Good morning everyone, it is so good to be here this morning with you all. Right now we get to send out the kiddos to their class where you have the opportunity to learn about God in a way that makes sense to you. Then, remember, you gotta pay attention real good so that you can come find me after service and tell me something you learned today. Then of course we also want to welcome those of you joining us online, etc.

How many of you have gotten REALLY dirty…I mean like so dirty that you might not even be allowed in the house…like for a few days kind of dirty. There used to be days that I would be working on the car that I would go to come inside, and I would look down and I would realize that I could not walk inside the house the way I was. I would have to basically shower before walking into the house somehow. Dad and I would be working on the car outside and we would be so greasy that we would need to clean up a little so that we could get inside to go clean up and then after we cleaned up it would still take a few days to get fully clean…thats just the nature of working on older cars that were greasy and dirty…Anyway, today we are going to look at a time when Jacob purified himself and his people purified themselves as well. They got rid of their idols, they cleaned themselves up, and they changed their clothes…They got ready for God to do something new in and through them. It’s a pretty cool story and I wanna make sure you guys are all locked in on this one this morning because I know the last couple of weeks have been a little more rough. Speaking of that…let’s remember what happened last week.

We’ve been talking about Jacob over the last couple of months, and pretty soon we will be breaking off to take a look at his son Joseph and see how Joseph dealt with things for himself. However, before we do that, it’s important to see how God is still working in Jacob’s life and heart even in the midst of the horrible things that we just saw last week. We just saw last week that Dinah, the daughter of Leah was sexually assaulted and appeared to be forcefully married to the man who assaulted her. However, her brothers, Simeon and Levi, also sons of Leah were so enraged by what had happened that they deceived the group of men from Shechem and had them undergo surgery for circumcision. Then they led a group of men through the city and killed every male there and looted and pillaged every thing of value, including the women and children that they kidnapped and brought them back into their camp. That’s a whole lot of messed up in that chapter if you ask me…Of course there was also a very little of God in that chapter if you recall. Anyway, what is amazing is that even in that chapter we can see how God was at work doing what needed to be done and using those events to effectively wake up Jacob from his delayed obedience trance…Like he was just staring at the wall in a daze not knowing what to do and God used all of those events by allowing them to play out in the manner that man desired, while still overseeing and maintaining his promise to Jacob. Of course from that we are reminded what Jacob was ultimatly reminded of as well, and what ultimatly led Jacob to respond to God in the end…something that we are going to look at today. Here it is…say it with me… In the life of the trusting Christian, there are no accidents, only appointments. Thats right, in other words, in the life of the Christian, God is in control and you can trust that what is going on in your life is being overseen by the Father for your good.

So that is a fair reminder about where we have come from…now let’s take a look at where we are going. This morning we are looking at only the first 4 verses in chapter 35, so let’s go ahead and turn there and take a look and see what we can get out of that. Today we are looking at when Jacob recieved

A New Heart

Go ahead and open up to

Genesis 35:1–4 ESV

God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

So, the really good news of the Gospel is that we don’t have to stay the way we are. No matter how many times we’ve failed the Lord, we can still go home if we truly repent and obey. Look, it happened to Abraham, Isaac, David, Jonah, and Peter, just to name a few… and now it’s happening to Jacob. Let’s take a look at how

God spoke to Jacob (v. 1)

Yeah…God spoke to Jacob. Listen, for several years, Jacob hung out thirty miles away from Bethel and had paid dearly for his disobedience, we talked about that just last week. Now the Lord spoke to him and told him to move to Bethel and settle down there…again. You see, Jacob already knew that Bethel was God’s appointed place for him and his family, but he had been delaying his obedience.

Now, Jacob had built an altar on the property he had bought near Shechem and had called it “God the God of Israel”. But God wasn’t pleased with this altar because He wanted him worshiping back at Bethel, “the house of God.” The Lord reminded Jacob of his commitment. Remember his desperate situation over twenty years ago and how God had delivered him and blessed him. Well, it was at Bethel that Jacob had made vows to the Lord; and well, now it’s time to finally fulfill them.

Many problems in the Christian life and local churches result from delayed or incomplete obedience. Just like with Jacob here…We know what the Lord wants us to do, we start to do it, and then we stop. For some reason when we don’t continue to follow God’s leading and accomplish His will. Not only do we not continue to follow God…we allow we we started to die off. Listen, in Revelation there is a church in a place called Sardis and here is what Jesus said to that church

Revelation 3:2 (ESV)

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

Did you hear that…wake up and strengthen what remains that is about to die, for I have not found your works complete…Listen…LRBC…I’m talking to you this morning and I hope to be both encouraging, but also real with you right now, and that’s not gonna be easy to hear. We are in the process right now of strengthening some things that were, and are very much dying and I want you guys to all hear that and understand that. LRBC was placed in this place for a reason, but when I came here 5 years ago no one in the community cared that we even existed. Now…5 years later, they are asking us to come back and have another worship in the park for Leaf River Daze next year. These last 5 years have not been easy, and quite frankly there are some who have not really been interested in doing the work to strengthen what remained here at LRBC, and some that have even worked to make it harder to move forward and strengthen those weaker areas. I’m not gonna call anyone out but you know who you are. There are some areas that have begun to be strengthened, but there are other areas that still very badly need to be strengthened and they need direction. There are areas that need someone to step up and lead the way that God has already told you to lead, but you have been delaying in your obedience. Look, I’ve said it before, every church has exactly who is needed in order to fulfill every ministry of the church…yet we have needs to be filled within LRBC…that means there are people who are hearing God and saying, not yet Im good here in Shechem.

Look what God did to Jacob here…God said, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell with me there. In other words, get up…get back on track because I’m not done with you yet, and that is exactly what God is telling LRBC today…I’m not done with you yet, and there is so much waiting for you as soon as you all simply “arise, go up to Bethel and dwell with me there. Let’s take a look at how Jacob responded to that invitation for the Lord.

Jacob instructed his household (vv. 2–4)

Jacob is finally going to the whole house and instructing them on what to do and how to worship God properly the way he should have from the beginning. Listen, Jacob has been allowing his family and his household to worship however they see fit and its time to worship God the way that God requires to be worshiped. Hey there are churches all over that are worshiping God the way they want to worship God and it doesn’t matter if that is how God has told us or not. There are pastors and teachers out there that are teaching things that are straight up unbiblical, there are churches that are not even bringing Scripture into their Sunday morning worship because they can’t and continue to worship the way that they are…that’s basically where Jacob and his household was…however, Jacob had finally stepped up and led in the way that God had instructed him to.

It’s so encouraging to see Jacob finally step up and take charge of this situation and boldly give witness to what God told to him and what God has done for him. These instructions applied not only to Jacob’s wives and children but also to the servants he had employed in Padan Aram. Since Jacob owned such large flocks and herds, he had a huge need for staffing to help care for them. These instructions apply to all of those people…you say you have to keep religion separate from work? Why? Do you hate the people you work with?

So listen LRBC…it’s time to cleanse your heart of all selfishness and simply worship the God who is leading you to serve others and not yourself. You see, Shechem is where self service lives, and God is calling you to arise and go up to Bethel and dwell with him there. Bethel is where God and serving him and others lives. So in other words God is calling us to leave ourselves behind and go up to focus on him and others first…we good so far?

Now, Jacob told his people there were two ways to prepare themselves for an encounter with the living God, and this applies to us today to. First of all,

Jacob set a time of cleansing for everybody

This is the first and arguably the most important aspect of what Jacob is leading his people to do. You see, this time of cleansing is not simply cleaning the house and dusting the curtains. No, what Jacob has commanded his people to do is to get rid of any and all idols that they had. Remember, Rachel had stolen her fathers household idols so we know that Jacob had idols in his home, and if there are some in his tent you know good and well there are many others throughout the other tents and homes of everyone else. Even if Jacob is not himself worshiping these false pagan gods, a large majority of people within his camp are worshiping some sort of false god. We know that this has always been a temptation for the Israelites for all time. God is always commanding them to rid themselves of the idols in their possession. Moses warned them about idolatry before they entered the land and Joshua had to challenge the Israelites to abandon their idols after they conquered the land, and before that of course their was this very familiar story of the Israelites building a giant golden calf so that they had something to worship because they had to have something to worship. Samuel faced this problem, the prophets rebuked the nation, and quite frankly we still face this very issue today don’t we? You see, it was first John Calvin that said this, but it is through out Scripture. Here it is and I want you to remember this. Your heart is an idol factory. We see in Jeremiah that the heart is desperately wicked, so following your heart is always a bad idea…that’s why we always say to follow Scripture above your heart around here. So what is an idol? Well, let’s make it really simple here this morning…an idol is a counterfeit God. That’s it…a counterfeit God. That is what Jacob was telling them to cleanse from the camp was all counterfeit gods from their presence. There was no need for the counterfeits when they had the real deal, and Jacob is finally ready to take that seriously…doesn’t mean he isn’t going to make any more mistakes, but it seems that he is finally willing to take the steps necessary to focus properly and move forward. This same instruction is given to us here at LRBC today. remove the counterfeit gods from your heart…

But you know…cleansing and getting rid of the idols is really only half of what is needed, so after that…

Jacob called for a time to purify yourself and change clothes

Yeah, this is the second instruction that he has called everyone to do…purify yourself and change your clothes. Most people today are pretty used to indoor plumbing, nice smelling soap, and plenty of clothes; so it’s easy to forget that in the ancient nomadic tribes of the Bible, they didn’t have any of these conveniences. As a matter of fact, our modern hygiene and facilities were totally unknown even in Western civilization during most of its history, even just 150 years ago indoor plumbing would not have been normal most places. Basically…what we call necessities would have been considered luxuries by our ancestors.

However, in Scripture, washing the body and changing your clothes symbolized making a new beginning. You see, like dirt, sin is defiling and must be washed away. Our old garments are a picture of the old life with its failures, but God in His mercy gives us “new clothes” so we can make a fresh beginning. Before God gave the law at Mount Sinai, He ordered the people to wash and change clothes; for they were about to enter into a covenant with God.

Finally we see the most important part of this story…All the people obeyed Jacob’s instructions and gave him their idols and the jewelry that were identified with pagan gods. Let me just say for a moment. They could have said, but I really like this ring…do I have to give it up if I promise not to use it for pagan worship anymore? The problem with that request, and you know this, and Jacob would have known this as well…it’s a lie we tell ourselves to try and get around doing what we know we should be doing, right? But here’s the deal…God is promising so much more than he is requiring. All he is asking is that you don’t worship a fake god. I mean, that’s a pretty small request frankly. Don’t worship anything that isn’t going to give you what you want anyway…right?

Now, Jacob buried all of this stuff under “the oak at Shechem”, which was apparently a well-known tree, but the reason he did that was to get rid of it…they didn’t need it, it needed to be gone and away from their tribe and they needed to be on their way so the fastest way to dispose of it was to bury it and move on…it was dead These were false gods that were buried and stayed there…sometimes we need to be reminded that we worship the real God who was buried and rose again three days later!

Here’s the deal…When Jacob had failed and had reached the pinnacle of failure, God reached down and called out to Jacob and offered him a brand new beginning. You see, Jacob had already had a very personal experience with the Lord, and he had still failed again…kind of like all of us do from time to time…but this is what I love about this story, and this is what I want you all to hear this morning. Jacob’s story wasn’t over just because he messed up…again. God wasn’t done with Jacob just like God isn’t done with LRBC and just like God isn’t done with you. Man I love that…I love that because I feel that grace every single day!

So…what do we do from here? Well, remember how Jacob led his people to cleanse their home and purify themselves and change their clothes, and that was a symbol of a new beginning…Well, this morning we are going to go into a time of communion and I am going to ask you to do something a little unique. I am going to ask you to cleanse your heart as you are coming up, in other words, pray to remove any idols that are there, and purify your mind, and just like we saw that in his mercy the Lord will give new clothes, we are going to thank the Lord for the new heart that he has already given to you this morning. As a reminder of that new heart, and as a reminder that your heart, apart from the power of the Lord, will do nothing but produce more idols, there are bowls of heart key rings up here. I want to invite you as you come up to take the elements, to also take a heart key ring and change out the ring that holds your keys together (show my keys) so that every time you grab your keys you will be reminded of who you have surrendered your heart to and you might even be reminded that you need to clean house from time to time in order to make sure that your heart is purified and you are ready and willing to obey the Lord with whatever he is calling you to do next…

Let’s pray: (pray we are able to receive and remember the new heart that we have been given and follow the Lord’s direction in his word)

Now, we are going to move into a time of communion where we will have you come up to the table in front of you and take the elements of communion and take them back to your seat. The elements of communion are the bread and the grape juice. In case you are newer with us I want to explain a little about what we believe and what we practice practically. We believe that these elements are a symbol of Jesus’ body and Jesus’ blood. That is what Jesus meant when he told the disciples that the bread was his body, and the wine was his blood. He did not mean that these elements were transformed into his literal parts of him that we will take into us. There are some churches that believe that way, but that is not what we believe. Second, we invite all who are a part of the global church, meaning that if you have commited your life to Christ, then we would invite you to partake in the Lords Table with us this morning. This is a celebration that we get to do together and many times there are folks that haven’t yet joined the church, or maybe you are just passing through the area…we want you to feel free to join us in communion as part of the global family of believers here together.

Finally, I’d like to take a moment to read a passage and remind us about what Jesus actually said on the night that he would be arrested and tortured and killed for the sin of the world.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Pray: pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the bread and the cup