Pastor Marty Sloan | Aug. 12, 2022
Back-to-School Blessing
Acts 2:38-39 (NIV)
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Genesis 1:27-28 (NIV)
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Blessings come from
Blessings come with
The Blessing of Abraham: The gift that Abraham received as part of God’s plan to create a new nation on earth.
Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV)
Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Blessings come to you and
The single thing Abraham does to be blessed is be
Through Abraham, all nations on earth will be
The blessing of Abraham finds its ultimate fulfillment in
Numbers 6:22-27 (NKJV)
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.’ So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
The emphasis of the blessing is not who is gets blessed, but
A blessing is God doing what we
God’s commission is to live
Genesis 1:28 (NKJV)
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Blessing is God’s protection as you walk in the power of His commission and experience His protection and provision.
A true blessing is the fact that, through Christ, we can come to know God in a real and
To be blessed is to
- Be connected to His
- Walk in His grace and walk
- Receive freely and
Blessings are measured by the eternal—
Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NKJV)
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.
The difference in being blessed and being cursed is as simple as being
Blessings come when we move from living life our way to living life
The man who trusts
The man who trusts
Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers
Psalm 115:9-15 (NIV)
All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—he is their help and shield. House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—he is their help and shield. You who fear him, trust in the Lord—he is their help and shield. The Lord remembers us and will bless us: He will bless his people Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron, he will bless those who fear the Lord— small and great alike. May the Lord cause you to flourish, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Suggested Resources:
- “Rise and Fall of the Modern Self” by Carl Trueman
- “Can You Stand to be Blessed” by T.D. Jakes
- “The Prayer of Jabez” by Bruce Wilkinson