Sermon Summary: God’s Blessing in the Ordinary
Sermon Title: Unraveling the Tension: God’s Blessing and Our Reality
Speaker: Erica
Scripture References: Genesis 27-28
Erica began the sermon by reflecting on the hymn “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand,” connecting the imagery of a solid rock to the concept of God’s unwavering faithfulness. She acknowledged that many people feel like they are standing on sinking sand, far removed from the stability and security that God offers.
Drawing from the story of Jacob in Genesis, Erica highlighted the tension between God’s blessing and our often chaotic realities. Jacob, despite receiving a divine blessing, faced numerous challenges and uncertainties. Erica emphasized that God’s blessing is not always immediately evident in our circumstances and that it often operates beyond our perception.
The sermon delved into the true nature of God’s blessing, which is rooted in His faithfulness rather than our circumstances. Erica explained that God’s blessing is a gift that is not dependent on our outward successes or failures. She used Jacob’s experience as an example, demonstrating how God remained faithful to him even in the midst of adversity.
Erica also discussed the concept of God’s presence in ordinary places. She emphasized that God can reveal Himself to us in the most unexpected and seemingly insignificant moments. The story of Jacob’s encounter with God at a certain place serves as a powerful illustration of this truth.
The sermon concluded with a call to action, encouraging listeners to recognize God’s presence in their own “certain places.” Erica urged them to name their current situations as “Bethel,” meaning “house of God,” and to worship God in the midst of their challenges. She emphasized that God is accessible and faithful, and that His blessing is available to all who seek Him.
Key Points:

The tension between God’s blessing and our reality.
The true nature of God’s blessing: rooted in His faithfulness.
God’s presence in ordinary places.
The importance of recognizing God’s presence and worshiping Him in our circumstances.

Bible References:

Genesis 27-28
John 1:51

 
Transcript
That song reminds me of that old hymn, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand. I can only
remember the chorus. On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, all of the ground is sinking sand,
all of the ground is sinking sand. What’s the rest of the song?
Nothing less, Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not toss the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand,
all of the ground is sinking sand, all of the ground is sinking sand.
You sound really beautiful, we’re going to sing it again. On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand,
all of the ground is sinking sand, all of the ground is sinking sand.
What a great hymn. And just as I was singing that, I just felt that there are some people
this morning and that’s exactly how you feel. You feel like you’re standing on sinking sand
and this thing, this experience of standing on a solid rock just feels like something
that is a million miles away from where you find yourself right now. And I want to encourage you
with our passage this morning that actually where we find Jacob today is in a very similar situation
how you might feel this morning. Last week we explored Genesis chapter 27 and Andy if you get
chance to listen to it again please do because it was very, very clear. I went away with a word
that was going round and round in my head all last week was leaning into the sovereignty of God
and trusting. And there have been so many things that have come up in my mind this week where I’ve
just had to say Erica you need to lean into the sovereignty of God. You don’t have to understand
everything or work out how to fix everything because I’m a fixer or work out all the analysis
of it all. You just need to lean into the sovereignty of God and trust Him. And that was
what I picked up from last week. So we saw Jacob in Genesis chapter 7, the younger of these two
brothers. Remember we’ve been following the story of this quite amazing but slightly bonkers family
and quite similar to my own. We see Jacob the younger brother and with the help of his mother
Rebecca they come up with a plan to deceive the older brother Esau out of his blessing.
And at the end of the chapter 27 we see how Jacob now receives the blessing that was rightfully
meant for the older brother according to culture and tradition. He receives the blessing and instead
of it doing him good his brother is now furious with him, his brother now wants to kill him
and rather than being safe and lovely and comfortable he then has to run away.
And that’s where we find Jacob now. Rebecca is sending Jacob telling him to run away,
you need to flee for your life, you need to go to my brother Laban, find a wife, get on with your
life, you cannot stay here, it is too dangerous. And that’s where we find Jacob this morning and
we’re going to read, Heather is going to read from us Genesis chapter 28.
So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him, then he commanded him do not marry a Canaanite woman,
go at once to Padan Aaron to the house of your mother’s father Betharoth. Take a wife for
yourself there from among the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you
and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.
May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham so that you may take possession
of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.
Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way and he went to Padan Aaron to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,
the brother of Rebecca who was the mother of Jacob and Esau. Now Esau learned that Isaac had
blessed Jacob and had sent him to Padan Aaron to take a wife from there and that when he blessed
him he commanded him do not marry a Canaanite woman. And that Jacob had obeyed his father and
mother and had gone to Padan Aaron. Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women
were to his father Isaac. So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath the sister of Nebaiath
and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham in addition to the wives he already had.
Jacob left Beersheba and set out to Haman. People wanted to laugh at that point.
I could hear the little sniggle that went around the room. Carry on, sorry.
In addition to the wives he already had. Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haman.
When he reached a certain place he stopped for the night because the sun had set.
Taking one of the stones there he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream
in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth with its top reaching to heaven and the angels of
God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord and he said I am the Lord
the God your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you in your descendants the land on
which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to
the west and to the east to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through
you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go and I will bring
you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
When Jacob awoke from his sleep he thought surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of
it. He was afraid and said how awesome is this place. There is none other this is none other
than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had
placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place
Bethel though the city used to be called Luz. Then Jacob made a vow saying if God will be with
me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes
to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household then the Lord will be my God and this
stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house and of all that you give me I will give you
a tent. Jacob has just received his blessing but um I don’t know how blessed he actually
feels with the situation he finds himself in. I’m not sure that he does feel all that blessed.
He’s deceived his father, he’s angered his brother to the point of murderous rage
and now his brother mother is begging him to flee for his life. There is nothing about this
situation that would turn up on the Facebook post that would say hashtag blessed and yet he’s
received the blessing but there’s nothing about the situation that would say that he even remotely
looks like he is blessed and before we get into the scripture I want us to have a quick look at
that the tension that we need to understand between God’s blessing and our reality and often
the two don’t meet and if I were to ask you that question this morning do you feel blessed?
How many of you would have the confidence to raise your hand? Do you feel blessed this morning?
How many of you would be confident to say actually I don’t feel blessed?
Thank you Alan and Christie at the back there. Thank you very much because there were others
in the room but we all know that that’s not the Christian thing to do is to put our hands up and
say actually I don’t really feel blessed but that’s the tension that we have to live with.
We have to recognize that God’s blessing doesn’t always immediately align with our outward
circumstances and this was certainly true for Jacob this day so that Jacob had received the
blessing of God and yet almost immediately his life seems to unravel almost immediately
after receiving this amazing blessing. How many of you have felt like that here’s the blessing
of God and the next minute you wake up and suddenly everything feels chaotic and slightly
bonkers around you so he gets this amazing blessing and immediately he has to flee his home
he has to leave everything familiar behind and now his future looks nothing like certain at all
and I wonder if there was a question mark in his mind that said was it really worth it?
Was it really worth it? The tension between God’s promises and God’s blessing and our present
reality is something we all experience at times and often it feels miles apart from each other.
Our reality can be messy, our reality can be chaotic, our reality can make us feel uncertain
and afraid and yet if we belong to God if we belong to Jesus we are still blessed.
Whether you feel it or whether you don’t feel it we are still blessed and that’s the tension
that we are living with all the time. So when I was thinking about that today I wanted to think
just really briefly for a moment what is the nature of God’s blessing because the world out
there will tell you that the blessed life is the comfortable life the life where everything is
working in your favor where you have everything you need you lack nothing that’s what the world
will tell you all the photographs on Facebook are photoshopped to make it look like the perfect
relationship the perfect bunch of children the perfect life and yet we all know that under the
surface that’s not always the reality of Allah. Are you with me? So what is the true nature of
God’s blessing? The blessing Jacob received from Isaac was real and it carried divine significance.
If you look at the story of the Bible you can see the divine significance of the blessing on Isaac’s
life but the immediate consequences didn’t look anything like the blessed life that we might
expect. Instead of comfort and favor Jacob faced fear and isolation and uncertainty. I want to
cheer you up all this morning as Jonathan would say cheer up folks. God’s blessing often operates
beyond what we can see or feel in the moment. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That’s his
prerogative. Sometimes it doesn’t look blessed but I think it’s this understanding that actually I
don’t need to feel it in order for something to be true. So God’s blessing often operates beyond
what I see or feel in the moment. The other thing that we need to understand God’s blessing is is
not dependent on my circumstances. Outwardly Jacob’s life didn’t look blessed at all he was running
and yet God was still at work and you see that play out as his life goes on. God was still
orchestrating something far greater than Jacob could see at the time and when we may this morning
feel far away from blessed when life gets difficult but that doesn’t diminish the reality
that God’s blessing is still in our lives and in actual fact often God’s purposes unfold in
our struggle. That’s his prerogative. Blessed be the name of the Lord. The blessing of God
is always rooted in his faithfulness. That gives me a great sense of relief
because if it was rooted in my faithfulness then it would come and go depending on the weather in
the morning. God’s blessing is rooted in his faithfulness and Jacob sees this. The blessing
of God is anchored in God’s faithfulness regardless of what was going on around him.
So even as he fled even as he ran away even as he went away from the certainty and the familiarity
and the relationships he knew God still went with him and in Genesis 28 verse 15 you see this
incredible verse that God says over Jacob as he’s running away as his future is uncertain God says
to him I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. Yes Lord but I don’t know where
I’m going. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. Yes I know but my brother wants
to kill me. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I know but I don’t know where I’m
going. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. This is the wonderful certainty
about belonging to God and God sends Jacob on his way and says actually Jacob whatever you are
and whatever you do I am faithful to you and I want to encourage you this morning that wherever
you are and whatever you do and wherever you find yourself today God is faithful to you. Yes I know
but I’ve messed it up and I’ve made mistakes and I feel far away. God is still faithful to you.
That’s the nature of his blessing. I’m sure we’ve all experienced relationships that haven’t quite
worked out. I certainly have and times when things haven’t looked right and times when
there’s been a parting of company I’ve experienced that in my own life and yet one thing I know is
that even when I have offended God or been unfaithful to him he has stayed closer to me
than a brother. He is never far away. He is always close. He never says I’m done with you.
Fine. Always faithful and that’s where Jacob finds himself this faithfulness of God.
So I want us to look at Genesis chapter 28 10 to 11 particularly this morning. That was just
looking at the nature of God’s blessing. You’re expecting all of your life to work out all the
it won’t but one thing is certain is that God is with you and he will walk with you
and he is unfolding his plans and his purposes in your life even if you don’t feel it.
Is it warm in here? Is it me? So Jacob is running away. The story tells us that he came
to a certain place and he stops for the night and taking one of the stones there he puts it under
his head and he goes to sleep. There is nothing famous or significant about this certain place
that Jacob finds himself in. Nothing about it that says that this is a special place. It was
an ordinary unremarkable place. It was not famous or important. Jacob hadn’t arrived anywhere special
he had just arrived at a place. It was in this very ordinary unremarkable insignificant unimportant
place this certain place that God chose to reveal himself to Jacob in a powerful way.
I want to encourage you this morning that God doesn’t need special places
in order to meet with us. We don’t have to go on the pilgrimage to Lourdes
to find our savior. We don’t have to go on the pilgrimage to the latest women’s conference or
any other conference. We don’t have to go to a special significant place. We can find God
right in the middle of our place that we find ourselves right now.
It was just a place. It was ordinary insignificant unimportant and this is where God chose to reveal
himself to Jacob in a powerful way. To the woman at the well her certain place was a well.
To Zacchaeus his certain place was a tree. To the woman with the issue of blood her certain place
was a crowd. To the world God chose to reveal himself to us in a certain place
a lowly stable. I’m giving you prepared for the countdown to Christmas
when we start singing it apparently is only what 95 days or something ridiculous.
We could start singing carols now couldn’t we?
God meets us anywhere even in the most unexpected or seemingly insignificant place he can show up
in your mundane. He can show up when you’re running away when you have no faith and everything is
against you. You don’t know where to find God when you are feeling disappointed or where everything
is going on well in your world. God can meet you in your certain place. He is good at finding your
certain place and meeting with you there. God’s presence and blessing aren’t tied to the
significance of our surroundings or even the people around us. The Bible tells us that Jacob
was alone so you whether you’re in a high point in life or in an ordinary or even uncomfortable place
where you feel like you’re sleeping on a rock where your rock is a pillow God can meet us
there. I find that really exciting.
Yes, why is it reassuring?
Just to know that when you’re on your own and all the volume is turned down in the world and you
are on your own and all the songs aren’t being sung from the front to just there.
God can meet us.
So what happened that night as Jacob slept at this certain place with a rock
as his pillow and if you felt like last night’s sleep you were sleeping on a rock as a pillow
because of the thoughts that were going on in your head. He has a dream and in this dream he
isn’t a fugitive on the run and he isn’t on the receiving of a telling off, this receiving end
of a telling off. This is the incredible vision of a stairway from earth to heaven and the vision
is of angels descending up and down this stairway and the Lord is standing above it and he speaks
directly to Jacob in this dream and he’s reminding Jacob of who he is and the blessing he carries.
God made a point of reaching out to Jacob in this very low moment to remind him of the blessing that
was his. Now the stairway, it symbolizes a connection between heaven and earth.
It represents a bridge and not a divide. The way I was thinking about it, if I was running away from
something, if I was fearful for my life, if I know that I had stooped through a level of deception
and what I got had not potentially been rightfully mine or anything else, I would imagine that there
was this divide between me and God. But what God showed Jacob that day is a bridge
between the heavenly divine realm and the realm of broken mankind and dysfunctional humanity.
And the angels coming up and down on this stairway symbolizes its interaction between the spiritual
world and the human world. In other words, what God was saying to Jacob is that you’re not far
away. Heaven is closer to you than you think. There is a bridge between me and you and the
realm between heaven and earth is not thick like we imagine it to be. Actually it’s paper thin.
Isn’t that beautiful? And he’s encouraging Jacob with this and he’s saying it’s paper thin.
You have access. There is a bridge between me and you. This is the first time in Jacob’s life that
he has a revelation of God and he doesn’t have a revelation of God when all his ducks are in a row
and his life is perfect and everything is fine and God says, right, you are perfect now. Now you can
have a revelation of me. His life is broken and all his ducks aren’t in a row. In fact, one of the
ducks is a pigeon. His life is imperfect and yet that is when God chooses to show him this
incredible revelation where he says, Jacob, I am with you. There is a bridge between me and you.
And what is Jacob’s response? Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it.
I want to encourage you this morning to say God is present in all the certain places of our lives.
Even when you can’t see him, he is still there. There’s that great song that says,
even when I can’t feel it, you’re working. Even when I can’t see it, you’re working.
You never stop, you never stop working. Great song and that’s what God was confirming to Jacob
in that moment. Even when you haven’t got everything set out as you want it to be,
I am still there and it opens Jacob’s eyes. Surely the Lord is in this place.
John chapter 1 verse 51, Jesus himself says this, he says he is the ultimate connection
between God and humanity. You read the scripture in John chapter 1 verse 51,
you see almost a replica vision where Jacob sees the ladder and the angels ascending in
descender and God says I am with you. In John chapter 151, John is describing,
Jesus is describing his relationship. He says I am the angels and you will see heaven open and
the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man. In other words, he is declaring that
Jesus is the fulfillment of Jacob’s vision. Jesus is the ladder, the symbol of the connection
between heaven and earth. In Christ, that connection is fully realized. Jesus is the
bridge. He is our encounter with God. If you know Jesus this morning, there is a bridge
between you and him that has already been established and his name is Jesus. Isn’t that
beautiful? If you don’t know Jesus, you won’t understand the fullness and the joy of that or
the security of knowing that. Jacob’s ladder was a shadow. What Jacob saw in his vision was
a shadow of who Jesus actually is, the fulfillment of this connection between us and God.
What a great revelation. Early the next morning, if we go back to Genesis verse 18,
sorry, Jacob, let me start again. Verse 18, early the next morning after his encounter with God,
Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on it.
I found this really interesting actually because when you read earlier on in the passages,
I don’t know if you noticed, but there were lots of stones in that area, lots of them. And I always
try to think to myself if something is in scripture, it’s in there for a reason,
something that God wants us to see. So I was thinking about Jacob, he arrives at his certain
place and he looks around for a rock and he takes it and he lies down and he uses it as a pillow.
Do you think he used a rock as a pillow at home? No? Well, not likely. What was he likely to have
used? A blanket, a coat, a cloth, some sheepskin, something. Any of you opt for a rock as a pillow?
No. So there’s something interesting about this particular thing. There are lots and lots of
stones and for me the way I want to imagine it, and you can correct me if you think I’m wrong
at the end, but I think it’s almost symbolic of where he was at that time. He was in an
uncomfortable place. This was an uncomfortable pillow. It was in a place of vulnerability.
So there’s that kind of symbolic thing going on. It’s interesting, after he has this vision
and he sees the bridge between himself and God and suddenly heaven feels more accessible
and God feels more close, the Bible says he takes a rock. Which rock?
The same rock. Don’t you find that interesting? Because I do. I think out of all the rocks he
could have chosen to then put as a pillar and anoint with oil, why was it that he used the rock
that had been under his pillow, under his head? Why was it that one? Might think I’m wrong,
but I’d like to suggest that he took his vulnerability and he took his pain and he took
his uncertainty and he took all the stuff that was going on in his head and he’d had this encounter
with God where heaven seems really close and God is somehow accessible and he gathered this
particular stone and he took it to his certain place and he put it there and he poured oil
over the top of it as a symbol of worship. That’s what I think happened, as a symbol of worship.
The vulnerability, the pain, the insecurity, the difficult time, whatever that certain place,
he takes it all and he puts it down and he says because of what I’ve seen of you, God you are
close to me, I see that heaven is now accessible, you have made a bridge, I can now hear from you.
He creates a place, a place of worship. He takes it all and pours oil over it
as a symbol of worship and dedication. Transforms his certain place into holy ground,
into a place of worship and encounter with God. The Bible tells us that Jacob names this place
Bethel, which means house of God. From an ordinary place with no name, this certain place,
he now says I see God, this is the house of God and he takes all the mess, this is my imagination,
he takes all the mess and the negativity of the situation, he says God is here, Bethel,
how awesome is this place. Do you think that’s what he’d said the day before when he arrived
at his certain place, having run for miles thinking ah where am I going, who’s going to
look out for me, what’s going to happen? Do you think he said wow Bethel, how awesome is this place?
No, yet an encounter with God in his certain place transformed this into a place,
this is the house of God. Nothing about his situation had changed, nothing had been fixed,
nothing had been sorted, nothing had been put back the way it used to be,
but the situation hadn’t changed, but Jacob’s perspective had. That’s amazing.
I’m so challenged by this, I would love to say that at every season of my life
I’ve always approached it with the perspective God is here.
I have to be honest and admit that often the perspective I’ve adopted in situations has not
been the perspective of God is in this house. Sometimes my certain places, those times of my
life that I’ve found particularly challenging or tough, rather than God is in this place I have
named it bitterness and frustration. Any of you with me on that or is it just me in this room?
Thank you for your honesty, where I focus so much on the problem or on the lack that that has become
the center of my attention. And God was challenging me, I’ve been even thinking about it today,
to use the language of God is in this house, God is in the middle of my ducks and my pigeons,
God is right there. Sometimes I’ve named the certain places isolation and despair,
I’ve chosen not to see God, I’ve chosen to feel abandoned and isolated, believing that somehow
I’m disconnected from hope and from God. Maybe that’s how you feel this morning,
I have to admit I have done this so many times.
Bethel, God is in this house. Sometimes I’ve named my certain places, I’ve not seen God is in this
house and isn’t it wonderful, wow this is an amazing place, rather it’s been dominated by
fear and anxiety. Anybody in that or is it just me? Thank you Alan. Alan and I are on the wavelength
here Jack, thank you. Dominated by fear and anxiety, I’ve not found assurance in God’s
presence because I’ve allowed fear to take over and I’ve lost peace. And I’ve not had the
perspective that surely God is here. Sometimes I’ve named my certain place, reliance, self-reliance
and pride. Anybody else? Thank you, thank you. These two guys are laughing here. Put your hands up.
How many of us, that in the middle of what’s going on, what we rely on is our own strength
and wisdom. Yes, we all do it. Isn’t it funny how we think we’re wiser than God
or we think we have the better strategy. I do this and that’s what I’ve done. I’ve not looked
at everything that’s going on and I’ve not said actually God is in this place. I’ve actually
decided that I’d better fix it and I rely on my own strength and wisdom and the path of
self-reliance and prize causes me to miss what God is doing. And you know what happens when we
depend on self-reliance and pride? That we end up facing burnout because we have to pedal faster.
And we end up feeling disappointment because if we don’t get it right somehow,
we end up feeling like failures. God has revealed Himself to us, those of us that know Jesus.
He has revealed Himself to us. He is the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream. He is the bridge
by which we encounter God and I have encountered God in my life. I know the time and the day when
it happened. I know Jesus. So I get to choose the perspective and decide what to name the
certain places of my life. And I don’t have to wait to feel it. I can choose as Jacob did.
This certain place I’m in right now is my house of God, my Bethel.
So think about your certain place just for a moment.
Close your eyes just for a second and imagine where you’re at right now.
Identify your certain place because we’ve each got them.
For Jacob, it was a wilderness, a place of uncertainty, fear and discomfort.
Maybe for you that certain place that you are imagining in your life right now is a difficult
season. It’s a tough season. It’s a hard season. It’s a confusing season.
Maybe that’s your certain place this morning.
Maybe your certain place is that job that feels mundane. It doesn’t feel like it fits you.
You feel like a square peg in a round hole. You feel unfulfilled. Maybe that’s your certain place.
Maybe your certain place is a strange relationship.
Maybe that’s your certain place right now.
Maybe your certain place is a personal struggle. Maybe you’re feeling isolated, disappointed.
Maybe you’re not sure where God is or your faith feels dry.
The wonderful thing about Jesus is we can be honest with Him about where we are at
right now. We struggle to be honest with each other because that’s not the Christian thing
to do, but we can be honest with God. He knows your certain place.
Maybe your certain place is a health issue. Maybe you feel like you’re carrying a weight.
Maybe you’re one of the people this morning that actually your certain place is a good place
and you feel like all is well,
that you’re running a million miles trying to maintain it and control it.
Whatever that place may be, it may feel ordinary or hard or insignificant, but that doesn’t mean
God isn’t present. And just as Jacob didn’t expect God to meet him there,
we often don’t expect to encounter God in our everyday struggles.
Rather than saying, if only I wasn’t here, then I would be able to meet God.
Maybe we can turn things around like Jacob did and take that pillar that has been the stone under
our head and bring it to God as worship and say, God, this is Yours. Meet me here.
I wonder if you can be bold to say that, God, this place is Yours. Meet me here.
God, this place that I’m in, this season of life that I’m in, this job that feels mundane that I’m
in, this strained relationship that I’m in, this personal struggle or feeling of isolation that
I’m in, this health issue that I’m in. God, this place is Yours. Meet me here.
Meet me here.
And then as we choose to worship, we say, this is where I’ll meet God.
I’m not going to wait until things change. I’m going to meet God right here.
One of the biggest phrases that I hear or have heard over life is, where is God in all of this?
I’ve even said it, where is God in all of this? Rather than this is where I’ll meet God.
I wonder if you have the boldness this morning to
take hold of your certain place and say, God, this place is Yours. Meet me here.
And then have the boldness and the courage to say, God, I’m going to meet you right here.
You are in this place.
On Christ the solid rock I stand.
On other ground is sinking sand.
On other ground is sinking sand.
On Christ the solid rock I stand.
On other ground is sinking sand.
On other ground is sinking sand.
Lord, I take the rock from under my head, the symbol of my vulnerability,
the symbol of my struggle, and I take it and I pour oil on it as an action of worship,
believing that You will meet me in this place. But I’m trying, I want to change the circumstances,
and I think that if I change it, if I fix it, if I make it different, that’s when You’ll meet me.
But God, I believe Your word to us this morning is that You will meet us right where we’re at
right now. That we don’t have to change anything or be anything or say anything or fix anything
or do anything. Just come with expectant hearts and say, God, meet me here. Meet me here in this
place. Meet me here in my vulnerability. Meet me here in my frailty. Meet me here
in this, my certain place. And I give it to You as worship this morning, pouring oil on it,
knowing that You are faithful, knowing that Jesus, You are the bridge toward with my encounter with
God. Thank You that You are accessible to us and Your blessing is on our lives whether we feel it
or whether we don’t. Thank You, Jesus, that on Christ, the solid rock we stand, end of,
full stop, that’s it, bottom line. Thank You, Jesus. And Father, I want to pray for those this
morning that don’t know You, Lord Jesus, feel like they’re being buffeted from one thing to the next.
Father, I thank You that You wanting to have an encounter with anyone here that doesn’t already
know You. You want an encounter this morning. So thank You for that Holy Spirit. Thank You
for touching our hearts. Thank You for being who You are. Amen.