Bible Fellowship 9th September 2020

We had a wonderful discussion based around our Bible passage in Genesis 27. In this passage Isaac promised his final blessing to his favourite son, Esau. Esau was dismissed to hunt game to be cooked and shared with his aging father, following which the final blessing would be presented.

His wife Rebekah overheard the conversation, and was determined to obtain that blessing for her favoured son, Jacob. Be under no illusion - this was Esau's proper place and gift to receive! He had been tricked out of his birthright, having sold it for a bowl of lentil stew (yuck! Rector's honest opinion). Having lost his claim to the worldly possessions of his father, this blessing would more than make up for it. However, Rebekah convinced the younger son to deceive his father - thus obtaining the blessing dishonestly.

Taking their own young goats, Rebekah prepared them in a manner that was agreeable for her husband, and dressed her son in their outer skin to fool Isaac, whose eyes were "tired of looking" - or blind from old age. In spite of his suspicions that he was being fooled, Isaac gave his final blessing to Jacob, promising him all God's provision and blessings on his life.

When Esau returned, he was furious - and promised vengeance on his brother. He begged for a blessing from his father, who told him that he would live under the shadow of his younger brother, and eventually take arms against him.

In our lives today, we are often deceptive in our dealings with each other and often with God. We promise that we will serve him, yet often renege as soon as we leave his presence and life catches up with us. We compete with each other in our service for God - yet we should be working together as a team to bring the message of love and salvation to the world.

If we say we are true in our desire to serve God, how can we neglect the environment around us? How can we show love to one, yet hate another? How can we be prepared to help some people, but not others? How do we justify putting our limitations on how we show God's love for each other?

We need to be prepared to commit our lives to God, serving him alone and living as those who wish to be impartial to all those whom God brings in to our lives!! This is a major commitment but, like Jacob, we will be blessed by God as we work and serve Him.

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AccessNI Check process

Hi folks Please see the following pages for the process of getting our AccessNI accreditation for our Sunday School and GFS leaders and helpers. You will need to print out the pages and keep a special note of the long number provided to you by email and let me know as soon as possible. We require an Enhanced check for everyone - and use the PIN number 918066 as detailed on the first page. The second page details the forms of identification you will need to provide - one from the first group, and two from the second group. The quicker we can all get the checks completed, the sooner we can get everything back to normal and put this whole process behind us for another three years! If you can photograph yourself (by smartphone or tablet) and email (revdjohnny@gmail.com) or WhatsApp (07488371680) them to me, that'd be great. I will also be available at the Parish Hall on Monday evening from 7pm to 8pm to help you with anything you would like assistance with! If you need any help at all

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Aghavea Parish Church

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