Fearghal Kelly - May 31, 2026
Love for the unloved
Jacob tricked his father Isaac. Now Jacob’s tricked by Laban. Jacob sought a wife because he must keep the covenant family distinct. Jacob takes initiative here and works 7 years to marry Rachel. But just like we saw the younger brother Jacob deceive his father, making him think he was blessing the older brother Esau, now we see Laban deceiving Jacob by giving him the oldest sister Leah when he thought he was marrying the youngest sister Rachel. So he works another 7 years for Rachel. Disregarding God’s design for marriage leads to disaster. Leah’s sons’ names reflect her sadness. Reuben sounds like “has seen my affliction”; Simeon like “has heard”; Levi like “attached to” etc. Their names will echo her loneliness. Yet it’s Leah’s family line that brings Jesus to the world in tribe of Judah. 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?
