we can look at this and we

can see this, and rightfully so.

we're gonna barely be able to crack into the dysfunction of

a lot of the things that we see that are happening here.

But there are some comparisons.

They believe God and what God has said God is

going to do, but they're believing God through

their narrative. And what does it look

like in our life when we believe the word of God?

We believe that it is true, but then

through our own selfish,

sinful narrative, this

is what we seek to pursue it as and to

see it through. But this has kind of been the

dynamic of their family. This

is the lineage of Abraham,

who had the promise of God that God,

even in his own age, was going to give him a son,

and he was going to give him a son through his wife,

Sarah. And so what did Abraham do? Abraham

believed God, but he saw and he believed

God through his own narrative. And so he didn't

wait for the plan of God to happen and trust fully in the plan of

God. Instead, he says, I believe in the plan of God, but

I'm going to steer the ship and how we're going to get there.

So what did Abraham end up with? He ended up with

Ishmael from his servant,

from his wife's servant,

and the son of sin.

And then he ends up with Isaac,

the son of promise. What we saw

often and early in his life

was that he believed God, believed the

promises of God, but is going to fulfill the. The promises of

God in his own time, in his own

expectations, as he takes matters into his own

hands. I think. We think sometimes that the

people who do that are the spiritually weak

people. They're not the people who get it. They're not

the people who love the Lord. They're not the people who come to church. They're not the

people who go on mission trips. They're not the people who read their

bibles. They're not the people who trust the God.

But that's not what we see in scripture.

Abraham left

everything, everything,

his family, his country, his

land, all that was there in order to

be obedient to God, a high level of

obedience in his first act of faith.

But yet we still see this balance

with him in

Isaac. This is what we see

in Isaac following. God meets and

marries Rebecca. After their

marriage, they have two sons. They have twins.

Firstborn is Esau, firstborn,

therefore the oldest and the right of the

inheritance, the right of the birthright, the right of the

blessing. This is who it would come to.

And then Jacob is born. Jacob the heel

grabber, the second born, and therefore the

youngest. And we talked about this a few weeks ago,

a couple months ago, actually, where Rebecca is having this

difficult pregnancy. So, in Genesis 25

23 23, I, want you to see her conversation with

the Lord. It says, the children struggled

together within her. And she

said, if it is thus, why is this happening to

me? Like God, if this is your plan? So she went to

inquire to the Lord, and the Lord said to her,

two nations are in your womb, and two

peoples from in your womb shall be divided.

One shall be stronger than the other.

The older shall serve the younger.

God breaks the social norms.

God says, what should be

Esau's birthright,

what should be Esau's blessing

is actually going to be Jacob's.

And this is how I'm going to work, and this is what I'm going to

do.

This is what we see. Isaac believed

God. One son will be blessed over the

other. Isaac tries to control the narrative. I'll decide which

one that is.

So my question for you is this, what do you

do? What do you do when it comes to God's will for

your life? What do you do when it comes to God's will for

your life? Is it an Abraham moment

where I'll leave it all, I'll leave every part

that's there? Or is it the moments of what

we have, of what we see, what we can experience? I'll believe you

and obey you only as far as I'm comfortable with

and lacking what I can hold on to. Right.

So we see this situation that

happens and then creates, and we see what begins to

happen when we drive our agenda over

the will of God. And what we see is agendas create

deception. Agendas create

deception. Right? Isaac called Esau to him.

And this is very interesting when you see this interaction that is

happening in there. Number one, we don't even really know

how old, Isaac is. And he continues,

most theologians believe that he continues to live for a pretty extended

amount of time beyond, this day. But he calls

Esau to him because he's like, I don't know when I'm going to die. And so

here's what I want to do. And he calls him away

from rebekah, and he calls him away from

Jacob. Right. This would not be the norm

when you're talking about a blessing. Right.

So what we see here from the very

beginning, and this is why I say it's kind of really hard to find

the good guy in the story, is because from the very

moment, Isaac's like, your mom's not gonna like

this, and neither is your brother. So

here's what we're gonna do. Here's what I'm gonna give

you. Here's how I'm gonna bring

deception into this. He sought to do something in

private that he would never do in public, and he sought to

do this to deceive those around him. When you

and I, when we live for our agenda,

as much as we want to shadow it by saying we're

doing this for the will of God, we're not doing it for the will of God. We're doing

it for the will for ourself. We might want to make it look

pretty by saying, I just want to follow God and

do what he has me to do. But

really, we're masking this with what we want to do for

ourselves. And Jacob seeks to deceive,

seeks to lie. I'm sorry, Isaac. Seeks to deceive,

seeks to lie. We see that God is the God of truth.

God is the God of truth. And when deception becomes what we

practice, we break from the God of truth. The Bible tells us that Satan is

the father of lies. When we look all the way back to

Genesis three and we see the fall in the garden,

how does the fall come apart? How does it begin to happen?

How does it begin to build? Very

simply, Satan comes in

and doesn't come out and give, like, a flat out lie. he takes the

truth of what's there, and he twists it and he manipulates it,

and he deceives in that moment.

I love this. The Bible is very clear about the people of God and who we're to

be. The Bible says, let our yes be yes. Let our no be no

be people of truth. The second thing that we see in

here is that deception creates manipulation.

Deception creates manipulation. Like mama Bear, Rebecca,

she hears what's going on, right? She's hiding out. She's sneaking

around the corner. She's listening, right? And she hears

what's going on. What does that imply, right? Family. Not build on

trust. So what does she do as soon

as Esau goes away? She doesn't confront. She

doesn't confront, right? I have to be honest with

you. that's not how Aaron Bradbury would have handled this

situation. You know,

she'd be like, bo, yes,

ma'am. We're going to have a conversation. You

know, she doesn't confront. What does she do? She

conspires. She doesn't confront. She

conspires. And in her conspiracy, what she does is she

begins to manipulate, right?

And in doing that, she embraces the sin

of the moment. And then takes it and begins to build

on it. What does she do? She fights sin with

sin. She doesn't fight sin with the pursuit of

holiness. She doesn't come in and say, whoa, whoa, let's wait

a minute. What has God told us? How

has God been faithful? What is God doing? You see,

right here in this moment, spiritually speaking, the adult doesn't walk in

the room. The adult doesn't come in there and say, no, no, no,

no. this is going wrong. This is going bad. This is

going here. We got to stop. We got to set this. We got

to move forward. Here's what we're going to do. And when

manipulation and

deceit build in, what it

creates in this moment is the culture of lies,

manipulation, and the agenda. What they do is they create

a culture of lies. So one brother

dressing up like another brother, like, I still

can't get the picture over. Like, that's a hairy

dude, right? For, like, let's

get the skin of the animal and put it on you.

But dressing up after dressing up after dressing

up. But what we see in here is the lies of

what's being created create the callousness of the

hearts, that of what's there.

And lies create callousness, while

truth brings healing.

It isn't easy to always be a

person of truth. It isn't

easy to always be the person that

confronts the sin. It isn't easy to be

the person that stands on the

solid ground of the gospel. But it is

gravely damaging to your

soul and to the culture of your family to

embrace the lies. So you saw

returns. The entire

scheme is brought to light.

The dysfunction in that moment that is there

begins to build and build and build and build and build, and it

explodes. Isaac's

exposed. Rebecca's exposed.

Esau's exposed. Jacob's

exposed. The ramification of one

brother promising that he's going to kill another brother,

one brother who's going to run and fight against

anything, any standard that his

family would have set before conflict and

strife is going to fill. Page after page, verse after

verse, chapter after chapter,

we see a dad. We

see a dad who I believe loves the

Lord, wants to

follow God and

realizes, I got in the

way. I want you to look back at verse 33 of

chapter 27. This is when he

realizes what's happened.

It says, then Isaac trembled very violently

and said, who was it then that hunted

game and brought it to me?

And I ate it all before you came. And I've

blessed him. Yes, and he shall be

blessed. He knew the

answer. To that question, he

knew. He knew what had happened. He

knew that he had been deceived. He knew that his

plan had been foiled. He knew that all of

this had gone wrong. And it says

that he trembled

violently. In this moment we talked about

earlier, there's not a good guy to

find in here. But so many times the

stories that we find in scripture are not about the good

guys getting better, but it's about the bad guys who need a good

God. And here's what

we see in here. We see the grace

of God's lessons. I think

this is what verse 33 is teaching

us. Theologians have asked themselves

this question, and it's a question I want to pose to you this

morning. Why did Isaac Tremble?

Why did he tremble? Well, there's two

thoughts that I think we can learn

on both of these, of what God can

teach us in these moments when

the exposure of our sin happens.

Number one is this. The thought was that

Isaac was angry. I've been

deceived. My wife and my son,

they plotted against me. Who

are they? How dare they do

this to me?

And they, theologians think he trembled out of anger.

And I think, here's the warning of God's grace.

Not on the screen, but if you want to write this down, Galatians, chapter

six, verse seven. Paul tells

us, hey,

be careful what you sow.

You sow sin, you're gonna reap

sin. If you sow

righteousness, holiness,

that's what you reap too. Maybe he

was angry. Maybe he was angry in that

moment. And you and I, on this side

of this story can look at it as a warning.

A warning of what happens when people

who call themselves the people of God

begin to allow the evil of sin

to be sown into the

culture of our family.

And then why are we surprised

when the harvest is ready and it's

more of what we've sown?

Or we sow the goodness of God

in the love of God, in the holiness of

God, and the righteousness of God.

Second, that theologians think,

and I'm an optimist,

so this is what I believe,

that in this moment,

you ever been caught and, like, you know,

you're caught and you can't do nothing about

it? I will describe that like my

teenage years, right? You're just. You're

caught and you get that

feeling that's there.

I think what happened is this.

Isaac knew he was caught, and

he knew that he wasn't caught by his wife

or by his son, but he knew that he was

caught by God. He knew that in that

moment and what he's experiencing

in that is the conviction of

his sin because he was caught.

And God's saying to him, hey, bud,

I told you what I was going to do.

And you tried to take it in your own hand and

do it your way. But guess what?

It's still playing out the way that I said that it

would. Because I'm God and you're

not, and you're not. And

his sin's exposed in that moment. And the

beautiful piece of conviction is there.

That's why it's the grace of God's lessons

that in these moments, God didn't

take that old man and wipe him off the earth, that

God used that moment to work his

heart, to prune back the dead that was

there to eliminate the sin.

And in God's grace, he did what his

wife didn't do. He confronted, he

addressed. And we see the pieces of what's

there. Either scenario,

we see God's plan holds

true. God's grace is given to his

people, and the purpose of God continues

on. In just a moment, the band's gonna come up

on stage and we're gonna sing one last song

together. And then we're gonna take the Lord's supper together.

And I'll be honest with you, I think today's passage of scripture

is a wonderful reminder

that God doesn't just simply come

to save a group of people who

deserve a salvation. God doesn't

come to save a group of people who always get it

right. God doesn't save a group of

people who know what he

wants and always lives

to fulfill everything that God has for them.

God comes to save a group of people

who are lost, who are broken, who are

hurting. The Bible tells us that we are dead in

our trespasses and sins. And Christ

came, and he lived on this earth,

and he lived a perfect life. And he

died on the cross, died for your

sins and mine,

and was buried in a tomb.

And three days later, rose again.

The Bible tells us that on the days leading up to

Christ's crucifixion that he's

with his disciples and he

tells them about that he's going to leave them,

but it's okay because he's going to go and he's gonna prepare

a place for them. And one

of the disciples says, how do

we go? How do we get to be where you're going?

How do we go to that place that you've prepared for

us? And Jesus doesn't

say, well, buddy, you better straighten some things

out. Jesus doesn't say, well,

it's too late, because you've already done too much wrong.

Jesus says, I'm, The

way, the truth, and the

life. No one comes to the father

except through me. And so today, if you're a

follower of Jesus Christ, we're gonna

acknowledge the sufficiency

of his work on the cross and the

power of the resurrection, as we've

been cleaned by the blood of the lamb

and his body paid the price that we deserved.

And if you're here today and you're not a follower of Jesus

Christ, let me just say this.

Here's what it means. It doesn't mean getting it,

all right. It means trusting the one who

did and putting your faith, your

hope, your trust in him. And

as you journey on this road,

there's going to be bumps in it. There's going to be times of

deception, times of deceit, times where the sinfulness of your life

seems to. To take over. But God is faithful

and good in that,

to hold you in the palm of his

hand. Would you pray with me?

God, I thank you so much for this day, in this

time that we could be here. God, as we

prepare to take the Lord's supper together, as we

prepare to continue on in worship, Lord, I pray that you would

speak to our hearts,

Lord, that you would reveal those hidden

areas that we try to hide, those

parts of us, Lord, that we're wanting to hide

in the shadows and sneak behind

and try to give this false impression of

who we are and God.

Instead, just reveal to us the deceit that's

there, the lies that are there, and that, God, you are good

and faithful to forgive. God,

I pray if there's anyone here who doesn't know Christ as

their lord and savior, God, I pray that today

would be the day that they put their faith, their hope, their trust in

him, or that it would not be

any other means, that they would think that they

might earn a salvation, but it is only

found through Christ in Christ

alone. Listen. Jesus name we

pray. Amen.

Thanks again for listening, and be sure to check back next

week for another episode. In the meantime, you can

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