ABSK Grad Ministry

Today we studied Genesis 25:19-24 . To summarize the text, after Jacob and Rebekah got married, they didn’t have a child for 20 years. When he prayed, God answered and they were able to have a twin. God told the destiny of the twin, the older one would serve the younger one. The first child was born very hairy, so he was named Esau. The second child, Jacob was born grasping Esau’s ankle. Esau was loved by Abraham more because he was a skillful hunter, while Jacob was very quiet and loved by his mom. One day Esau came home famished and sold his birthright to Jacob over a soup.

====Discussion=====

—-From this text, it is important to notice that Issac and Rebekah held on to God’s promise rather than trying some other ways to have a child as Abraham and Sarah did. Jacob was destined to be served by his brother. He believed in God’s promise that Abraham told him. What he did not believe was how he was going to get there. He took the matter in his hands and took the birthright from his brother.

—-How do you feel about God choosing Jacob over Esau?

Even before they were born, God predestined that one people would be stronger than the other,  and the older would serve the younger. It can be very perplexing to know that God predestine people’s lives. But the bottom line is we have no knowledge as to why God chose certain people or nations. Essentially we have to believe in God. When we see what God does, we have to accept as it is because we don’t know the full picture. The world seemed unfair for Esau. He was born first and usually the younger one should server the older one. But he still had a choice and chose to sell his birthright over a soup.

—-What is an underline themes in this passage?

The underline theme in this text is about God’s grace. God’s grace to answer the prayer of Issac and Rebekah and Jacob.  As we have seen from the 11th hour worker story and the story in the new testament where God used a fool to teach a wise man, the order of God’s blessing is not necessarily how we think.

—-Lesson to all of us:

Jacob is no better than Esau, but through God’s grace, Jacob was chosen by God. Some people get offended by God’s choice. If we have this feeling of a victim, we should really understand that we are equally sinful people. We are not better than anybody else, just like Jacob and Esau. If we still get offended, we need to understand God’s grace better. God is not bound by our understanding. Grace is by definition is not earn. Our sins increase, the grace increases even more. Grace goes to the undeserving. The problem of Esau is that he did treat his birthright very lightly. Even though God already predestined the two, Esau still had a choice. There is still a responsibility in Esau’s part. What do we learn from Esau? We have a birthright as well. From Ephesian 1:3-13, our birthright is Jesus. He predestined the entire humanity for salvation. Still, we  have a choice to accept it or not. Through Jesus, God’s grace is big enough to cover all our sins. God’s grace is for all of us to take. This is an unconditional election. This is really up to us whether to take it or despise it. We don’t want to trade it with anything like soup. The soup can come to our lives in different forms. But our birthright is much more greater than that.

This Friday, we studied Genesis 17. Three questions were thrown for discussion.

1. Between Chapter 16 and 17, 13 years had passed.
If you were Abram, what would you be thinking?
2. What does God’s name mean to you? How does that affect your life?
3. What does God mean by Galatians 6:15?

A lot personal thoughts and discussions were exchanged especially for the first question. Our answers varied but we all seemed to agree that God took the promise with Abram very seriously. He didn’t forget it at all and confirmed it with Abram after so many years had passed. On the other hand, Abram seemed to settle for Ishmael. I could relate to Abram because it is also very easy for me to limit myself thinking of only my capability. But as we’ve seen in Abram’s life, God accomplishes His promises even though it takes beyond what we have. God fills the gap and everything is possible if we believe in Him.

2. As you read, it’s about God’s name and God giving names to Abram and Sarai. What does the name mean to you? How does that affect my life?
God’s name is Almighty. God gave Abram’s a new name. It was Abraham which means father of many. In the old days, a name means more than just a label. It defines the whole personality. We talked about what the name Almighty means to us and many answers are shared, for example, we thought the name meant that God is the one who is able to do great things, fulfill all the things that he says and we can put hopes and faiths in.

3. “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.” (Galatians 6:15)—What does God mean by this?
Circumcision symbolizes commitment of one’s life to God. It’s like a wedding ring which symbolizes commitment except that you cannot reverse it as you take off the wedding ring. It’s a reminder that takes us to God. Painful but it was the only way. In John 14:6, Jesus said that, “I am the way.” It’s the ultimate circumcision so that we can have commitment to God.
But as Galatians 5:6 says, all this stuff really doesn’t mean anything until it became a new creation which is achieved by believing and having faith in God.

We had many new comers today in our bible study group. We welcome all of you and hope to see you every Friday! Brother Andy gave a bible study. It was a special day for him. There was an announcement that brother Andy and Helen unni will be joining the Young Adult group. I was sad to hear that they are leaving but I believe that God has a greater plan for them in the Y.A. group.

Today’s text was Genesis 16. We picked verse 1 as the key verse and titled it as “our doubt in His faithfulness.”, and also picked verse 2 because it shows the root of the problem in that situation. Bing unni suggested an interesting title, “we think we are not responsible.” and brother Sam’s group titled it as “the fall of Abram and Sarai.”

Brother Andy preached starting from reminding us of Adam and Eve’s story that they were not responsible for their fault. In this text, Sarai was very anxious about not having a child. Even though God promised them a child before, they were doubtful. They went with the solution that was socially acceptable at that time; Hagar who was Sarai’s maidservant conceived Abram’s child. Although they had a relationship with God, Abram and Sarai made their decision on their own and that led to complicated situations. Hagar began to despise Sarai after she found out she was pregnant and Sarai responded to that with mistreatment of her which eventually led her to leaving. Neither Abram and Sarai did not take the responsibility for their own action. God certainly gave freedom, and we should hold responsibility for what we do as shown in Galatians 6:7. But even after out mistakes, notice that God does not give up on us. He is full of mercy and grace and continue to deal with us as long as we’re willing to believe in Him.

A game fellowship followed and we played Wii tennis, boxing and golf games and some played blockus. Thanks to all who prepared for this wonderful time!

D. JDSN’s preached on attitudes today. The bible text was Esther 2:2-20. As a God’s person, Esther remained humble even after she became a queen of Persia. And from Genesis and new testaments, we can see that God’s attitude towards us is described as love. In the midst of persecution on the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) Without love, that would not be possible. Today we all felt God’s love again by witnessing Maggie’s acceptance of Jesus as her Lord and Savior. He has always been working in our lives even when we didn’t know.

Attitude determines everything. It leads to actions that can touch so many people’s hearts. Let’s check our attitudes and become FAT -Faithful, Available, Teachable- christians.

Hope all of you had a great week. Some sisters started the week by joining Komen Race for the Cure last Sunday. It is a 5 kilometer run/wall to celebrate the breast cancer survivors and raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer. Nearly 26,000 people participated and $2.8 million were raised. I´m sure the money will be spent for good causes.

Today we had another bible study in PV lounge at 7:30 pm. I was excited since there was a new member joining in our bible study. It was Jennifer who used to be in our group. She was in a grad group as a staff for a while but now the grad group and ISM are combined so we get to see her every Friday. Hope more people join in our bible study next week.
There were a couple of announcements today. We used to have a snack first before the bible study but we decided to do the bible study first and then have a fellowship. I think it was good that way. After the bible study today, we had small talks and watched Angel´s baseball game for about an hour, still the night was young. Some discussed the possibility to go to the ARC after the bible study and have sports fellowship sometime. I think this new timing schedule will allow us to have more flexibility. Another announcement is about consolidation of the ISM and grad group. Soon I´ll make another website for our new group.

Regarding the bible study, we studied the same text as last week from different perspective. Last week, D. JDSN focused on the importance of God´s vision. This week, I think the focus is on the life of a christian. Genesis 15 captures the snapshop of christian experience. Although there´s a happy ending in the vision, suffering follows in a christian life. In the text, God promised that he would bring back the descendents in the fourth generation to the promised land. The previous generations could not see the promise was achieved. Without the belief in eternity, it would have been really tough to keep the faith in such a harsh situation.
But we need to know that God´s promise is a very serious one and he fulfills the promise. He is solid as a rock. That´s why we need to put our faith in Him than anything else. He is our great reward and great protector. Even in the time of suffering, if we believe in Him, we have a great hope because God fulfills all his promises.

A great bible study again today although I couldn´t delve in detail here like D. JDSN did for the group.
Have a good weekend!

Today, our ISM members and leaders all gathered at JH SMN and Daniel JDSN´s cozy place for our first bible study this quarter. Bibimbab was prepared for us by JH SMN and Karen unni. It was awesomely delicious, of course, and once again reminds me of great stories in the Gospels about sharing food and having fellowship with one another. After the dinner and small talks, under Daniel JDSN´s direction, we started reading today´s bible text Genesis 15:7-21. Usually we read the text and pick a key verse and title in a small group, share the ideas with other groups, and Daniel JDSN preaches. Our group picked the verse 18 as the key verse and the title is ´covenant in faith´.

18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

In this chapter, God makes covenant with Abram promising him the land and numerous descendants. He says that there will be hardship in the lives of Abram´s descendants in the future, but promises that they will be able come back to the land God promised and free from the slavery.

It was very interesting chapter to study and I was really amazed by God´s committed love and patience for Abram and Abram´s faith in God. At this time, he and his wife Sarah are old to have a baby but Abram believed in God that He will make his numerous descents..
Our bible study finishes with Daniel JDSN´s prayer that wishes us make this year as the year that we learn the most, put our hope and trust in Him as for most of us this is our final year for graduate studies.

And we´ll be joining 2008 Race for Cure starting at Fashion Island on Sunday Morning.