We Can Help Shape Each Other’s Stories
When we listen to God's voice and listen to others, God can use us to help shape their stories.
The Promise, The Story, and The Blessing
Genesis 46 -48 | The Promise, The Story, and The Blessing
Friends, we are coming to the close of a powerful and rich journey through the Book of Genesis as a community. I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed walking through it with you. This week, we get to see this beautiful story come full circle. It leaves us asking the question, what does it mean to give the blessing? Come and together let's discover the invitation to participate in giving the blessing to those around us, and by doing so, join God in restoring the world.
Reframing By Grace
Last week, we listened to Joseph's story of exile and rescue. We learned from his experience with dreams what is means to carry the favor of God and to step humbly into redemption. This week, we take up the second half of his story and learn through his family relationships what it means to walk in step with a forgiving God. We discover from his story (and from the New Testament story of Onesimus) that the first person (and sometimes the only person) to benefit from forgiveness is us. Bring your hardest circumstances and relationships with you into worship this week. Let's watch together as God draws healing waters up from his well of Grace.
Jesus Is Our Rescue
Genesis 37-41: Dreams Conferred and Deferred
When you have a dream, but can't figure out how to get there, it can be so frustrating. When your dreams take you in unexpected directions, it can be surprising (and sometimes disappointing!) This Sunday, we meet the original Dreamer -- Jacob's son, Joseph. We discover through Joseph's story that dreams are one way God moves our stories forward. Looking forward to talking about dreams, visions, exile, and hope ...
“We’re Not Gonna Play Games, We’re Gonna Honor God.”
We're nearing summer, and for some of us that means finding space and time to hit our favorite beach or vacation spot -- that place that feels like peace and rest the minute we walk through the door. Do you have a place like that? Or maybe you have a space closer to home that, that when you step into it, you sense the presence of God.
I have several spaces like that. One is a trail near my house. As soon as my foot falls on that trail, I breathe easier. My brain stops racing. I hear Jesus better. It's a holy place.
In this week's Genesis passage, we get to visit Bethel, Jacob's holy ground. We can feel the goodness of God as Jacob encounters Him there, and we too, can hunger for that space where God shows up. I hope you can say that Mosaic is one of those places for you. And I hope this Sunday, as you step into worship and hear the Word of God, you (like Jacob) can say, "Surely the Lord is in this place!"
“While We Wait, We Wrestle”
Now it's back to Genesis and what a story to jump back into! So much of life is about waiting and wrestling, and the stories we'll explore on Sunday personify that part of our humanity. It is Jacob waiting for Rachel, and Rachel struggling against Leah. It is Rachel waiting for Joseph while Jacob wrestles with God. It is Jacob and Esau both wrestling with each other and waiting for peace.
All that waiting and wrestling is not wasted on God. These stories teach us how God uses the waiting and the wrestling to move our lives forward. And they hold a Messianic thread that will run from Jacob to Jesus.
