The faith of the Canaanite woman is legendary – in fact, I shared one of my favorite reflections with you the first summer I arrived, and we worship in the parking lot. Like the Canaanite woman, we are Lucky Dogs to be loved and blessed by the Lord!

Jacob is already well up in the years when chapter 37 opens. Remember, Jacob had two wives and two servant women, concubines. Leah, the first wife whom Jacob tricked into marrying, was the mother of six boys. Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, was the mother of two boys. The two concubines were mothers of four boys together. The total number of sons of Jacob at this time was 12. Twelve sons. Not bad for somebody who started out with nothing, just hoping to establish a great nation through his descendants.

Jacob wrestled the angel of God, and Jacob won. Is this scene attractive in the same way that when there’s a fight on the playground everyone quickly gathers around to watch? Do you want to see what happens here, and already know that Jacob wins? Do we want to see how we do it and what happens afterward? Are we tempted to shout: why don’t you pick on someone your own size! – at the Angel

We know who Jacob was, that he was rightly named. The name Jacob means cheater each. He has a propensity to cheat, to reach from behind, to not always play fairly. While at home, Jacob took advantage of his older Brother Esau, exploiting his weakness, and gaining Esau’s birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew which Esau later regretted. Then, Jacob was involved in a plot to deceive his father.

The building we now occupy is the second structure for Methodist worship in Harwich, MA. The cornerstone of this church building was laid in 1811 and the building was dedicated January 1st 1812 as the Methodist Episcopal Church of Harwich.

As we discussed Sunday, Jesus was saying goodbye to people, places and His human experiences in the world as he entered Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the last time. As we hear in Exodus, God gave very detailed instructions for the People of God to be saved from the death to come as God liberated the people from slavery in Egypt.

For seven years in the nineties I served the United Methodist church in Hamilton, Massachusetts. The historic building had been located on Railroad Avenue near the parsonage. However in the sixties one of the classic A frame structures was erected on Main Street right beside the Myopia Hunt Club. There were several historic notable claims to fame at this location. Fred told me that he had to go next door to the myopia hunt club to borrow their silver tea service when the queen of England came to visit and had TEA at the United Methodist church fellowship hall.

During the Season of Lent, we’re working our way through a series of stories in the Gospel of John. Each of them describes Jesus’s encounter with a different person: Nicodemus the Pharisee, the woman at the well, the man born blind, and Lazarus of Bethany. These are stories of people that we usually think of as marginal to the Jesus story. None of them are one of the twelve, for example. But in the Gospel of John, it is these encounters that reveal who Jesus really is.