Big Idea: Your 3 Choices when catfished: 1. get mad, 2. get revenge, or 3. get over it!

Genesis 27:41-28:22

1. Esau plots revenge 

Genesis 27: 41-46

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides—until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?” So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls. If Jacob marries someone from around here, like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?” So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl..."

2.  Jacob runs away 

Genesis 28: 1-9

So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl.” And Jacob listened to his father and mother and went to Paddan-aram. Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.

3.  God comes to the rescue

Genesis 28: 10-22

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. The Lord was standing there beside him, saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring..."

Next Steps:

Believe: I need God to rescue me from sin today.
Become: I need God’s help getting over some hurt. 
Be Sent: I will invite someone far from Jesus to Easter.


Group Questions: 
1. Why do some family problems hurt the deepest? 
2.  Have you ever done something self-destructive because you were mad at others?  Why?
3. What makes revenge so tempting when you’ve been hurt?
4. Can you run away from your hurt?  Explain your answer. 
5. How do you recognize the presence of God?
6. Who would you like to invite to join you this Easter?
7. Pray for those people by name.