Worship: Sundays at 8:15 am | 9:40 am | 11:00 am, Wednesdays at 6:35 pm
Build an Altar

God said to Jacob, "Get up, go to Bethel, and live there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you ran away from your brother Esau." Jacob said to his household and to everyone who was with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you. Clean yourselves and change your clothes. Then let's rise and go up to Bethel so that I can build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in trouble and who has been with me wherever I've gone."  (Genesis 35:1-3, CEB)

In this passage, Jacob is clearly demonstrating how to respond to God's faithfulness to us - with our faithfulness. Jacob had come to know the grace of God in a real and powerful way and it was the desire of his heart to obey God's command to build an altar so that the grace of God could become known to others. Here Jacob and his community were choosing to cast out their idols, clean themselves up, and go to Bethel (which means house of God) and build an altar as an act of worship to the one true God of their salvation.

How might God be calling you to respond to God's grace at work in your life? What can you do today as an act of worship to the God who answers you and is with you wherever you go?

Grace and peace, 

Aaron

Trinity United Methodist Church
4000 NW 53rd Ave | Gainesville, FL 32653
352.376.6615
Office Hours: Monday - Thursday, 8:30 am - 4:00 pm | Friday, 8:30 am - 1:30 pm