Sermon Notes
Speaker: Pastor Dan Tackett
Date: January 26, 2025
Key Verses
Genesis 32:22-32
Go and read! It is the story of Jacob wrestling with God. After Jacob surrenders and allows God to prevail, his name gets changed to Israel.
Hebrews 10:19-23
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By His death, Jesus opened a new life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.
John 10:10
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
Exodus 15:2
“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise Him-my Father’s God, and I will exalt him!”
Notes/Thoughts
Jacob found himself in camping for the night by a river when he finds himself being attacked by a mysterious man, the fight ends with the mysterious man dislocating Jacob’s hip, disarming him
Jacob realizes that he had been wrestling with God
Jacob asks for God to bless him, as a result God changes his name to Israel
Israel: “God fights” or “God prevails”
What does this mean?
God meets us in our struggle, transformation takes place
When God steps in we are victorious and blessed
Jacob was always second place to his older brother, Esau-he struggled with feeling less than and often schemed to get the blessing he wanted so badly
With God we are NEVER second place, He has blessings stored up for us all
What does it require?
OBEDIENCE and walking according to the Word of God
We can’t just live anyway that we want, we have to come into covenant with the Lord
What is covenant?
Devoting your life to the ways of the LORD through baptism, receiving the gift of the holy spirit reading the Word (being hearers and also doers), having the fruit of the spirit, having a prayer life, etc. there are so many ways to take on God’s WILL
Once we encounter Christ, there is no need to hold onto our past, our pain, struggles, and doubt
He made things right when He died for us, making us CLEAN and BLAMELESS
Because of the sacrifice on the cross, we are heirs of the blessings that come from God
Blessings of hope, salvation, prosperity, protection, grace, mercy, favor, and SO MUCH MORE
What is God saying to me?
Live in the blessings that I have freely offered you!
Let all mistakes, sin, and failures fall by the waste side
God is saying that we are BLESSED and FORGIVEN
How can I walk this out?
Walk in faith and peace! Don’t let the enemy steal what God has given me. Don’t let him take the blessings the Lord has given me. Don’t believe his lies and schemes
I am a child of God and an heir to a great inheritance!
All I touch is blessed because of the sacrifice that the Lord paid with blood
I don’t have to wrestle anymore, I need to surrender, and let the Lord’s will prevail
