Jacob and Wrestling with God

Harris Creek

Sermons App

Jacob and Wrestling with God

BC

July 25, 2021 • Drew Greenway • Genesis 28:16, Genesis 32:22—33:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17, James 4:8, Psalm 34:18

Have you ever had an injury that caused you to walk with a limp? Experienced something in life that left a mark and changed you? As we continue our sermon series, BC, Drew Greenway teaches us about how wrestling with God gives us a new identity, intimacy, and humility as he examines the story of Jacob wrestling with God.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

-It’s through the valleys in life that we grow the most.

-If you can worry about it you can pray about it.

-Wrestling with God gives new identity.

-It was when Jacob was finally alone that he experienced God’s presence.

-We worship a God who is willing to get in the mess with us.

-If your identity is in anything other than Christ, it is an idol. You are not your enneagram number, your sin struggle, or your accomplishments.

-Wrestling with God gives intimacy.

-Jacob’s encounter with God is the closest encounter with God in the entire Old Testament.

-Have you ever felt like God was distant?

-When you face hardship, you have two choices: run to God or run away from God. That’s it.

-To gain intimacy with God you must give up control.

-Wrestling with God gives humility.

-Only in the Christian life does surrender bring victory.

-God’s economy takes worldly wisdom and flips it on its head.

-What does God want you to surrender? What is He asking you to relinquish control of?

-Are you harboring bitterness toward someone? Are you running away from God?

-God may leave you limping toward Heaven so you aren’t running toward hell.

-Our wounds remind us of our identity in Christ.

Elijah and the Gentle Whisper

August 8, 2021 • Nate Hilgenkamp • 1 Kings 19, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Psalm 34:18

Have you ever been in a situation where you are trying your absolute best but no matter what you do your efforts are in vain? Where you try your best and your best isn’t good enough? As we finish our series, BC, Nate Hilgenkamp teaches us about God’s presence in times of trouble as we study the life of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. KEY TAKEAWAYS -Oftentimes in life your greatest successes are followed by your greatest disappointments. -When life gets hard and you are tired, what do you run to? -God will give you more than you can handle. -Sometimes life is simply hard. Our trouble is not that we don’t love God and don’t have faith. It’s the reality that we currently live in a fallen world. -When God asks Elijah what he’s doing, Elijah answers about everyone else, but not himself. He focused on what everyone else isn’t doing rather than answering the Lord about what he was doing. -Our God is not simply powerful, but present. -God will be close in your discomfort. -Why do we feel closer to God in the pain? Why can we hear the whisper when life is hard but not other times? Because our lives are too busy and too loud. -We can establish disciplines of silence and solitude. Of slowing down. Disciplines of spending time with the Lord to hear Him all the time, and not just when life is hard. -God will restore your purpose. -How often are your greatest anxieties something that God has already taken care of? -You might not be getting attacked by the enemy because you are not out on mission against him…you are dwelling in a self-created cave. You are a cave dwelling Christian. -Close encounters with Jesus change everything. -You can’t have God’s power without His presence, and vice versa. He is a God of both.

Elijah and the One True God

August 1, 2021 • Scott Kedersha • Revelation 3:15–16, 1 Kings 18:16–39, Ephesians 4:29, Galatians 1:10, Matthew 6:24

Have you ever met someone who was consistent and faithful in most of their life but had an area of life that was confusing or disobedient? What about you? Where in your life are you justifying a behavior that simply doesn’t make sense? That’s sinful? As we continue our sermon series, BC, Scott Kedersha teaches us about false gods and the one true God by examining the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. KEY TAKEAWAYS -Decide who you are going to follow. -Do you act one way in some settings and another way in other settings? -God’s Word does not speak well toward those who are lukewarm in their faith toward God. -Christians who are inconsistent—who are hypocritical—are one of the greatest causes of atheism today. -A false god never delivers. -What false god are you prone to worship? The result of a college sports event? The engagement on a social media post? Your house, car, or income? What is it for you? -There is no binge apart from Jesus that will ever fill you up. -The true God always delivers. -God loves to stack the deck against Himself and then flex. -Any battle that involves God isn’t really a battle. -If the Lord is God, then follow Him.

Saul and the Dangers of Disobedience

July 18, 2021 • Jon Green • 1 Samuel 13:5–15, 1 Samuel 12:14–15, Galatians 1:10, 1 Samuel 12:20–24, Romans 6:1–2

Has there any been a time in life where you knew the rules and expectations but you broke them anyway? Where you disobeyed (no matter how small the offense)? As we continue our series, BC, Jon Green teaches us about the cost of disobedience by examining the downfall of King Saul. KEY TAKEAWAYS -Saul was the very first king of Israel. He was handsome, tall, and wealthy. He’s the type of guy everyone would want to follow. -Never fear (the) people more than God. -All 66 books of the Bible point to Jesus. The Bible is one story pointing to God’s redemption of fallen humanity through Christ. -If you were alone and enemies were coming toward you, what would you do? Would you take a shortcut and go against something you know God forbids? -The desire to be accepted and fit in is part of the human experience. However, God created us to find our acceptance in Him, not other people. -Where are you prone to find acceptance in people as opposed to God? -Never get ahead of God. -Are you numb to your sin? Today can be your day to confess and bring it into the light. -If we are in sin, we pin our sins on other people and normalize things that are against the ways of God. -Your feelings are real, but they are not always reliable. -If your feelings are the driving force behind your decisions you are going to experience hurt and disappointment in life. -There are plenty of commands throughout the Bible—both the Old and New Testament—we treat like suggestions and ignore. -Self-reliance is completely contradictory and opposed to the gospel. -Disobedience always comes at a cost. -Sin always had consequences. Always. -There is always a ripple effect to your sin. It never hurts or impacts just you. -You are only fooling yourself if you think you can get away with your sin. -God’s instructions aren’t to rob us of freedom. They are to give us discipline, which leads to freedom. -Don’t be someone who starts well and then falls. Trust Christ—every single day—and finish well as you trust in Him. MENTIONED OR RECOMMENDED RESOURCES -Suggested Scripture Study: 1 Samuel 13:5-15; 1 Samuel 12:14-15; Galatians 1:10; 1 Samuel 12:20-24; Romans 6:1-2; Romans 6:1-2 -Sermon: David and Goliath