Source: Melissa Wade / Melissa Wade
THIS SUNDAY SCHOOL OVERVIEW FEATURES HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LESSON EACH WEEK. BIBLICAL TRANSLATIONS WILL VARY, BUT THE MAIN RESOURCE WILL BE THE TOWNSEND PRESS SUNDAY SCHOOL COMMENTARY, 98th EDITION. THIS FEATURE IS DESIGNED TO BE OF HELP TO THOSE WHO CANNOT ATTEND THEIR LOCAL CHURCH AND/OR SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson Title: A TROUBLED BIRTH
Adult/Young Adult Topic: Sibling Rivalry
Printed Text: Genesis 25:19-34
Key Verse: Genesis 25:23 – NIV
The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
Source: Townsend Press Sunday School Commentary – 98th Edition, 2018-2019
UNIFYING LESSON PRINCIPLE:
We are often discouraged when our lives do not go smoothly but, instead, are disrupted by human conflict and struggle. How can our efforts amount to anything worthwhile when riddled with human frailty and error? Despite their selfish actions, God was present in the lives of Esau and Jacob.
CONCLUDING REFLECTION:
We wish at times for a simple world in which the good people are chosen to carry God’s blessing and the evil people are destroyed, either by God or by human agents of God’s wrath. But the witness in the faith community is predicated in part on a very realistic understanding of human nature. There are no completely good people and completely evil people. If we look at the opportunistic Jacob and the careless Esau, we find they are us. The only separation between people that we can see clearly is between those who know themselves to be in need of God’s forgiveness and those who do not. We must remember that we are all sinners saved by grace. We must also learn how to forgive and hold people accountable at the same time. It is in forgiving that wounds are allowed to heal and victim and victimized garner the strength to move on with life.
PRAYER:
O Lord, in Your tender mercies hear our plea for forgiveness for the sins of omission and commission in our lives. Help us to become the kind of people You are calling us to be. Help us not to judge others, but keep us ever mindful of our own faults and failures. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
