[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:14] If you would take your Bibles, turn with me to Genesis chapter 11 and I'll try to be quick. Genesis chapter 11. And before we get there, I just...
[0:25] The title of my message tonight is God's man that God will use to save all nations. And we're closing Genesis chapter 11 and we're getting ready to get in Genesis chapter 12. And as you know, it's going to be about Abraham.
[0:38] But just so we can get an overview, just so you can see what God has done in these past 11 chapters, I'd like to just remind you of a couple things. In Genesis chapter 1 through 3, the Bible tells us the story of Adam and Eve.
[0:51] And you guys remember the place where God put them? He put them in the Garden of Eden. And He gave them one rule. He says, don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And you guys know from the story that man rebelled.
[1:04] And through man's rebellion and disobeying, God had to judge them. And death was brought upon all men. But not only that was that the judgment, but also that God had to kick or remove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
[1:19] Remember how He put the angel in front of the gate of the Garden and He had that flaming sword that would go back. And man could never reenter to the Garden of Eden. But God's grace, God's grace was shown even though He passed out judgment.
[1:36] In Genesis 3.15, He gives them a promise. He says, I'm going to send you a seed. And this seed is going to crush the head of the serpent or bruise the head of the serpent. And He's going to bruise His heel. This seed is going to basically save mankind.
[1:47] And so God was gracious in that story. He was also gracious to not let them return to the Garden. Because if they were to return, He says in Genesis 3.22, He talks about, you know, they might eat of the tree of life.
[2:01] And they might live forever. And think about man's state. If they were able to live forever and sin. How terrible and how corrupt they would be. And God once again shows His grace.
[2:11] Then in the next story that we see in Genesis chapter 4. The next major story. We see the two brothers in Genesis chapter 4. And two brothers make an offering unto God.
[2:24] And God gives them rule. He says, Cain, if you just do well, I'll accept your offering. And you guys know what Cain did. He rebelled against God. And he wouldn't humble himself.
[2:35] And he ended up killing his brother. And so that's what we see is him murdering his brother. That was his rebellion. And God came down. And he had to judge man's sin. And so he cursed Cain.
[2:47] And he said, whatever you do, whenever you try to till up the ground. And that ground that you once loved. And whenever you try to plant something. I'm not going to let anything come up. And I'm going to make you a vagabond. And you're just going to wander around.
[3:00] And Cain's response to God was, God, that's too much. But God was gracious, wasn't he? Once again, he heard Cain's cry. And he says, Cain, I'm going to allow you to live.
[3:11] I'm going to protect you. God again comes down. And he sees man's rebellious heart in Genesis chapter 6. And he sees that wickedness was on their mind continually. And their imagination. And it hurt him so bad that he said that it.
[3:25] That he felt bad for making mankind. And so God had to judge sin. Because there's consequences with sin.
[3:35] So he decided to flood the world. But he didn't do so without warning them. Man, our God is a gracious God. He is a gracious God.
[3:45] He warned them. And he had a preacher. A preacher of righteousness. That's what Peter says. A preacher of righteousness for 120 years. He preached. And he warned the people that judgment was coming. Yet only eight souls were saved.
[3:57] But God is still gracious. Then the fourth story. The one that we just got done talking about in Genesis. God told Noah after he got off the ark.
[4:11] He said, I want you to fill the earth. Be fruitful and multiply. And fill the earth. And what was man's response to God's command? Or God's rule? They decided to make themselves a city.
[4:23] They rebelled against God once again. They rebelled. And they said, lest we get scattered abroad. Let's make a name for ourselves. And let's build this tower up towards the heaven.
[4:34] Toward God. And so man once again rebelled. And what did God have to do? He had to sentence punishment. He had to sentence punishment. And so he went down there.
[4:45] And he confounded. He mixed up everyone's language. So they couldn't communicate back and forth. And they ended up going all over the world. With different languages. Man, God was gracious.
[4:56] Because he said that if he didn't confound their language. There would be nothing that they could do. There was nothing that their imagination would come up in their mind. That they couldn't do. But God just didn't leave it at that.
[5:08] You see, we go back until we learn the Bible. I believe the main heartbeat of the Bible is. God wants mankind to be redeemed. God wants mankind to be justified.
[5:18] God wants mankind to see the power of the cross. And he wants them. He's not willing that any should perish. But that all should come to repentance. He's not a God that slacks in his promises.
[5:31] He's a God that loves the world. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 he says. He will have all men to be saved. And he also says. He says that Christ gave himself a ransom for all. God loves the world.
[5:43] So in that and his grace. Not only did he confound the language. But he had a problem. God had a problem. Everyone was out there with their own language.
[5:54] They're scattered abroad. God. And so God called out a man. A man named Abram. And he was going to bless that man. And he was going to curse those that cursed him.
[6:05] And bless those that blessed him. But through that man. Through that man. All the nations. All the earth. All the people. Would be blessed. God was going to use the nation of Israel.
[6:19] To show how good. And how gracious. And how merciful. And how wonderful he was. So people would see. Whenever they saw Israelites. They're like. Man I want to be part of that. I want to see that God.
[6:30] Because he loves the world. And today we get to learn about the intro. The introduction. Of the man. That God uses. To save all nations. And we're not talking about Jesus Christ.
[6:41] He is. He is the man. He is the God that saves all nations. But this is the man that God uses. Let's pray real quick. Before we get into. Genesis 11. Dear Lord. Thank you for this day.
[6:52] Thank you for the opportunity. Lord. That I get to preach your word. Lord God. I ask that you would just. Bless this day. Bless our pastors as they're going. Lord God. Help me to. To speak your word. And help others to understand it. And help me to be clear in my speech.
[7:03] And I'll give you all the praise. In Jesus name. Amen. The Bible starts in Genesis chapter 11. Verses 27. The Bible says this. Now these are the generations. Of Terah. Terah begat Abram.
[7:14] Nahor. And Haran. And Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father. Terah. In the land of his nativity. And Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives. And the name of Abram's wife was Sarai.
[7:27] And the name of Nahor's wife was Malchah. And the daughter of Haran. The daughter of Haran. The father of Malchah. And the father of Isca. But Sarai was barren and had no children. And Terah took Abram his wife.
[7:39] Excuse me. And Lot his son of Haran. His son's son. And Sarai. His daughter-in-law. And Abram. Abram's wife. And they went. And they went forth. From Ur.
[7:50] Of the Chaldees. To go into the land of Canaan. And they came into Haran. And dwelt there. And the days of Terah were 205 years. And Terah died. In Haran. We're going to talk about Abraham.
[8:01] Over the next 13 chapters. We're going to look through the story of Abraham. And it's said that if you're going to judge a man. You don't judge a man until you walk a mile in his shoes. And it's my hope today to show you where Abraham came from.
[8:15] Where his environment was like. What his family life was like. What did he have to do to overcome. To be the chosen one that was going to bless all nations. And doing so I've got two points. Two points.
[8:26] It's simple. I'm a simple minded person. Two points. We're going to talk about the origin of Abraham. And the obstacles of Abraham. The first thing we see is in the origin.
[8:36] Or where Abraham started. It says in verse 31. Abraham took his son and Lot. The son of Haran. The son of the son. And Sarai the daughter-in-law.
[8:46] And his son Abraham's wife. And they went forth from Ur. Of the Chaldees. First thing I want to point out. From the origin. Is Abraham was a citizen or a resident. Of the city of Ur.
[8:58] You're like what in the world are you talking about? This is like a Bible. Is this like some type of. I don't know. A class or something like that. Bible college class. Well I hope you get this. This helped me. I hope it helps you.
[9:08] In Acts chapter 7 verses 2. The Bible shows that God called Abram out of Mesopotamia. God called Abram out of Ur. And Ur. Just so you know. Just so you get some background history.
[9:19] Ur was a city state. A city most historians and his scholars believe. That had a population of 200,000 people. It was one of the greatest cities. It was one of the greatest cities of the regions of Mesopotamia.
[9:31] It was a developed city. It was advanced enough that some scholars believe that it had factories. Factories where non-landowning people could work. Factories in a sense that they would be making mass produced goods.
[9:45] This city was not only a developed advance. But it also had commerce. Most histories. It was located on the mighty Euphrates River. And therefore trade centers and workshops and factories were necessity to keep this.
[9:57] Such a great city and the economy afloat. They had government. They had a king. They had a ruler. There were civil servants that took care of many of the different jobs around the city.
[10:09] There was military. There was a military personnel. Which meant that the people of Ur had some source of safety and protection. It was actually said that in the city of Ur. When it was encircled the wall.
[10:21] There was a wall that encircled it. That was two and a half miles in circumference. And 77 feet thick. It was all made out of dirt because there was no rocks. Think about the protection.
[10:32] Think about the security. Think about the wealth that they had. And not only that. There was education. They studied things such as plants. And animals and minerals. And geography and theology.
[10:42] And all that stuff that bores you whenever you're in school. They were educated. They were an advanced city. It was an extremely advanced culture. They even had bookkeeping system.
[10:53] It was one of the first cities or first civilizations that wrote down stuff. They were advanced. Abraham was a man and a flourishing community for its time.
[11:09] Security. The possibility to increase in wealth and prestige. Was capable for Abraham and his family. And actually Abraham was a man of great wealth.
[11:20] You see in Genesis chapter 13 verses 2 the Bible says. That Abraham was very rich in cattle, silver and in gold. I know what most of you are going to say. You're like well I.
[11:31] Didn't Abraham go to Egypt and didn't he get a lot of that stuff? Well yeah but he said that he got. It was most likely that the cattle were partially given to him by Pharaoh. But the gold and the silver were never mentioned in those gifts.
[11:41] When Pharaoh gave it to Abraham. If you guys remember the story. You see the city that Abraham lived in had many great characteristics. But it also had many negatives.
[11:54] It was full of idolatry. Ur and Mesopotamia were known for the worship of a moon god. It was said in the city that they had a temple for the moon god. That it was a brick stage tower.
[12:07] And if you were to measure it out it would be 200 feet in length. 150 feet in width. And it would reach 70 feet tall. That's pretty incredible for a civilization almost 4,000 years ago.
[12:19] This three stage tower is where they would come and they would worship the moon. They were truly a Romans 125 type culture. Romans 125 people.
[12:30] Who changed the truth of God into a lie. And worshiped and served the creature or the creation more than the creator. And can I remind you this is where Abraham grew up.
[12:41] This is where Abraham grew up. When festivals and times they get together. Whenever they had the family reunions. They were all involved in this part of this culture. This culture where they worshipped idolatry.
[12:53] They had false gods. And this culture where they had wealth. And many other things that could pull one's attention away. And Abraham grew up there.
[13:05] But he only grew up in Ur. But look what else it says about his family in this passage. It also talks about his family in Genesis 11. Abraham had a father. And his father was named Terah.
[13:16] Now the Bible doesn't give us a whole bunch of info on who Terah was. But it does give us some light on who he was. Terah was in the ninth generation.
[13:27] From Shem the son of Noah. If you remember the story when Noah gets on to the ark. He has three sons. Ham, Shem, and Japheth. Shem, Japheth. Yeah.
[13:38] Ham, Shem, and Japheth. Okay. We'll get that right. We'll get this right one of these days. And remember the son that went in there. And he looked at his father's nakedness. And Noah cursed him. Well Ham was the one that was blessed. He was the one who's the line.
[13:50] That promise of Genesis 3.15. It was through his line that Christ was going to come. And so Terah was out of that line. But not only was he out of that line.
[14:00] But Terah, what the Bible says, was an idol worshiper. You see. In Joshua chapter 24 and verse 2. The Bible says, And Joshua said unto all the people. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel.
[14:12] Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in the old time. Even Terah, the father of Abraham. And the father of Nahor. And they served other gods. Can you imagine that?
[14:26] Growing up in a family. We are so blessed. We are so blessed to live in a country. Where we not only get to. Man we. Most of us here. We've grown up in church.
[14:38] We've got to hear the gospel before it was too late. And here is a man. Who grew up. All they knew was idol worship. You see the rest of his family did that. Worshipped idols too.
[14:50] You say how do you know that? Well you remember when. When. When. Abraham. And Sarah finally had their son. Isaac. And in Genesis chapter 24.
[15:02] The Bible says. You remember the story. When Isaac. When Abraham sent out. His servant. Eleazar. To go find his. His son. A wife. And while he was there. He. He. He. He. He. He.
[15:12] He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. Abraham's. Brother. That was. Abraham's. Brother's. Granddaughter. And he brought her back. And Abraham married her.
[15:24] Well. I. Isaac. Married her. Well. Isaac and Rebecca. Had two sons. If you remember the story. Jacob and Esau. And Jacob. When he. When he stole. And he robbed the blessing.
[15:34] From his older brother. He fled to a place. A place. If you remember the story. His mother told him to flee. To her uncle. To her brother's house. His uncle's house. Laban.
[15:45] And Laban was the grandson. Of Nahor. And you remember the story. How Jacob. Jacob was there. For I think about 21 years. And how he served 14 years.
[15:55] For his wives. And he had Leah and Rachel. Do you remember what happened. When. Before. Before Jacob left. That. That. That. That. That. That. That house. Do you remember when Laban.
[16:06] In Genesis chapter 31. Verses 19. He's out there shearing the sheep. What Rachel did. She went into dad's house. And she found the images. And she stole them. And that's part of the reasons.
[16:17] Why Laban caught up. And found them. Those images weren't self family. They weren't family portraits. You know that right. They didn't have photography back then. Those images were the same thing.
[16:27] That. That. That. That King Josiah put away. In second Kings chapter 23. In verse 24. So in other words. What I'm trying to say. Say here. Is that the origin. Of.
[16:38] Of. Of Abram. That his family wasn't a God fearing family. But rather. It was the opposite. Abram was a pagan. And he came from a pagan upbringing.
[16:50] He lived in an environment. That would encourage a lifestyle. That was not pleasing to God. And can I say. Yet. He. He lived this lifestyle. And in spite of that upbringing.
[17:02] God still called him. God was still gracious. And calling him. Can I remind you. There was no good in Abraham. Abraham wasn't out there. Seeking God.
[17:13] But rather. God sought after Abraham. God sought after Abraham. We have a great God. So the first point. That we see in Abraham's life. In the introduction of Abraham's life.
[17:25] Is that his environment. His origin. Where. How he was brought up. It wasn't a good one. The second one. I want to show you. The second point. Is the obstacles. That Abraham had to face.
[17:37] Think about it. Put yourself in Abraham's shoes. In. In Matthew. Or in Acts chapter. Seven. Verse three. God actually commands Abraham. To do something.
[17:48] The Bible says. And God said unto him. Get thee out of thy country. And from thy kindred. And come into a land. Which I will show thee. You see.
[17:59] Abraham. The first obstacle. I see. In Abraham's life. Was Abraham. Had to overcome. The pull of the world. God says. Abraham. Get out of Ur.
[18:10] Leave everything. That you know. Leave the system. That you grew up under. Leave it all. Think about it. Abraham. When God called him. Called him out of such a.
[18:21] Successful. And a secure city. And think about. What type of man it would be. To follow a God you don't know. A God you never brought up. Hearing about. A God you didn't even.
[18:31] Know. And there's no intimacy. Like. Like. Like we have with God. That we didn't. He didn't know who God was. He. He never heard of him. Barely heard of him. And he called him. Not. Not just to follow him. But he called him. Out of the land.
[18:42] Where. Where he grew up. And he knew. What he knew. A place. Where there was no security. And in the first part.
[18:52] Of chapter 12. In Genesis chapter 12. Abraham. Think about this. He was in a. In a city. Extremely wealthy. Extremely productive. Everything taken care of.
[19:02] He comes to Canaan. And what happens. In Genesis chapter 12. Verses 10. Famine comes along. And Abraham has to leave. Think of what he has. Think of the obstacles.
[19:13] He has to overcome. I want to remind you. The reason why I went over. What Ur was. And where Abraham was. Because I want you to remind. I want you to see something. That Abraham wasn't a nomad.
[19:24] Just out there picking berries. But yet God called him to do that. God called him to live like a nomad. To have no home. To just dwell in a tent.
[19:35] To go from place to place. Until his death. I want to remind you. The same thing that. Abraham had to overcome. The same obstacle. That Abraham had to overcome. The pull from the world.
[19:47] It's the same thing. That Jesus calls us to do. Jesus says that. When we follow Jesus. We must leave all. And put our hand. And when we put our hand to the plow. We must never look back.
[19:58] This means that we must give up our. Our. Give up our security blankets. And our comfort zones. In our life. You remember the story. Of the rich young ruler. When he comes to Jesus. He says. Jesus. Jesus.
[20:08] What must I do. To enter in the kingdom of heaven. What am I. What am I doing to be saved. And Jesus says. Keep the law. He says. Well. Which law. He says. Well. Honor thy mother. Honor thy father. Don't lie.
[20:19] Do this. And the rich young ruler says. All this I've done. Is my youth. And Jesus says. Well that's good. Sell all that you have. And come and follow me. And he walked away. Very sad. Because he had much wealth. He couldn't overcome.
[20:29] That obstacle. Of the pull of the world. I hope that's not true. In your life. The second obstacle. That I see. In Abraham's life. Is he had to leave. All his family. In Acts chapter 7.
[20:42] Verses 3. He says. Get thee out of thy country. And from thy kindred. Abraham. Think about it. Think. Put yourself in Abraham's shoes. He had to lose. Everything.
[20:53] That was closest to him. He was living in a society. Where the dad rules. And he had to leave him. He was living in a society. Where his brother just died. And he has to leave his burial.
[21:04] He doesn't go back to his grave site. He lived in a society. Where he had to leave his brother. And all he had was just him. And his wife. And they had to step out by faith.
[21:16] I think about Philip and Laurie. And how they're going to leave for Thailand. They're not going to know anybody. And what a scary thought. What a scary thought. And to think that Abraham.
[21:28] When he stepped out. He did the same thing. But can I remind you. That's what Jesus calls his disciples to do. In Luke chapter 14. Verses 26.
[21:39] He says. If any man is going to come to me. And hate not his father. And his mother. And wife. And children. And brother. And sister. Yea. His own life also.
[21:49] He cannot be my disciple. And whatsoever doth. And whosoever doth not bear his cross. And come after me. He cannot be my disciple. What was Jesus telling them.
[22:01] That. In that story. Or that. In that. Declaration. He wasn't literally saying. Hate your mother. Hate your brother. Hate your father. Father. But rather. He was saying. That your love for me.
[22:11] And your obedience for me. Should be so great. That's like you hate your father. In comparison. And that you're going to follow God. And you're going to obey him. You might be sitting here. And you know that.
[22:22] That God has told you to do something. And you see it from the scripture. And you know it in your heart. But your family has different ideas for you. Or. Or the thought of losing a loved one. Would be too much for you to handle.
[22:33] Or maybe you're here. And you're looking back on the. On the past years. I can think of a couple people's stories out here. How you got saved. And you decided to set out. And you said. I'm going to follow you Jesus.
[22:44] And how you faced different obstacles in life. And how your parents didn't really understand. What you were doing. And how you actually said. Parents. I don't. I don't agree with your beliefs. I'm going to go to Bible college.
[22:56] And they're like. Why don't you go into a. To a college that we accept. But yet you said. I love Jesus. And I'm going to follow him. No matter what. You were willing to overcome that obstacle. Abraham was too.
[23:08] Can I bring you to remembrance though. Back to what happened in Abraham's life. Though Abraham. Lost his. His family.
[23:21] God gave him another family. He set out with no kids. By the end of it. He has several kids. Realize that God will take care of you.
[23:34] Realize that God will take care of you. The third. Obstacle. Abraham had overcome. If you read in Genesis chapter 11 verse 30. His wife was barren.
[23:47] She had no children. What do you mean? Like. What am I saying? What is this obstacle? It was impossible for Abraham. Abraham. And Sarah.
[23:58] To have children. Let alone a nation. That God was going to use to save the world. What God told Abraham that he was going to do. Made no sense. Abraham was old when God called him out.
[24:12] He was 75 years old. Sarah was 65. 66. It didn't make sense. Have children. It was impossible. There was no way this could happen.
[24:25] It was not only illogical. But it was scientifically impossible. And the Bible states it. In Romans chapter 4 verses 19. It says. And Abraham not being weak in faith.
[24:37] Considered not his own body. Now dead. When he was about 100 years. 100 years old. Neither the deadness of Sarah's womb. But yet he believed God.
[24:51] He just walked out and said. I'm not going to let these obstacles. Get in my way. I'm just going to go out there. And I'm just going to believe God. And he says it. And I'm going to do it. It's the same for us today.
[25:03] I was thinking about this earlier. I hope we don't only come just to worship. Why don't I say this. I hope our only purpose in coming to church. Is not just to worship. But I hope we gather together today.
[25:16] Because we want. All the nations to know who Jesus is. That's why God created his church. To bring forth his praises. To show forth his praises around the world.
[25:28] To give him a commission. To go and teach. And baptize and teach. That's why God gave a church. To fulfill his commandments. To fulfill his commission. I hope that's why we're here.
[25:40] Or one of the reasons why we're here. But when we hear statistics. Of how big the world is. When we see how blinded. And stone hearted people are.
[25:52] And we watch the news. And we see how closed. Different countries. Like North Korea. Iran. And Syria. It's like we face the same obstacle.
[26:04] God. This is impossible. This is not illogical. Lord. This is physically impossible. To teach all nations.
[26:16] We're supposed to go everywhere. And preach to every creature. God. This can't happen. This is too big. Nevertheless. Lord.
[26:28] You told us to go. We're going to go. Lord. You said you love the world. I'll love the world. Lord. You're not willing that any should perish. I'll. We won't be willing that any should perish. Lord.
[26:38] You died for all. Lord. We're going to give it all. I'm just going to believe that you made me. And ambassador. I'm going to believe who you made me. And I'm going to believe greater is he that is in me.
[26:48] Than he that is in the world. And Lord. If you take me without my eyes. Seeing the promise come to fruition. Just like Abraham. He never saw the. He never saw the promise come to fruition. I still know what's going to happen.
[26:59] I know one day. Every knee will bow. And every tongue will confess. That Jesus Christ is Lord. I know one day. That everyone. Everyone under heaven. Will know who Jesus is. And what Jesus has done. And now for the conclusion.
[27:15] In these next 13 chapters. We'll see God use Abram. And make him a father of many nations. And he will use him to bless all nations on the earth.
[27:26] But I want to remind you. He uses Abram despite the place he was born. He uses Abram. Regardless of the family that he grew up under.
[27:38] And despite all the obstacles Abraham had. He still uses him. You see when God. Has a problem. Of getting all those nations.
[27:50] With all those tongues. And all those different languages. To realize that the Lord God is good. And gracious. And merciful. And loves the world.
[28:00] He sought out a man. He sought out a man. To do his job. And can I say in the Bible. It shows that throughout the entire Bible. God doesn't need people from the right upbringing.
[28:14] Who come from the right neighborhood. Who comes from families who love him. Although that's not bad. Okay. That's not bad at all. But he doesn't need that. He doesn't need people. Who have everything in order.
[28:26] And have no problems. And have no obstacles. I believe it's God that wants the exact opposite. Because God wants the people who have problems. Because in their weakness. He can show his strength. Let me give you some examples.
[28:39] And we're going to close on these examples. In the New Testament. In Acts chapter 2. When God's getting ready for the day of Pentecost. And the Holy Spirit's about ready to come down. And someone needs to preach the message.
[28:49] Who's the man that steps up and preaches? It's the denier. It's the man that got scared by a little girl. A couple chapters before. When God is looking for someone to record the first gospel.
[29:02] The first gospel. Who does he choose? He chooses a deserter. You see John Mark was on the first missions trip. With Paul and Barnabas.
[29:14] And tough stuff started coming. And John Mark says. I got to get out of here. I got to leave. And he left. And on the second trip. Barnabas comes to Paul. And he says. Let's bring back John Mark.
[29:25] And Paul says. No way. He's a quitter. I don't want him on my team. And there was so much problems. There was so much division. That God says. Paul says. If you find. You go your way. And I'll go my way. But yet later on.
[29:36] Paul writes a letter. And says. Why don't you bring John Mark. He's profitable for me. And God is. God is in the business of using losers. And praise God. I'm one of them. When God needs a sent one.
[29:49] To go to the Gentiles. And preach the gospel. He chooses a defier. The apostle Paul. The man. The man. Whose own testimony was that.
[30:00] I persecuted the church of God. God says. Paul. Paul. I have. I have great things planned for you. I have great plans for you. You see.
[30:11] God wants to work through you. And no matter what your background is. And no matter what your origin. Or what obstacles you've had in your life. The question is. Is this. Will you follow and obey?
[30:22] Why? Because you see. When. When problems arise. Man seeks out a program. But God seeks a man.
[30:36] When problems come up. Man figures out a program. That they can fix it. God says. I want a man. Who will follow and obey. Let's pray. Heavenly fathers.
[30:47] We come to you in prayer. Lord. Thank you for this life. Of. Abram. Thank you for showing. How different. How through different. Trials and tribulations.
[30:57] Through his life. Lord God. How he. Followed you. Lord God. And. Served you with all his heart. Lord God. There might be someone here today. That's not saved. Lord God. And they don't know. How good and gracious you've been.
[31:09] Or God. I ask that you. I ask that you would save them. And Lord. There might be a. A person here. That's. That's holding back. That doesn't want to serve you. Lord God.
[31:19] Because they're scared. Or think they failed. God. God. Help them to find. Encouragement. From your word. That you want the failures. You want to show yourself strong.
[31:31] Lord God. There is. There are many problems. In this world. And the one problem is. Is that people don't know Jesus. Or God. Call out men and women. Or God. Use this church.
[31:41] To send missionaries. Use this church. To make missionaries. Lord God. Give us senders. That would give their lives. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church.
[31:52] In Alfredo, Georgia. For more information. Log on to www.visionbaptist.com. Where you can find our service times. Location. Contact information.
[32:04] And more audio and video recordings. So.
[32:16] You.