Dan Knapp - May 3, 2026
God's unlikely choices
Genesis 25 After Ishmael and Isaac bury their father Abraham in the same place as Sarah, God blesses Isaac. Abraham’s six sons with his second wife leave (they’ll be back – Isaiah 60:1-6!). Ishmael fathers twelve princes as promised in Genesis 17:20. Nahor had 12 sons. What is going on? When will Isaac, the promised one, flourish? We find out that Rebekah is childless and they waited 20 years (verses 20 and 26) until they had twins. Yet Isaac shows more trust in God than his parents did. He prays. Rebekah prays too. In response they’re promised the younger and weaker son, Jacob, surprisingly will continue their promised line while the eldest, Esau, becomes like an outsider (like Cain, Nimrod, and Ishmael). It becomes more surprising. We see Isaac’s superficiality and Rebekah’s favouritism shows itself in the rivalry between impulsive Esau and deceitful Jacob. How will God bless the world through this family? For more about Christ Central Church Portsmouth visit: https://christcentral.church Or via socials: www.facebook.com/christcentral.ch www.instagram.com/christcentralchurchportsmouth To connect with us email: hello@christcentral.church or give us your details at https://www.christcentral.church
From Series: "Genesis - God's people in God's plan"
The Bible has clear instructions in parts, but most of it is story. Stories of people messing up. Stories of people discovering God’s grace. Stories we can learn wisdom from. The middle bit of Genesis tells the story of three generations who discover what it means to be God’s people in God’s plan for his world. And they don’t always get it right. Their stories include: marriage problems, death and grief, parenting struggles, choosing a spouse, sexual immorality, deception, reproductive ethics, unjust employers, relationships that distort God’s design, the strength of friendship, birth, infertility, abuse, betrayal, forgiveness, aging, value of life from womb to tomb, loneliness, racism, politics, war, buying land, wealth management, and learning wisdom from all the ambiguity of ordinary life trying to trust God in a fallen world. We face many issues in life where we have to ask: What does it mean to be God’s people in this? What’s God’s plan for it?
