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.

Have you ever read something in the Bible and then thought, what does that even mean? Like, I just don’t understand that one…Well, this morning we are going to take a look at a couple of things, and one of those things is something that I had not personally studied much before and so I wanted to understand it a little bit, and it brought me back to my old life a little bit and something I used to do before I came to Christ, and how honestly I didn’t realize it but it has its roots is pagan worship from way back in the Ancient Near East. Remember that is what the Bible times of the Old Testament would be referred to as the time and location. As I read that I was kind of amazing…Are you intrigued a little bit yet?

There’s something else we are going to look at today though that is just sooo important and that is how to start over. Like, how do we actually move forward when we are so nervous and scared to actually take that step? We’ve talked about that step of faith the last few weeks and how God tells us to take the biggest small steps that have ever existed. I say the biggest small steps because the steps that need to be made are really just a conversation…that’s a small step, or maybe it’s a financial change, or a job shift or something like that, but it starts with a small decision to just trust the Lord, but that really small step, feels like the biggest step that has ever existed, and I get that…I really do because I’ve been there…I’ve hyper ventilated over one of those decisions and had a total melt down of fear as I was making that decision to trust the Lord..feel free to ask me about it and I would love to tell you the details. For now though, just know I get it! So we’re gonna talk about that and how God came through for Jacob and how God came through for me, and how God comes through for you too…

But…before we get there we need to remember something. The thing we need to remember is that many times God is trying to get our attention, or maybe God is trying lead you or direct you to a specific decision or a point of growth, but you’re fighting the decision so God allows some things to happen, or God brings some conversations into your life that are meant to wake up your heart to show you what you are truly worshiping. Remember we talked about idols last week…So frankly God is a jealous God and he doesn’t want you worshiping any idols and so he is allowing things to turn in a way that is painful allowing you to experiencing your own consequences…So here’s the deal…this is what I want you to remember as we are coming towards a close of Jacob, we only have a couple more weeks to discuss Jacob, but something Jacob was learning over and over and something I hope you are learning is that 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. Now you may not like the appointment, but it’s an appointment to learn, to grow, to stretch your faith, or in a way that allows you to put into practice the things that you have learned and allows you to serve others in a new way that maybe you haven’t before.

Now, this morning we are going to be in Genesis 35, so you can go ahead and get turned over there and get ready to read a chunk of Scripture there together. I’m excited about this morning though because I’m going to show you and I’m hoping you will be able to realize the reality for yourself of

A New Start

We are finally really going to see the purpose for God commanding Jacob to leave Paddam-Aram as well as the command last week to leave Shechem and move to Bethel. You see, it’s at Bethel where the Lord will reinforce the promises made to the patriarch Jacob all those years ago. However, in order to see this new start we need to go ahead and take a look at the passage together, so let’s go ahead and turn over to

Genesis 35:5–15 ESV

And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth. God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

Now the first thing we need to see that happens…and really this is probably one of the more significant things that happens is in verse 5 here. Look at what happened.

God protected Jacob and his household (v. 5)

Isn’t that great! Isn’t that just what we are all looking for? Listen, after the murderous assault on the Shechemites by Simeon and Levi, Jacob was rightly afraid that the people of the land would attack him. Jacob acknowledged that fear about how the other tribes and cities would respond after they heard about what happened…and of course they are going to hear about what happened.

The thing is though that we serve a God that keeps his promises, and he kept his promises to Jacob and he cared Jacob and his people as they moved toward Bethel. Do you want to hear something interesting? In like another 490 years, thats just a ballpark figure, this same “terror of the Lord” will go before Israel this time as they journey toward Canaan, preparing their way to conquer the land as God will promise them. Here is what we can really learn from this action…When God’s people are doing what God leads them to do, they can depend on God’s provision and protection. Let me say that another way, this is how Rev. Billy Graham used to say it…

“The will of God will never take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us.”

You see, that step that you are trying to take, or are a bit nervous to take because you aren’t sure of the results, I hope that you are encouraged to know that God protected Jacob when he finally did was he was clearly commanded to do. Some of you are holding off on doing things, that you know you need to do, because you don’t want to deal with the results, or you are afraid of the results, or you aren’t ready for the results, and I’m telling you that God is bigger than your fear! If your fear is bigger than your god then you have a pretty lousy god and that’s not the same God I’m telling you about this morning, because my God is bigger than all thee fears, ok…so figure out who your God really is.

Of course the fact that Jacob was able to see how the grace of God sustained him again absolutely informed his response when he arrived at Bethel. Check this out…

Jacob worshiped God (vv. 6–8)

Now this is a really special place to Jacob…You see, 20 years ago Jacob had met God here. Actually, God had promised to bring Jacob safely back to Bethel, and He kept His promise, just like he always does. So, Jacob kept his part of the agreement by building an altar and leading his household in worshiping the Lord…finally in the place and way that God had directed him to do. Jacob took this place that, was known as Luz by the Canaanites, and was known as Bethel by him and his people and had expanded it name to “the God of Bethel.” Why would he do that? Well, because he was trying to communicate that there is a God that is present at this place called Bethel. For sure God is present elsewhere as well, but there are special things happening here at this place called Bethel so very clearly God is here. Really what Jacob was trying to communicate was that it wasn’t the place that was important but the God of the place that was important, and he reminded him of what He had done for Jacob

Now there is something really important I want to point out here. You see, the Jewish people considered many places to be special because of what God had done for them there…places like Bethel, Mount Sinai, Jerusalem, the Jordan River, these are a few. To the Muslim person Mecca is especially holy and important. To the Mormon there is the Salt Lake Temple. To the Budist, Bodh Gaya, India is the most important location. Various religions have important holy sites. You may have a special place like that yourself. Someplace that is meaningful to you because of an experience with God that you had in that place at some point. However, what Jacob was communicating and what you really do know is that a “holy site” must never take the place of the Holy God. This next part is important so I want you to pay attention for just a second here ok…To visit a special location and try to recapture old blessings is to live in the past. Let’s ask God for new blessings and a new movement of power from Himself! Not to live in the past, but to be seeking to continue to worship into the future…

Listen, let me just say…part of trusting God is worshiping God and part of worshiping God is trusting God…so if you are doing one but not the other…well, you’re not doing either!

Let’s take a look at how…

God appeared to Jacob (vv. 9–15)

When Jacob first arrived at Bethel well over 20 years prior, Jacob had encountered God in a dream. Then Jacob had wrestled with God in a tent. Now God is appearing to Jacob again and blessing him. God is reaffirming that Jacob is Israel, and that God is “El-Shaddai”, meaning God Almighty. God also reaffirmed his promises to Jacob about multiplying his descendants and them possessing the land, telling him that nations and kings would be his descendants.

Following his previous example, Jacob builds a pillar and dedicates it to the Lord. Not only did he pour oil on the pillar, but he poured out a drink offering of wine. This was a supplemental offering to the regular sacrifices that was poured on the alter as the sacrifice was burning. It was a symbol of dedication, of devotion, and of the worshipers life being poured out for the Lord.

Now, this is where we will have a small brief “pull-out” lesson because I learned something this week about the drink offering that really hit home for me this week. You see, earlier I told you that there was something that brought me back to my old life, and this is it. So for years I have just kind of wondered about this drink offering. Like, I understand it is an offering of liquid, but I’ve never completely understood the concept of the drink offering. Now, you guys are all smarter than me and so you’re probably all sitting there thinking come one Pastor Billy…but I’m gonna tell you what I came up with anyway.

You see, in that time frame there was a pagan custom of pouring out drink offerings. The thing is that whenever they wanted to seek their god in a special way, they would pour out some of their wine as a sacrifice that would help “pave the way” for their prayer, to help them talk to their god.  Over the years it became a custom to just pour out just a bit of each cup they drank, almost as a little “tithe” or sacrifice to their god. Here is where it brought me back to my old life. You see, where I came from there was a custom where we would pour out some of our drink in memory of our buds that had already died. Here is the connection there…I was worshiping a specific lifestyle and this was the way of appeasing the god of that lifestyle. That is the specific pagan ritual that was going on, and it is still going on today. The question I want to challenge you with is, what lifestyle, and what god you are appeasing this morning?

However, that is not the drink offering that Jacob was instructed to pour out. The drink offering that Jacob was instructed to pour out was a sacrifice to the Lord similar to that of the lamb that would be sacrificed. This was done as a picture of what was to come. Later Jesus would be the last sacrifice that would ever be needed and we know that this pouring out of a drink offering is a metaphor for the blood Jesus spilled on the cross. Now, later Paul would use this same imagery, however, his had a bit of a different meaning. For Paul he was communicating that he saw HIS LIFE as being poured out as a sacrifice for the Lord’s work.

So I thought this picture of the drink offering and all of the imagery around that, as well as the reminder for me of how God had redeemed my old life was really cool and I wanted to share that with you real quick.

So…let’s really get back to Jacob and what God is doing to Jacob here through. See, God has now restored Jacob…just like God restores you and I. Jacob is back where God had told him to be. Jacob had chosen to worship the Lord and offer appropriate sacrifices as God desired. In other words, not what Jacob decided but what God commanded…that’s another problem we all struggle with don’t we? Like, I don’t really have to give God this, I can give God this instead, right? Finally, the Lord had spoken to Jacob and reaffirmed his promises to Jacob. Now, Jacob still has alot to learn about walking with the Lord. That is a process we all go through. Progressive Sanctification is the process of learning to walk with the Lord. This is when Jacob will begin to be Israel and live like the prince that God has called him to be.

Listen, we all struggle from time to time with different things. There are just a couple of quick things I want to close out with this morning by way of a reminder and hopefully a challenge. Get your pen ready, none of this will be on the screen, but you might want to write this down to remind yourself of what you need to do…

You can start fresh this morning. Do it!

The God I’ve been talking about today is the God that keeps his promises to you personally. (if you don’t know what those are, then please reach out to me)

God is more than a place or an event. You need to worship God while you are trusting him, and that doesn’t happen only inside of these walls folks…

Christian you are in the process of progressive sanctification with the Lord God Almighty…always seek to learn and serve more than the day before.

Not-yet Christian, you need to make a choice to follow the Lord before that choice in made for you. Admit you are a sinner. Believe Jesus died for your sins. Commit your life to him. Repent of your sins and become new…(then let me know so I know how to support you)

That’s it…that is your action steps…wherever you find yourself this morning…make your choice and do not leave here the same as you came here. Listen, if you’ve been coming here for years and every day you leave here the exact same as you came in…what are you doing? It’s time to allow God to adjust your heart or quit wasting your time. We come, to be changed, to go out, and allow the Lord to use us to change others…so do it…And more than anything…You don’t have to be the person that you secretly don’t want to be…allow God to change you. Go in faith, walk in faith, trust the Lord to work in your life and grow you into the person he created you to be becuase I promise thats better than the person you are, and definitely better than the person I am, so lets pray the Lord continues to work in all of our lives.

Let’s pray!