Cell October 2 - Rejection
Monday, October 5, 2009
Jacob has one of the most incredible stories in the entire Old Testament. Born the younger of twin brothers, the Bible tells us he came out holding the heel of his older brother, Esau. In fact, one meaning of Jacob's name is "leg-puller." This has kind of a dual meaning, as it can be taken literally, or figuratively. (A joker, a prankster.) Another meaning is "supplanter" or "one who takes the place of."
While Esau was strong and rugged, Jacob was small and fair. He preferred to spend time in the house with his mother. This led to Esau becoming the favorite of their father, Isaac. Jacob felt this rejection all his life.
Jacob was a trickster. He once tricked Esau out of his birthright for a bowl of soup. He also tricked Isaac (in Gen 27) into giving him Esau's blessing. Now Esau was mad, and threatened to kill Jacob once Isaac had died. Jacob, of course, ran away.
He met his mother's brother Laban, and fell in love with his daughter Rachel. Rachel was beautiful! Laban also had an older daughter, Leah, who was not. After having to work for seven years for Rachel's hand, Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah. Eventually, he gained the right to marry Rachel as well.
Now, Jacob himself rejected Leah, and she felt hated. Jacob was showing her the same rejection that he had received! So God stepped in - He made it so only Leah could have children at first.
Jacob went through a lot in the next few years. He tricked Laban out of some of his flock, and Laban grew angry as well. Eventually Jacob left and wanted to go back home, but found out Esau was near, with an army of 400 men! Afraid, Jacob sent his family on, while he waited for Esau, and prayed to God. Eventually, he met a strange man who wrestled with him all night. Jacob demanded a blessing from the man, who told him from this day forth, he would be called Israel, which means "one who struggles with God." That "man" was actually God's own angel!! Jacob named that place Peniel.
Jacob soon met Esau, who instead of trying to kill him, embraced his brother warmly. Jacob grew old, and became one of the fathers of the Hebrews, and of Christianity.
Posted byMichael J Mahoney at 8:44 AM 0 comments
Labels: forgiveness, jacob
Cell May 22 - Throwing Stones
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
This week, we had a special guest leader for the 10-12 cell group - Shannon.
The lesson this week was a simple one. The story comes out of our continuing study of the Gospel of John. In this case, we were reading from Chapter 8. In this story, a woman is brought before Jesus who has been caught out in a terrible sin - one for which the scriptual penalty is death by stoning.
Jesus basically says "You're right. I tell you what. Whichever of you has never sinned, you throw the first stone. " John tells us the men all felt guilty, and one by one, they left Jesus and the woman alone.
Notice that while the men walked (ran!) away in shame of their sins, the woman did not. She faced the consequences of her actions. Jesus then asked her (in paraphrase) "Where did they all go? Is there anyone left to condemn you? No? Then I won't either. Go try and do better to not sin."
God doesn't care what others say about you. He doesn't expect perfection. He only cares about your heart, and that you try to stay away from sin as hard as you can. Don't worry about others' sins - worry about your own.
Posted byMichael J Mahoney at 8:21 AM 0 comments
Labels: forgiveness, John
Cell May 8 - O Brother!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
This week we had a talk about sibling rivalry. Specifically, we talked about Joseph and the relationship he had with his brothers.
After reading about Joseph in Genesis, we were amused to find he was (in the words of the kids) a rat. A snitch. He dropped dime on his brothers when they goofed off.
His dad liked him best. A little Daddy's boy!
And apparently God liked him better, too. After all, God gave him dreams.
So Joseph's brothers did what any self-respecting older siblings would do. They slapped little Joseph around, threw him in a well, and sold him into slavery.
Years later, when Joseph was a powerful man and his brother's were in need, he had the chance to repay them. Did he? Of course not. Joseph showed his brother's love after what they had done. Does time really heal all wounds? Or does God?
What do you think?
Posted byMichael J Mahoney at 1:46 PM 0 comments
Labels: forgiveness, healing, relationships
