Hebrews: The true meaning of Easter/Jeff Struecker

Genesis: That’s going to leave a scar. / Jeff Struecker

Big Idea: That’s going to leave a scar.

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 32: 24-32

I. You don’t have to fight for what Jesus already offers you. 24-29

Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. Then he said to Jacob, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” “What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied. “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” he said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he answered, “Why do you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.

II. You don’t have to fear what Jesus has already conquered for you. 30-32

Jacob then named the place Peniel, “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.” The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel—limping because of his hip. That is why, still today, the Israelites don’t eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because he struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle

Next Steps:

• Believe: I need Jesus to change my heart today.
• Become: I have let fear come between me and Jesus.
• Be Sent: I want people to see that I’m a person who has been with Jesus.

Group Discussion Questions:

1. Do you have a regular habit of spending alone time with God?
2. If God wants a close relationship with people, why can’t we see his face and life?
3. If Jesus has all the power, why couldn’t win the wrestling match?
4. Do you have to wrestle with God to get his blessing?Explain your answer.
5. When was the last time that you struggled with God?
6. Does your family have an important tradition influenced by faith?
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to shape us into Christ’s likeness this week.

Genesis: Desperation makes you let go of everything else and hold on to Jesus with both hands. / Jeff Struecker

Big Idea: Desperation makes you let go of everything else and hold on to Jesus with both hands.

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 32:1-23

I. Jacob can’t change his past 1-8

Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him. When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called that place Mahanaim. Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the territory of Edom. He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’” When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—and he has four hundred men with him.” Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, herds, and camels. He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.”

II.Jacob can’t change his character 9-12

Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. Indeed, I crossed over the Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. Please rescue me from my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children. You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to be counted.’”

III.Jacob can’t change his consequences 13-23

He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams, thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys. He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, “Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds.” And he told the first one, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’ then tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.’” He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me.” So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night. During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two slave women, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.

Next Steps:

• Believe: Today, I’ve become desperate for Jesus for the first time.
• Become: I need the Holy Spirit to work on my character this week.
• Be Sent: I will walk with someone desperate this week.

Group Discussion Questions:

• Did you ever avoid the consequences for something you did wrong?
• When were you most desperate?
• Did you have anyone to walk with you in the middle of those circumstances?
• Why is desperation fertile soil to grow your faith?
• Can you change your character without external help?Explain your answer.
• Since we can’t undo our past, what’s the best way to handle our mistakes and failures?
• Pray for God to meet us in our desperation this week.

Genesis: They don’t erect statues to the critics. / Jeff Struecker

Big Idea: They don’t erect statues to the critics.

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 31: 22-55

I.You don’t have to defend yourself when you’re living for Jesus 22-30

On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. “Watch yourself!” God warned him. “Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his relatives also pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead. Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war! Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres, but you didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You have acted foolishly. I could do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Watch yourself! Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s family—but why have you stolen my gods?”

II.Turn the relationship over to Jesus 31-42

Jacob answered, “I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. If you find your gods with anyone here, he will not live! Before our relatives, point out anything that is yours and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols. So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, Leah’s tent, and the tents of the two concubines, but he found nothing. When he left Leah’s tent, he went into Rachel’s tent. Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of the camel, and sat on them. Laban searched the whole tent but found nothing. She said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols. Then Jacob became incensed and brought charges against Laban. “What is my crime?” he said to Laban. “What is my sin, that you have pursued me? You’ve searched all my possessions! Have you found anything of yours? Put it here before my relatives and yours, and let them decide between the two of us. I’ve been with you these twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams from your flock. I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or by night. There I was—the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes. For twenty years in your household I served you—fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks—and you have changed my wages ten times! If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, and he issued his verdict last night.”

III. Let God be the Judge 43-55

Then Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters; the children, my children; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne? Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I. Let it be a witness between the two of us.” So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker. Then Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound. Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed. Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed and also Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight. If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me.” Laban also said to Jacob, “Look at this mound and the marker I have set up between you and me. This mound is a witness and the marker is a witness that I will not pass beyond this mound to you, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this marker to do me harm. The God of Abraham, and the gods of Nahor—the gods of their father—will judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. So they ate a meal and spent the night on the mountain. Laban got up early in the morning, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban left to return home.

Next Steps:

• Believe: I need Jesus to change my heart today
• Become: I need the Holy Spirit to help me overcome a critical spirit.
• Be Sent: I will live out my faith for others to see (and criticize) this week.

Growth Group Questions:

1. What percentage of your speech is positive this week?What percentage was negative?

2. Would your family agree with your percentages?

3. Why does criticism from a close relationship hurt more than from a stranger?

4. Read Numbers 16:41-50.

A. Why was God angry when people criticized Moses and Aaron?

B. Would you act so quickly to spare the people who criticized you?

C. What does 14,700 dead say about how seriously God takes our critical attitude?

5. Why is it easy to give ourselves grace for the same things we criticize of others?

6. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give us words that represent the heart of Jesus toward others this week.

Genesis: What happens when we follow God’s leading and not the world around us? / Chris Poirier

Big Idea: What happens when we follow God’s leading and not the world around us?

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 31:1-21

I.Situational awareness matters 1-3

Now Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s and has built this wealth from what belonged to our father.” And Jacob saw from Laban’s face that his attitude toward him was not the same as before. The Lord said to him, “Go back to the land of your ancestors and to your family, and I will be with you.”

II.Know the facts and talk it out 4-16

Jacob had Rachel and Leah called to the field where his flocks were. He said to them, “I can see from your father’s face that his attitude toward me is not the same as before, but the God of my father has been with me. You know that with all my strength I have served your father and that he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not let him harm me. If he said, ‘The spotted sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born spotted. If he said, ‘The streaked sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born streaked. God has taken away your father’s herds and given them to me. “When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females. In that dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ And he said, ‘Look up and see: all the males that are mating with the flocks are streaked, spotted, and speckled, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you poured oil on the stone marker and made a solemn vow to me. Get up, leave this land, and return to your native land.’” Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Do we have any portion or inheritance in our father’s family? Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? For he has sold us and has certainly spent our purchase price. In fact, all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has said to you.”

III. Finish strong 17-21

So Jacob got up and put his children and wives on the camels. He took all the livestock and possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, and he drove his herds to go to the land of Canaan, to his father Isaac. When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols. And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, not telling him that he was fleeing. He fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

So What?

• Life is hard
• God is always there
• The choice to listen and act rests with us

Next Steps:

• Believe - I surrender my all to the glory of God and in faith to King Jesus.
• Become - I will seek to find where God is moving in my life and align with His movement.
• Be Sent - I will live out obedience in my actions and follow Him wherever He leads.

Growth Group Questions:

• When did your faith compel you to stand out against the crowd?
• What are some examples of situations where it can be challenging to follow God's leading instead of the world around you?
• How can you develop situational awareness to discern whether we are following God's leading or the world's?
• What are some benefits of following God's leading even when it goes against the norm?
• How can you effectively relate to others when you are following God's leading when they don’t understand or agree with you?
• What practical steps can you take to strengthen your faith and courage to step out from the crowd and follow God's leading?
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to use us to demonstrate what a life lived for Jesus looks like to the world around us.

Genesis: Healthy boundaries are gates, not fences. /Jeff Struecker

Big Idea: Healthy boundaries are gates, not fences.

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 30:25-43

I.Set boundaries around what is most important. 25-28

After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland. Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. You know how hard I have worked for you.” But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor with you, stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” Then Laban said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”

II. Boundaries hold everyone accountable. 29-36

So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your herds have fared with me. For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased. The Lord has blessed you because of me. And now, when will I also do something for my own family?” Laban asked, “What should I give you?” And Jacob said, “You don’t need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock. Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-colored sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. Such will be my wages. In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen.” “Good,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them. He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flock.

III.Givers must set boundaries because takers never do.37-43

Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches. He set the peeled branches in the troughs in front of the sheep—in the water channels where the sheep came to drink. And the sheep bred when they came to drink. The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young. Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked sheep and the completely dark sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and didn’t put them with Laban’s sheep. Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches. As for the weaklings of the flocks, he did not put out the branches. So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. And the man became very rich. He had many flocks, female and male slaves, and camels and donkeys.

Next Steps:

• Believe: I need God’s help to remove the boundary I’ve set over my soul.
• Become: I need the Holy Spirit’s help to set healthy boundaries this week.
• Be Sent: This week, I will set boundaries on my time to better serve Jesus.

Growth Group Questions:

• What is the difference between healthy and unhealthy boundaries?
• How do you identify when your boundaries are being violated?
• How can setting healthy boundaries improve your relationships with others over time?
• What are some effective ways to communicate your boundaries without making them sound like an attack?
• What does a lack of appropriate boundaries say about your self-respect?
• What are some relationship clues that demonstrate it’s time to set a healthy boundary?
• Pray and surrender every relationship to the authority of the Holy Spirit.