When Deceit Takes, God Gives More: Finding Jesus in the Story of Jacob

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:00:04] How many? What did that say? What time? Two. Two minutes. Yourself. I'm not scruffy. I can't be a scruffy. It's good to be here this morning, amen? After two weeks off, it's good to be in the house of the Lord, worshiping with other believers, not just here, but all over the world. We're going to stand this morning and prepare our hearts this morning through songs. Let's do that.

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:15:31] may be seated. As we begin our worship service, we're grateful for your reminding us of how big and strong and mighty our God is, the God whom we are gathered today to worship. I'm grateful for
[00:15:56] your presence with us today, and if you would do something for us, if you would look to the inside of your row, there should be a white folder there. If you're not able to check in on the Church
[00:16:04] Center app, if you're not using that, we'd love to have you fill out that white folder with your name and if you're a guest with us with contact information that you feel comfortable giving to
[00:16:14] us whether that's an email address a phone number a physical address we want to be able to connect with you to reach out to you and find out if there are ways that we can be of service to you or find
[00:16:24] out how we can connect further with you and so we'd invite you to do that for us also want to let you know about a few things going on in the life of our church man i'm so glad to be back
[00:16:34] today with you what a blessing it is to be in the presence of God with the people of God to give God praise I have missed it the last couple of weeks and I'm so grateful that we're here together
[00:16:47] I'm so grateful that we have other things going on after following this worship service and during this week the first thing that I want to call to your attention is that ladies there is a luncheon
[00:16:59] immediately following this service downstairs in the fellowship hall where apparently the heat is now working that's great there's soup and salad and fellowship and it'll be a great time together also i want to call to your attention a vbs brainstorming meeting that will be on tuesday
[00:17:16] february the 10th and so if you're interested in that you can reach out to kelly nunu our kids ministry lead her email address is in the bulletin and so you can locate that and reach out to her
[00:17:27] and be a part of the brainstorming and planning for one of our best outreaches of the year, which is Vacation Bible School.
[00:17:33] I also want to call up our student ministry lead, Adam Jensen, to let us know about some things going on in student ministry.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:17:44] Well, good morning.
[00:17:45] My kids weren't as cute as that when we came up and sang.
[00:17:47] I'm feeling a little jealous this morning.
[00:17:49] That was awesome. I love that.
[00:17:51] So we have a ton of stuff going on in youth, and I was going to make a few different announcements from the pulpit over a few weeks, and then we didn't meet for a couple weeks.
[00:17:58] And so I give them to you all at once.
[00:18:00] The first is that our students are meeting today for a Super Bowl party.
[00:18:04] There will not be Youth Night tonight, but we will be watching the Super Bowl at the Bryant's house.
[00:18:08] So you can join us there at 6 for that.
[00:18:10] Students encourage you to come bring something to share with the rest of us.
[00:18:13] Thank you to the Bryant's for hosting us.
[00:18:15] We appreciate you guys immensely.
[00:18:17] Second is next Sunday night, immediately following Youth Night, from 8 to about 9.30, we're doing something we call Chillin' After Church, which is just where we invite students to stick around and hang out after Youth Night finishes.
[00:18:29] if you've got to get your kid home, obviously, totally fine.
[00:18:32] But with President's Day weekend, no school the next morning, it's a good night to hang out, stay a little late, play some extra games.
[00:18:38] That'll be a fun thing.
[00:18:39] And then the big announcement that I have for you is that Spring Retreat is coming up.
[00:18:43] March 6th through the 8th for high school, 20th through the 22nd for middle school.
[00:18:47] And so please get your kids signed up.
[00:18:49] It's time to get that going.
[00:18:50] And then we really need some chaperones, especially female chaperones, for both high school and middle school retreat.
[00:18:56] the 6th through the 8th and the 20th through the 22nd of March.
[00:19:00] And if you're a mom of students, we would love to have you help us out.
[00:19:05] If you are a female who's willing to be background checked and go through our Shepherding Safe program, we can do that too.
[00:19:12] But we would love to get some female volunteers.
[00:19:14] And we need two females, both for high school and middle school retreat.
[00:19:19] It's part of our safety policy in order to make sure that we can have this retreat happen.
[00:19:23] And so I appreciate the ways that our church is so supportive of our students.
[00:19:28] And thank you in advance for your support of our students during high school and middle school retreat.
[00:19:32] Again, the dates for those of you who are marking calendars right now, it is March 6th through the 8th for high school, March 20th through the 22nd for middle school.
[00:19:40] And we're looking for two female volunteers for both of those.
[00:19:43] I think our males are covered.
[00:19:45] But if you're a guy and you're really interested, talk to me and we can figure out how to work that out.
[00:19:48] Thank you so much for your time.

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:19:52] Thank you, Adam.
[00:19:52] And I'll refer you to the bulletin as well as to the Church Center app, if you have it, for lots more information about how to connect with one another, how to connect with the Lord through Back Creek Church.
[00:20:05] But our joy this morning is that we get to, oh yeah, we're not to our joy yet, trust me.
[00:20:13] Thank you, Garen.
[00:20:14] Our treasurer, Garen Weeks, is going to share with us.
[00:20:17] one one thing that is a huge priority for us even if it's not our joy um is is to report regularly hey praise god uh to to report regularly on our finances we want to be transparent
[00:20:29] and open with you the lord funds his church through his people that's you so you get a say in not only how much money we have to do the ministries of back creek church but also how
[00:20:44] we use those monies you as the congregation approve the budget every year and you hold our leadership accountable for how we do it so we got to tell you about it and so our treasurer
[00:20:52] again weeks is now going to give a financial report yeah thanks matt it's funny i was going

[00:20:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:20:59] to lead with i have good news and i have good news but but matt mentioned the joy so let's get into it um and i would say outside of the lord speaking to your own hearts i think this congregation has
[00:21:10] really all the power in what we do and we'll see that in the numbers because all of our funding we do not get grants. We do not get any funding from governments, states, etc. We are internally funded.
[00:21:22] So it really is all of us together that really drive what this church does. All right, so let's move on. So I realize this slide is a bit busy, but what I've done is I've gone to... This one's
[00:21:39] not busy at all. This one's very busy. Hey, there we go. All right. So what I've gone to is I've gone to inflows and outflows, right? I've got cash coming in, I've got cash going out. So the amazing
[00:21:52] thing about 2025 is the cash coming in barely missed out on what we had budgeted that would be.
[00:21:58] That's really the goal. The goal is to go above and beyond, but as close as we can get is huge because that is where we're going to really fund all of our ministries underneath it. So we missed
[00:22:07] budget by just over $1,500, but the biggest thing about the outflows this year were much, much lower. So the cash that we spent was much lower. There's various reasons for that. We've done a lot
[00:22:19] of measures around for savings, but also Adam didn't grace us with his presence until much later in the year. So there's a personnel gap there early in the year. So net inflows of over $70,000, which is massive for us. Massive, massive, massive. We're able to build reserves. We're able
[00:22:38] to look out for rainy days like when we fix our HVAC systems. But there's all these things that are great for that and we can really move forward. So really to be, we don't desire to be that much
[00:22:50] below expenses every year, just to be honest, because we really want to fully utilize all of our dollars for our ministries. So that goal every year is to have the outflows match the budget and so our giving to go above that. But this year, 2025 was awesome in terms of net cash inflows,
[00:23:06] which is great. So if we go to the next slide, we get to the also good news. So what I've put here is for, so our 2026 budget is, is flat to 2025. So I want to really use that momentum that we had
[00:23:19] in 2025 to continue on that giving and to really be able to utilize as we move through, uh, 2026.
[00:23:26] And so our, our ministry teams have been excellent in terms of our, our partnership, uh, working with finance, working with others, just to understand where they are from a funding perspective. So that again we can really take advantage of those um of those those budgets and use them to the
[00:23:42] betterment of our of all of our ministry teams so then i have some some items so allow me briefly to get a little technical with you all i'll try not to be too kind of crazy but the so there are
[00:23:54] some tax law changes one specific tax law change for 2026 so when you're filing your taxes the majority of folks almost 90 percent of people now are taking the standard deduction when you're doing your taxes. That means that you do not really get to take advantage of charitable
[00:24:10] deductions. However, due to some tax law changes, if you're a single filer, it's $1,000. A family is $2,000. That is direct reduction in your taxable income for 2026 that you have not been able to use in the past if you did not take, if you did not itemize your deductions. A lot of
[00:24:30] jargon. I just want to put it in your minds that if you're, if you're somewhere in that range, you can get a dollar for dollar reduction on your taxable income that's a lot of technicalities speak
[00:24:40] to some professionals if you need to i'm happy to talk to you about it after as well but i just want to put that in your mind that there is that extra incentive and and value into giving this year and
[00:24:51] then there's so a lot of giving methods so uh individuals of a certain age you can actually take advantage of what's called charitable uh deduction uh distributions i'm sorry required Charitable Distributions.
[00:25:06] Again, if you're older and you'd like to talk to me about some of that, I'd love to talk to you about that as well.
[00:25:11] It's really a way to save on taxes.
[00:25:13] Save on taxes and to help us out as well.
[00:25:16] So it's really a help you help me.
[00:25:17] I know there's some individuals in the congregation that already take advantage of that, so I'd love to point you in the right direction.
[00:25:23] And then the last thing is giving methods.
[00:25:24] Again, put a check in the plate.
[00:25:27] Feel free to do that.
[00:25:29] There's the Church Center app, which you can give on very easily to do that.
[00:25:32] and then there's bill pay there's a lot of different methods again feel free to reach out to me anytime any questions but good news and good news for 2026 thanks man thank you garen and thank

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:25:48] you congregation uh the lord honestly after after significant struggles um in 2023 uh we've seen the lord provide in remarkable ways and so very very grateful uh for how the lord is using you to
[00:26:03] prosper his church and to extend his kingdom through bad creek church our joy is to worship the lord our god and he himself calls us to worship from psalm 86 teach me your way oh lord
[00:26:17] that i may walk in your truth unite my heart to fear your name i give thanks to you oh lord my god with my whole heart and i will glorify your name forever for great is your steadfast love
[00:26:31] toward me. You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Lord our God, it is our desperate and eager desire today to declare how great is your
[00:26:53] steadfast love toward us. And Lord, to be renewed in it today, to be reminded of it today that once we were not your children, once we were your enemies, born into opposition to you, born under
[00:27:12] the law, born to condemnation. And in your great love for us, you were not content to leave us in that state, but you came for us, Lord Jesus, and living and dying and rising again and ascending
[00:27:30] to the father's right hand and reigning over your church. You have lifted us up from the depths of Sheol. You have taken away our condemnation and our reproach. You have adopted us into your family.
[00:27:41] You have cleansed us by your blood. You have forgiven all of our sins. You have made us family, not only with you, our God, but with one another. You have poured out your spirit into our hearts
[00:27:51] so that we might worship you in a way that is acceptable to you, so that we might live for you as those empowered by you.
[00:27:58] And so, Lord, we might be witnesses to the truth and the hope of the transforming gospel.
[00:28:04] And so, Lord, because you have done all of this for us, we want to worship you.
[00:28:09] We want to adore you.
[00:28:11] We want to be transformed by our experience today with you and of you.
[00:28:16] And so, Lord, we wait expectantly and humbly for you to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
[00:28:24] We need your grace.
[00:28:26] And Lord, your promise is that you will meet us in the gathering of your people, in your name, with your grace, where we desire today to bask in your presence, to have a new and fresh sense
[00:28:50] and experience of your love.
[00:28:54] Lord, so that we might live in this world as those who belong to you.
[00:28:57] So bless the worship of your people, Lord, that your name may be exalted and that your gospel might go forth.
[00:29:04] and we pray these things in jesus name amen let's stand together and sing to the lord

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:29:09] as people said amazing grace is that it's only for sinners jesus said i have not come to call

[00:38:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:38:00] the righteous but sinners to repentance when we gather together before the lord we recognize openly and publicly that we are better than no one but we are desperately in need of the love and the amazing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and so we confess our sins and we're going to
[00:38:20] confess our sins corporately with a confession that's printed in your bulletin it'll also be on the wall behind me let's go to the Lord in confession Lord Jesus with supreme love and authority, you command us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength,
[00:38:41] to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to make disciples of all nations. We humbly confess that we have disobeyed your commands, preferring to love ourselves and to keep the hope of the gospel to ourselves please forgive and renew us the desire to an ability to love you and our
[00:39:04] neighbors with our whole selves let your holy spirit move us to share the good news with those who do not yet know you and help us live in a manner consistent with that good news all to the
[00:39:19] glory of your father amen and to all who are looking away from themselves and to christ alone for the forgiveness of sins for reconciliation with god and for eternal life hear the word of the lord from john 3 16 for god so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever
[00:39:39] believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life amen amen well now we have the privilege of installing and ordaining officers that you the congregation of back creek church have elected to serve you elders the office of spiritual care and shepherding for god's people who hold
[00:40:06] the word ministry of the congregation and deacons who are our lead servants who serve the material and physical needs of our congregation word and deed together in reflection of the ministry of Jesus Christ.
[00:40:23] And so I want to invite up our newly elected officers, Chad Bryant and Jason Strine as elders, Nick McPherson, Jordan Strong, Chad Turner, and Marcus Wilson as deacons.
[00:40:39] Jason, I'm going to ask you to come to this other side while everyone else remains over here.
[00:40:44] Sorry to single you out.
[00:40:46] The reason I asked Jason to be over here is because all of these brothers have already been set apart by the laying on of hands through what we call ordination that we find in the scriptures to their respective office. Chad has served us as an elder for many years.
[00:41:07] These brothers have served previously as deacons and Jason is newly elected as an elder. So today we're going to set him apart. And so we have, they have a lot fewer questions than he has to answer.
[00:41:18] so brothers so grateful that you discerned the lord's calling to return to service in these offices that you are willing once again at the request of your congregation and of the lord the command of the lord to take on these responsibilities once again to serve
[00:41:39] and to care for the church of the lord jesus christ so i'm going to ask you these questions to once again reinstall you into your offices for active service now i do want to say that because
[00:41:53] these men have been set apart that's once for life unless disqualified and so these brothers will never stop being elders or deacons but we do have rotating boards of elders and deacons so there will be a time where they take a sabbatical from their service and care and so
[00:42:13] these guys have been on sabbatical for varying durations of time. Marcus alone, he took an unfinished term, and so he's been serving us for the last year and is coming back on for a full
[00:42:26] term. But brothers, do you accept the office of elder Chad and deacon brothers in this congregation, and do you promise to perform faithfully all the duties of the office, and do you promise to endeavor by the grace of God to to live your life in Christian witness before the church and in the
[00:42:45] world do you you promise to submit in the spirit of love to the authority of the session and to the higher courts of the church do you do you promise in all things to promote the unity peace
[00:42:59] purity and prosperity of this church do you amen now do you the members of back creek church acknowledge and receive these fellow members as elder and deacons? And do you promise to give them all the honor, obedience, encouragement, and assistance in the spirit of love to which their
[00:43:22] office, according to the word of God and the standards of this church, entitles them? Do you?
[00:43:28] Amen. Brothers, I'm going to pray for you. Lord God, I thank you so much for Marcus and for Chad, for Jordan, for Nick, and for Chad. I thank you for their households, their families. I thank you
[00:43:41] for the work that you have done in them and for them. And I thank you for the work that you are doing through them. Thank you for the way that you are using them to bless our church in word and
[00:43:52] deed. Lord, I pray that you would truly empower them to these offices that they are re-engaging.
[00:43:58] Lord, for your glory and for the good of your people, we pray these things in the name of Jesus.
[00:44:03] Amen. Our brothers, you may be seated. Jason, I'm so grateful. You've served us for many years as a deacon and you have great deacon gifts but we believe that the lord has called you now to the
[00:44:22] office of elder to be to join with our session and giving spiritual care and word ministry to this congregation so grateful for the gifts that the lord has given you for the calling on your
[00:44:36] life and that we get to serve together in this capacity i'm going to ask you now seven questions do you believe in one God Father Son and Holy Spirit and do you confess anew the Lord Jesus
[00:44:53] Christ as your Savior and Lord and acknowledge him head over all things for the church which is his body do you do you reaffirm your belief in the Bible the scriptures the Old and New
[00:45:06] Testaments as the word of the living God the only perfect rule of faith and practice infallible in all that it teaches and inerrant in the original manuscripts to which nothing is to be added and from which nothing is to be taken at any time or upon any pretext do you do you accept
[00:45:23] the doctrines of this church contained in the westminster confession of faith and catechisms as founded on the word of god and as the expression of your own faith and do you resolve to adhere thereunto do you accept the government discipline and worship of the associate reformed presbyterian
[00:45:39] church do you accept the office of elder in this congregation and do you promise to perform faithfully all the duties of the office and do you promise to endeavor by the grace of god to
[00:45:50] live your life in christian witness before the church and in the world do you you promise to submit in the spirit of love to the authority of the session into the higher courts of the church
[00:46:00] do you you promise in all things to promote the unity peace purity and prosperity of this church do you amen now do you the congregation of bat creek church acknowledge and receive jason strine as an elder? And do you promise to give him all the honor, obedience, encouragement, and assistance
[00:46:21] in the spirit of love to which his office, according to the word of God and the standards of the church, entitles him? Do you? Amen. Well, then I would ask that everyone who is an ordained
[00:46:32] elder of Bat Creek Church, that you would come forward. Jason, I'd ask you to kneel. We're going to lay hands and set you apart for the office of elder. Let's pray together. Our gracious God,
[00:47:09] we have not been hasty in the laying on of hands. We know that this is a significant moment where you have called and equipped a brother to serve us now and to shepherd us now in this office.
[00:47:22] And so we commit and commend to you our brother Jason and we ask that you would give him all the resources that he needs to faithfully execute the office of elder in your church.
[00:47:34] Lord we thank you for all that you have done in his life. We thank you for his gifts. And we would pray by your spirit and by your grace that you would maximize them in his
[00:47:43] life, in his ministry to his family, and his ministry through his work, and in his ministry in the church.
[00:47:51] Lord, thank you so much for the gift of this brother.
[00:47:53] I pray that this office would be a gift to him as well.
[00:47:57] We look to you, Lord, as you are the one who has set him apart, which we now do symbolically by the laying on of hands, to give him all the grace that he needs, and to do so
[00:48:07] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:48:09] amen brothers please greet jason with the right hand of fellowship jason in the name of the lord jesus christ to the great king and head of the church i now declare you duly ordained and installed
[00:48:43] in the sacred office of elder amen and i want to invite one of our elders bill shaffner to come and

[00:48:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:48:54] lead us in a prayer of intercession today after a couple of weeks of snow days um brothers and sisters, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Good morning, Lord. What a blessing it is to be back
[00:49:17] in corporate worship with friends, neighbors, guests, and our church family to praise all you have done, all you do, and all you will do for us. We thank you for the beautiful snow this past week
[00:49:28] that reminds us of the blanket of forgiveness that you cover us with simply by believing, confessing, and following you. Let us boast not in our own strength or riches, but in the grace of God. How complex yet simple is the idea that you have the power and desire to forgive our sins
[00:49:46] and love us when we might not even love ourselves. As we confessed earlier, Lord, our lives are filled with idols, things that take us away from you and your mission. Forgive us, Lord, and help us to
[00:49:58] keep Jesus at the center of our lives, replacing these idols. We should look to you first, Father, when we are thankful as all good comes from you. We have many things to be thankful for each and
[00:50:09] every day, including the freedom to worship you. We also thank you for our pastors and leaders who serve you and us. May each of us challenge ourselves to fully support them with our time, our talents, and our treasures. Use us, Lord, to walk side by side, lifting them up and helping
[00:50:28] carry the burdens. Encourage us to be your hands and feet. We thank you for strong giving in 2025, Lord, providing us the opportunity to further your ministries here at Back Creek.
[00:50:39] and for our children and youth who led us in worship this morning may they be emboldened to speak your word when challenged in today's world father we bring corporate prayer requests to you as well for the several people we continue to pray for on our weekly prayer list may they feel our
[00:50:56] support for those battling cancer and those that are supporting them for the missions we support locally and worldwide and for the mission work that we do individually in our neighborhoods and for our homebound who are unable to be here in person
[00:51:10] but are with us in spirit.
[00:51:13] Father, as you fully support our needs, may we also fully support your efforts to reach the lost.
[00:51:19] Our tithes and offerings are intended not to be an obligation but a joyous return of a portion of the gifts that you have blessed each and every one of us with.
[00:51:27] Help us to be cheerful, enthusiastic givers of our time, talents, and treasures.
[00:51:32] Our worship and this prayer is for the Savior who wears our scars.
[00:51:36] Let there be an ache in our heart as we look toward the day we join you in heaven.
[00:51:41] In Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen.

[00:52:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:52:52] You may be seated.

[00:57:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:57:33] If you're a child of second grade and younger, you're welcome to stay with us for the message.
[00:57:38] But if you and your parents agree that you can be dismissed right over here through this door for kids' worship, and you'll come back as we're responding to God's word and song.
[00:57:50] We'll look forward to seeing you when you do.
[00:57:55] While they're heading out, I just want to highlight that we were supposed to start last week, that life groups are back to meeting on Sunday morning, and also we have options for life groups to meet at different times during the week or the month.
[00:58:12] And so I would encourage you, groups are a really important part of our strategy.
[00:58:16] Our value, our core value is deep connection.
[00:58:21] We believe that the gospel creates an uncommon community, that because we're united into Christ by faith, we're united to one another.
[00:58:31] And so we believe that we're to live united with one another, and that takes relationship.
[00:58:36] And so we want to connect deeply with each other.
[00:58:39] We want to build relationships with one another, and groups are the vehicle for that.
[00:58:43] We also want to be extending welcome to one another and to our neighbors.
[00:58:48] And we do that through groups as well.
[00:58:50] And so I just want to encourage you, if you're not currently a part of a life group, or if you've been attending Back Creek and you're interested in finding out more about what it might mean to be a member of Back Creek,
[00:59:02] then I actually have a group that just will meet for the next two weeks about that.
[00:59:07] But we'd love to have you be part of a life group through Back Creek.
[00:59:12] We're going to be in Genesis chapter 27.
[00:59:14] Genesis chapter 27, our series is dealing with our patriarchs Isaac and Jacob.
[00:59:21] We've spent some time in Genesis 1 through 11 several years ago, and then 12 through 25, and now we're picking back up the story of Isaac and Jacob.
[00:59:32] We're calling the series Wrestling with God because that's what we see in the lives of these patriarchs.
[00:59:38] Um, and I'll tell you that studying the stories of our fathers in the faith helps me hope in the gospel so much because the Bible does not present them to us as these perfect heroes, but it
[00:59:52] honestly shows us their human weaknesses. I see in Isaac and Jacob so much about myself that I wish was not true, but that also gives me the opportunity to see God's goodness and his grace
[01:00:07] in their stories and in my story.
[01:00:11] This sermon series is not a character tour of the Old Testament.
[01:00:15] It's not be like Isaac and Jacob.
[01:00:19] But it's also not don't be like Isaac and Jacob.
[01:00:25] Hopefully we've already seen and we'll continue to see that we are already like Isaac and Jacob.
[01:00:30] Which is exactly why we need the same God who met them in their foolishness and in their sinfulness and in their wrestling to meet us in ours and as much as we are like them we have an infinite advantage over them
[01:00:48] what they had in the form of promise we have in a person a person who is human like us in every way but at the same time is completely and fully and truly God a person who did for us what we could
[01:01:05] not do for ourselves living a completely righteous life dying a substitutionary and atoning death rising again in victory so that all who receive and rest in him can have eternal life and eternal joy with God this series is not be like Isaac and Jacob or do not be like Isaac and Jacob this
[01:01:27] series is look to Jesus. And if like me, you see yourself in this story or in this particular passage, the answer is not to do more and to try harder and to be better. It's to receive and rest
[01:01:43] in the one who is truth, the one who sets us free. And so wherever you are exposed here, like I am exposed here is exactly where Jesus means to meet you and to heal you. He knows that you're going to
[01:02:01] wrestle with him and he invites it because in the end he will subdue you with his love and his mercy and his grace. So look with me at Genesis 27. This passage is pretty famous and it's the story of how
[01:02:18] good old Jacob, instead of trusting God, wrestled with him by using deceit to manipulate outcomes.
[01:02:27] It's history's first case of identity theft. Genesis 27, we're going to look at verses 1 through 45. So if you're able, please stand in honor of God's word. When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, my son. And
[01:02:51] He answered, Here I am.
[01:02:53] He said, Behold, I am old.
[01:02:54] I do not know the day of my death.
[01:02:56] Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.
[01:03:01] And prepare for me delicious food such as I love.
[01:03:04] And bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.
[01:03:10] Now, Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau.
[01:03:14] So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, bring me game and prepare for me delicious food
[01:03:25] that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats that I may prepare from them a
[01:03:38] delicious food for your father such as he loves. And you shall bring it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies. But Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, behold, my brother
[01:03:49] Esau is a hairy man and I am a smooth man perhaps my father will feed me and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing his mother said to him let your curse
[01:04:01] be on me my son only obey my voice and go bring them to me so he went and took them and brought them to his mother and the mother and his mother prepared delicious food such as his father loved
[01:04:11] then Rebecca took the best garments of Esau her older son which were in her which were with her in the house and brought them and put them on Jacob, her younger son. And the skins of the
[01:04:23] young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. And she put the delicious food and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob. So he went into his father and
[01:04:33] said, my father. And he said, here I am. Who are you, my son? Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you have told me. Now sit up and eat of my game that your soul may
[01:04:44] bless me. But Isaac said to his son, how is it that you have found it so quickly, my son? He answered, because the Lord your God granted me success. Then Isaac said to Jacob, please come
[01:04:55] near that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not. So Jacob went near to Isaac, his father, who felt him and said, the voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands
[01:05:07] are the hands of Esau. And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands so he blessed him and he said are you really my son Esau he answered I am then he said
[01:05:19] bring it near to me that I may eat of my son's game and bless you so he brought it near to him and he ate and he brought him wine and he drank then his father Isaac said to him come near and
[01:05:29] kiss me my son so he came near and kissed him and Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said see the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed
[01:05:40] may God give you the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you be lord over your brothers and may your
[01:05:53] mother's sons bow down to you cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be everyone who blesses you as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence
[01:06:05] of Isaac his father Esau came in from his hunting he also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father he said to his father let my father arise and eat of his son's game that you may bless
[01:06:15] me his father Isaac said to him who are you he answered I am your son your firstborn Esau then Isaac trembled very violently and said who was it then that hunted game and brought it to
[01:06:30] me and I ate it all before you came and I have blessed him yes and he shall be blessed as soon as Esau heard the words of his father he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry
[01:06:42] and said to his father bless me even me also oh my father but he said your brother came deceitfully and he has taken away your blessing Esau said is he not rightly named Jacob for he has cheated me
[01:06:56] these two times he took away my birthright and behold now he has taken away my blessing and he said have you not reserved a blessing for me Isaac answered and said to Esau behold I have made him lord over you and all his brothers and I have given him to him for servants
[01:07:13] and with grain and wine I have sustained him what then can I do for you my son Esau said to his father have you but one blessing my father bless me also oh my father and Esau lifted up his voice
[01:07:27] and wept and Isaac his father answered and said to him behold away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be and away from the dew of heaven on high by your sword you shall live and
[01:07:39] you shall serve your brother but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him and Esau said to
[01:07:51] himself the days of mourning for my father are approaching then I will kill my brother Jacob but the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah so she sent and called Jacob her younger
[01:08:02] Let's thank the Lord for his word.
[01:08:33] Oh Lord, our God, thank you that your word is trustworthy and true.
[01:08:37] Thank you that it is honest, even about our forefathers, Lord, and about their need for you, just as we have great need of you.
[01:08:46] Help us now to learn what you would have us to learn, to apply it to our lives in ways that, Lord, glorify you.
[01:08:52] And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
[01:08:55] You may be seated.
[01:08:56] I really don't think we realize how often or how easily we use deceit to manipulate outcomes.
[01:09:12] We say it was traffic when we really just left later than we meant to, because we can always get one more thing done, right? We say my schedule is just crazy when really we just overcommitted
[01:09:29] and didn't prioritize. We say, I didn't see your message when we really just didn't want to respond. We say, I just didn't have time, but we scrolled Instagram or watched Netflix instead.
[01:09:46] We say, it's fine when it's really not, but control seems better than conflict.
[01:09:55] We say, I'll pray about that when we have no real intention to. In all of these scenarios, we are shading reality and we are editing the truth to get what we want for people to think
[01:10:08] better of us than is accurate and the bible tells us that the heart the human heart the seat of our emotions and will it is deceitful above all things and desperately sick and these are just small and
[01:10:27] subtle ways that that shows up. And ultimately, this is a form, this using deceit to manipulate outcomes. It's a form of wrestling with God because we're trying to slide into his role so that we can control or to determine the outcomes that we prefer. And in this account,
[01:10:45] we see Jacob using deceit to steal Esau's rightful blessing from their father Isaac.
[01:10:51] Like Esau is the firstborn.
[01:10:54] He deserves the double portion.
[01:10:56] This is how things were set up.
[01:10:58] And Jacob steals it.
[01:11:00] Now God has already said to Rebekah, the older will serve the younger.
[01:11:05] He's made a promise regarding Jacob.
[01:11:07] But Jacob and Rebekah aren't going to sit around and wait for God.
[01:11:12] That could take forever.
[01:11:14] So in their actions, and in the results of their actions, we can see that using deceit to manipulate outcomes always takes. We always think it's going to give. It always promises to give. It never does. It always takes. The first thing that
[01:11:38] we see is that using deceit to manipulate outcomes takes advantage of people. Using deceit to manipulate outcomes takes advantage of people. Verse one, when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, Rebecca heard Isaac declare his intent to bless his oldest son,
[01:12:02] the rightful recipient, and of course his favorite. And she immediately made a plan with Jacob to deceive him by taking advantage of his weakness. They made food that Esau makes.
[01:12:16] They dress Jacob in Esau's best clothes.
[01:12:20] They put the skins of young goats on him.
[01:12:24] How hairy was Esau?
[01:12:27] So that when Isaac touches him, he will feel like Esau.
[01:12:30] They try to manipulate all of his senses.
[01:12:33] And when Isaac asks who he is, Jacob speaks up and straight up lies to his blind father.
[01:12:42] They thought of everything to take advantage of Isaac's age and his blindness, except they couldn't do anything about the voice Isaac says who are you and Jacob's like it's me it's me dad Esau this is a really famous story and I think for many of us our familiarity with
[01:13:04] this story can really blunt how shocking and sordid it really is and how it exposes the ugliness of deceit in our hearts this guy is our main character in the narrative and he steps into the spotlight? How? By using his own father's weakness to deceive him and to defraud him
[01:13:25] into giving him what his dad fully intended to give to his brother, thereby stealing agency and dignity from our patriarch, Isaac, and stealing future blessing from his brother, Esau. It's gross. But using deceit to manipulate outcomes always takes advantage of people. We can use
[01:13:49] deceit to prey on weaknesses and we'll do this right we'll use people's own emotional needs to deceive them we'll use their fear of conflict hey listen uh here's the question that you have to answer but everybody else is already thinks this when not in fact everyone already thinks
[01:14:09] this is just pressure that we're using someone's fear of conflict to manipulate the outcome we can use their desire to please or just their lack of information we can give them fake facts we can
[01:14:20] use deceit to take away someone's agency by controlling their decision-making through falsehoods or half-truths. We can use deceit by telling someone who likes hearing what they want to hear what they want to hear, even if it's not or only partially true, because that will make
[01:14:40] things easier for us. Deceit takes advantage of people, especially in their weaknesses. And the outcome that we can guarantee for ourselves when we use deceit to manipulate outcomes is division. And what we see in this passage is that Jacob's taking advantage of Isaac's weaknesses
[01:15:05] completely tears this family apart. Husband and wife, brother and brother, mother and son, father and son. Using deceit to manipulate outcomes takes advantage of people. The second thing we see is that using deceit to manipulate outcomes takes the lord's name in vain using
[01:15:25] deceit to manipulate outcomes takes the lord's name in vain look at verses 18 through 20 so he went into his father and said my father and he said here i am who are you my son jacob said to
[01:15:40] his father i am esau your firstborn i have done as you told me now sit up and eat of my game that your soul may bless me but isaac said to his son how is it that you have found it so quickly my son
[01:15:51] he answered, because the Lord your God granted me success. Here we see that when Isaac questions Jacob about how Esau has already gotten the game, that Jacob invokes the name of the Lord to bolster his lie. The way we see this most explicitly today is that people will say
[01:16:18] something like, I swear to God, when they want to emphasize how what they are saying is actually true, but in fact that insistence actually tends to indicate otherwise. Jesus addresses this in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, let what you say simply be yes or no. Anything more than this
[01:16:39] comes from evil. That's actually part of a larger section where Jesus tells us that obviously swearing falsely as jacob does here is out of bounds but because god made everything swearing by anything is actually taking the lord's name in vain in matthew 5 verses 33 through 36
[01:17:01] says again you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not swear falsely but shall perform to the lord what you have sworn but i say to you do not take an oath at all either
[01:17:11] by heaven for it is the throne of god or by the earth for it is his footstool or by jerusalem for is the city of the great king and do not take an oath by your head for you cannot make one hair
[01:17:22] white or black let what you say simply be yes or no anything more than this comes from evil in the same way when we use deceit to manipulate outcomes while bearing the name christian we're taking the lord's name in vain we are invoking his name and his blessing on sin
[01:17:47] it's really important for us that we as christians carefully guard against promoting any falsehood ever because it always it is always taking the lord's name in vain and for us it's easier than it has ever been to even accidentally promote falsehoods because we
[01:18:11] like it when something agrees with our opinion or our assessment or something and it's easier than ever because all of the information that we receive every day almost always seems to come from one agenda or the other right and we're constantly assaulted by information but that
[01:18:29] information now always seems to have an agenda and so it's easy for us to get information that aligns with our agenda to not check whether or not it aligns with what the truth is and just to hit
[01:18:43] share and we need to realize that when we do that how easy that is to do that when we do that and we accidentally unintentionally share false information that we're doing so in the name
[01:18:57] of the lord and therefore taking the lord's name in vain because it's using deceit to make somebody else think something is true that's actually not true maybe it's social media but it could also be
[01:19:12] if you've ever repeated a gossip that you heard about someone else without knowing that it's true because you just don't really like them or that you've simply lied to protect yourself or others from the consequences of the truth. And I'll tell you that whatever the environment is in which we
[01:19:31] are taking the Lord's name in vain by using deceit to manipulate outcomes as Christians, the result is almost always division because the truth comes out and darkness is exposed. If we are the people who are called to do everything that we do,
[01:19:52] everything that we do in the name of the Lord, then using deceit to manipulate outcomes takes the Lord's name in vain.
[01:19:57] It takes advantage of people.
[01:19:58] It takes the Lord's name in vain.
[01:20:00] Thirdly, using deceit to manipulate outcomes takes matters into our own hands.
[01:20:06] Using deceit to manipulate outcomes takes matters into our own hands.
[01:20:10] It's so much easier to seize control than to yield control.
[01:20:17] But here's the problem.
[01:20:19] Control, for us, isn't real.
[01:20:24] It's an illusion.
[01:20:26] We have no control over anything.
[01:20:29] How does that make you feel?
[01:20:32] But it's true.
[01:20:34] The very fact that we have brain waves going on and our hearts are beating and that oxygen is coming into our lungs at this minute right now is only by the sustaining grace of our Creator God.
[01:20:47] You don't even have control over whether or not you take the next breath.
[01:20:50] it's completely and totally dependent on him and his sovereignty. And so who are you to think that you have control over anything? Jesus told us in Matthew 5 that we shouldn't swear by our heads because guess what? You can't keep a hair on your head or make it white or black,
[01:21:10] at least not without a bottle. And James also reminds us of this. We recently had a series in the book of James but James 4 13 through 16 says come now you who say today or tomorrow we
[01:21:27] will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring what is your life for you are a mist that appears for a little time
[01:21:38] and then vanishes instead you ought to say if the Lord wills we will live and do this or that as it is you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. How foolish are we? Instead of trusting
[01:21:53] the sovereign, all-powerful God of all creation who is actually in control to take matters into our own hands. This is exactly what Rebecca and Jacob tried to do. God has already promised to bless jacob that's not enough for them they think we have to do everything we possibly can
[01:22:18] including dishonoring god through deceit to manipulate the outcome to get what we want and they're successful they get it they got the blessing for jacob isaac said it and in the ancient near east once the father pronounced the blessing it was irrevocable he couldn't take it
[01:22:38] back. He couldn't give it to another son. What was said was said, and it was final. Peoples and nations would bow down to him and serve him, starting with his brother. They took matters into their own hands, and it worked, right? Kind of. Not really. See, God always keeps his promises.
[01:23:02] so somehow some way Jacob would have still at some point gotten the blessing but because they refused to trust God because Jacob and Rebecca took matters into their own hands it cost them dearly when they discover the deceit Isaac trembles violently with rage at how he had
[01:23:32] been manipulated. And Esau, his brother, Isaac's brother, I'm sorry, Jacob's brother begins plotting how he's going to kill him, taking control, promised to give, but instead it took. And that leads us to the final truth here. Using deceit to manipulate outcomes takes the blessing out of the
[01:23:54] blessing. It takes advantage of people. It takes the Lord's name in vain. It takes matters into our own hands, and it takes the blessing out of the blessing. I'm going to read verses 41 through 45
[01:24:08] once more. Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him.
[01:24:16] And Esau said to himself, the days of mourning for my father are approaching, then I will kill my brother Jacob. But the words of Esau, her older son, were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called
[01:24:25] Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. Now, therefore, rise, my son, and obey my voice. Flee to Laban, my brother in
[01:24:35] Haran, and stay with him for a while until your brother's fury turns away, until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you
[01:24:44] from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day? That last sentence is haunting. So they do the deceit. They manipulate the outcome. They get the blessing. Everything goes just like Rebecca
[01:25:00] wanted, right? And what happens? She knows she's lost her older son. He's not her favorite, but he's still her son. And she's bereaved of him as if he were dead. And not only that, he now wants to kill
[01:25:17] her younger son, her favorite. Why should she be bereft of both of them in one day? So instead of having her son with her, with the blessing, because they used deceit to manipulate the outcome, she
[01:25:28] now has to send her son away for an indeterminate amount of time that in fact turns out to be decades. And Jacob, because he uses deceit to get the blessing, reaps division and he's going to pay
[01:25:48] a substantial cost for a substantial portion of his life. Have you ever used deceit to get the thing that you wanted only to have that thing turned to dust in your hands? I told my parents
[01:26:04] that I was going with one group of friends who were approved to a place that was approved at a time that was approved.
[01:26:12] When I actually went with another group of friends that were not approved to a place that was not approved at a time that was not approved to do a non-approved activity.
[01:26:22] Only to find out when I got there that I didn't have any desire for that activity and I didn't actually like these people that I called friends and uh-oh, friends of my parents from our church were there
[01:26:37] and they saw me. So now my night where I thought I was getting away with something because I had used deceit to manipulate outcomes was nothing but dread and anxiety. No fun was had. And when I got
[01:26:57] home, I forfeited trust and the right to my car. Here's the good news. God does not bless us based on our performance. He sometimes allows us to have the consequences of our actions. That's grace
[01:27:20] too that is a severe mercy when the Lord allows us to have the consequences of our actions for using deceit for defaming his name for manipulating outcomes for taking his sovereignty and glory by trying to do things ourselves but every blessing is grace and no blessing is earned
[01:27:41] and the Lord will even use our worst and our most spectacular blunders for our good as much as deceit takes it takes advantage of people it takes the lord's name in vain it takes matters into our own hands it takes the blessing out of the blessing as much as
[01:28:01] deceit takes god gives more like we're all in this room guilty of using deceit to manipulate outcomes like you right now are if you're listening not to me but to god's word you are convicted. I am convicted of how I do this in subtle and small ways all the time. And the good
[01:28:24] news is that as much as deceit takes, God gives more. He has given everything to us in Christ, who is the ultimate fulfillment of Isaac's blessing. This message, the message of this passage is not stop lying. We should stop lying, but that's not the message of this text.
[01:28:49] The message of this text, along with the messages that come from all of the texts and all of the Bible are, look to Jesus.
[01:28:57] He is the truth that sets liars free and see that he is the blessing that is far greater than any blessing we could ever manipulate.
[01:29:09] The gospel is the great reversal of this biblical and historical account.
[01:29:18] The gospel, the good news of Jesus, is the great reversal of this. Though we are like Jacob, we are sinful schemers who want the blessing and don't deserve it, who use deceit to manipulate outcomes. Our older brother,
[01:29:37] the firstborn son, it's not Esau, it's Jesus. And he loves us and he means for us to have His blessing. He takes our unworthiness and clothes us in Himself and His righteousness. Not the skin of goats, but the perfect righteousness of Christ. And He brings us to His Father to
[01:30:03] receive what by rights is not ours. It is His, but dressed in Him. We get everything that is His, and most of all we get him deceit always promises to give and it always takes but as much as deceit
[01:30:23] takes God gives more let's pray Lord Jesus we thank you that you are the more that you are the treasure that you are everything and Lord we thank you that this blessing of Isaac pronounced on the
[01:30:42] wrong son lord that through your sovereignty and your goodness that you redeemed even this that you turned it around for the good of your people and that you lord jesus are our great fulfillment of isaac's blessing that all nations will bow down to him and serve him and we thank you that
[01:31:05] as your church we are called to god into the world and to share the good news of jesus the truth that sets people free. Lord, so that this blessing, this promise, this prophecy that all nations will bow
[01:31:19] before the offspring of Isaac, the offspring of Abraham, would come to pass. So Lord, we look to you now to help us do what we can't do, which is to take your word, which is always true and always
[01:31:36] trustworthy and always accomplishes the purposes for which you send it, and use it powerfully in our lives, for your glory and our good. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand together and respond to God's word and song.
[01:36:29] shine upon you and be gracious to you.
[01:36:32] The Lord lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace now and forevermore. And all God's people said,

[01:37:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:37:01] Amen.