Service Location: the Nichols' (4501 S Kalamath St, Englewood)
Time: 10:00am
Dear Church,
On this week's episode Tim and Stephen discuss Genesis 49, where Jacob, who has been "about to die" for seventeen years, gathers his sons and reads his own last will and testament to their faces: "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days." Reuben, his might and the beginning
of his strength, is unstable and will not excel; Simeon and Levi, instruments of cruelty, will be scattered in Israel. These hard words are not a dismissal but a direction: don't grasp for the lead; get behind your brother and push, like a rugby scrum. Simeon ends up landlocked inside Judah, and Levi, the brother who would have killed you, becomes the keeper of the cities of refuge. Then comes the surprise: the scepter shall not depart from Judah. The ruling blessing goes not to Joseph the provider but to the brother who offered his own life to save Benjamin. Judah's line runs through David to Jesus, who receives all authority in heaven and on earth. Like a coach walking a team through its positions, Jacob gives every son his place: Zebulun a haven for ships, Issachar bowed under burdens yet later the men who understood the times, Dan a judge with a bite, Gad who triumphs at last, Asher with his royal dainties, Naphtali with his beautiful words, Joseph the fruitful bough whose arms were made strong by the Mighty God of Jacob, and Benjamin the ravenous wolf. Succeeding where his father Isaac failed, Jacob uses his patriarchal blessing to order his household well. The episode closes on his charge to bury him with his fathers in the cave of Machpelah. Jacob planned to die well and did, even in death holding fast to the place God has given his family. Listen to the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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Here are the details for Sunday's service:
Scripture Readings:
- Psalm: Psalm 68 (Finn)
- OT: Genesis 49 (Stephen)
- NT: Acts 1:1-11 (Micah)
- Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30 (David)
- Prayers of the People: Jenna
Songs:
- Song 1: Come, Let Us.. (73, G)
- Song 2: Psalm 56 (36, Dm)
- Song 3: Holy, Holy, Holy (81)
- Song 4: Psalm 103 (46, C)
- Song 5: Come Ye Sinners (76, Em)
- Song 6: When the Enemy (127, Em)
Looking forward to worshiping with you all on Sunday!
Blessings,
Stephen and Tim
Call: Stephen | Homily: Tim (2) | Eucharist: Tim