Prepare your heart for the Sermon by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together hearing God's Word.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and prayerfully seeking wisdom to deepen your understanding of the passage to be preached this Sunday.

Carefully Think

• Who of Jacob’s household was put in front? Last? What does the positioning of his household tell us about Jacob’s love for these people?
• What is Esau’s response to seeing his brother?
• How does Esau initially respond to the offering that Jacob wanted to give him?
• Why does Jacob not want to go with Esau’s camp as Esau suggests?
• Where does Jacob decide to settle?

Prayerfully Meditate

• How is Esau’s response to Jacob different than what Jacob perceived?
• What do you think Jacob means that he sees Esau’s “face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably”?
• Read through Genesis 28:10-22. How is Jacob’s altar in Genesis 33 different than the pillar he erects in chapter 28?
• In Genesis 33, we read that Jacob settled in Shechem. But according to Genesis 28:20-22, where did Jacob vow to return and settle? (In Genesis 31, the LORD also announces himself to Jacob as the God of this place.)