1. Favortism

2. Eavesdropping (Rebekah listening in on Jacob talking to Esau about his first born’s blessing).

3. Covetousness

4. Jealousy

5. Envy

6. Deceit

7. Abuse of Parental Authority in their Children’s Lives (Rebekah having Jacob “obey” her in deceving his father)

8. Encouraging our children’s to sin

9. Lying

10. Holding grudges

11. Not admitting the truth later when the deceit and lying were out in the open

12. No brokenness over any of their sin

13. No confession of sin in the family from one member to another or to God.  Instead a covering up of their sin.

14. Anger – Easu so angry over his brother’s deceit, trickery and lying that he secretly planned to murder Jacob.

15. Rebekah complaining about her two daughters-in-law (Esau’s to Hittite wives).  She didn’t love them – she complained about them to the point of wanting to die.

Do you see any of these traits, lifestyles and sins in our families today?  Do you see any of these in your own family?  What is going on inside of your immediate family and extended family member’s lives lately?  Remember, Isaac’s family were believers in God.  Even believing families, Christian families, today often live out these traits, lifestyles and sins.  Let’s confess what we need to confess and repent (turn 180 degrees away from) and begin to live holy lives before our LORD, the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bruce

In the Book of I Timothy, we as a church, looked into HOW we are to Fight the Good Fight of Faith.  We are not to try to live out our faith in Jesus Christ any old way we please.  Our church went straight to the source of HOW to live out Christian faith daily as taught by the Holy Spirit to the Apostle Paul to the young pastor of the church of Ephesus, Timothy.  Not only do non-Christians struggle to live life daily but so do many Christians. I believe one reason many Christians struggle so much in their Christian faith is because we live out our faith by the way we think, by the way we feel, by our personal opinions, by our Christian denominational teachings, by what our parents taught us, by our world views and belief systems, by our daily attitudes, etc…But, to have a strong, vibrant, powerful, meaningful, fruitful faith, we need to live out our faith based only on facts of Scripture - not on our feelings.  We desperately need to know how God tells us through His Word to live out our faith, if we hope to be victorious in the Christian life!  The Book of  1 Timothy is very, very informative of HOW we can Fight the Good Fight of our Faith.  We learned HOW a Christian church is to operate in God’s Kingdom.  We learned HOW to be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ through His Word, HOW to teach and preachHis Word.  And, we learned HOW to be a good witness to others of true Christian living, live victoriously, to be filled with joy, love, kindness and patience and bear fruit that brings glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ daily!

To hear all 11 sermons on this topic, please feel free to go to our Podcasts and Pictures tab and listen for free through Sermon.net (click once on my picture) or through iTunes (click once on the iTunes icon).

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bruce

2 – Agreed upon sin (whether personal or with 1 or 2 other people) will become a “repeating sin”. v13

3 – Living in fear can lead a person to sin and sin repeatedly.

4 – Repeating a sin hurts more people and causes more consequences.

5 – A little “white lie” or “shading the truth a little” is really a lie.  To do this often is a “repeating sin”. v12

6 – When we think others are not listening to God, we tend to take matters in our own hands.  Sometimes we sin to try to help someone out. v11

7 – Lack of integrity will lead a person to sin.  Continued lack of integrity causes “repeating sin”.

8 – A person can sin against someone then pray for them and God will sometimes show mercy and heal them.  v17

9 – Lack of repentance leads to a person into a “repeating sin lifestyle”.

10 – Abraham was a prophet (v7).  Spiritual leaders, above all, should guard against a “repeating sin lifestyle”.

11 – Reflect on your “repeating sin lifestyle” often.  What sins are you repeating?  Take a moment write them down and take them to the Lord.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bruce

Many people say they cannot go to worship because they have to work.  What is interesting about that statement is that God has commanded that we never allow work to go all week long nor on the Sabbath.  God has always intended that people have time daily to worship Him regularly, have marriages, have children, work, take care of our homes, become better educated when we have the opportunity, exercise, enjoy hobbies and recreation, rest and sleep.  These are all God-ordained.  In fact, there is enough time in the day to do all the Lord commands and to do it the way it honors Him.  There is never a reason to become a workaholic.  Workaholism is a sin.  Work can always get out-of-hand if a person is not careful.  The Bible teaches from Old Testament to New Testament that worship is always to be over work – never work over worship.  See the Proper Personal Priorities below that can change you life and your worship of Jesus Christ forever:

1 – God

2 – Family (spouse OVER children)

3 – Church

4 – Career/Education

5- Exercise/Recreation

But, do you know how MOST people live out the list above?  See the Poor Personal Priorities below:

1 – Career/Education

2 – Family (and many time children are put OVER the spouse)

3 – Exercise/Recreation

4 – Church

5 – God

We choose this 2nd set of priorities but then scratch our heads and wonder why we are tired, worn-out, frustrated and broke.  Why would someone live that way?  One reason is that we “trust in provision” over “trusting the Provider of the provision”. When we have Proper Personal Priorities, we “trust in the Provider of the provision” instead of “trusting in the provision”.

Fact: Everyone has the same 24 hour day.  No matter what continent a person lives on , they have the same 24 hour day.  God holds every person accountable for how they spend their day.  Your day is yours – but not without responsibility and accountability before God.  God teaches us in Ephesians 4 to “redeem the time”.  Why?  Because time is precious. Time is a gift from God.  What we do with our time, is a clear banner to the world of what we are saying is REALLY the most important to us.  What does your priority list look like?

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bruce

Many people proceed with what they desire to do and then ask for God to bless it. The wise person will pray about what the Lord’s Will is and then proceed, following His day-by-day directions, ways and timing.

To proceed and then pray declares a person already knows what they should be saying and doing. Praying before proceeding declares a person does not know what they should be saying and doing but they trust the Lord to reveal His Ways and Words to them.

To proceed and then pray invites disaster to your plans and life. To pray and then proceed invites success to your plans and life.

To proceed and then pray will bring confusion when your plans do not seem to be working out. To pray and then proceed will bring confidence when your plans do not seem to be working out.  Why?  Because you already know what the Lord is leading you to say and do you.  You now just need to be faithful.  Your confidence in your chosen direction will grow as you pray and obey Him.

To proceed and then pray is to presume upon God. To pray and then proceed is to assume God will lead, guide, protect and provide for you.  He will lead you.

How do you proceed in life?

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bruce