Westminster Calvary Chapel Pastor Jeff Cramer

Psalm 46 has been a go-to Psalm for me because God has used it over-and-over in my life! Specifically v.10. There’s some questions about who wrote this Psalm. Some say it came from David & his battles in 2 Samuel. Others attach the setting to King Hezekiah and God’s intervention against Sennacherib. No matter who wrote it, we have a special Psalm of help that God has preserved for us in His word.

Tonight we conclude the final three-chapters in Genesis by looking at the truths woven into these chapters. When we live out biblical truths, church doctrines should impact our nations values. When we neglect or reject the truths of God, each person conducts their lives with a subjective right & wrong. As followers of Jesus we’re to instill faith into our children. Genesis closes with the death of two key patriarchs. The father of the 12-tribes, Jacob, and Joseph who carried the promises of God forward.

In these verses the Holy Spirit was forbidding Paul and the team to preach the word. This is an important topic to discuss with growing believers because we need to recognize the value of open & closed doors. Think about your life and discover where God is leading you. Look around and see where God is forbidding you. 
When we try to push through a closed door, it results in frustration, irritation, & unexplained problems. The ministry team was staying flexible between the open and closed doors! This is a great example of directed service here where God was leading the way and showing them where to go & what to do.

Jacob’s family (Israel) is on the move & headed to Egypt. This first chapter communicates to us the family-line of Israel which came out of Jacob and thru his four wives. Chapters 29, 30, 35, and 46 explain these details. Jacob is a man who wrestled with fear most of his adult life and is on the move again at 130-years old. Now, he’s is forced to leave home again because of the devastation of the ongoing famine. He’s to remember that God is with him!

As we come in Acts 15 Paul & Barnabas had returned to Antioch of Syria from their first missionary trip with excitement & celebration of what God had done. The Church was onboard and things were looking good, but then a crack in the unity erupted. A group of people, some pharisees, wanted to manage the work of God by placing rules around the moving of God’s Spirit. While there’s much to learn in the book of Acts, 85% of this chapter is spent on dealing with the cracks of unity and then another 10% on division between Paul & Barnabas. We read about two major arguments in this chapter; first about God’s grace & second about God’s goals.

The story line is tapering down in Genesis, but healing is still needed in the family among the Patriarchs before the next sequence of history surfaces. Famine is happening, Josephs brothers come to Egypt for food & return home. But Simeon is held in prison until the youngest brother Benjamin is brought back. Their father, Jacob, still back at home is mad at his sons.