Father’s Day Sermon: Imperfect Dads, God’s Bigger Story (Jacob & Joseph)

In a Father’s Day sermon at Clarksville Highway, Greg thanks the church for “Donuts with Dad,” appreciates hearing children during worship, and reflects on the difficulty of preaching on Mother’s and Father’s Day because of mixed emotions. Using a favorite hat’s memories and a ChatGPT-generated image of Jacob, Joseph, and his brothers, he turns to the Genesis story and the pattern of imperfect fatherhood in Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and even Joseph. He highlights Jacob’s favoritism, Joseph’s bad report, and Joseph’s dreams, noting Jacob “kept the matter in mind” despite not understanding God’s plan. The sermon urges fathers not to “wallow in mistakes,” emphasizes that God works through brokenness and uses imperfect families, and calls everyone to pursue God, find Jesus before trying to fix themselves, and return to the Father like a prodigal.

Called Back to Bethel: Leaving Compromise, Embracing a New Identity

Greg reflects on how believers can drift into compromise and how God, as He did with Jacob in Genesis 35, calls His people back to “Bethel,” a spiritually significant place of renewal. He describes personal “spiritual markers” (baptism, marriage, moments of God’s presence, hospital prayers) and parallels them to Jacob returning to Bethel to put away foreign gods, purify himself, and change garments—images connected to repentance, baptism, and being “clothed with Christ.” He emphasizes God’s protection over fear and force, and highlights Jacob’s renewed name “Israel” as a reminder that God fights for him and reaffirms His covenant promises. The message closes by urging listeners to consider their spiritual direction, identity, and God’s persistent call to come back home.

Jostling at Jabbok (Genesis 32): Alone, Struggle, and Transformation

In this episode, Greg teaches from Genesis 32, “Jostling at Jabbok,” where Jacob, fearful of meeting Esau and his 400 men, sends his family across the river and is left alone. The lesson emphasizes that God often does formative work in isolation, contrasting modern distraction and constant noise with the spiritual necessity of solitude. Jacob wrestles through the night with a man later described as God, who could have ended the struggle at any moment but allows it until daybreak, then dislocates Jacob’s hip, renames him Israel, and blesses him. The struggle is presented not as punishment but transformation, producing surrender, dependence, and a lifelong limp as a reminder. Jacob names the place Peniel, “face of God,” and the episode ends by urging listeners to consider how encountering God changes them and to respond.

I Married Who??

This message explores the biblical story of Jacob expecting to marry Rachel after seven years of service but waking up to find he has married Leah, using the irony of deception in dim light to show how life often defies our plans. It highlights Leah as the overlooked and “hated” one, yet God sees her, opens her womb, and through her children—especially Judah—advances the promise leading to David and ultimately Jesus. The speaker connects Jacob’s shocking “Leah moment” to modern experiences of disrupted expectations in careers, health, relationships, and dreams, and compares the disciples’ confusion at the cross to our inability to see God’s purposes in the moment. The episode invites listeners to ask how God is working, seek prayer, and trust God to put the puzzle together.

Mother’s Day: Rebekah, Trusting God’s Promise Without Taking Control (Genesis 27)

Mother’s Day: Rebekah, Trusting God’s Promise Without Taking Control (Genesis 27)
In this Mother’s Day sermon, Greg turns to Genesis 27 to examine Rebekah as a “messed-up mother” who heard from God but tried to secure God’s promise through deception. Rebekah knew the prophecy that “the oldest will serve the youngest,” yet when Isaac prepared to bless Esau, she intervened so Jacob would receive the blessing, revealing a struggle to trust God’s process. The message explores how parental concern can drift into interference and highlights the hidden cost of control, noting that Rebekah may never have seen Jacob again after sending him away. The sermon emphasizes that God’s promises aren’t dependent on perfect families, urges parents to release what only God can carry, and points to Jesus, the Son, who receives and shares the blessing without manipulation.

Greg compares spiritual danger to an unlocked door left unnoticed in an otherwise safe nightly routine, and to mindless phone scrolling that lingers on unhealthy content. He connects this to 2 Samuel 11, noting that when kings went to war David stayed in Jerusalem, became idle and isolated, paced on his roof, saw Bathsheba, inquired about her, and followed a progression from sight to thought to desire, leading to adultery, pregnancy, and murder, despite Uriah being one of David’s elite fighters. The message stresses that people can be less vigilant in comfortable “castle” settings, confusing rest with idleness, and need community accountability, guarding influences, and intentional time to disconnect and refocus on God. It closes with an invitation to pray, seek support, or respond to Jesus through repentance and baptism.

Greg recounts Michal watching from the window as David brings the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem with national rejoicing. Michal, identified as Saul’s daughter, watches from a window and despises him for “uncovering” himself by acting like a common servant rather than a king. David replies that he worshiped before the Lord who chose him above Saul, and says he will humble himself even more, prompting a challenge to viewers: are they worshipers participating before God or spectators sitting critically at the window, held back by pride, hurt, fear, or concern for appearances? Are you a worshipper or a watcher?
00:00 Opening Question
01:16 Ark Returns to Jerusalem
03:50 Six Steps Sacrifice
04:58 Uzzah Incident Recap
08:08 Worship After Disappointment
09:15 Linen Ephod Meaning
12:06 Michal Watches Window
14:23 Confrontation and Motives
19:23 Chosen to Worship
22:08 Spectator or Worshiper
24:28 Decently and Orderly

In this sermon, the speaker argues that believers shouldn’t “fight fair” because facing Satan on equal terms is not a fair fight, using David and Goliath to show the wisdom of knowing strengths, weaknesses, and God-given training. David rejects Saul’s armor, chooses five smooth stones, and uses a sling as a skilled long-range weapon rather than engaging Goliath’s close-combat advantage of size, age, and experience, trusting God who delivered him from the lion and bear. The message shifts to spiritual warfare: the most vulnerable person is the one who doesn’t realize they’re in a battle, and Christians don’t fight with worldly weapons. Instead, Scripture repeatedly calls believers to flee temptations like sexual immorality, idolatry, quarrels, and the love of money, keeping danger at a distance and resisting the devil by submitting to God.