Episodes
200
Latest episode
Oct 2026
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We Tell People About Jesus. WestWay Christian Church is located in Scottsbluff Nebraska. Learn more about us at www.westwaychurch.com.
Jacob wrestled with God and walked away with a new name—and a limp. God’s blessing changed his identity, but it didn’t leave him without pain. In this episode of WestWay in 8, John explores what it means to cling to God when life is difficult, how God comforts us in our suffering, and why the comfort we receive might be exactly what someone else needs.
What does it mean to be blessed by God? We often think of God’s blessings in terms of answered prayers, improved circumstances, relief from hardship, or success in life. But what if God’s greatest blessing isn’t what He gives us, but who He is making us to be? After twenty years away from home, Jacob is returning to face his past, his brother Esau, and the reality of who he is. But before Jacob faces Esau, God meets him. And Jacob refuses to let go until God blesses him. What follows is an encounter that leaves Jacob with a new name, a new identity, and a limp. As we read Genesis 32, we’ll discover that transformation begins with God, happens over time, requires our faithful pursuit, and doesn’t always look the way we expect. God isn’t simply interested in making our lives better. He’s making us new. And that transformation is worth pursuing.
God was present in both Jacob’s life and Laban’s life, but His presence produced two very different responses. Jacob was learning to trust God, while Laban continued resisting Him. In this episode of WestWay in 8, John explores the difference between hearing God’s Word and actually responding to it—and asks a question worth considering: What’s something God has been showing you that you haven’t responded to yet?
Throughout Jacob’s story, we’ve watched God transform a man who relied on his own skill, cunning, and manipulation into someone who is learning to trust the LORD. In Genesis 31, God’s faithful presence is unmistakable: when Laban turns against Jacob, God remains with him; when Laban exploits him, God provides for him; and when Laban threatens him, God protects him. But while God’s presence is transforming Jacob, Laban’s continued resistance to God is hardening his heart and distorting his understanding of reality. As Jacob’s story moves toward his encounter with God in Genesis 32, we’re confronted with an important question: Is God’s presence transforming us, or are we becoming increasingly resistant to Him?
What happens when we expect the people in our lives to give us something only God can provide? In this episode of WestWay in 8, John revisits the story of Leah and Rachel in Genesis 29–30 and explores how comparison, competition, and our desire for control can damage our relationships. We’ll consider what it means to remember that God sees us, why the people we love can complement us but cannot complete us, and how finding our identity in Christ frees us to love others without keeping score.
We all want to know that we’re loved, wanted, and enough. In Genesis 29–30, everyone is looking for something: Jacob looks for it in Rachel, Rachel and Leah look for it in children and affirmation, and Jacob and Laban look for it in wealth and success. Thousands of years later, we’re still looking—and still grasping. What happens when we ask people and things to give us what only God can? Genesis 29–30 reminds us that we already have what we need in the God who tells us who—and whose—we are.
Jacob has spent his life grasping for blessing. He took his brother’s birthright. He deceived his father to receive his blessing. And after getting everything he thought he wanted, Jacob finds himself alone, on the run, sleeping with a stone for a pillow. It turns out that getting what he wanted couldn’t give him what he really needed. It is there that God meets Jacob and gives him what all his grasping could never provide. This week, we’ll see that the blessing we need most isn’t something we can take, earn, or manipulate our way into. It comes from God alone.
The story of Jacob and Esau shows us what can happen when we trade what is valuable for what is temporary and try to take control of God’s promises instead of trusting Him. Even though Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau all make selfish and sinful choices, God continues to work through their brokenness and accomplish His purposes. Ultimately, their story points us to Jesus, the true Son who gives us what we could never earn by clothing us in His righteousness and bringing us into God’s family. Because of Jesus, we don’t have to pretend to be good enough for God; we can come to Him honestly, trust in Christ, and receive His grace.
Jesus has designed His church so that everyone has a role. Leaders shepherd and equip God’s people, and the church body participates in recognizing leaders who demonstrate biblical character and faithfulness. When leaders lead faithfully and the body participates faithfully, the church grows toward the maturity and unity Jesus desires for His people.
“You’re just like your father.” Depending on your story, those words might sound like a compliment—or they might be the last thing you ever wanted to hear. As Isaac’s story continues in Genesis 26, it becomes clear just how much he is like Abraham. He carries forward some of his father’s faith and worship, but he also repeats some of his father’s fear, deception, and failure to trust God. Our families shape us in ways we don’t always recognize. Some of what we inherit is worth celebrating; some of it needs to end with us. Genesis 26 invites us to consider what we’ve received from those who came before us—and to take responsibility for what we do with it.
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