Together For Good

Genesis 32:9-12, 22-30

Connecting Questions

What does it mean to return “to the land of your birthplace?” Do you want to go there?

Talk about a family relationship that is complicated. Why?

Prayer for Illumination

Let us pray, Loving God, we pause today grateful for this next breath. We are grateful for the chance to connect with others today for we all carry such hurts and hope. Open your Word to us. Open our hearts to let your word speak to us and change our lives. We pray in the name of the Jesus, Amen.

Context

Welcome to September; God is good! Our fall is a season of gathering and regathering after the summer heat, travel and different rhythm. Come explore the many opportunities to grow in faith and carry on the work of Jesus Christ at Easter. So glad you are here!

We begin a new series, Together For Good, we will explore Old Testament stories about relationship. Relationship with God and with each other. In faith, we live out of both kinds of love! God created us to be a community, to work together with God and with each other. Through the highs and lows of our forebearers in faith, we learn how to live in this way.

Sermons during worship from last Sunday can be found at easter.org/worship.

From Pastor Terry Fretheim at EntertheBible.org:

Jacob, fearing his brother’s anger, fled to live with his uncle Laban. On the way he had a dream in which he saw a ladder extending to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. Jacob married two sisters, Rachel and Leah, and also had two concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah. These four women bore him twelve sons. Jacob became wealthy while working for his uncle Laban. Eventually jealousy among Laban’s sons forced Jacob to flee back to Canaan in spite of his fear of Esau. On the way he wrestled an angel all night. In the morning the angel changed Jacob’s name to Israel and he became the father of the nation that bears his name. His sons gave their names to the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob eventually migrated to Egypt to be with his son Joseph, who had been sold there as a slave but later rose to prominence in Pharaoh’s court.

Look at the Book

Open Genesis 32. Jacob is on the run. Why?
What is his prayer in verses 10-12?
What did God ask Jacob to do?
Who is travelling with Jacob in verse 23? What would it be like to travel together like that?
What else does Jacob bring with him?
Jacob wrestles with a man in verses 24 and 25, however he has been wrestling his whole life. Google Jacob and find out what kinds of wrestling he has done that has led to this point?
What injury happens to Jacob? What does Jacob do to the “man?” When do we prefer to remain anonymous?
“Jacob” could mean: “he who acts crookedly,” and he does at times. What makes this injury and wrestling more poignant?
Read Article 3 of the Apostle’s Creed in Luther’s Small Catechism. What does God do no matter how much we wrestle with life?
What is something you wrestle with Jesus about?
What is Jacob’s request? Why?
What is the gift given?
What does Jacob name the place? Why that?
We claim we are “marked with the cross of Christ forever” in our baptisms. Like Jacob’s limp, we do not leave the font the same. What does this mean to you?
What time of day did Jacob wrestle? What time did Nicodemus come visit Jesus in John 3? Why does timing matter?
What do you want to talk about that has not been brought up yet?

Taking it Home

Who has modeled healthy and hopeful ways of human partnership for you?

Focus on your breath this week. How does breathing connect you to this passage and the very breath of God in your life?

Grow Guide | Sept 24, 2023