Rock Bottom: What’s actually there when everything else falls away?

Yesterday we began a new sermon series “Rock Bottom: What’s actually there when everything else falls away?”. Over the next seven weeks we will encounter different scriptures where we witness someone’s rock bottom. This isn’t always the rock bottom we initially think of, but can also be simply getting to the core, to what matters most, to what is found at our foundation.

To begin this series, we started in Genesis with the story of Jacob. Jacob’s rock bottom came at a time when he was isolated from his mother and brother after his father’s death, due to the choices he had made. Fleeing for his life, he was  alone, afraid, and uncertain of what the future held for him. God meets Jacob as his rock bottom and graciously and generously extends the promise God has made to his ancestors to Jacob himself. God’s promise helps Jacob move forward from his rock bottom into the life God has for him. 

Here are links to things Pastor Clare referenced in her sermon yesterday, if you would like to dig deeper this week.

• Scripture - Genesis 28:10-22 (If you want to dig more deeply into the background Pastor Clare laid out yesterday Abraham’s story begins at Genesis 12, Isaac’s birth is first promised in Genesis 18, and Jacob and Esau are born in Genesis 25. The brother reunite in Genesis 32-33.)

• Commentary on Genesis 28:10-19a by Kathryn Shifferdecker of Luther Seminary