WHEN GOD MEETS YOU, EVERYTHING CHANGES

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MEETING AGENDA

  1. OPENING PRAYER – Ask one person to open the meeting in prayer.
  2. GROWTH QUESTIONS – Ask everyone the Growth Questions.
  3. ATTENDANCE – Take attendance through the DG Attendance System.
  4. TODAY’S LESSON – Go over this week’s DG lesson.
  5. GIVING – Encourage everyone to give on the App.
  6. CLOSING PRAYER – Ask for prayer requests and pray.

GROWTH QUESTION #1

Who would like to share a highlight, praise report, or testimony from this week?

GROWTH QUESTION #2

What did you learn from this week’s sermon?

GROWTH QUESTION #3

What was your most important accomplishment this week?

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

Genesis 28:10-22 (NLT) - 10 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. 12 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. 13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!” 18 The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19 He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz. 20 Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. 22 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”

Opening QUESTION

Have you ever felt like you were far from God—only to realize later that He was with you the whole time?

TRUTH #1

GOD MEETS US WHERE WE ARE

Genesis 28:10-11 (NLT) — 10 “Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep.” 

  • Jacob wasn’t chasing after God—he was running from trouble and fear. Yet God chose to meet him right where he was. 
  • God’s presence is not limited to special places or perfect people. He meets us in the middle of our mess. He meets us in lonely, ordinary, and even broken places.
  • When we are at our lowest, God often chooses that moment to reveal His love.

Psalm 34:18 (NLT) — “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” 

  • Jacob’s stone pillow became an altar of encounter. What feels like a place of exhaustion can become a place of revelation.
  • Our failures do not cancel God’s promises—they actually showcase just how amazing His grace really is!
  • God’s faithfulness doesn’t depend on our perfection—it depends on His promise!

INTERACTIVE QUESTION

What’s a “wilderness” moment in your life where God revealed His presence unexpectedly?

TRUTH #2

HEAVEN IS ALWAYS OPEN

Genesis 28:12-13 (NLT) — 12 “As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. 13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord…”

  • As Jacob slept, he dreamed of a stairway stretching from earth to heaven with angels moving up and down. At the top stood the Lord Himself, reaffirming the covenant He made with Abraham and Isaac. 
  • God promised Jacob land, descendants, and blessing—but also His presence: “I am with you… I will protect you… I will not leave you.”
  • The stairway represents a living connection between heaven and earth. It shows that God isn’t distant or disconnected; He is actively involved in human life. 
  • Jesus later referenced this image, revealing that He Himself is the true stairway—the bridge between God and humanity.

John 1:51 (NLT) – “Then he said, ‘I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”

  • Jesus paid the price for our sins to be forgiven so that we could have access to heaven.
  • Through Christ, heaven is open to us. We never have to be cut off from God’s presence ever again.

INTERACTIVE QUESTION

Why do you think it sometimes feels like heaven and God’s presence is far from us?

TRUTH #3

REAL ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD CALL FOR REAL RESPONSE

Genesis 28:16–17 (NLT) – 16 “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!’ 17 But he was also afraid and said, ‘What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”

  • Every divine encounter comes with both a revelation and a response. When God revealed Himself to Jacob, it wasn’t just an emotional experience—it was a call to commitment. 
  • Jacob realized that the Lord had been present all along. His fear turned to reverence, and reverence turned to action. 
  • Encounter produced obedience.
  • He set up a memorial pillar, poured oil on it, and made a vow to honor God with his life and resources.

Genesis 28:20-22 (NLT) – 20 “Then Jacob made this vow: ‘If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. 22 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”

  • Jacob’s decision to give a tenth of all he would receive marked more than generosity—it was evidence of transformation. 
  • He was no longer the deceiver grasping for blessing; he became a worshiper acknowledging the Source of every blessing.
  • True worship is never passive. 
  • When we meet God personally, it changes how we live, how we honor Him, and how we steward what He gives us. 

Romans 12:1 (NLT) — “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”

INTERACTIVE QUESTION

What does Jacob’s response at Bethel teach you about how genuine encounters with God should shape the way we live, worship, and give?

CLOSING QUESTION

What’s one thing you’re taking away from this story that you want to apply to your own life this week?

GIVING

Give eagerly in accordance with what you have, not what you don’t have!

Exodus 35:22 (NLT)
Both men and women came, all whose hearts were willing. They brought to the Lord their offerings of gold—brooches, earrings, rings from their fingers, and necklaces. They presented gold objects of every kind as a special offering to the Lord.

Encourage everyone to give their tithes and offerings.

CLICK HERE TO GIVE

PRAY

QUESTION #1

Who are you praying for to be saved?

QUESTION #2

Who can you invite to the next meeting?

QUESTION #3

What are your prayer requests?