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[0:00] Praise God. If you have your Bible, I'd like to open up to Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13.! Genesis chapter 13.

[0:30] And we'll start at verse 1. And the word of the Lord says, So he went back to this place. Okay?

[1:20] It's very important we understand that he went back. He went. God made all these promises to him. Out of fear, he went down to Egypt because of a famine. You know, he told Pharaoh a lie saying that his, you know, him and Sarah were not married.

[1:36] That he was his sister, which is technically kind of true. And, but now he's making his way back. Okay? Everyone say, make his way back.

[1:49] He's making his way back. To Bethel. Or you can interpret that as the house of God. So he's making his way back to the house of God. And verse 4.

[2:01] Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. So he went back to the house of God. Back to the altar that he had first established.

[2:13] And he called on the name of the Lord. And Lot also, his nephew, which went with Abram at flocks and herds and tents. And the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together.

[2:26] Because of Abraham being so blessed, Lot now too is blessed. You understand that? For their substance was great and so they could not dwell together.

[2:37] And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and herdsmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled in the land.

[2:48] And Abram said unto Lot, let there be no strife. I pray thee between me and thee, between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen.

[2:58] For we be brethren. Look at Abram's humility here. This is humility.

[3:11] He said, it's not the whole, verse 9, verse, not the whole land before thee. Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left, I wilt take the right. If thou depart to the right, I wilt go to the left.

[3:25] Abraham is displaying humility. But he's also displaying confidence in God. He's holding on to a promise that God gave him.

[3:40] And Abram here is displaying such humility in the situation. If we would, if we would just display humility. Imagine the number of arguments and strifes in the church that would be, that would not be.

[3:55] If we would prefer one another. Put our confidence in God instead of trying to win a fight or win an argument. In our marriages. And in our relationships. Amen.

[4:07] That's good. Now look at what Lot does. Verse 10. And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan.

[4:22] Notice his eyes. Notice. That it was well watered everywhere. Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

[4:35] Even as the garden of the Lord. Interesting. And it says, Like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zohar.

[4:48] Lot is choosing the best land for himself. Because of what his eyes see. Again, rather than yielding like Abram did. Rather than yielding in humility.

[5:02] He makes a choice for what looks good to him. And as we're going to find out. His choice ultimately would prove to be very tragic. For himself and for his family.

[5:15] So not all things that look good are good. Not all things that look right are right. Amen. If it's too good to be true. A lot of times it's not true.

[5:27] Amen. Woo. There's all kinds of messages you can preach in this text. But I want to talk for a few moments about this topic. The tale of two tents.

[5:39] The tale of two tents. And the little subheader is direction matters. Turn to your neighbor and say direction matters.

[5:52] Direction matters. Amen. Praise God. Let's pray. Father we love you today. God help me be a blessing to this church Lord. And to all of us God.

[6:03] All hearers. God would you help me do a good job. And preach the word of the Lord. We love you. We praise you. Help us to have ears to hear. And God. But not just hearers only Lord.

[6:14] But be doers of the word. We love you. We praise you. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise God. Amen. You know.

[6:27] Nobody wakes up. And rolls out of bed. And says. I think I'm going to destroy my family today. Nobody gets. Wakes up.

[6:38] And rolls out of bed. And says. I'm going to destroy my marriage today. No one says. No one says. I'm going to. Before lunch today. I'm going to totally divorce my wife.

[6:49] My wife. My husband. I'm not going to destroy my children. I'm not going to lose my kids. You know. No one rolls out of bed. And instinctually says. You know. I'm just going to. I think today is a good day to destroy my life.

[7:04] No one. Gets out of bed. And decides those things. No one gets out of bed. And decides. Hey. Today I'm going to. Drift from my walk with God. I'm not going to pray.

[7:16] I'm not going to fast. I'm not going to read his word. But nobody. First thought of getting out of bed. I'm just. You know. Today. I'm just. I'm not going to do that. Nobody. Says that.

[7:28] But people do. Do. These things. They say. I'm busy. I'm tired. I'll deal with that later. I'm not.

[7:40] That bad. I'm not. That far from God. I'm still. Close enough. People say those things.

[7:53] We say those things. And drift. Never announces itself. It never announces itself. It never says. Oh. I'm drifting. I'm going to drift from God.

[8:04] Drift does not come. Remember say. The word drift. Drift doesn't come. With a warning label. Drift feels reasonable. Drift feels.

[8:16] You know. Justified. I'm too busy. I'm too. This. This. This. That. And the other. And drift feels. Familiar. And that's why.

[8:27] The story that we're. Going to read today. And go through today. A little bit earlier. Is so dangerous. Because nothing. You know.

[8:38] Explodes. And is destroyed. In Genesis 13. No judgment falls. No. No angels show up. Okay. No fire.

[8:48] And brimstone. And all that. Comes down. But. You know what we do have. That's in the story. Our tents. You know what we do have.

[8:59] In this story. Our altars. And I wasn't entitled. This message. Tents. And altars. But the direction.

[9:11] Of tents. Are very important. The direction. Of tents. Are critical. In both of these stories. In both of these lives.

[9:21] Of Abraham. Or Abram right now. And Lot. And I'm just going to say this right now. That the tents. Of our lives. The direction. Of those tents. Are important as well.

[9:32] Which direction. Is your. Tent. Pointed. Just tents. Just.

[9:44] Choices. Just direction. Is what we find. In the story. That we're. That we're reading about. And scripture. Is crying out to us.

[9:55] And telling us. I want to show you something. I want to show you a path. See the scriptures. I heard one guy say this. Scripture doesn't tell us. What happens sometimes. Scripture.

[10:05] Tells us what happens. All the time. Scripture tells us patterns. Scripture tells us. Hey. Human nature. Scripture shows. Because we can see. All of our lives.

[10:17] In all. In these. In a majority. Of these narratives. That we find in the scripture. Amen. But the. But the Bible. The word of the Lord. Is trying to show us.

[10:28] That direction. Determines. Destination. That the direction. Of our lives. The direction. Of our tents. Determines. Our destination.

[10:40] Amen. Even when nothing. Feels wrong yet. Even when we. We may still feel tingles. And we feel. God. And we feel. We feel.

[10:50] A certain proximity. That's a big word. Proximity. Closeness. Because you know. Who else felt close.

[11:01] And you know. Who else was in proximity. And you know. Who else was blessed. Lot. Because of Abram's.

[11:12] Blessing. And because of Abram's. Obedience. And because of Abram's. Altars. And direction of his life. Lot too. Was blessed. Ooh. We're going somewhere.

[11:22] This morning. We're not talking about. A sin list. And we're not going to. We're not going to. Have a piece of paper.

[11:33] And we're going to write out. You know. All of our sins. And all of our shortcomings. But here's what we're talking about. We're talking about alignment. We're talking about. Our lives being aligned. To what God wants us to do.

[11:45] And I feel such a burden. This morning. Such a burden. For this. For my life. For my children. For my wife. For this church family of ours.

[11:58] We've got to find a place of alignment. To God's will. We've got to find a place of alignment. To what God is wanting to do. In our church. And you know what. For you. Even to show up.

[12:09] As a huge declaration. And is a huge saying. Because it shows that you too. Want your life to be in line with God. That you too. Want your life to be.

[12:19] In line with what God. Is wanting to do. In the church. In your life. Amen. For your family. Praise God. Because this church is not built on perfection.

[12:33] Thank God for that. Right? This church is not built on perfection. And getting everything correct. Because we. We can go down a list again. Of just stories. And. And all those.

[12:44] A lot of things in our lives. And we can say. Well this was bad. This was bad. This was bad. This was good. This was good. This. This. This church. This church. This people.

[12:54] This movement. Was built. Not on perfection. But it was built. On altars. It was built. On altars. Erected. And created. And designed.

[13:05] By men. And women. Who said. God. I don't. Have it all together. But Lord. I want to be in line. With the word. I want to be in line. With your will.

[13:17] God. I want to be in line. With what you want to do. In these last days. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank God. For a people. That want to be in line. With the word of God.

[13:27] And the will of God. In this hour. Hallelujah. Praise God. The story. Shows. A pattern. In human history.

[13:38] In human nature. The story. Shows a pattern. In scripture. Of this thing. Of just. Of drift. Of misalignment. But it also shows.

[13:49] A story. Of hope. Thank God. For hope. Hallelujah. Because there have been. Days where I've been misaligned. There have been moments. Where I've been misaligned.

[14:00] Hallelujah. But thanks be to God. That he has provided. A way for us. To become aligned. Again. And get it right. With God. Hallelujah.

[14:16] Genesis 13. 3-4. And he went. On his journey. From the south. Even to Bethel. Unto the place. Or the house of God. Unto the place. Where his tent. Had been. At the beginning.

[14:26] So he's going back. Unto the place of the altar. Which he had made. There at the first. And there. Abram called. On the name. Of the Lord. See this. This matters to us. This matters.

[14:37] Amen. Abram didn't build altars. After God. Had blessed him. He built altars. Before. God fulfilled. The promise. He heard.

[14:50] The word of God. He heard. The voice. Of God. God. But Abram. Built. An altar. And Abram. Didn't say. God bless me. Then I'll worship you.

[15:02] God. Give it. Give me. What I want. And then I'm going to worship you. God. Answer my prayer. And God. Then I'm going to worship you. He said.

[15:12] God. I'll worship you. Before I ever see it. God. I'll worship you. Before I ever realize. The promise. I realize. The blessing.

[15:23] Hallelujah. Oh God. That we will take on that mindset. Lord. God. Before you answer my prayers. Before God. You hear me. Before God. You answer. Give me the promise.

[15:33] The blessing. In my life. God. I'm going to worship you. Before. Because you're so worthy. Because you're so righteous. And because you're so good to me. God. I'm going to lift up my hands. I haven't realized it yet.

[15:45] God. But I'm going to worship you. Regardless. And even if it's not what I want. God. I'm going to worship you. Because you are good. Hallelujah. Biblically.

[16:01] Altars were. Places of encounters. Places of sacrifice. Places of alignment. Places where heaven. Touched earth.

[16:13] Praise God. And altar said. God. Is first here. God. Is a priority. Here. This is what altars say.

[16:24] This. Is where God. Is going to be a priority. I'm building an altar. Because. I want. My family. I want to know. My family wants.

[16:35] I want them to know. That this is where God. Is a priority. And where he's first. In our lives. Not to be perfect people.

[16:46] But to be a prioritized people. You hear what I'm saying. Not to be a perfect. Or I. Well now that I've got this altar erected. Now that I've got a place of prayer. A place of repentance.

[16:57] A place. Of where I can connect with God. And I understand. We can connect with God. Just about anywhere. Okay. But. It's establishing a routine. And it's establishing.

[17:08] You can't even say a ritual. A place of where. Where you meet with God. Because it tells something about our. Our devotion. It tells something about our willingness. To be devoted to God.

[17:19] Amen. But that altar. Tells our family. It tells us. It tells. It tells everybody that. You know what. I'm not perfect. But. I am prioritized.

[17:31] God is first. And altars. They know. They marked. Territory. As God's space. Altars. They.

[17:42] They. Symbolized. This is God's. This. Space. Belongs. To God. And for Abram.

[17:54] You know. He was a man. Of building altars. Scripture records him. Building an altar. At Shechem. Genesis 12 and 7. An altar of promise. God appears. Abram responds.

[18:06] Genesis 12 and 8. Between Bethel. And Ai. It was an altar. Of being realigned again. His tent. Was facing.

[18:17] Bethel. The house of God. An altar. In the middle. I'm going to read something here to you. The idea of pitching the tent. Symbolizes direction.

[18:30] And focus. Lot's choice to pitch. His tent towards Sodom. Revealed his gradual alignment. With a morally corrupt. Environment. He was drawn.

[18:41] By the allure of prosperity. Of what his eyes could see. Even though it placed him near danger. Abram. On the other hand. Pitched his tent toward the promises of God.

[18:54] Often marked by altars. And by covenant. And it shows Abram's attitude of faith. And his reliance on God's promises. Rather than immediate earthly appeal.

[19:06] Appeal. The contrast. Is stark. Lot's choice leads him to trouble. Abram's choice leads him to deeper covenant. And blessing.

[19:17] So we're talking about a tale of two tents. Two directions. Of those tents. Abram's direction of his tent. Leads to deeper covenant. Deeper agreement with God.

[19:29] Deeper blessing. And deeper promise. And as we're going to find out. Lot's choice. Leads him further into a place.

[19:42] Where they're morally corrupt. A place where there is sin in the cities. Where there's trouble in the cities. And ultimately where there is destruction and judgment that does happen.

[19:55] Two tents. Two different directions. Two different outcomes. Amen. Amen. So it begs the question about the tents in our lives.

[20:07] It begs the question about the tents of you and of me. Of your life and of my life. Which direction is our tent facing?

[20:20] Which direction are we facing our tents? Are we facing our tents towards the house of God like Abram? Towards Bethel? Deeper in the covenant?

[20:31] Deeper in the promise? Deeper into the will of God? Or are our tents facing Sodom and Gomorrah? Are our tents facing a place of compromise?

[20:43] Of sin? It's why it matters what we watch. What we listen to. Young people in the back. I'm talking to you too. You understand me?

[20:55] I see your guys in little Edgar haircuts in the back there kind of bobbing up and down. I hope it's in agreement to what I'm saying. Amen. It matters what we listen to.

[21:06] It matters what we praise God. You know, I started, you know what? I decided like a week or two ago. I said, you know, I am going to listen to nothing but gospel music and preaching.

[21:17] That's all I'm going to listen to. And I told God, I said, Lord, maybe some church leadership podcast, but I just said, I want to get my mind and my heart aligned with God.

[21:29] God, I want to pitch my tent to the right direction. Amen. And if that means that I'm going to listen to only Christian music, only gospel, and only preaching in God, that's what I've got to do.

[21:42] Amen. I don't know what you've got to do, but you've got to decide which direction your tent is pointing. Amen. Hallelujah. Because it matters. Either you're getting closer to blessing or you're getting closer to sin.

[21:54] You're getting closer to promise or you're getting closer to immorality. Praise God. Your music, your entertainment, it all matters to God. Amen.

[22:06] Praise God. He built an altar in Hebron, Genesis 13, 18. An altar after they had separated him and Lot. After Lot leaves, Abram worships again.

[22:18] Mount Moriah, Genesis 22, an altar of surrender when Isaac is laid down. When God told him to say, take your son, your only son of your old age, and go sacrifice him.

[22:31] And when he was about to, the angel stopped him. And God said, now I know. Now I know. You trust me. Now I know you mean business, Abram. Abraham. So before inheritance, before promise, before multiplication, before legacy, altars.

[22:51] Altars. Altars. Altars. Altars. Altars. Altars. Altars. Hallelujah. Before inheritance and before blessings and before legacy and all those things.

[23:05] There were altars and there was a direction of a tent. Direction of a tent. And you see, altars today are not piles of stone.

[23:18] Bless you. Altars today are not piles of stone and rubble. Altars today, you know what they are today? Altars today are disciplines. Altars today are patterns in your life, in my life.

[23:33] Altars today are habits that realign you and I with God. Amen. Altars are prayer. Altars are repentance. Altars are the word of God.

[23:45] Altars are coming to the house of God. Amen. I'm going to say that again. Altars are coming to the house of God. Praise the Lord. Altars are family devotion.

[23:59] Altars are calling on the name of the Lord. Those are altars. Praise God. And Abram knew something that I think that we have forgotten.

[24:12] That you don't drift toward God. You return to Him. Amen. You don't drift back into a relationship with God. You don't casually move back into a relationship with God.

[24:24] You don't, and at the same time, you don't casually drift away from God either. It takes intention. It takes paying attention to what we are doing in our lives.

[24:37] And Genesis 13 says that Abram went back to the altar. Same altar. Same God. No shame. And as I mentioned, when we read the scripture, he had gone to Egypt.

[24:52] He had gone to Egypt because of a famine and because he was scared. He didn't know what to do. He went around and then he lied to Pharaoh about Sarah.

[25:03] Because I guess Sarah was smoking hot. He'd say, because you're beautiful, you know, they're going to take you and they're going to kill me. So tell them that you're my sister.

[25:13] Which was technically kind of true. But, you know, he disobeyed God, number one.

[25:24] Then he lies about it. Because, again, because of his smoking hot wife. I got a smoking hot wife, too. So I got distracted by her beauty.

[25:43] But, you know, the failure, Abram's failure. Here's the thing. It's a great thing about God. Abram's failure didn't cancel the promise. Oh, this is going to help somebody.

[25:57] Failure did not cancel the promise of God in his life. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank God for that. Failure didn't reject him from the promises of God. You know, he made a mistake.

[26:08] But you know what it required? It required getting realignment with God again. And here's a beautiful thing for all of us. And hope for you and I is that that's hope.

[26:18] And that's a promise to you and I. That if you have failed. If you have messed up. If you have drifted. Amen. There is a way back to God.

[26:29] There is a way back to him. Hallelujah. You don't need a new life. You don't need to sacrifice bulls. You know what you need to do? You need to stop. And you need an altar.

[26:41] You need to stop. And you need to find a place of repentance. Amen. Praise God. Now enter Lot.

[26:52] Everyone say Lot. Lot. Oh boy. Here comes Lot. And Lot lifted up his eyes. And beheld all the plain of Jordan. And Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan.

[27:10] And verse 12 of chapter 13 says. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan. And Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain.

[27:22] And pitched his tent towards Sodom. He pitched his tent towards Sodom. We read that Abram pitched his tent towards Bethel.

[27:35] The house of God. But now Lot is pitching his tent towards Sodom. And Sodom and Gomorrah. Those cities. I mean. Anybody.

[27:46] Who's anybody talking. You mention those names. And they go. Oh whoa. Yeah. That's pretty bad. Of what was going on. There was debauchery. And filth. And homosexuality. And a number of sins.

[27:58] In those cities. But Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain. And pitched his tent towards Sodom. Notice. What Lot does not build.

[28:10] This is really important. Notice what Lot does not build. He does not build an altar. He does not build an altar.

[28:24] No calling on the name of the Lord. And there's no stopping place. Lot is blessed. But he's blessed by proximity. He's blessed by proximity to Abram.

[28:37] And not by priority. He benefits from Abram's altar life. But he never builds one himself. And proximity faith never sustains lives.

[28:49] It never sustains families. Amen. Just because you're close to the blessing. Just because you're close because of a family member. Or because you're close to God's presence.

[29:00] Because of mom. And because of dad. Does not mean that you have your own altar. Does not mean that you have your own walk with God. Does not mean that you have your own blessing in your family.

[29:11] Amen. Because proximity faith never sustains families. Never sustains walks with God. Amen. Amen. Let me just say it like this.

[29:23] You cannot live off someone else's prayer life. You can never live off of someone else's altar life. You can never live off somebody else's devotion to God.

[29:35] Just because mom prays. Just because dad prays. Just because your wife prays. And because your husband prays. Does not mean that you're close to God. Does not mean that it will sustain you in your life.

[29:48] You cannot live off of somebody else's prayer life forever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Our children cannot live off my altar. Cash can't live off of my altar.

[30:02] Thomas cannot live off of my altar. All these young and still in that place of innocence. You know. We're praying for him. And we're loving him. And we're trying to show them the ways of God.

[30:15] But at some point. They have to get their own altar built. Their own lives. Living for God. Their own prayer life. Their own devotion. Amen. And for some of us that are growing up.

[30:28] That are babes in Christ. Or just coming to know who God is. We've got to build our own prayer life. Our own altar. Our own place of repentance. Our own place of devotion.

[30:39] Amen. Amen. If you have not built an altar. Or habits in your life. It's going to be a struggle. We've got to build our own altars.

[30:55] But Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom. Because his eyes deceived him. His eyes saw blessing.

[31:06] And saw wealth. And water lands. And he said. No. This is where I want to go. And he pitched his tent towards those wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

[31:17] And every morning that he woke up. He saw the wickedness. Every time he got up.

[31:27] His daughters saw the wickedness. Every time he got up. His wife saw the wickedness of those cities. Every time they got up. The family witnessed what was before them.

[31:39] What we put before our eyes. What we put before our hearts. Matters. Amen. What we put before our eyes. Our ears. Our lives. Our hearts.

[31:50] It matters. Because the more that we see it. The more that we wake up. Out of our tent. And look at what's before us. We become familiar with. And we become comfortable with.

[32:02] Oh. Oh. I love you church. I love you church. Hallelujah. We need to hear this.

[32:13] When we wake up. Just like law. When we wake up out of our tents. And we look. What we are facing. And seeing every day. For a moment.

[32:23] We may be off in a distance. But as we're going to find out. Because we become so familiar with it. And become so desensitized. To the sin. And to the debauchery of it.

[32:34] Hallelujah. We begin to move closer to it. And closer to it. And eventually. We're going to be at the gates. And living within it. Amen.

[32:45] Hallelujah. Oh. Help us Lord. Help us Lord. Jesus. He didn't move in yet. Lord. Lord. Didn't participate yet.

[32:56] He just faced that direction. That's how drift works folks. That's how drift works. We may not be doing it. We may not be involved with it.

[33:06] But we're facing it. And we're becoming desensitized to it. Huh. His family wasn't destroyed. His wife. Getting destroyed. Him and his daughters.

[33:18] They get caught up in that stuff. Overnight. You know what happened? It was day. After day. After day. Of being familiar. With the sin. Day after day.

[33:29] Being familiar. With the debauchery. Day after day. Being familiar. With the wickedness. Of that city. Again. This is why it's so important. With what we put ourselves around. And what we put in front of our eyes.

[33:41] And what we listen to. The music. The conversations. The relationships we allow in our lives. It all matters. Hallelujah. Oh.

[33:52] Woo. Let me talk about relationships for a minute. You know. Not. I mean. We are to love everybody. Okay. We're to love people. But it does not mean we can.

[34:04] We should associate with every single person. Or we should associate with every single relationship. There are certain relationships we probably should cut off. Ha ha ha.

[34:21] If you're hanging up with smoking weed and doing drugs. Are you going to still hang out at the crack house? Are you. Should you still hang out with the dealers? No. Because we're going to get caught back into those things.

[34:35] We're going to fall back into those. We're going to have that temptation to fall back into that. That's why relationships. Who we associate ourselves with is so important.

[34:47] If we struggle with music. If we struggle with pornography. If we struggle with movies. And whatever it might be. And we associate ourselves with those things. Or those relationships. That they do.

[34:59] They hate those people. They do watch porn. They do do drugs. They do this and that and the other. And I hang out with them. I'm going to fall right back into that mess all over again.

[35:10] So our relationships. Who we hang out with. Who we're friends. And who we're buddies with. Do matter. Amen. Because it doesn't happen overnight folks.

[35:23] You see. And we jump to. See. Because now we jump to chapter 19. There's a lot that happens in between. Locke gets caught captive. Abraham goes and delivers him. God comes and sees Abraham.

[35:34] Saying I'm going to destroy the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Because of the sin and wickedness that's in there. And then Abraham intercedes for Lot. To not destroy the city of Sodom.

[35:45] Because now he's no longer just having his tent pitched in the direction of the wicked cities. He's now living in the cities. But not only that. He is now sitting at the gates.

[35:58] Which means. He's making choices of what happens in that city. Which means he's helping to make decisions of what happens in the city of that wicked city.

[36:09] So Lot lives in Sodom. His family is entangled. And so on. And so on. And so on. And things happen. Amen.

[36:20] Let's read this real fast. And there came two angels to Sodom at even. And Lot sat at the gate of Sodom. And Lot seeing them rose up to meet them.

[36:32] And he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. Verse 12. And the man said unto Lot. Hast thou any besides? Son-in-law and thy sons and thy daughters.

[36:45] And whatsoever thou hast in the city. Bring them out to this place. Because Lot takes the angels back to his house. For we will destroy this place.

[36:56] Because the cry of them is waxing great before the face of the Lord. And the Lord hath sent us. As the angels talking. To destroy it. And Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-laws.

[37:08] Which married his daughters and said. Up. Get you out of this place. For the Lord will destroy it. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-laws.

[37:19] So they didn't respect him. You know why? Because they saw his compromise. Church. If we compromise in our lives.

[37:32] And we're okay to watch sin. And okay to watch and participate in those things. And filth and debauchery. You know what? We lose credibility.

[37:45] We destroy our testimony. This is true. God help us.

[38:02] And when the morning arose. And the angels hastened Lot. Saying arise. Take your wife and thy two daughters. Which are there. Lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. Verse 16.

[38:12] And while he lingered. The men laid hold upon his hand. Upon the hand of his wife. And upon the hand of his two daughters. And the Lord be merciful unto him. They brought him forth.

[38:24] And set him without the city. And it came to pass. When they had brought out them forth abroad. That he said escape for your life. Look not behind thee.

[38:34] Neither stay thou in all the plain. Escape to the mountain. This is serious business right here. Church. This is serious of what's happening.

[38:46] They're about to destroy the cities. Fire and brimstone are about to come down and destroy. God's bringing in judgments. But because of the intercession of Abram.

[38:58] The two angels go to get Lot. So there was real urgency. To get out. I don't know what you were caught up in. I don't know what your family's caught up in.

[39:09] But there was an urgency to get out of whatever that might be. There's an urgency for you and I to get out of whatever sin. Whatever trouble. Whatever trouble we're borrowing.

[39:21] To get out of that stuff. And align ourselves back into God. Hallelujah. And Lot said unto them. Oh not so my Lord.

[39:33] And so they flee. They flee and they run. It says don't look back. Verse 24. And Lot raised upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah.

[39:47] Brimstone and fire from the Lord. Out of heaven. God means business. God ain't playing games. God means business. Verse 26.

[40:00] But his wife looked back from behind him. And she became a pillar of salt. Verse 29.

[40:10] And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain. That God remembered Abram. That God remembered Abraham.

[40:21] And sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow. When he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. All from the direction of his tent. All from just where his tent is positioned.

[40:46] All because of where his tent is facing. Of where his eyes looked. And where his eyes lingered. Where his family became comfortable with.

[41:00] Of allowing what sin into their tent. And into their lives. Abraham faced towards blessing. Lot faced towards destruction.

[41:11] These are the tale of two tents. And church. Let me tell you. We have a choice this morning. We have a choice today. Of which way we're going to face our tents in our families.

[41:24] Are we going to face our tent towards promise. And towards altars. And towards blessing. And towards God's favor. And towards covenant. Or are we going to face our tents.

[41:34] Towards wickedness. And towards filth. And towards sin. That will ultimately as we see from Lot's life. Destroy our families.

[41:51] But let me also say this. This is not about hating culture. It's not about hating the world. And hating people. This is about facing God.

[42:01] This is about you and I. Having our hearts facing in the right direction. Because your tent will always face what you value most.

[42:19] Your tent and my tent. Will always face in the direction of what we value most. Is it an altar? Is it a place of repentance?

[42:30] Is it a place of coming to the house of God? Is it a place? Or is it to worldly music? Is it to movies? That have all kinds of filth and debauchery in it.

[42:42] Is it faced towards? You tell me. Praise God. And you tell the Lord. But all I'm saying is that what we face. Shows what we value most. So the question is.

[42:54] You know. What direction is your schedule facing? What direction is your phone facing? What direction is your home facing? What direction is your life facing?

[43:07] Hallelujah. What direction is your calendar facing? What direction is your Sunday morning facing? Hallelujah. What direction is your midweek facing? What direction is your Bible facing?

[43:19] How about your prayer life? My prayer life. What direction are we saying? Altars say this. As for me and my house.

[43:30] We will serve the Lord. This is what altars say. As for me and my house. We will serve God. The direction of our tents say.

[43:42] As for me and my house. We will serve the Lord. This is not a slogan. This is a structure. I mean I guess you could slap it on the back of your car.

[43:52] That would be kind of cool. But this is about a structure for our lives. Can I just say something about families for a minute? Family altars don't have to be complicated.

[44:05] They just have to be consistent. And I'm going to say something also. I messed up in this area. I'm not as consistent as I should be.

[44:16] But you know what? We need to do it. And I felt it in my heart. My spirit this morning. I felt conviction. God I need to get my. My family's prayer life.

[44:30] Our devotion. Our altars. We need to get it right. We only got so many years with our children in our homes. Amen. Praise God.

[44:41] But it's being consistent. Prayer before bed. Scripture at the table. Church as a priority. Hello somebody. Church as a priority. If I don't go.

[44:52] Then why should they go? Church as a priority. Church as a priority. Repentance modeled. Not hidden. Because an altar says that God you are welcome here.

[45:05] And when family altars disappear. You know what fills that space? It's drift. Drift fills that space as well. Oh. We read chapter 13.

[45:21] And it asks a question. In Genesis 19 we read. It answers it. About the direction of our tents.

[45:33] The direction of our hearts and of our lives. But today. We're still in Genesis 13. We still get to decide this morning.

[45:46] Which direction our tent's going to face. We still get to decide this morning. Which direction is my life going to face. And what altars am I going to build.

[45:59] This is not a license to sin. But this is a chance to realign. Our lives. Jesus told the woman coming to adultery.

[46:12] He said neither do I condemn thee. But go and sin no more. Grace forgives. But truth realigns our lives to him. Some of you.

[46:25] Some of us don't need fire. And brimstone to fall down on us right now. You know what we need? We need an altar again. Well I don't know. Maybe some of us don't do. Get knocked in the head.

[46:39] And back to reality. Praise the Lord. But we need. We need to build an altar again. You don't need to move cities.

[46:50] You don't need to move towns. You need to turn your tent. That's good. People think. Oh because I moved to this location. Or I moved to this church.

[47:01] Or I moved to that place. My life's going to be better. You know what? You know who's going to be there when you get there? You are. The same problems. The same mind. The same habits.

[47:12] The same mentalities. You know. It's all going to be there. Waiting for you. We don't need to do all that. You know what needs to happen? We need to turn our tent. In the right direction.

[47:24] That's what needs to happen. And so today. Before drift. Becomes damage. And before direction. Becomes destiny. God is calling.

[47:36] South Bay Church. Back to the altar. Back to the altar. Back to the altar. Father. Hallelujah. Let's all stand this morning.

[47:47] Hallelujah. Church. You know. I'm going to just share this with us.

[48:00] You know. There's coming a day where. Vision. For the church. And the future of the church. Is going to be. Preached. But right now.

[48:13] You know. What we need. Is. Is just some realignment with God. That's all we need. So before the promise.

[48:26] And before the blessings. And all those things. Like Gabriel. We need. To build altars. Or rebuild the altar. Amen.

[48:39] And find. And direct our tents. In the right direction. Praise God. So.

[48:50] If you're ready. To realign with God. Can I get everyone's attention please. Mister. In the back there. If we. Thank you. If you're ready.

[49:03] If you're ready. To realign. To rebuild. If you're ready. If you're ready to say. God. My family starts with you. This altar is open.

[49:22] Not for shame. But for alignment. Not to shame us. But for us to get realigned with God. Once again.

[49:34] That's what this altar is for. You know. We talk about altars all the time. Altar. Altar. But altars.

[49:45] Are a place of just realignment with God. Which is why it worries me sometimes. That people don't come to the altar. A number of different reasons. A number of different reasons.

[49:57] One. I think maybe they. They think. Think about altars as a wrong thing. Think about it as shame. It's not about shame. No one's here to shame you. No one's here to embarrass you.

[50:11] This is about the grace and the goodness of God. In our lives. So number one. I think people have a wrong understanding of an altar. I think it's for shame.

[50:23] And I think. The other thing is too. They just don't understand. What an altar represents. Realignment with God. In the simplest term that I can put in. It's about realignment with God. That's it.

[50:38] We can go deeper into the. Etymology of the word altar. We can go deeper into the Hebrew and the Greek about all that. If you'd like. We can do it. But in the simplest form.

[50:50] Term. The altar represents realignment with God. It says Lord. I'm tired of trying it my way. God. I want to realign with you again. God. Which is why I'm coming to the altar today.

[51:04] Because I want to realign with you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Jesus. So church. That's the question. Where's your tent facing?

[51:15] Is it facing like Abraham. Towards blessing. And favor. And. Covenant. And towards promise. Or is your tent facing.

[51:29] Drift. And facing. Away from God. And away from his house. And away. From his goodness. And away from his mercy. Hallelujah. I feel the Holy Ghost this morning.

[51:42] So I want to invite you to this altar this morning. Let's all come to this altar. And let's get realigned once again with God today. Let's lay it at the altar. Say Lord.

[51:53] I'm tired. Lord. I'm weak. God. I've come to the altar. Lord. To say. I want to be in alignment with you again. God. Jesus is calling me. I want to be in alignment with you again.

[52:05] God. Because I feel so distant today. Lord. I'm to the altar. My family needs you. I need you God. The Father's arms are open wide.

[52:17] Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.