Grace Church Seattle

Jesus is in your heart, but grandpa is in your bones.
Pete Scazzero

Note: No Christian Formation this week
Worship is at 10:15 AM on Sunday
In-person worship and live stream

Dear Grace Family,

Taylor Swift has made a living writing break-up songs. And, I’m not gonna lie, some of them are pretty epic.

The song I linked above is—surprise, surprise—another break-up song by her. But, it tells the story of a relationship ending from the perspective of both people. It’s an interesting twist on a fruitful but well-worn path for her.

In the song, as both people look back on the break-up, there is a steady refrain:

I think I’ve seen this film before
But I didn’t like the ending

This week, we will turn our attention to Isaac—the miracle child of Abraham and Sarah. Sadly, there is only one chapter of Genesis devoted to Isaac’s life. But as we will see, in many ways, his life is a story we’ve all heard before—the story of his father, Abraham.

In this episode, Isaac lives out a narrative eerily similar to that of his father in Genesis 20-21. In Genesis 26, we will see Isaac grievously sin against his wife (just like his father!). We will also see him deal with tensions over water rights with neighboring tribes (again, just like his father!). We can almost be lulled to sleep—thinking that we’ve seen this movie before and know how it’s going to end.

But, there is an unexpected twist that takes things in a subtly—but critically—different direction. I don’t want to spoil the ending, because I think there is a lot for us to learn in this story.

I hope to worship with you on Sunday.

This Sunday: Genesis 26 (NIV)
I Think I’ve Seen This Film Before

Here is the Order of Worship.

Warmly in Christ,
John

P.S. Please remember this Sunday, January 23rd, is the last call to register for our upcoming Communion class. The first class will begin on January 30th at 9:00AM (on the Sundays we do not have Christian Formation scheduled.) Justin Milgate, father and member at Grace, created a Communion class trailer. He is also creating short animated videos for each lesson. This year the class is open to all families, even if your child(ren) has taken the class before and is already partaking of communion. For questions, please contact Linn at linn@graceseattle.org.

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Preparing for Worship: I Think I've Seen This Film Before