Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

This Father’s Day is a first for me.

It is the first time in my life I have experienced a Father’s Day where I will not have the opportunity to call my Dad and wish him a happy Father’s day.

My father was far from perfect, as I am far from being a perfect father.

I remember the spring of 1970, I had gone with my mother and picked some strawberries.

I helped my mother cap all those strawberries, wash them and get them in freezer bags.

I was excited to share with my dad about all I had done.

As the time came closer for him to come home from work, I was outside looking for him to turn into our drive way.

I waited and waited with great eagerness and anticipation for what seemed like forever.

After many hours of waiting, my mother received a call that my father had been in a car wreck.

Apparently, as he was driving in is 1967 Volkswagon Beetle, he was t-boned by a 1963 Chevy Impala, and he had been taken to the hospital.

I remember my mother getting us together and going to the hospital.

Dad was okay, but due to his injuries he had to stay in the hospital for several days.

I don’t remember ever getting to tell dad about my accomplishments and all the work I had done picking and preparing those strawberries.

Forty-eight years later, I realize that what I missed from that particular time in my life was receiving my father’s blessing.

I was longing to receive that from him that day.

I was glad he was okay from his accident, but I wanted to share with him what I had done that day, and that got pushed away.

There were many other times in my life where I did receive my father’s blessing in many other ways.

One of the most beautiful customs found in the Bible is when when blesses another.

I have first hand felt what joy is missed as well as what joy is given when a blessing is given.

I am reminded as we continue our study in , that we can become channels of blessings.

Our text today shows us how Jacob by faith blessed his grandsons.

Hebrews 11:

The act of blessing is an act of faith.

Jacob demonstrated the power of a blessing faith.

Jacob demonstrated the power of a blessing faith.

Let’s first look at the

Persona of a Blessing Faith

Once again, as we study the characters portrayed in , we are able to find more about them by studying passages in the Old Testament.

We learn that Jacob was one of the twin boys born to Isaac.

We learn Jacob tricked his father to receive his father’s blessing of the birthright, that should have been given to his brother Esau.

Talking about some fun family dynamics, this family had lots of drama!

Jacob gets Isaac’s blessing and meets Laban.

He meets Laban’s daughter Rachel and says, “whoa....I need to marry her!” Jacob arranges an agreement with Laban to work 7 years for his daughter.

After 7 years, Laban felt like had to get the older sister married off first so he makes an arrangement for Jacob to marry Leah and work another 7 years then he could have the one he wanted after that.

Between the 2 wives and maidservants, we see that Jacob had 12 sons.

We see later on that Jacob wrestled with God.

He struggled with his life and purpose with God for hours into the night.

He asked for a blessing and God changed his name from Jacob to Israel.

Jacob was very fond of his son Joseph which made the other brothers jealous, so they plotted to have Jacob’s favorite son sold him into slavery and made up this story that a wild animal had eaten him.

Jacob, now called Israel, was devastated and mourned for many days because he loved his son so much.

Joseph ended up becoming a ruler in Egypt and eventually was reunited with his father in a story that is beautifully portrayed in .

Wow, what a family history!

We have all kinds of things show up about this man Jacob.

We see frustration, heartache, pain, sibling rivalry, greed, and a host of other troubles.

Kind of sounds like some us and what we have been through at one point or another!

I see that the persona of a blessing faith could include someone that is imperfect.

I see that the persona of a blessing faith could include someone that has made mistakes.

I see that the persona of a blessing faith could include someone that has a troubled past.

But I also see the assurance that the persona of a blessing faith could include someone that can be assured of the promises of God.

In we learn that Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, finds out that his father is ill.

So Joseph takes his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim to see their grandfather.

It is in this context that this verse from comes to light.

In , we see the passion of a blessing faith.

The Passion of a Blessing Faith

Jacob recognizes how fortunate he is to have been reunited with his long lost son Joseph.

Jacob’s passion is starting to show here.

Can you imagine the overwhelming feeling Jacob felt as he looked at his grandsons?

After all he had been through to get the love of his life in Rachel, he now had grandsons as a result of that trial and tribulation.

He was now old and to the point of dying.

He was very passionate about making sure those grandsons received his blessing.

He stakes the claim that these boys will be treated as his own sons.

My grandfather, Paw-Paw Marlowe, had seven grandsons.

He treated each one of us as his own.

What a blessing it was for each of us to have that special connection with him.

Jacob does something that goes against the tradition of the day.

Jacob blesses his grandsons before he blesses his own sons.

Isaac passed along his blessing to Jacob which was untraditional in that Jacob wasn’t the firstborn.

Jacob blesses the younger grandson first and then blesses the older grandson, again breaking tradition.

The natural order was bypassed.

This tells me that you don’t have to be in a certain position to receive a blessing.

What a beautiful honor for these boys!

God desires you and I to understand that we don’t have to be in an order or bound to tradition to receive His blessing!

We can be blessed exactly where we are.

Furthermore, we can extend blessings to those are not necessarily our own!

in , Joseph tried to correct his father by making sure the oldest one was blessed first.

But Jacob was doing what God had told him to do.

Jacob uniquely blesses each boy.

God uses this passage to show us that He is Sovereign and His choices must be accepted in faith!

God help us to bless others passionately!

Is there someone in your life that you need to bless?

Perhaps, dad it is a son or daughter.

Perhaps it is someone you work with or a neighbor that needs to know that they are blessed.

The Prayer of a Blessing Faith

Jacob prays for each of his grandsons.

He prays that each one would be blessed of God.

Isn’t that a prayer that we should all be making?

If we are about the business of the Kingdom of God, we are about His blessings.

In this prayer of a blessing faith, Jacob praised God for what He had done as “the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day ().”

In order to be able to give a prayer of a blessing faith, one must know the One Who is capable of such blessing.

Jacob shows that he looked to God to guide him, lead him, care for him and provide for him.

Are you looking to God for this or are you trying to make it happen in your own way?

The prayer included instruction, commitment, a confession of faith, and petition.

Genesis 48:

This is similar to the outward priestly blessing found in .

One thing that I have learned about prayer and blessings is that the sweetest prayers and the sweetest blessings come out of worship.

tells us that Jacob “worshiped as he leaned on top of his staff.”

We learn from that Jacob was on his deathbed and when he heard his son Joseph and his grandsons had come to visit him, he mustered the energy to sit up in his bed and seemingly took that staff, that rod he had used over the years to steady himself.

I see a worship service brewing here!

He praised God for what he had done.