The Power of Blessing: How to Shape Your Children’s Future

November 5th 2023

Series: Family Talk

Sermon Title: The Power of Blessing: How to Shape Your Children’s Future

Topic: The Power of Blessing the next generation.

Key Passages:Genesis 27:22-41. Isaac, Esau, and Jacob

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message we will see the power of speaking blessings over others.

Green in sermons means illustration, something we are looking for a response from, or a picture that goes on the screens.

Yellow means what is yellow will be on the screens and in the handout.

Sermon:

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment –

Dan / Steve we like to try and start our messages with something personal from our family life recently to help people get to know us.

Today we launch a whole new series here at Family Church.

We are calling this series Family Talks because this whole month we are focused on families.

And we are excited about this series because it was written in partnership with our NEW preaching team partners at Winning At Home!

This week we will talk about the power of blessing and how to shape your children’s future.

Next week we will talk about surviving the desert, what to do when your family is in crisis.

In week 3, we will talk about Shattered Expectations: When Your Dreams for Your Family Unravel.

Then we will wrap up the month by talking about, Maximum Impact: Building a Marriage on Mission…

PAUSE

Let’s begin today with a question….

What do you say when somebody sneezes?

“God bless you.”

Do you know how that started?

It began 1432 years ago there was a pandemic in Rome, a city in Italy.

It was dangerous and one of the signs you were starting to get sick was that you would sneeze.

So, Pope Gregory told the city: “If you hear someone sneeze, say God bless you.”

It’s kind of like a prayer for the person….

A way of saying, “May God give you life and keep you healthy.”

The idea of giving someone a blessing, or speaking words of life, goes way way back before that though…..

It actually goes all the way back to the beginning of our time and creation…

Let me show you….

Grab your Bibles and open them up to the very first book.

And let’s look at how God started this tradition of blessing.

Genesis 1 starting at verse 27 says….

Genesis 1:27-28 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Stop and think about that!

The first day Adam and Eve were alive….

From the very moment of mankind’s first breath…..

God blessed them.

God was SO overjoyed with his creation he could not help but bless them!!!!

PAUSE

If you have ever been a parent….

You understand this…

There is nothing like seeing a child be born.

Nothing like seeing a piece of what God did on that first day…

It is amazing…

It is life-changing….

And EVERY parent at that moment wants to do EVERYTHING in their power to bless and help their baby….

Blessing naturally flows from creation….

PAUSE

But blessings are much more than that….

Let’s read that verse one more time and let me show you something…..

Genesis 1:27-28 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Write this down

Blessing tells us who we are.

Repeat

The great news is….You are not invisible!!!!

You are loved!

God says you are his children!

God has given us a role in his creation!

God tells us who we are and what we are to do!

God’s blessing told us who we are.

PAUSE

Henri Nouwen said this

Henri Nouwen: “To give a blessing is to say ‘yes’ to a person’s belovedness. A blessing touches the original goodness of the other and calls forth his or her belovedness.”

Think about tucking your kids in at night…

I would guess you tell them how they are a precious gift to you and how you love them.

You encourage them to be brave, strong, kind and so forth.

Hopefully you pray for them and bless them and ask to work in and through them.

ADD A PERSONAL STORY ABOUT HOW YOU PRAY OVER YOUR KIDS AND BLESS THEM

Let me share an example in my life…..

When I tuck my kids in life….which I have a few who do NOT let me anymore….

But my bedtime prayers for my kids with them ALWAYS include this….

God bless them as they sleep.

God give them GOOD dreams of the GREAT things you are going to do in and through their lives.

God help them to honor you every day that is ahead of them with all the things they say and do….

PAUSE

Do you see church????

Praying blessing over them…

Praying for God’s direction into their lives….

Because blessings tell us who we are….

And my kids are God’s kids here on earth to do God’s will NOT Adam’s will…..

PAUSE

This leads us to our second point…..

Write this down as well….

Blessing tells us who we belong to.

Repeat

You are not alone.

We are a part of God’s family.

We are his people.

Genesis 48 says it this way….

Genesis 48:15-16 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm—may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”

Do you see it there church?

His father is speaking a blessing over him….

In his blessing, he is clearly telling his son that he IS a part of God’s family!

That God was the one guiding him as father….

And those who came even before his father….

As he is speaking a blessing over his son he is making it clear that God is who they belong to and their guide in life….

PAUSE

And being our guide in life leads to our next point….

Write this down….

Blessing tells us where we’re going.

Repeat

God has a plan for you and me.

You are not done!

As we walk with God, in faith, we learn His plan for us.

Let’s see that in the next chapter of Genesis…

Genesis 49:1-2 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.

“Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.

We will come back to it…….but the next verses are Jacob, now a father, is going to go around the entire table speaking over his sons….

All 12 sons….because clearly, he was even more fruitful than Pastor Matt & Sarah!!!

PAUSE

Church…..

Let me pose a question to you all?

Why is it so important to bless our kids?

Why does any of this matter to you and me today?

Because if our children, and grandchildren, don’t discover their value, worth, identity, and dignity at home and in GOD….

They will look for it elsewhere.

Let me say that again….

If you do NOT help your children, and grandchildren, discover their:

value,

worth,

identity,

dignity

and so forth….

If they do NOT learn that from you at HOME…

If they do NOT learn that ALL that comes from God….

They will look for it elsewhere.

And our culture is more than happy to give them their definition of ALL of those things…

And I can promise you that you do NOT want the culture to be the one to define those things for your children…..or grandchildren….

PAUSE

And it can be HARD in families!!!!

Because sometimes Dad favors his oldest…

And momma favors the baby….

And everyone hates the middle child….can I get an amen from all the middle children out there….

PAUSE

That even happened in this family…

Let me show you….

Jacob favored his son Esau….

Rebekah, momma, favored Jacob, the sweet baby of the family.

Let’s look at this back in Genesis 27….

Genesis 27:22-41 22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him.

24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied.

25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank.

26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” 27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,

“Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.

28 May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.

31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up & eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”

35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me:

He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

39 His father Isaac answered him,“Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above. 40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”

41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

Wow…

What a crazy story!

What a crazy family!

This should give all of us hope for our families!!!

Mark Labberton said, “No two kids ever grow up in the same family.”

Our children….

Even in the SAME home….

Have different experiences….

What did blessing look like in your family?

Who was praised?

And for what?

What received that praise in your home?

What led to blessed being withheld?

Where did you hunt for blessing or praise?

PAUSE

See the problem with Isaac’s blessing was:

It was finite.

There was a limit on how much there was to give.

His blessing was permanent.

Even when given mistakenly it could NOT be changed.

There was no edited button!

It could NOT be withdrawn.

His blessing was exclusive.

Only one person got the lavish blessing…..

PAUSE

And because it’s so fragile….

It was SO rare for dad to share his blessing…

Rebekah, his wife, schemed for the blessing.

Jacob deceived for the blessing.

And Esau wept for the blessing.

PAUSE

Fast forward a generation.

Listen to the blessing Jacob gives his 12 sons at the end of his life.

Gen. 49:3-83 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.

4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,or you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.

5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords are weapons of violence. 6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger …

7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.

8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.

What’s wrong with these blessings?

They’re not very kind.

What do we know about Reuben, Simeon and Levi?

They are Leah’s sons…

They are the sons of the wife he did not want…..

Let’s keep reading….

Gen. 49:21-23, 26 “Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. 22 “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall. 23 With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility. 26 Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills.

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

Gen. 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.

Let me elaborate….

Jewish families have a tradition on Friday nights…

For the girls: May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

For the boys: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.

For both: May God Bless you and keep you.

May God's light shine upon you.

May God be gracious to you.

May you feel God's presence within you always.

And may you find peace.

Brad Griffin said he always prayed 2 prayers for his children, “That you are loved. And that you’re never alone.”

ADD A STORY LIKE THIS….

Dropping Grace off at college: You are loved. You are not alone.

Let me give you the Life Application for our message today…

For those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church We LOVE to end out messages with something for you to take home and apply to your lives today….

Life Application: Receive God’s blessing: You are His child. He loves you. He is pleased with you. He delights in you. (Zephaniah 3:17) Receive God’s blessing and then this week go and bless others in the name of the Father. As a result of today’s message, I will ______________________________.

Maybe that means you will begin praying over your kids at bed time.

Maybe blessing your spouse…

Maybe blessing a co-worker or employee….

Maybe bless a friend….

Maybe you will bless the future generations….

Heb. 11:20-21 By an act of faith, Isaac reached into the future as he blessed Jacob and Esau.

By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph’s sons in turn, blessing them with God’s blessing, not his own—as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff.

Bless the community.

Numbers 6:24-26“‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

Bless your enemies.

Luke 6:27-28 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

And here is the reality church….

We cannot do this without God….

It is not natural in our human sinful flesh to do this…

But when we are FILLED with God that overcomes our flesh!!!!

So, to help us in doing that…

Today….we are going to take communion and ask God to help us live this way…..

Communion Flow #3 – May, November

Today, as we prepare to take communion.

I want you to understand you are called to serve.

The greatest servant ever was Jesus…. Jesus left Heaven…. to come to earth and give His life for us….

to become the bridge for our sins….

to take on our sins so we can be forgiven and enter into a perfect heaven.

That is why we take communion….to remember Jesus and what he did for us!

We believe and confess that our Savior Jesus Christ has ordained and instituted the sacrament of the Holy Supper to nourish and sustain those who are already grafted into his family, into his church . . .

Communion, is a means of grace for nourishing and strengthening disciples of Christ.

And to prepare our hearts to take communion I would like us all to raise and read the 10 Commandments together.

What I would like us to do is do a responsive reading now…to prepare our hearts to receive communion….

For those of you who are newer to church….

The 10 commandments come from the book of Exodus in our Bibles and were the starting guide to God’s way of living differently than the world.

On Screens, read aloud together:

Thou shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. (Exodus 20:4-6)

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)

Honor your father and mother. (Exodus 20:12)

Thou shalt not murder. (Exodus 20:13)

Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)

Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)

Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)

Thou shall not covet your neighbor. (Exodus 20:17)

You may be seated.

As we prepare to take communion I want to let you know anyone here who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior is welcome to take communion.

Parents, you are also welcome to take communion with your kids if you think they are ready… feel free to talk to your children during communion and explain things to them.

Communion is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus instituted Communion on the evening He was betrayed. In Mathew 26:26-28 we read, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Now we are going to listen to a song and as you listen I want to encourage you to take a moment and reflect on what it means that Jesus was willing to sacrifice His body for you and shed his blood for the forgiveness of your sins….

Take a moment and thank Jesus for his sacrifice for you.

Take a moment to ask Jesus to forgive you of any hidden sin in your life.

If you have not given your life to Jesus…take a moment now and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and tell him you now submit your life to him…

And then after this song, I will explain how we will take communion…. together….

AFTER THE SONG ENDS…..

In the seat in front of you there is a cup the looks like this……

EXPLAIN HOW TO OPEN based on style….

Just so you all know, the bread is gluten-free…

Let’s first take and eat the bread of life and give Jesus thanks for sacrificing his body for us.

Scripture tells us then Jesus took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”

Drinking this cup symbolizes Jesus shedding his blood for our sins….

AND us asking Jesus to give you an increased portion of his Spirit to keep us away from sinning in the future!

Take and drink the cup in remembrance of Jesus shedding his blood for your sins.

Let’s Pray…..