I like the cover of your bulletin, Isaiah 55, I think it is, yeah, 10 to 11. There's a little verse there. Is that always on your cover? Ah, that's a great verse. I could preach on that verse all day long. I'm not gonna, because we have the Patriots game and I gotta get home. But Isaiah 55, 10 and 11, and I'm gonna paraphrase. And as the rain comes down from heaven and waters the earth and provides seed for the sower, and bread for the eater. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth and will not return unto me void without accomplishing what I've sent it to do. Anytime God's word goes out, it's going to do something. That's a promise. It's a promise. Anytime you give God's word out, you give a little track, you know, with information, or you give the Gospel of John, you give it to your neighbor, you give it to the girl at the, you know, that you're going to a restaurant and eating or whatever, you go to the store, you give this information out. If they take God's word in, if they read it, you know all those envelopes you get in the mail that are self-addressed stamped envelopes, you know, from insurance companies and all that? Y'all get it, I mean, I get tons, right? I just take tracts and Gospel John, I put it in, lick it, send it back, it's free. And there's somebody working at one of these insurance companies, a little kid maybe on his college break, and he's opening these envelopes all day long, pulling out these applications for insurance or whatever. He opens up and says, what's this, a Gospel John? So during break time, he sits there and he reads this, God, words go in. And once it goes in, he promises it will accomplish something in that person's life. It's a promise. Anytime you give God's word out, it's a promise. It is gonna affect that person in some way. It's either gonna harden their heart to Christ, or it's gonna soften it. But it's gonna do something. And as Christians, we are called to give God's word out, and that's one way of doing it. And God will give you wisdom to give God's word out. because it's his word that changes people. It's not us. You can be the smartest guy, you can be an IBM guy, IT, whatever those, you know, those smart people, Harvard people, and it doesn't matter because it's God's word that changes people. Not all the wisdom and knowledge in the world will change your heart. Love that passage, Lucy. Thanks for putting it on there. Change. We all want change. It changes, gives us hope. You know, it drives us, you know, that we want hope. We want political change. And if I get this candidate or I get this one change, you know, and it's just stuck in our heads. Change. And I know it's part of us because we as humans, you know, every new year we make a new year's resolution. Oh, we're going to have change this year. And I'm going to start working out every, every week. And I'm going to start, you know, reading a book a week, or I'm going to start doing this. And there's a research that says that half of all Americans make solid commitments that they're going to change a new year's resolution, but only 8% actually have any effect at all change. It drives us. As a young child, I remember wanting change in my life. I would start off each grade, and I'd go into each class, and I'm like, this year, I'm going to be the best student. And I would start off, and I would keep up with everybody through the first quarter. And then all of a sudden, I would start falling behind. And all the other kids are continuing on. And I would sit there and say, I have no clue what the teacher is saying. And I would lose track of what the teacher's saying, and I just would fall further behind and further behind. And I remember, as a young boy, I remember this as I stand before you in third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, saying the same thing. This year, I'm going to keep up with all my schoolmates. And I never did. I kept falling behind and falling behind. And so my mom would take me to ear doctors. There's got to be something wrong with his hearing. Oh, no, it works fine. I went to eye doctors and they tried giving me glasses which were horrible and that didn't work. It didn't help me. I went to phonics. That was like a big thing back in the 60s and 70s. Remember all the phonics? I went to phonics classes and did all that stuff and that didn't help. And then I had to go to summer school. And you know what it's like for a little boy to go to summer school? It's like prison. That's worse than prison. That's hot. The windows are open. Back then we didn't have air-conditioned schools, you know. The windows are open and they're like, I hear all the kids playing outside and I'm stuck inside because I'm too dumb. I just couldn't keep up with the other kids. And I remember just dying, that I wish I could have change. And seventh grade, I finally, I gave up. I just gave up. I said, I just can't do it. I can't keep up with everyone else. And so that's when I turned to the dope, and I turned to that lifestyle. Dope came into my life when I was in seventh grade, and I just, I started partying. I just started, you know, just trying to be the clown in the class, because there was no way I could keep up, and I had given up in life. I had just given up. because everybody else was smart and I wasn't that intelligent. So now I get through high school and barely, I did not have enough credits to graduate high school, but my principal, vice principal called me to the office and she said, Walter, if you promise me that you will not get in trouble anymore, I will pass you. You don't have enough credits to graduate high school. And I'm like, okay, Mrs. McQuillan, I'll promise. I want to be a good guy, you know. And so I just kept my nose clean for the last quarter of my senior year in high school so that they would pass me. And somehow they came up with the extra grade points in order to get me. They just wanted me out of school. That's where my life was. I graduated high school and there was no way I was going towards college. That was out of the question. And so I just started working with my hands and I came to a point in life where my sister said to me, she says, you know, Walter, when you die, you're going to hell. I said, yeah, probably. I mean, all my friends will be there. And she said, yeah, but Walter, you don't understand what hell is like. It's a burning sea of sulfur. It's a horrible, horrible place. And you'll be separated from your friends. You'll be separated from God. It's dark and it's eternal. It's eternal fire. It's eternal suffering. And that's where you're going to go, unless you put your faith in Jesus Christ. And I'm like, yeah, Paula, whatever. That's whatever. You ever see that? My son showed me that. It's a cool thing, whatever. And I'm like, Paula, whatever. That's really great for you, but it's not for me. And that's great. I'm glad you found religion. I'm glad you're happy. You got your religious thing. And then a verse came to me, and this verse, I don't know if she shared it with me or I heard it on a Billy Graham TV program or whatever, but it's in 2 Corinthians 5.17, it goes like this. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is passed away. Behold, the new has come. And I'm like, really? Really, Lord? I remember pulling my GTO over to the side of the road on Route 62 on Berlin Mass. I pull my car over to the side of the road and I said, I said, God, If you're real, if what these people say about you real, I wanna know, because so far I haven't done a good job in my life. But there's two things, God. I wanna be totally straight and honest with you. If you're God and what they say about you is true and that you're all knowing and all that, then I'm gonna be honest with you because I'm not gonna pull any punches. You already know my heart anyway because that's what people are saying. So I'm gonna be honest with you. If you're God, there's two things. I wanna know who you are. So show yourself to me. And then second, a third thing, there's three things. I don't wanna give up my present lifestyle, the sex, drugs, and rock and roll of the early 60s, late 60s, early 70s. I don't wanna give that up. I'm enjoying it, it's fun. I found my niche in life, you know, and I just want that. And then the third thing, Lord, is I don't wanna preach the gospel. I don't wanna be one of those preacher people. And I can imagine God just sitting back with his arms crossed, smiling, saying, Walter, I've got plans for you. And he did. Within two weeks of that day, my whole life had changed. From that prayer of honesty and confession, my whole life had changed. I had this new desire that I just want to share Jesus with everybody. Everybody come in contact, I want to share with, I want to talk to. I was at a antique store right down the street here yesterday. Jane and I came here early and we're driving around and this cute little girl working at this antique store. Her dad owns the shop. I don't know the name of it, but it was really cool. They had all the benches out front and all the artifacts and stuff. It's a really cool place. But I invited her to church this morning. I don't see her. But, oh, I have to work. I'm like, oh, come on. Tomorrow I'm at church. I'm preaching. But, you know, I just have this new heart that God had put in me to want to share with him. I want to change. And God said, I will give you change. I had an opportunity to go to Bible college. And so in fear and trembling, you know, I packed up my wife and my little baby boy at the time, and we went off to Bible College in Jackson, Michigan. And, you know, like I said, I wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer and had no clue on studying and how to study. But God had blessed me with a fantastic wife who was very patient, very kind. When I would just say things, you know, like, Jane, how do you spell, you know, cat? She would yell from the other room and, you know, tell me how to spell cat. So in college, I found this new life that God had given me, and I studied, and I graduated with 3.4 or 3.5 average, okay, so which was very good. I had never gotten an A in my life, but here in Iowa College, I was getting A's. Why? Because God had renewed my heart. God had changed me. And God is able to change. So it wasn't until I was 50 years old that I read a book and found out that I have dyslexia. I never knew that. Nobody ever knew that. We didn't know it back in the early 60s. It didn't really start coming in until the 70s. And this was my struggle that I have with learning, was through dyslexia. But I thank the Lord for that, for finally showing me that. There was another guy in the Bible, his name was Jacob. And he too was changed. In the Old Testament, Jacob was renamed to Israel. And Israel, or Jacob, was the son of Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac is the son of Abraham. So we have Abraham, Father Abraham, and his son Isaac, the one that he offered that day on the altar, where the ram was caught in the bushes by his horn. And so his son was Isaac, and then Isaac had a son, had a couple sons. One was Jacob, the other one was Esau, and they were twins. Now Jacob comes from a highly dysfunctional family. All right, we all come from dysfunctional families. We're all dysfunctional and we all come from dysfunctional families because sin has corrupted our lives. So Jacob came from a real messed up family life, but God eventually got a hold of his heart. And the scriptures think this is so important that there's 11 chapters describing the life of Jacob, 11 in the book of Genesis that Moses dedicated. He only dedicated 10. chapters from the beginning of creation till the Tower of Babel. And then 11 chapters on the life of Jacob. So there's something in Jacob's life that would be very important for us to learn. His, again, his dad, Jacob's dad was Isaac, the son of Abraham. Isaac was a very non-confrontational guy. He was very quiet. He was gentle. Rebecca, his wife, ran the house, told everybody what to do. Isaac, we know he's not confrontational because every time he would dig a well in the Middle East and as soon as he had the well up and functioning, a neighboring tribe would come over and say, that's our well. And he'd say, oh, okay. And he would move to the next spot and he would dig another well. He was non-confrontational, he was very wealthy, coming from the line of Abraham, but we just see that in his life. In Genesis 25, 27 and 28, it says, and when the boys, Jacob and Esau, grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man living in tents. Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game, but Rebecca loved Jacob. So we see this defunctionality of the family. Dad likes the rugged, tough Esau. Why? Because he was probably more of the soft nature Isaac was. Jacob was the softer son. He was a gentle son and he stayed at home and he learned to cook and he learned to take care of the house. Rebecca loved him more than her other son. Isaac loved Esau more. I'm just giving you a picture of the family that was a bit dysfunctional here. Rebecca, it seems, was pretty strong. She showed partiality to Jacob, the non-hairy one, the weaker one. It says that Jacob spent most of his time at home. Rebecca took over his life and arranges everything for him, has her deceive his dad. And we see a couple of times where Rebecca deceives her own husband. Okay, so you see the strength of Rebecca and how she manipulates her husband and manipulates her children. And she devises plans to send off her favorite son, deceiving her husband again. So we see this dysfunctional family. And then we have Esau, who was the oldest of the twins. They were twins, Esau and Jacob. And when Esau was born, the Bible says he was very hairy. He was red, so he had this just fur, like on his arms and shoulders and neck. He's just furry. And that's what the scriptures say, and that he was red in color. He was a skillful hunter, even though he didn't have to be a hunter, because he had a very wealthy family. He could have just stayed at home and had people serve him. So we see Esau, the type of guy he was, he was for self-gratification, instant gratification type of guy. That's what he was. I just want it and I want it now. And I'm going to dictate my presence. And wherever he goes, he was one of those guys that were just, I don't want to say a man's man, because a man's man is not a good definition. He was kind of a bully type guy, is what we see in Esau. And he wants instant gratification. It says in Genesis 25 that he came home from hunting and he was hungry. And he says to Jacob, give me some of that food that you're making, because Jacob's at home cooking, and some of that stew. And then it says, and he ate and drank and rose up and went on his way, thus Esau despised his birthright. Because Jacob said, sure, I got this delicious lentil soup and I'll give you some. You know what, give me your birthright. Now the birthright was the privilege of being the firstborn. You would get double the inheritance from the father, and you would be leader of the family's clan. I mean, this is an awesome position. And yet he gave it up for a bowl of soup. So we see this instant gratification of Esau's life. That's the type of person he was. And a lot of us, unfortunately, fall into that. I need it, and I need it now. It doesn't matter if I get into debt. It doesn't matter if I hurt somebody or step on somebody or whatever. I need it. I want it now. And you come up with all excuses why you have to buy that new F-150. I just have to have it. And you put your family and financial difficulties and everything else in order to get it. That's the type of man Esau was. And Esau trades his birthright. It says in Deuteronomy 21, 15, if you want to see where, it talks about the headship of the family and the double portion of the inheritance. We're talking a lot of money. And he just gives it up. Why? Because he wants a bowl of soup. So Jacob, manipulates his brother, he's a manipulator, and he takes his birthright because Esau despised it, the Bible says. So the two brothers fought from the beginning. Even when they were in their mother's womb, they fought. They just fought. They were just two nations. It says in Genesis 25, 22 to 23, but the children struggled together within her. And she said, if this is so, why then am I this way? So she went to inquire of the Lord, and the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from your body. And one people shall be stronger than the other, and the other shall serve the younger. The older shall serve the younger. So she knew, and Isaac knew, that the twins were going to be born, and the older was gonna serve the younger. They knew that. They knew that's what was gonna happen. Because God had revealed it to them. Jacob, is a supplanter. That's what that means. The one who supersedes, the one that replaces another. That's what the name Jacob means. He tricks his brother and he gets the birthright. He deceives, with his mother's help, the father in receiving the blessings of Isaac. So then as Isaac, Isaac is ready to die, he's blind, he's very old, I think he's like 130 at the time. And he wants to take the blessings of God, which passes down through the father to the eldest son and bless Esau. But Rebecca hears of it and she says, oh, I'm gonna get the blessings on Jacob. So she covers, Jacob's smooth arms with lamb's fur and his neck with lamb's fur and deceives her husband. You know, and Jacob and Esau know this. You know, they see these things happening all their life, how Rebekah is trying to undermine her husband and tremendous disrespect. And so Isaac blesses Jacob, thinking it's Esau, because he says, come here, son. And he feels his arm and feels his neck, and he's got fur on it from a lamb. And so, oh, it must be Esau, so he puts blessings. So they stole the blessings of God on Jacob, but it was part of God's plan. This is all part of God's plan, okay? He will take bad things and turn them around for his glory, all right? It doesn't mean what they did was correct. He always, but he can work within a horrible situation. So we see now Jacob coming to a place in his life where his brother hates him. His brother says, you know, he's deceived me twice. He's manipulated me twice. He stole my blessings. And then he stole my, yeah. And he stole my inheritance and I'm gonna kill him. So you see the type of guy Esau was. I'm gonna kill, he actually says, I'm gonna kill my son, my brother. Jacob flees, his mom sets him up to go visit his cousin Laban, his in-law, uncle Laban. And as he's leaving, he's going through the wilderness, which is interesting. He's going through the wilderness. And usually when God shows up in our lives, we're going through the wilderness. When the Israel traveled in the wilderness for 40 years, it was a time of testing. It was a time of growth for that nation. When you and I go through the wilderness times, these times of dryness, these times of desert, it's when God really wants to get our attention. So sometimes you wonder why you're going through the wilderness, why you're going through difficult times in life, because this is the time that God wants to wrestle with you in something. And it's interesting, because God's word says here in Genesis 32, when then Jacob was left alone, and a man came and wrestled with him until daybreak. And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched him in the socket of his thigh, so that the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, let me go, for the dawn is breaking. But Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. So he said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. He said, your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel. for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed. So here's Jacob wrestling with God. But what's really interesting is it says, now Jacob, I love how it starts, now Jacob was left alone. this alone time, when finally Jacob is at the end of his rope, he's done all his deceiving, his mom has done all, and he's dysfunctional, and he's heading out, he's escaping, he's running away, going to his uncle's house, and the Bible says, and then when Jacob was left alone, God, this man shows up. And what we believe that to be is a Christophany. It's when Jesus Christ shows up in the Old Testament, okay? Jesus Christ showed up and wrestled with Jacob all night. And they wrestled all night until daybreak, it says. And finally, Jesus could not prevail over Jacob in the physical form for some reason. Of course he can, he's God, we all know that. But in this picture that God has given us, They were in a locked match. Jesus just simply touches his hip, takes his hip out of place. Now, I don't know if you've ever felt a bone out of place. That is painful. I mean, I get these cramps in my legs sometimes. It's like you can't even move. You can't, it hurts so bad. And here's Jacob with his leg dislocated, still refusing to let go. He says, I will not let go until you bless me. See, Jacob came to a point in life where he wrestled with God and he says, I am not gonna let go. I am not gonna move forward until you bless me. God uses this story for us today. Have you come to that point in your life where you've wrestled with God over things? Do you still wrestle with God over things? Or do you just kind of live your life lethargically as, oh, I'm a Christian. I go to church on Sunday. I try to be a witness when I go to work. I read my Bible alone and nobody sees it. Is it really something that you wanna change in your life, or you wanna see change in your life, or that you wanna wrestle with God on? And finally, when Jacob was left alone, he wrestled. And when we see the name Jacob through the Old Testament, many times when God calls Israel Jacob, it's when they're acting independently of God. It's incredible. But when we see him call them Israel, it's when they finally came to the point, because he changed his name that day, to Israel. He said, your name is no longer Jacob, the manipulator, Jacob, the deceiver, Jacob, the liar, Jacob, just fill in the blank. Now your name is one who has wrestled with God and has prevailed. And God is calling you and I to do the same thing, to wrestle with him and to prevail because God loves wrestling. He loves wrestling with you. He does, because it's what makes you strong. If you just sit around all day on your computer stool, you're not going to become strong. It's not until you get on your knees and you wrestle with God and say, I don't like this. I don't want to do this. I don't want to be a witness in the prison system. I remember wrestling with God saying, I don't want to go behind the wall. I worked all my life to stay out of that place. And now you want me to go behind and preach the gospel? Really, Lord? I don't want to do this. And so the Lord grabs a hold of my heart and I wrestled with him on that. And I have seen unbelievable, workings of the Holy Spirit behind the wall from somebody who didn't want to go in the first place. I wrestle with God. What is your name? You know, Jacob had to confess, my name is manipulator. My name is supplanter. What is your name? Is it deceiver? Is it gossip? Is it liar? Is it lazy? What is your name here today? If God were to wrestle with you, what's he gonna wrestle with you on? You know, it's not until we come to this point in life where we say, look, I'm not a helpless victim here. You know, we either react wrongly to our environment or we choose to act correctly in spite of our environment, in spite of the way we were raised. Jacob had a very dysfunctional family, yet he came to this point of realizing, you know what? It's me. I'm the problem. It's not everybody else. It's not my mom. It's not my parents. It's not my teachers. It's not some chemical imbalance. It's not my coach. It's nothing. It's me. Lord, it's me. And you just fall on your knees and you say, Lord, I am struggling in this area. It's not my wife's fault. It's not my husband's fault. It's not my kid's fault. It's me, Lord. It's when that time you come and you're left alone and you just say, Lord, I need to wrestle with you on this particular thing. Maybe you're looking for a best friend who is going to be there for you and he is going to be the one who supports you through the difficult times. Maybe it's a perfect job. If I only had that job or the financial security, then I would be happy. Maybe if we manipulate our spouses and our other people, we can get the things we want. What is your name? What is your name? Jacob did this and we find out, we know that you cannot, God will not allow this. You have to understand this. God will not allow you to find peace and joy in your life, true peace and joy in your life. He won't. He will not allow you to find it apart from him. You're only going to find it in him. It's the only way it's going to happen. He will not allow it any other way, because he's jealous. And he's not gonna allow his daughter or his son, whom he loves, you and I, he loves all of us, he loves us so much that he was willing to die for us. That he gave his son, Jesus Christ, to die that day on the cross, that painful, horrible death that he died, that was God dying on the cross for us. That's how much he loves us. And he will not allow us to live our life finding joy and satisfaction in anything apart from him. It just won't happen. You can try the sexuality and you can try the drugs. You can try the booze. You can try finding the job, the right money, everything. It's not gonna happen. You'll always be discontented, always. I promise you. Why? Because it's biblical. The old is passed away. The new has come. Jeremiah 29, 11 says, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for welfare, and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. See, God loves us so much that he desires to give us a future and a hope. And it doesn't matter how old you are. You can start fresh today. You can start new today. It doesn't matter what's happening. Next week, what I would like to talk a little bit about is, I think, unless the Lord changes it, is about the legacy that you're gonna be leaving. The legacy that you're gonna be leaving behind, this world. His love never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness, it says in Lamentations 3.22. His mercies are new every day. We start fresh every day. And don't think that what happened in the past cannot be repaired. Don't even let that cross your mind. Because Satan is going to use that. Oh, you know what happened in the past? You were sexually abused. Oh, therefore, you can't function as a person today. That's a lie from Satan. Oh, do you know what happened in the past? You did this horrible thing. So therefore, you can no longer walk as a godly man or a godly woman. That's a lie. Do you know what happened? You've been divorced. You know what happened? You had an abortion. You know what happened? You've stolen. You know what happened? You've done this. That's Satan always trying to tear you down and beat you up so that you will not be useful in the hands of God. But God promises that he can make things new and we start daily. The past is gone. There's nothing you can do about the past. It's over. And not only that, but over in Joel, he says, I will make up for you the years that the locusts, swarming locusts have eaten, the creeping locusts, the stripping locusts, the gnarling locusts. He gives all these different types of locusts that have destroyed the crops. He says, I can make up for you the years that these locusts, this great army, that they had eaten from your life. Lord can take care of those years that have been eaten away by whatever it is. And he can renew unto you. He says, and I can give you new mercies and a new heart every day. Put off your old self, which belongs to the former manner of life that is corrupt through deceitful desires and be renewed in the spirit of your minds. This is where it starts, being renewed in the spirit of the mind. If you're not in this, God's Word, you're not gonna be renewed, impossible. You can read all the self-help books all day long and talk to the nicest people, psychologists and everything else. If you're not in this, you're not gonna have a renewed mind. And as we renew our mind and we take in from this and we eat from this, we're gonna grow fat in God's Word. So what is your name today? Where are you going to get your help? It says in Psalms 121, one through eight, and I'll leave you with this. I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who has made the heaven and the earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand. That's who God is. He loves you. He cares for you. He is not mean. He is not angry. He's not an angry God sitting up there with his arms crossed. He desires the best for you. He desires to give you a renewed heart. He desires for you to start new today. Today, don't worry about the past, don't worry about the future. The future has enough worries of its own, the scriptures say. The past is not a thing you can do about it. He can renew you and he can take care of you because he promises, I will take care of you. The years that the locusts have eaten, I can restore to you those years. I don't know how, he does it. He's God, he can do it. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this time. Thank you for the opportunity to open up your word this morning, and it is my prayer. Lord, you know my heart, that if there's anyone here today that doesn't know you, that they would just say, Lord, I wanna know who you are, and I wanna wrestle with you. I want to just give you my life. And Lord, work it in my life, and touch me, and help me to come to know you in a real way. And Lord, I know there's other folks here that are struggling with things in the past. Lord, saying, it's me, and to be able to buckle their knees before you and to say, Lord, bring healing, the years of the locusts have eaten, and help me be the light that you want me to be here in this area of the country, in a testimony. Lord, it is our prayer as we go to communion that we'll remember the reason why we have communion. We love you, Lord, and we thank you for sending your son Jesus into this world.