October 8, 2023

Family Matters – Genesis 48-50 – Rev. Justin Young

Main idea: Salvation is unexpected.

Genesis 48-50

  1. A Real Family
  2. A Royal Family

Significance

  1. Personal Hope
  2. Corporate Hope


Announcements

Congregational Meeting – Sunday, October 22 towards the end of the English worship.

  • The Chinese congregations will have their congregational meeting towards the end of the 9:00 a.m. service.
  • In addition to church-wide updates, members will vote on new deacons including Karen Tsai, Shuyuan Wu, and Zhendu Zhang.

Membership Class – Saturday, October 28 at the Chen’s.

50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend

  • Friday, November 3 at 7:30 p.m. – Join with others for a memorable game night in the sanctuary.
  • Saturday, November 4 at 2:00 p.m. – Celebrate the ordination of Pastor Rugang Li and Pastor Calvin Qin in the sanctuary.
  • Sunday, November 5 at 10:00 a.m. – Worship with all our congregations!

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This Week's Bible Reading

  • October 9 - Psalm 7, Judges 21
  • October 10 - Psalm 8, Ruth 1
  • October 11 - Psalm 9, Ruth 2
  • October 12 - Psalm 10, Ruth 3
  • October 13 - Psalm 11, Ruth 4

(Complete plan here.)

Growth Group Guide

🙏 This week's prayer tip: Have two prayer times: one at the beginning and another at the end.

A benefit of this approach is that each prayer session can have a different purpose, and thus reminds group members that prayer is more than asking God for things, it is also worship, confession, and giving thanks.

When my group has two prayer sessions, we often focus on each other’s needs at the beginning and then spend the closing session asking for God’s help in applying the Scripture we studied (source)

  1. Describe your perfect family.
  2. If you had to be one of Jacob’s children, what child would you be? Why?
  3. Write a haiku describing Jacob’s family. Be sure to capture the family’s most characteristic qualities.
  4. Read Genesis 49:8-12. How is Jesus a fulfillment of these promises? (See Phil 2:9-10, Rev 5:5, and Rev 19:14-16)
  5. Surprisingly, salvation comes through Jacob’s weak and sinful family. According to 1 Corinthians 1:27-31, why does God do this? How have you seen God use your weakness? How does this give you personal hope and hope for our church?