Sermon Central
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Jacob Series
Contributed by Pat Damiani on Nov 28, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: When I want to “come home” God will show me the way but I have to take the wheel
Some people find that keeping a spiritual journal is an effective way of leaving some spiritual markers that they can go back to later.
And there are probably some other ways to memorialize our commitment to Jesus that I haven’t even thought of. The point is to find something that works for you.
INSPIRATION
When I want to “come home”
God will show me the way
but I have to take the wheel
All of us go through some times in our life where we go into autopilot mode in our spiritual lives and drift away from God. But the good news is that the life of Jacob reminds us that any time we want to return to God, He is waiting for us with open arms if we’ll just take the very practical steps we’ve identified this morning to take the wheel once again.
ACTION
Will you join me in taking the first step this morning? Today we’ve identified five different steps that each of us might need to take in order to take the wheel and return to God. In just a minute I’m going to give us all an opportunity to pray and to ask God to reveal just one of those five steps that you need to take this week. And then I’m going to ask you to circle that step on your sermon outline and write down at least one concrete step you’re going to take this week to carry that out.
[Prayer]
Discussion questions for Bible Roundtable
1. When Rebekah was pregnant with Esau and Jacob, God reveled to her that the older would serve the younger (Genesis 25:23). Does this justify the deception of Rebekah and Jacob in stealing Esau’s blessing? What implications does your answer have for us today?
2. During his first encounter with God at Bethel, Jacob made a vow to build God a house there and to give a tenth of all he had to God, vows that he apparently never fulfilled. What does this teach us about making vows to God and about God’s nature? What does Jesus have to say about making vows to God?
3. What do the actions Jacob took before he returned to Bethel teach us about how we are to prepare to worship?
4. We frequently see Jacob (and other Old Testament figures) building altars and setting up pillars. What is their purpose and what implications does that have for our worship today?