Be Strong Courageous in Community The Courage to Bless

Courage to Bless

Genesis 48

Guest Speaker: Leedah Wong

For Your Heart Today

Many of us spend our lives trying to earn what God has already given. We strive to prove ourselves, to be productive, to hold everything together, to leave something meaningful behind. Yet Jacob's final act in Genesis 48 reminds us that blessing begins by remembering.

Before Jacob blesses his grandchildren, he tells the story of how God has blessed him. He remembers the God who appeared to him, shepherded him, redeemed him, and remained faithful through joy, grief, failure, and loss.

Perhaps that is where courage begins for us as well. Before we speak words of blessing to others, we pause long enough to remember that we are already accepted and incredibly blessed. We belong to God before we accomplish anything for God, and his blessings are bountiful.

From that place of grace and being blessed, we bless. Even our wounds can become places of blessing and testimony. And the unexpected turns of our lives may become the very places where God blesses by doing something new.

As recipients of God's grace, we are invited to speak words of life, hope, and blessing into the lives of others.

Takeaways

• We bless others best when we first receive God's grace and remember that we are accepted loved and blessed.
• God often uses our wounds, struggles, and unfinished stories as places through which He can bless others.
• Because we live from God's acceptance rather than striving for it, we can trust Him to work in surprising ways beyond our expectations and bless us and others.

Breath Prayer

Inhale: I am accepted by Your grace.
Exhale: Help me become a blessing.

Courage to Bless - Sermon Summary

Genesis 48

Guest Speaker: Leedah Wong

Drawing from Genesis 48, Pastor Leedah Wong explored Jacob's final blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh and invited us to consider what it means to live with the courage to bless. Biblical blessing is more than wishing someone well. It is speaking God's promises, identity, and hope into another person's life.

Reflecting on his own journey, Pastor Leedah shared how Pastor Stanley Long's words of encouragement and guidance continued to shape his life and ministry years after they were spoken. Those blessings helped him see his own struggles within God's larger story and reminded him of his identity and calling.

The message centered on three movements of blessing.

First, we bless as recipients. Before Jacob blessed his grandsons, he remembered how God had blessed and shepherded him throughout his life. Pastor Leedah contrasted the world's cycle of achievement, performance, and burnout with the kingdom's cycle of grace, where acceptance comes first. Because we are already loved and accepted by God, we can live and serve from grace rather than striving for approval and fruitfulness will follow.

Second, we bless through our wounds. Jacob spoke blessing while still carrying grief and loss. Pastor Leedah shared openly about the disappointment of planting a church that eventually closed and the freedom he found in releasing the need to appear strong or successful. God often uses our weakness, pain, and unfinished stories to encourage and strengthen others.

Finally, we bless through God's surprises. Jacob crossed his hands, giving the greater blessing to the younger son, reminding us that God often works in unexpected ways. Pastor Leedah described how the closing of his church unexpectedly opened the door to ministry among Afghan refugee families in Fremont. Through practical support, friendship, and sharing the gospel, God has brought new life and ministry in ways he never anticipated.

The message concluded with the reminder that Ephraim and Manasseh themselves are pictures of grace. Though they stood outside the covenant promises, they were welcomed into the family and received the blessing. In the same way, through Christ we have been brought near, adopted as sons and daughters, and invited to live as people who have received God's grace and now extend that blessing to others.