Weekly Sermon Reflection Questions

Everyone loves a good ending.
Genesis has a good ending, with Joseph forgiving his brothers.
How, you might wonder, was Joseph able to forgive his brothers? It’s God’s grace.

Joseph’s predicament might very well be ours – things going south despite doing what is right. But what stands out in chapters 37, 39-41 is that God was faithfully present with Joseph throughout his life.

Fullness and famine are part and parcel of our human experience. While we cannot control their occurrence, we can control how we respond to such seasons.

The sermon series on Genesis has highlighted the recurring pattern of sin and flaws, from Abraham to Joseph, a new character introduced in Gen. 37. As his father’s favourite child, 17-year-old Joseph is about to start in the school of hard knocks.

Genesis 37 recounted Jacob’s family line. Joseph, the favourite son, received Jacob’s robe and his brothers were jealous. So his brothers plotted to kill him, but they eventually sold him to Egypt.

Fear can distort how we see people and situations. Guilt, hurt and uncertainty can make us expect the worst. Like Jacob, we need to bring our fears to God, remember His promises and trust His protection.

Have you prayed for someone to change and/or tried to change someone by explaining, reasoning, encouraging and speaking truth to them? Eventually we learn that we may influence people but only God can change hearts.

After being forced to flee to Harran to escape Esau’s wrath, Jacob was in servitude to Laban, who repeatedly deceived and cheated him. But God protected Jacob and eventually took away Laban’s livestock and gave them to Jacob. This changed Laban’s attitude toward Jacob. God then instructed Jacob to return to Canaan with his wives and possessions.

READ | SERMON NOTES For Sermon Notes, please visit: https://tidings.wesleymc.org/sermon-reflection/whos-responsible-traditional/ PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Throughout the Bible, one theme persists: God is ever gracious and faithful to rescue and redeem mankind despite their continued failure to live according to the values of His Kingdom.

Blessings and families are often closely intertwined. Family is typically the place where we experience relationship, intimacy, flourishing and fruitfulness.

Genesis 24 records how God advanced His redemption plan through a journey, a well, a conversation and a marriage. Because God’s sovereignty goes before His people, we can obey Him in faith while His sanctifying grace shapes us along the journey.

Genesis 24 opens in the final season of Abraham’s life. The promise of God needed to be carried forward through Isaac, and he needed a wife who would share in the covenant story. Abraham therefore sent his trusted Servant to his homeland to seek a bride for Isaac.

Have you ever obeyed God without understanding His plans? Faith that overcomes trials in life is not faith that understands all that He is doing. Rather, faith trusts God even in unclear circumstances. In this passage in Gen. 22, Abraham shows us obedient faith in an extreme situation.

Today’s passage is the familiar story of the sacrifice of Isaac. God asked Abraham to do something that seems almost impossible to understand — sacrifice his only son.

One of the main themes of the Bible is the constant failure of man and God’s consistent grace and faithfulness towards us and creation. In the salvation plan, God blesses all the families of the earth through Abram.

Genesis 16 presents a challenging narrative because Abram and Sarai are not depicted as heroes of faith. Just one chapter earlier, in Genesis 15, Abram trusted God when shown the stars and promised countless descendants. Yet in Genesis 16, they take matters into their own hands.

Genesis teaches that God calls His people beyond comfort and security. Despite failures, faith sustained the patriarchs as God faithfully guided and provided for their journey.

READ | SERMON NOTES (For Sermon Notes, please visit: https://tidings.wesleymc.org/sermon-reflection/the-one-who-calls-traditional/ ) PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS

We all have a tendency to forget. More seriously we often forget God’s help and His faithfulness during difficult times. We remember our problems more than His promises, our failures more than His faithfulness. Memory is important in our relationships. Our shared past forges our future.

The Psalms are more than a prayer book; they give God’s people a language for worship, theology, lament, thanksgiving, and the full range of human experience. When prayer becomes difficult, the Psalms help us find our voice before God.

Psalm 139 is David’s most personal and comforting psalm. In it, David shares how he is fully known by God, relentlessly pursued by Him and how he has been purposefully made.

Anxiety is no longer a hidden struggle. According to the Institute of Mental Health, one in four young people in Singapore experiences severe anxiety. We live in a nation known for excellence and achievement, yet beneath the outward success are hearts carrying invisible burdens.

We are to tell the next generation of God’s wondrous deeds and all that God has done. A spiritual principle at work in discipleship is that we pass it on to the next generation. Wesley is a church of generations and our hope is that many more generations will be discipled in and through this church.

READ | SERMON NOTES SUMMARY l During this Sunday’s NextGen Sharing, we heard from three youths – Julien Sim (BeTween member), Ruth See (serves in both YM: Youth Ministry and CM: Children’s Ministry) and Jonah Heng (BeTween leader and member

READ | SERMON NOTES SUMMARY | “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than

Christian giving is far more than simply meeting financial needs. It is a partnership in the gospel, an investment into God’s eternal kingdom and an act of worship to Him.

In his letter to Gentile Christians who were facing prosecution, Peter encourages them to love one another “because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

Christian stewardship is often associated with money, but the Bible presents a much broader picture. Stewardship is fundamentally about discipleship; living every aspect of our lives under the lordship of Christ.