Christian Life Church
August 23, 2026
- Trading My Sorrows
- Abide
- Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Psalm 78:1–8ESV
Daniel 1NKJV
- Lords PrayerBefore we begin today’s sermon would you join me in praying the words our Lord taught us to pray?Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: AmenDismiss Vanguard and NavigatorsIntroductionPlease stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Genesis 35:9–15 NKJV Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.This is the Word of the Lord, Amen? You may be seatedPray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray PrayWelcome back to our series “Almost Bethel”… This is now our 6th Sermon where God is telling every believer in this church who is not ALL IN for God to ARISE AND GO TO BETHEL.God told Jacob “Go to Bethel” and he went… but he stopped just 20 miles short… living in Schechem and Succoth for about 10 years...he got so close to Bethel, but he wasn’t all the way in… instead he opted to live with, fellowship with, and do business with the people of the land, some who are known as the enemies of God.I call this time his almost Bethel time… he was living in Almost Bethel… but he wasn’t backslidden or prodigal… he was still serving God, loving God, worshiping God… He just wasn’t ALL IN… and it caused some problems… it was in Almost Bethel that his daughter ran off and ended up getting raped in Schechem… and there that his sons mascaraed all of Schechem in response… Those were some bad times in Almost Bethel...But now Jacob has moved into Bethel… and he built an Altar there… and he worshiped there… and gave sacrificially there… and he has sheltered some storms there...Man we are six sermons into this series and already I think we have had a pretty full look at what the Christian walk should and shouldn’t look like… and I am excite to say, we have two sermons left in this series… and both of them lean very heavily on the positive and encouraging aspects of living in Bethel…And today’s message is on a theme we have seen a lot in Genesis… it is on Promises… the Promises of God over our life… What do they have to do with Bethel? Well… The Promises are Better in Bethel… I want to encourage you to get into Bethel not just to Shelter the Storms… not Just to get away from the world… but because… man it’s just better in Bethel… the Promises are Better in Bethel… the promises just hit different when you are all in for Jesus...And that is what I mean here by Bethel… I mean being all in for Jesus… a life surrounded by, dictated by, lived for God’s glory… Someone tell me what Bethel means… It means the house of God… It is the place of promise, and provision, and protection, and prophecy, and presence of God… And it is the place that God is calling us to arise and get to… to live in and dwell in… ARISE AND GO TO BETHEL! Enough of Almost Bethel… Go dwell ALL THE WAY IN BETHEL… And when you do, you will learn that the promises are better in Bethel! Alright, let’s get into it with point one...The promises are closer than you think… Somebody say “Closer than I think”… CLOSER THAN YOU THINK… The Promises are closer than you think!Closer Than You ThinkGenesis 35:9–11 NKJV Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.Alright church let me do a little survey here… show of hands, how many of you have recieved a promise from God?MAN IF YOU ARE BORN AGAIN YOU BETTER BE RAISING YOUR HAND! WE HAVE ALL RECIEVED SO MANY PROMISES FROM GOD! Listen if you are someone who takes pictures of slides, you better take your camera out because I am going to rapid fire some promises of God here...Promises for all believers - 1 of 5Salvation through faith in Christ — John 3:16Forgiveness of sins when confessed — 1 John 1:9The indwelling Holy Spirit — John 14:16-17No condemnation for those in Christ — Romans 8:1Promises for all believers - 2 of 5All things working together for good — Romans 8:28Strength for every circumstance — Philippians 4:13Every need supplied according to His riches — Philippians 4:19Peace that guards your heart and mind — Philippians 4:6-7Promises for all believers - 3 of 5Rest for the weary and burdened — Matthew 11:28-29God's presence and help in trouble — Psalm 46:1Wisdom given generously when asked — James 1:5Never being left or forsaken — Hebrews 13:5Grace sufficient for every weakness — 2 Corinthians 12:9Promises for all believers - 4 of 5Answered prayer according to His will — 1 John 5:14-15Deliverance from temptation beyond what you can bear — 1 Corinthians 10:13Completion of the good work He began in you — Philippians 1:6A heavenly inheritance that cannot fade — 1 Peter 1:3-4Comfort in affliction — 2 Corinthians 1:3-4Promises for all believers - 5 of 5Victory over the world through faith — 1 John 5:4Provision for daily needs — Matthew 6:31-33A home prepared with Christ forever — John 14:2-3Resurrection and eternal glorified bodies — 1 Corinthians 15:52-53Power and gifts from the Holy Spirit — Acts 1:8 / 1 Corinthians 12:4-11//————————————————————————————————————————————-//Ok these are just some of the most basic and universal promises to believers… but this BIBLE is full of promises for you, if you are in Christ… they are right here in the breathing and living text… and when you have an all in Christian Life… when you have finally planted yourself firmly in the center of Bethel… fully in the presence and will and glory of God… then one thing that changes about your life is that you begin to live in this book… you read it, you study it, you start memorizing it… and God begins showing you more and more promises… they are closer than you think… but many of us won’t even read our Bibles to know what God is promising for us!Now, I want to point something out from what we have read about Jacob… This morning we read the Abrahamic promise, as given by God, for the 10th time! We have heard this promise, originally given to Abraham… the promise to give the land of Canaan… the promise to multiple descendents… this promises we have heard given to Abraham 6 times, Isaac twice… and now Jacob has recieved it from God twice! MAN! If the doubling means it is fixed… what does the DECTUPULING mean?But let’s talk about Jacob receiving this promise from God specifically… as we talk about the promises being closer than you think… Jacob has recieved this specific promise from God twice now… this is a BIG promise, it leads to the birth of our Savior y’all… it’s a big deal!But think about this… both times Jacob recieved this promise… where was he? He was in Bethel!Now that doesn’t mean the promise did not apply when he was not in Bethel… I mean he knew about this promise for most of his life… it’s why he fought his brother… why there was division between his mom and dad… because Dad thought the promise was for Esau but mom knew the promise was for Jacob...So he knew the promise before he went to Bethel… but it came with anxiety, and tension, and fighting, and wondering...But then Jacob has his first Bethel experience… and God Himself comes down, shows Him a vision of Angels acending and descending on a ladder… which was a vission of Christ… and God himself speaks the blessing, right there in Bethel...There was no fighting, no striving, no anxiety… no nothing… nothing but GOD! Same promise… BUT BETTER IN BETHEL...And God does not speak the promise to Him again… until he RETURNS to Bethel… all the way in Bethel… not Shechem or Suchoth… but all the way in Bethel… again God speaks the promise...When Jacob was in Padan Aram, suffering under Laban’s hard rule… I bet that promise seemed a little bit further off… When his daughter was galavanting with the enemy then being abused horridly… when his sons were commiting a masacre… I bet those promises didn’t feel that close...I bet it felt a little more far fetched… just a little more “Is it really ever going to happen?” You ever felt that way about a promise God has spoken over your life “Is the healing really going to happen? Is the provision really coming? Will I ever get free from this guilt and shame I keep torturing myself with? Am I ever going to walk in this calling… move in this way… be this thing God said I would be… is it ever going to happen?”… you ever felt that way? Just me?And I mean the promises are promises, they are still being fulfilled, he is still having lots of kids, and being blessed… but I bet it just felt a little more strained… and Promises shouldn’t feel strained y’all… that’s why we need to get to Bethel...Because I am telling you saints… the Promises are closer than you think, and they are better in Bethel… when you are surrounded by his Glory, and you are doing HIs will, and you are basking in His presence and Love… these questions, and these doubts, and these anxieties tend to fade away...Think about Jacob’s name change to Israel… it happened when Jacob was fearing for his life, scheming and planning his own way… and he end’s up wrestling with God all night, and limping away from it all… Yes the promise was there, he got the name change… but when God gave Him that new name again once Jacob was finally living in Bethel… there was no striving, no wrestling, no scheming, no fear, no lifetime hip injury… there was Just the glory of God shinging around and His voice saying clearly, victoriously “You are no longer Jacob, YOU ARE ISRAEL”.Same promise… just better in Bethel.Isaiah 55:6 NKJV Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.Call upon God while He is near… as we talked about before, you know where God was near? IN BETHEL...Church, start purging things in your life that take you away from God’s presence… and start adding things in your life that bring you closer… and watch as God reminds you of those promises He has already spoken to you once before… watch as you start trusting those promises, living in the promises, seeing the answer to those prayers and promises all around...It’s closer than you think… so many people come to me “When am I going to walk in my calling? When is this healing going to happen? When am I going to get over this thing, through this thing, past this situation...”LISTEN, IT IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK! JUST BE ALL IN FOR JESUS! Get to Bethel… the promises will sorround you and your anxieties will leave… they are closer than you think… they are right there in Bethel… just across the Jordon… just a short journey… they are closer than you think and they are better than you know...Someone say BETTER THAN I KNOW… BETTER THAN I KNOW… Listen church, something you are going to find out when you get to Bethel is that the Promises are Better than You know… because what you are holding on to rihgt now might just be a part of the promise… but when you get to Bethel, God expands it… Better in Bethel… Better than you know… that’s our final point this morning...Better Than You KnowGenesis 35:11–12 NKJV Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”I want to point something out about this promise that you might miss if you were not studying it… this is a bigger promise than was originally given to Jacob the first time he was at Bethel… here is the original…Genesis 28:13–14 NKJV And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.Let’s go through the differences one by one… it’s a bit too big to put all on one slide, so I am going to break it out point by point… First, the way God refers to Himself is different...Original Promise (Gen 28) -> I am The LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac...Reaffirmed Promise (Gen 35) -> I am God Almighty...No longer is it “I am somebody else's God...” now it is “I am El Shadai… I am God Almighty… not just your grandfathers God, not just your fathers God… I am YOUR GOD”.And by the way… this name, El Shadai, God Almighty, is not a name God uses lightly for Himself… it is a name reserved for the weightiest moments of covenant… it’s stronger covenant language, and more personal language than Jacob got before...And y’all... telling you, the promises just get a little more personal and a little more better when you are living in Bethel… your relationship just gets a little more deeper… not that Jacob was confused about who God was to him in the first place… but that small change signals a closeness with God and Jacob that we have yet to see...Next lets look at how his descendents are described…Original Promise (Gen 28) -> Descendants “as the dust of the earth… spread abroad”Reaffirmed Promise (Gen 35) -> Descendants are a “Nation of nations” and “Kings shall come from you”No longer is it just “You are going to have a lot of kids and grandkids” which in ancient culture was already a HUGE deal and a major blessing… but now the blessing is expanded.Now the blessing is “Your kids are going to be nations of nations… rulers and leaders… KINGS SHALL COME FROM YOU”...Kings like David, and Solomon, and Hezekiah… and of course King Jesus!The blessing just got better… it was good before… it was great before… but now that Jacob is living in Bethel God is like “But wait, there's more… there is more that you didn’t even know… this blessing is better than you know, Jacob!”Finally, I want you to notice that the tense God uses is different… The first promise was future tense, but the new promise, the dwelling in Bethel, not just passing through Bethel, but the “all in this is my life I live in Bethel now” promise… that promise uses present tense...Original Promise (Gen 28) -> “the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants”Reaffirmed Promise (Gen 35) -> "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”No longer is it “One day this will be your land…” no, now it is yours! It is a better promise, it is a fuller promise, it is a right now promise!If that is not Better in Bethel I don’t know what is...Hear me church… God has given you promises, God has spoken things over your life… and some of you are missing out the better parts of those promises because you refuse to be all in for Him...Sure you will still get the promises, and sure you will make it to heaven… and it’s going to be great… but the only way to walk in the fullness of the promises… the best of the promises… the right NOW of the promises… is to walk out those promises while living in Bethel.Psalm 84:11 I think really hits this point home...Psalm 84:11 NKJV For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.No good thing will He withhold… but there is a condition… it’s not “No good thing will He withhold as long as you go to church every once in a while”.It’s not “No good thing will He withhold if you pray before most of your meals”.It’s not “No good thing will He withhold if you mostly walk uprightly”...NO! SAINTS… THE PROMISE… THE BEST PROMISE… THE FULLEST PROMISE… THE ALL GOOD THINGS PROMISE IS FOR THOSE WHO WALK FULLY AND COMPLETLY UPRIGHTLY!“Well what are you saying pastor? That I have to be perfect” no I am not saying that… Jesus is saying that… in Matthew 5:48Matthew 5:48 KJV 1900 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.Perfection is not the enemy, perfection is the goal… but let me tell you something, I need God’s help to reach perfection… I need His grace, and His forgiveness, and His righteousness and sanctification...I need God’s help to walk uprightly, and the best place to find that help is in God’s House… it is in Bethel...When I dwell in Bethel… when I am with God all the time, and God is with me… and I am laser focused on His glory, and His will… can I tell you it makes it so much easier to walk uprightly, to walk righteously… it is when I try to do it on my own strength that I get into trouble… instead I ought to focus my strength on getting into and staying in Bethel… because it is there i find help walking uprightly, and when I walk uprightly God gives me all good things...It is better in Bethel Y’all…Now let me close with this final observation… and then I will pray for you… if someone want’s to come up to play please...ConclusionTurn On Children’s Class LampsGenesis 35:5–12 NKJV And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother. Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth. Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”Now I want you to notice this… The blessing did not come in Schechem, or Succoth… But it also did not come in a time of peace… this was right after Deborah died and right before Rachel dies...You see the better blessing had nothing to do with circumstance, but it had everything to do with life and heart position...The better blessing is not available when you are doing buisness in Succoth and Schechem… when you are living in Almost Bethel...There is blessing there, yes… but the better blessing is reserved for those who arise and go to Bethel...Now listen… you could be prospering, and everything could be going right in Succoth and in Schechem… your business, your finances, your family could be flourishing in Almost Bethel… AND YOU COULD STILL BE MISSING OUT ON THE BETTER BLESSING...But on the flipside… you could be living in Bethel and find yourself in between tragedy and scandal… and YET… through the deaths and the scandals… and even when NOTHING seems to be going right… yet because you are all in… because you are in Bethel, the Better Blessing comes...It is not about life circumstance… it is not about how hard you try to work… it is about where do you chose to live.Are you going to be a Christian who is ALL IN FOR JESUS… or are you happy living at 99 and a half percent in for Jesus?Let’s pray… (Pray for better blessings for all in Christians… more encouragement to get up and get to Bethel for not all in Christians… be specific and prophetic over changes that need to happen in peoples lives). Don’t forget GOSPEL!Gospel CallAaronic Blessingיאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שׁלום"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presenceye·va·re'·khe·kha' · Adonai · ve·yeesh'·me·re'·khaya·eir · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · vee·khoon·ne'·kahees·sa · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · ve·ya·seim · le·kha · sha·lom"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presence Genesis 35:9–15NKJV
Genesis 35:9–11NKJV
Isaiah 55:6NKJV
Genesis 35:11–12NKJV
Genesis 28:13–14NKJV
Genesis 28NKJV
Genesis 35NKJV
Genesis 28NKJV
Genesis 35NKJV
Psalm 84:11NKJV
Matthew 5:48NKJV
Genesis 35:5–12NKJV
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