Adam North - July 12, 2026
The Faithfulness of God
Genesis 35-36 God sends Jacob to Bethel again, coming home. God’s instructions are similar to Exodus 19 when Israel prepare themselves in holiness to come to God’s mountain. God protects Jacob’s family from what he feared would happen in the last chapter (verse 6). God reiterates Jacob’s name change to Israel and his promises to Abraham’s family. Then Chapter 35 comes crashing down as Rachel dies giving birth to her son, who she names Ben-Oni which could be ‘son of my vigour’ or ‘son of my sorrow’. Jacob renames him Benjamin, ‘son of my right hand’. Jacob’s eldest son sleeps with his concubine! A mess! But we are reminded of God’s faithfulness in the end. We saw 12 sons of Nahor (Genesis 22), 12 princes of Ishmael (Genesis 25), and now at last 12 sons of Israel. Esau’s family tree is much lengthier and impressive! But God will work through the weaker family of Jacob to bring his kingdom to the world through his descendent Jesus. 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?
