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Genesis 32:23-33
Proper 13A
Illustration The dark night of the soul is a concept made popular by a book with that title, written by St. John of the Cross in the 16th century. It means something like a sense of soul weariness, helplessness, a persistent and stubborn dismay with self, with others and with God. Although the concept is…
Genesis 32:22 – 33:12: That Face: Proper 13A
And so it has come to this. Jacob, the heel-grasper, the schemer, the wheeler and dealer, the sneak, the crook, the lie, the cheat: he’s coming home. Deception and wheedling stand on either side of the last twenty years, like bookends on Jacob’s life. He fled Canaan having deceived his old father, Isaac, and having…
Genesis 32:22-31
Proper 13A
If you are searching Hebrew Scripture for parenting advice, healthy examples of marital bliss … well, you probably shouldn’t. The Bible is not a book about functional families. The Bible, chock full of dysfunctional people, is always the story of a functional God. Jacob’s whole life has been clouded by competition with the twin brother…
Genesis 32:22-31
Proper 13A
When last we saw Jacob, he had finally won his second wife from his duplicitous uncle, Laban. In the ensuing years, Jacob has continued to work for his uncle, becoming a wealthy man because of God’s blessing on his efforts. After a total of 20 years working for Laban, Jacob is finally released from virtual…
Genesis 32:22-31
Proper 13A
God graciously meets and accepts God’s adopted sons and daughters wherever and whoever we are. But God never just leaves us where we are. That’s no less true of God’s 21st century adopted daughters and sons than it is of Jacob. The first time God meets Jacob, he’s fleeing both his homeland and his twin’s…
Business with God
Preached at Calvin Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, MI on August 27, 2006. Used with permission of the author.
The Face of God
Preached at Georgetown Christian Reformed Church, Hudsonville, MI on February 25, 2007. Used by permission of the author.
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