HOPE FELLOWSHIP CHURCH

Ronnie Seppala - Missionary to Nicaragua

Conflict and the Child of God

Jonah 1-4
I. Two Conflict Avenues God Uses
 
II. Narrative #1 – Jonah Runs and God Pursues
 
III. Narrative #2 – Nineveh Repents and God Relents
 
IV. Narrative #3 – Jonah’s Heart Exposed
 
Reflection Questions
When you think about conflict, do you usually see it as something to avoid or something God might use? Why?
Can you identify a recent situation where you felt “stuck” or conflicted? What choice were you struggling to make?
Jonah obeyed outwardly but not inwardly. Where in your life might you be doing the right thing without having the right heart?
Why do you think Jonah resisted God’s mercy toward Nineveh? In what ways might we struggle with similar attitudes toward others?
God ends Jonah with a question rather than an answer. What question do you sense God is asking you right now, and how will you respond?

Wrestling: Jacob Wrestles With God

Genesis 32-33
1. Fearful Plans – Controlling the Outcome (32:1–8)
 
2. Honest Prayer – Depending on God (32:9–12)
 
3. The Night Fight – Wrestling and Weakening (32:22–32)
 
4. New Name, New Walk – Israel the God-Wrestler (32:28; 35:9–12)
5. Limping into Reconciliation (32:30–33:20)
Reflection Questions
What’s been a major takeaway or major impression from this whole series in Genesis? 
Where are you living as “two camps” between trusting God and yourself (Genesis 32:7–12)?
Where has God allowed a “limp” or “thorn” in your life (Genesis 32:25, 31; 2 Corinthians 12:7–10), and how might that be a place of grace?
In your current struggle, what would it practically mean to stop fighting in your own strength and instead cling to God (Genesis 32:26; 2 Corinthians 12:10)?
Is there a relationship or past wound where God is calling you to “limp toward” reconciliation (Genesis 33:1–4; Luke 22:39–42; John 20:24–29), and what first step could you take?

Wrestling: Mandrakes, Magic Sticks, and Idols - When Human Scheming Meets a Sovereign God

Genesis 30-31
Introduction
Jacob waits 20 years in Laban’s house while God’s promise feels slow and messy.
This family grabs for blessing instead of trusting God to give it.
 
1. Mandrakes – Controlling Life
Rachel and Leah use schemes and mandrakes to get children.
God, not charms, is the one who “listens” and “remembers.”
 
2. Magic Sticks – Controlling Success
Jacob and Laban make a rigged deal and play breeding games with the flock.
Beneath the schemes, the God of Bethel directs the outcome.
 
3. Idols – Controlling Security
Rachel steals household gods as a backup plan.
The idols sit hidden under a saddle while God Himself protects Jacob.
 
4. The Faithful God
God keeps His promise despite everyone’s scheming.
The call: stop grasping for control and rest in His faithfulness in Christ.
 
Reflection Questions
Walk through the storyline again as a group, to refresh some of the key movements in the chapters 30-31 to refresh a more unknown part of Genesis. 
Where in your life right now does God feel “too slow” or “too quiet” for your plans? When you feel stuck waiting (like Jacob’s 20 years with Laban), what are your go-to reactions?  
Where do wise strategies and planning cross a line into over‑trusting our own hustle and smarts? Can you share a time when your careful plans didn’t work, but God still clearly took care of you?
What might be some “household gods” for Christians today—things we don’t call idols, but secretly lean on for protection and security?
How does 1 Peter 1:3–5 answer the fears that drive us to mandrakes, magic sticks, and idols?
 
Daily Prayer Prompts
Pray:  God, thank You that Your promise doesn’t rest on my schemes but on Your faithfulness. Show me where I’m grasping for control—chasing my own mandrakes, magic sticks, and idols—and teach me to lay them down and trust You to provide, protect, and lead. Amen.

Wrestling: Bethel - Gateway to Heaven

Genesis 28-29
Introduction:
 
The Deceiver Meets His Match (Genesis 29)
 
The Deceiver Meets His Maker (Genesis 28:12–19)
 
Jesus: The True Ladder (John 1:47–51)
 
Reflection Questions
How would you briefly retell where Jacob is coming from in Genesis 27 and 28 (deceiving Isaac, stealing Esau’s blessing, fleeing for his life) and then describe how that background makes God’s promise to him at Bethel even more surprising?
Read Genesis 28:10–17. What are the three main parts of God’s promise to Jacob in verses 13–15, and how do they connect back to the original promises to Abraham?
Leah is unloved but seen and blessed by God. How does her story challenge the way we measure worth and being seen in our culture?
Put Genesis 11:1–9 and Genesis 28:10–17 side by side. What similarities and differences do you see between the “tower” at Babel and the “ladder” at Bethel in terms of who acts, what is being built, and whose name is being lifted up?
Read John 1:47–51. How is Jesus intentionally connecting Himself to Jacob and Bethel in verse 51? What is He claiming about Himself, not just about an experience Nathanael will have?
Daily Prayer Prompts
Pray: God, thank You that You meet me not when I have it all together, but when I am empty and at the end of myself. Where I have schemed or tried to climb my own way to You, help me to rest in Jesus, the true ladder and gate of heaven, and to trust that You see me and will not leave me. Amen.

Wrestling: For the Blessing

Genesis 25-27
Genesis 25 - Birth, Prophecy, and Birthright
 
Genesis 26 - Deja Vu All Over Again 
 
Genesis 27 - Stealing the Blessing
 
Reflection Questions
Share one positive pattern and one painful pattern from your family of origin. How have those patterns shaped the way you relate to God and to other people? 
Isaac repeats Abraham’s lie in Genesis 26, yet God still blesses and protects him. Where do you feel most discouraged by repeating the same sin or weakness, and how does God’s faithfulness in these stories encourage you to keep coming back to Him?
Do you relate more to the “favored” child, the “forgotten” child, or the one hustling like Jacob to earn love? In that role, what might it look like for the gospel to reshape how God sees you, how you see yourself, and how you ought to relate to others?
Hebrews 12:24 says Jesus’ blood “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” How would you explain that in one or two sentences to a friend? 
When family patterns and personal guilt feel loud, what one “better word” from Jesus (forgiven, beloved, new, etc.) do you most need to hold onto?
Daily Prayer Prompts
Pray: Jesus, mediator of the new covenant, thank You that Your blood speaks a better word than my sin, my shame, and my family history. Where other voices say “guilty,” “dirty,” or “never enough,” let Your better word—“forgiven,” “clean,” “beloved”—be the voice my heart believes. Amen.

Wrestling: A Funeral and a Wedding

MESSAGE | Pastor Jordan MoodyWrestling: A Funeral and a WeddingGenesis 23-24
The Funeral — A Down Payment on the Land (Gen 23)
The Wedding — Securing the Lineage (Gen 24)
 
Reflection Questions
Open hands, not forced doors. Abraham acts but leaves room for God to say no (Gen 24:8). Eliezer prayed specifically, then moved. Where are you tempted to force a door open, or just sit and stare at one? What decision do you need to pray more boldly about, and hold more loosely?
Faithful in the wait. Sarah died without seeing the promise fulfilled. How do you keep faith strong in a season where the answer hasn't come yet?
Beauty at the well. Rebekah's beauty gets one phrase. Her character gets a whole scene. Read 1 Peter 3:3-4. What does it look like for you to cultivate the hidden person of the heart this week?
The bride says, "I will go." Rebekah's whole future turned on one sentence of faith. What is God asking you to say "I will go" to right now, even without seeing the whole road?
The Bridegroom is coming. Revelation 19:7 says the wedding of the Lamb is still ahead. Does that future shape your daily life, or is it mostly forgotten? What would change if you really lived like the Bridegroom is on His way?
 
Daily Prayer Prompts
Pray: Father, You are the God who sees. You saw Hagar. You saw Rebekah. You saw Isaac. You see me. Give me mature faith that acts without manipulating, and trusts You with every door. Make me an Isaac in the field, a Rebekah at the well, faithful where You have me. Keep my eyes on the Bridegroom who is coming. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Wrestling: When God Asks For Everything

Genesis 22
“Here I am” – Availability with obedience
“We will return” – Obedience with faith
“The Lord will provide” – Faith with sacrifice 
 
Reflection Questions
What emotions do you feel when you read this story—confusion, trust, tension, something else?
What are some small, everyday ways you can practice availability (here I am) to God this week? What is one specific way you can say “Here I am” to God this week?
Where is God asking you to trust Him more deeply right now?
How does this story enhance your understanding of Jesus as our substitute? Are there other passages of scripture that illustrate Jesus' sacrifice in the gospel? 
What’s the difference between trusting God for what He gives and trusting God for who He is?

Wrestling: Motherhood, Promise, and Living Water

Genesis 21 ; John 4:4-14
(Intro) Abraham’s habits: God guards the promise we cannot protect (Gen. 20:1–18; 21:22–34)
Sarah’s laughter: God gives life where human strength has ended (Gen. 21:1–7)
Hagar’s wilderness: God sees the mother whose water has run out (Gen. 21:8–21) 
Jesus and the living water: Christ satisfies thirsty souls (John 4:1–26)
 
Reflection Questions
 Sarah’s laughter moved from disbelief to joy. Where have you seen God bring joy after a long season of waiting?
How does this passage help us speak honestly and tenderly about Mother’s Day, especially for those who experience it with grief, longing, or complicated emotions?
Read Galatians 4:21–31. How does Paul use Sarah and Hagar to contrast slavery and freedom, flesh and promise, and human effort and God’s grace?
How does Galatians 4 help us see that the story of Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, and Ishmael is ultimately pointing us to the gospel?
How does Jesus meet the thirsty soul in John 4, and how does that deepen the message of Genesis 21? 

Wrestling: Rejecting or Receiving and Remembering Lot's Wife

Genesis 18-19
1. Two Ways to Receive the Lord (walkthrough) 
2. Side-by-Side Comparison
3. Warnings from the Text 
Reflection Questions
 Compare and contrast Abraham (18) and Lot (19), as you walk through the basic storylines of Genesis 18-19.  
How can we cultivate a heart like Abraham’s: eager, responsive, and hospitable to God?
Why is hospitality such a central theme in both chapters? What does it reveal spiritually?
What does it practically look like to “remember Lot’s wife” in your daily walk with Christ?