WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.580 How you guys doing? Good? Good? How you guys doing? Good? Okay, we have competition. How are you guys doing? 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:13.980 Okay, this side much better. That's so Hong Kong, right? 00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:23.580 Hey, so we are continuing this. Let me share. You know, I get up here sometimes and I talk about things going on in our lives with our kids. 00:00:23.579 --> 00:00:30.640 And I do it because I just want you to know us and I think we're a family and we're sharing things together and we go on this journey together, right? 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:40.439 And so, and I share a lot about just I think as a father and as a husband, God uses these things to just show me my need for him, right? 00:00:40.539 --> 00:00:44.579 Shows me how I don't always have my act together like I want to portray it in front of everybody. 00:00:45.140 --> 00:00:49.200 And I just continue to see his grace and mercy lived out in our lives. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:53.580 And so this, so I talked last week about really blowing it and I was like, okay. 00:00:54.859 --> 00:00:59.760 So this week we, Christina and I were putting KK to bed. It was Thursday night. 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:06.579 And so for about a month, God has, I think, just been talking or speaking to KK. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:09.780 He goes, KK's eight. She's our youngest. Please don't go up and talk to her after this. 00:01:09.820 --> 00:01:12.280 But I want to share it because it's, I think it's a family thing. 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:21.519 And for about a month, he's been talking to her about just Christ and her need for the gospel and her heart is broken and all these things. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:27.280 And it precipitated from this idea only for about a month, even though we've been doing this for about four years, 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:33.000 that she comes up with us as a family and we take communion together and we haven't let her take communion. 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:39.780 And so she just started asking questions about what communion is about and how does that play out in her life and why can't she take it? 00:01:39.859 --> 00:01:44.260 You know, so there's this selfishness there, but there's this wonder of what's it all about. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:50.560 And so we were able to just sit down and, you know, me being the pastor, I want everything to be perfect and just right, right? 00:01:50.620 --> 00:01:57.219 So, you know, if you're a pastor's kid, whenever someone asks you a question and you don't know the answer, the answer is always Jesus, right? 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:00.599 Even if it's a mathematical problem, you say Jesus, right? 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:02.280 I'm excited to pastor's family, that's okay. 00:02:02.419 --> 00:02:05.599 So I've been pushing her off, saying, well, let's think about this. 00:02:05.659 --> 00:02:06.259 Pray about it. 00:02:06.339 --> 00:02:07.019 Let's talk about it. 00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:08.079 No, let's think about it. 00:02:08.079 --> 00:02:08.599 Talk about it. 00:02:08.959 --> 00:02:16.340 And so this Thursday, we were able to come together and she just, yeah, she just wanted Christ into her life. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:18.959 And we prayed right there and she came into God's kingdom. 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:20.680 So it's pretty humbling, right? 00:02:20.740 --> 00:02:21.539 So you're sitting there, got to go. 00:02:21.959 --> 00:02:22.939 And she goes, I want me to get this right now. 00:02:22.979 --> 00:02:26.099 So before, God was outside of me, yes. 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:27.639 But now he's inside of me, right? 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:28.560 I said, yes. 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:30.280 She goes, well, that's a good thing, isn't it? 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:32.819 I said, yeah, that's a very good thing, right? 00:02:33.359 --> 00:02:35.219 And so we wanted to share that with you guys. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.019 I think as a family, we go on this journey together, right? 00:02:38.060 --> 00:02:39.799 And we do things together. 00:02:39.959 --> 00:02:49.099 And you don't know it, but you've had an input into her life as you've touched her, met with her, encouraged her, taught her in these classes in amazing ways. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:51.699 And so I think as a family, we all celebrate together. 00:02:51.859 --> 00:02:52.979 We do things together. 00:02:52.979 --> 00:02:57.399 So thanks for being faithful, right? 00:02:58.799 --> 00:03:03.879 So let me pray for us. 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:07.780 Father, we thank you for your faithfulness. 00:03:08.819 --> 00:03:11.819 We thank you for your son who's come into our lives. 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:21.719 We thank you for the power of your spirit to open up eyes and hearts when we're far away and we're dead. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.139 Just humbled by your mercy and your grace. 00:03:26.139 --> 00:03:28.359 Thank you for KK. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:30.419 Pray for all the other little kids here, Lord. 00:03:31.559 --> 00:03:37.599 Whether we know it or not, they don't just have one set of parents, but they have 300 sets of parents. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:41.099 And the words that we say and the encouragement in the classes we teach. 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:46.900 And just the pat on the back and recognizing them and getting down on their level sometimes. 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:50.639 To talk to them in the face is you use all those things. 00:03:50.799 --> 00:03:52.859 And so we're all on this journey together as a family. 00:03:53.579 --> 00:03:54.919 Seeing your mercy and grace. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.340 And we just send all of you. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:05.719 Father, pray for us as a family that we wouldn't be so consumed sometimes to make our kids successful in this life. 00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:09.580 Giving them the best education and the best tutors and all these things. 00:04:09.659 --> 00:04:13.240 Which these things are important, but that we wouldn't be so obsessed with those things. 00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:16.879 And we'd forget about the next life and the spiritual life. 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:21.759 And we'd leave our kids in a deficit because they never saw your son in our life. 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:23.019 And we never talked about him. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:24.779 And we never brought them to church. 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:25.879 And so we just thank you. 00:04:27.019 --> 00:04:29.439 We pray that we would be a well-balanced family. 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:34.579 Pointing to you in this world and in the next. 00:04:34.579 --> 00:04:38.560 And we pray that our kids would come to you at an early age and they would do mighty things for your kingdom. 00:04:39.339 --> 00:04:40.219 So Father, we love you. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:42.159 We desperately need you. 00:04:43.339 --> 00:04:44.659 Pray these things in your son Jesus' name. 00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:45.319 Amen. 00:04:46.259 --> 00:04:49.159 Okay, so we've been looking at this story. 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:49.800 It's God's story. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:50.339 It's our story. 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:52.680 We are in the fourth week of it right now. 00:04:53.219 --> 00:04:55.500 We've learned that the Bible is this complete book. 00:04:56.019 --> 00:04:58.519 And at the center of this book and all around this book. 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.039 And it permeates all the pages is God. 00:05:01.159 --> 00:05:02.740 And God's story is creator. 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:03.959 And he's pursuing us. 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:05.939 And he's pursuing his creation. 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:08.139 He's pursuing you and me. 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:11.859 He's pursuing little kids because he wants to bless them. 00:05:11.899 --> 00:05:13.060 He wants to bring them into the family. 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:14.839 We're still in the book of Genesis. 00:05:15.419 --> 00:05:16.639 Whether you believe it or not. 00:05:17.159 --> 00:05:18.759 We're at Genesis chapter 12. 00:05:19.019 --> 00:05:22.180 And we're looking at this idea of Moses because he's writing this book. 00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:24.740 And he's doing it as a reminder to God's people. 00:05:24.819 --> 00:05:28.379 Because God's people have just come out of Egypt after 400 years of bondage. 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:30.060 And they're about to go into this promised land. 00:05:30.159 --> 00:05:32.439 And so God speaks through Moses. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.579 Moses writes down what God is telling him, what the Spirit is telling him. 00:05:36.019 --> 00:05:38.159 And he writes out this story of creation. 00:05:38.819 --> 00:05:42.319 And all amongst this story is this promise of God's faithfulness. 00:05:42.420 --> 00:05:44.199 And he's good and he pursues. 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:45.539 And he comes out. 00:05:45.540 --> 00:05:48.780 And you see that we're broken and we're goobers, right? 00:05:49.260 --> 00:05:53.840 Goober's a Texas word for someone who doesn't have their act together even though they think they're really cool. 00:05:54.220 --> 00:05:55.540 And we're goobers. 00:05:56.220 --> 00:06:03.259 And so we see in the beginning that this story begins in this perfect garden where God created this place called Eden. 00:06:03.379 --> 00:06:06.700 And he established his rule, his word by his law. 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:09.500 And he creates his people, us. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:10.540 He creates us. 00:06:11.200 --> 00:06:12.520 And he places us in community. 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:20.359 And we saw that our parents disobeyed and they went against God's rule that God gave them a choice to follow him or not to follow him. 00:06:20.819 --> 00:06:22.620 But they sought to seek their own identity. 00:06:23.019 --> 00:06:27.740 And they turned their back on God because they wanted to be their own person. 00:06:28.459 --> 00:06:32.000 And we saw that everything was fractured and brokenness enters into everything. 00:06:32.180 --> 00:06:35.439 Brokenness enters into our hearts and into our lives and into our creation. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:43.120 When we're broken and we can't see God properly, then we don't see ourselves properly because everything in his creation is defined by him. 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:47.620 And if we can't see him or understand him or see him, then we can't define ourselves. 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:48.779 We can't define others. 00:06:49.459 --> 00:06:50.800 We can't define creation. 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:52.500 All these things are broken. 00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:54.339 And we learned that sin is always present. 00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:55.480 It's crouching at our door. 00:06:55.959 --> 00:06:58.060 And we're struggling with this as we go on this journey. 00:06:58.139 --> 00:06:59.439 We're struggling with God's goodness. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:01.600 Is he really good? 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:02.759 And we try to do it on our own. 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:05.480 I love how C.S. Lewis puts it. 00:07:05.500 --> 00:07:08.120 He talks about how we entered into the shadows. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:11.339 That we're in this shadow land and these shadows cover us. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:16.159 And it's difficult to see the light because we have shadows everywhere. 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:21.319 And we see that we're in this story that man is kind of spiraling away in our brokenness. 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:22.279 We're spiraling downward. 00:07:22.819 --> 00:07:25.939 And in the midst of this, we see that God is pursuing us. 00:07:25.939 --> 00:07:28.600 He's just kind of diving headlong into these things. 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:30.260 And all the while, we're just kind of moving east. 00:07:30.340 --> 00:07:30.920 We're moving east. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:31.860 We're moving away from God. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:34.740 And we see this pattern of God going after us. 00:07:34.760 --> 00:07:35.720 He wants to bless us. 00:07:35.939 --> 00:07:36.780 But we say no. 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:39.400 And it happened in the garden, Adam and Eve. 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:41.000 And God desired to bless them. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:41.840 And they disobeyed. 00:07:41.860 --> 00:07:42.800 And it happened with Noah. 00:07:43.200 --> 00:07:45.300 And he obeyed for a little while. 00:07:45.340 --> 00:07:47.560 But then things went out of control with his children. 00:07:48.080 --> 00:07:50.960 And I wonder sometimes, does God ever get tired of us? 00:07:50.959 --> 00:08:00.199 Does God ever get tired of just putting up with our brokenness and our selfishness and our fallenness? 00:08:00.359 --> 00:08:03.979 But, you know, because we talk about all these times like, you know, where's God when this is happening? 00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:07.219 And sometimes my question is, why is he still there? 00:08:07.359 --> 00:08:09.179 Doesn't he just want to give up on us? 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:11.560 But God's word says he doesn't. 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:12.560 He keeps pursuing us. 00:08:12.599 --> 00:08:14.539 He keeps moving towards us. 00:08:14.539 --> 00:08:16.159 And we keep moving east. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:18.780 And we come to this passage today. 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:20.920 And everything is kind of falling apart. 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:22.439 And God continues to pursue us. 00:08:22.500 --> 00:08:23.540 And he comes in Genesis 12. 00:08:23.620 --> 00:08:25.260 And he looks at this one man. 00:08:25.300 --> 00:08:27.580 And he wants to enter into this relationship with this one man. 00:08:27.620 --> 00:08:28.380 It's called a covenant. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:30.420 We're going to talk about that a little today. 00:08:30.540 --> 00:08:31.260 It's this relationship. 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:39.360 And what we see is that God pursues Abram, who's probably the second most important person in all of Scripture. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.720 I mean, he's the father figure for the three major world religions. 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:50.560 And we're going to learn a lot about him in this passage, even though we probably should teach on him for the next 20 weeks. 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:54.300 We're just going to look at him for one day because we're just giving you a brief overview. 00:08:54.420 --> 00:08:57.220 But please go back and read God's word. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:00.920 Because in Abraham, we're going to learn about these things called faith and what it looks like. 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:04.019 And we're going to learn about this thing called redemption and why do we need it. 00:09:04.060 --> 00:09:05.779 We're going to learn about God's grace. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:07.180 And we're going to learn about our obedience. 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:08.540 And we're going to learn about covenant. 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:10.340 And we're going to learn about every other things. 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:17.460 And so in this passage, in these moments we have left, I just want to look at three things, maybe four things. 00:09:17.940 --> 00:09:24.540 The overarching thing is I want to look at, as I step and make noises, I want to look at just Abraham's God. 00:09:24.620 --> 00:09:26.240 What does this passage tell us about God? 00:09:26.560 --> 00:09:28.420 Because the whole Scripture is pointing to God. 00:09:28.500 --> 00:09:30.120 So what does this passage tell us about God? 00:09:30.540 --> 00:09:35.620 The next thing I want to see is I want to look at what does this passage tell us about God's call to Abraham? 00:09:35.620 --> 00:09:40.919 What do we learn about this call that Abraham receives that changes everything? 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:45.419 We want to see what he responds to that and how he responds to that. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:47.539 And then I want to look briefly at his journey. 00:09:47.740 --> 00:09:49.139 And we're just going to fly through that. 00:09:49.179 --> 00:09:50.019 So I need you to focus. 00:09:50.179 --> 00:09:51.100 I need you to pay attention. 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:51.480 Okay? 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:53.139 Okay, good. 00:09:53.779 --> 00:09:54.759 Just want to make sure you're there. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:56.960 And so we're going to look at all these things. 00:09:57.019 --> 00:10:00.240 And we're going to try to figure out what does God have to teach us about himself? 00:10:00.340 --> 00:10:02.419 And what does he want us to do and learn in this process? 00:10:02.419 --> 00:10:11.079 And the amazing thing when we get to these stories is that you realize the last 11 chapters have been about creation and everything from nothing and God moving and man. 00:10:11.659 --> 00:10:12.899 And that's a lot, 11 chapters. 00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:19.860 But the next 14 chapters, he's going to talk about this man called Abraham and how he wants to enter into this special relationship with him. 00:10:19.899 --> 00:10:21.419 And it's a huge thing. 00:10:21.839 --> 00:10:22.879 It's our story. 00:10:22.979 --> 00:10:24.179 It's not just Abraham's story. 00:10:24.339 --> 00:10:26.339 It's our story. 00:10:26.340 --> 00:10:35.580 And the first thing we see in this passage that we read up there that Chris read in chapter 11 is that we're told that Abraham, his father, Terah, and his family are actually living in Ur. 00:10:35.680 --> 00:10:39.600 They're living far east from where the promised land was. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:46.879 Remember last week we talked about the Tower of Babel and that when God came down and he stopped everybody from speaking Texan, which was terrible. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:53.240 But after everybody stopped speaking Texan and they couldn't understand the proper language or verbiage, they just scattered. 00:10:53.419 --> 00:11:00.460 And what we see is these people scattered all throughout Mesopotamia and what is Babylon and Iraq and all these places today. 00:11:00.779 --> 00:11:03.519 And you look at the archaeology there and it is amazing. 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:06.879 You can go on Wiki and look at what's happening there. 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:11.039 I spent a couple hours just reading it this week. 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:17.759 But they've excavated all these cities that these men built when they left and they scattered. 00:11:18.580 --> 00:11:24.980 And at this time in Abraham's life, which is probably 2092 BC, this area was well established. 00:11:25.220 --> 00:11:28.200 It was amazing, amazing cities. 00:11:28.860 --> 00:11:29.779 I mean amazing cities. 00:11:30.299 --> 00:11:35.759 Ur was probably the, I read this one article, the guy said it's probably the most comfortable city of the ancient world. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:38.879 I mean you could be really comfortable in Ur. 00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:40.779 It was this great commercial center. 00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:42.000 It was very powerful. 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:44.039 The people were very influential. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:47.659 It was also this major center of cultic worship. 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:54.220 There was some really dangerous and bad things going on there and sacrifices of people and children. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:56.019 They worshiped the moon god. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.379 And actually Terah's name actually means moon. 00:11:59.899 --> 00:12:04.080 So Abraham's father was named after this worship that they were doing. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:05.700 And it pervaded everything. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:09.820 And we see that Abraham and his family was right in the middle of that. 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:14.560 And for some reason we see in verse 1, God calls him. 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:18.040 I don't know if you've ever thought about that. 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:21.980 If we're reading scripture slowly like Jillian encouraged us to do. 00:12:22.420 --> 00:12:24.139 God calls him. 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:27.379 God speaks to him. 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:29.419 It's not because he's good. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:32.039 It's not because he's kind. 00:12:32.139 --> 00:12:33.139 It's not because he's open-minded. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:39.139 But for some reason God in his grace and his desire to pour out his blessings on this man. 00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:43.320 We just see that God comes into Abraham's life and invades it. 00:12:43.379 --> 00:12:44.740 And he introduces himself to him. 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:47.080 Now I don't have any idea what this looks like. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:48.620 I mean it could have been a dream. 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:49.580 It could have been a voice. 00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:54.080 We see in verse 7 later on that God actually appears to him. 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:55.460 But he doesn't appear to him now. 00:12:56.040 --> 00:13:00.740 But in the midst of all this spiral and this downward fall and this moving east. 00:13:01.139 --> 00:13:06.400 God comes to Abraham in a very comfortable setting where he has everything. 00:13:06.500 --> 00:13:07.440 And everything is perfect. 00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:09.820 And he says just this one word. 00:13:09.860 --> 00:13:10.420 He says go. 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:12.840 He says leave. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:14.140 Go forth. 00:13:14.300 --> 00:13:15.000 Get ye forth. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:16.040 Get you out of here. 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:19.099 And this would have been a crazy time if you understood the culture. 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:20.699 And you've been listening to the last four sermons. 00:13:21.099 --> 00:13:24.799 Because up until this point very few people were obeying God. 00:13:24.899 --> 00:13:26.459 Very few people wanted God to speak to them. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:29.639 Very few people wanted to listen in human history. 00:13:29.779 --> 00:13:32.179 But God speaks to Abraham and he says go. 00:13:33.159 --> 00:13:35.620 And if you look at these passages verses 1, 2, and 3. 00:13:35.779 --> 00:13:38.379 He basically says leave everything. 00:13:40.139 --> 00:13:42.019 Can you imagine if you're there? 00:13:42.839 --> 00:13:43.620 I mean leave everything. 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:45.759 Leave your country and your relatives and your family. 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:46.899 And your households. 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:50.779 And probably most importantly what he's saying is just leave your idols. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:52.279 And leave your gods. 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:54.899 And leave all these things that you're worshiping. 00:13:55.599 --> 00:13:57.279 Leave all these things that give your life meaning. 00:13:57.539 --> 00:13:59.159 Leave all these things that give your life identity. 00:13:59.379 --> 00:14:02.639 Leave all these things that are important to you. 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:04.179 And I don't know about you guys. 00:14:04.199 --> 00:14:08.839 But when I read this passage there seems to be a massive amount of uncertainty here. 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:09.120 Right? 00:14:09.500 --> 00:14:11.799 He doesn't give Abraham a lot of details. 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:17.120 I mean I think that's how some of us feel sometimes in our journey. 00:14:17.899 --> 00:14:19.379 We want a lot of details. 00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:20.419 We want more words. 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:22.759 We want specific A than B than C. 00:14:22.899 --> 00:14:24.779 But he doesn't do that in Abraham's life. 00:14:25.139 --> 00:14:25.959 And I think about this. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:29.000 I just wonder what was that conversation like that night when he went to bed? 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:31.639 Can you imagine what would have happened? 00:14:32.539 --> 00:14:33.299 I mean if it was like me. 00:14:33.419 --> 00:14:36.720 Probably he's laying in bed and he's like Sarah. 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:37.399 I mean Christina. 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:39.279 Sarah. 00:14:39.860 --> 00:14:42.759 Christina I really love you. 00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:45.700 And Christina goes okay so what did you do wrong this time? 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:46.039 Right? 00:14:46.539 --> 00:14:48.340 Because that's what I always say when I'm in trouble. 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:48.600 Right? 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:51.179 And he said you know Sarah I really love you. 00:14:51.460 --> 00:14:52.379 And she goes okay. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:53.179 What's going on Abraham? 00:14:53.179 --> 00:14:55.500 He goes well I talked to God today. 00:14:56.219 --> 00:15:00.359 And she's like okay God who? 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:03.559 Nana the God of the moon? 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:07.159 No no I talked to the God of our father Noah. 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:10.179 I talked to the God of our father Adam. 00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:13.659 I talked to the God who created all these things. 00:15:13.739 --> 00:15:14.819 Remember those stories we've heard about? 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:16.799 Well God spoke to me. 00:15:17.079 --> 00:15:17.539 Oh really? 00:15:17.659 --> 00:15:19.000 Okay so what did God tell you? 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:22.099 Well God told me that we're to go. 00:15:23.179 --> 00:15:25.099 What does that mean? 00:15:25.219 --> 00:15:25.500 Go. 00:15:25.859 --> 00:15:27.179 Well he just said go. 00:15:29.459 --> 00:15:30.899 And she goes okay so where are we going? 00:15:30.979 --> 00:15:33.259 And he said well we're going to go out somewhere. 00:15:33.959 --> 00:15:34.799 Well how do we get there? 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:36.319 Well we don't really know. 00:15:36.959 --> 00:15:39.179 But we'll know when we get there. 00:15:39.939 --> 00:15:42.919 Now women it happened there. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.019 You're driving in the car with your husband. 00:15:47.079 --> 00:15:47.979 And he's lost. 00:15:49.099 --> 00:15:51.639 And you look over at him and say don't you think we should stop and get directions? 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:54.199 And he goes no no no we'll get there. 00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:56.899 We just drive fast enough and drive long enough. 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:57.500 We'll get there. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:15:59.100 But don't you think we should do that? 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:00.559 No no. 00:16:00.740 --> 00:16:01.299 How do we know? 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:02.100 We're going to know. 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:03.220 When we get there we're going to know. 00:16:03.319 --> 00:16:03.539 Right? 00:16:04.199 --> 00:16:07.720 That's exactly the same kind of argument that Sarah had with Abram. 00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:09.980 So we see that it's from the very beginning. 00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:10.779 It's just not now. 00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:14.080 It's something inside of men that's there. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:17.560 And remember Babel was this amazing city. 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:19.240 It was full of security and certainty. 00:16:19.420 --> 00:16:20.200 It was a city. 00:16:20.280 --> 00:16:20.780 It was a name. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:22.259 It was based on your works. 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:23.800 Babel was a lot like Hong Kong. 00:16:24.780 --> 00:16:26.220 You are who you can do. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:27.160 What you can produce. 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:28.060 And what you can make. 00:16:28.300 --> 00:16:29.259 That's what you're known for. 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:32.200 And that's the type of tower and building that you can build for yourself. 00:16:32.560 --> 00:16:33.600 And God is just calling him. 00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:35.660 And he's basically saying leave all these things. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:36.280 Leave your house. 00:16:36.340 --> 00:16:37.480 Leave all these things you're living in. 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:38.980 And I want you to live in a tent. 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:40.560 And by the way I just want you to trust me. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:43.599 I want you to trust me. 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:46.099 Verse 1 through 3. 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:48.739 You see God is entering into this covenant with Abraham. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:50.059 He enters into this agreement. 00:16:50.819 --> 00:16:51.739 He wants to bless him. 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:54.379 It's the same thing that's been happening throughout the story of the Bible. 00:16:54.500 --> 00:16:55.979 In the garden he wanted to bless us. 00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:58.379 Throughout these times he wants to bless us. 00:16:58.659 --> 00:17:00.239 And there's different types of covenant in the Bible. 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:02.779 There's kind of a bilateral covenant. 00:17:03.079 --> 00:17:07.200 And we know a lot about this because we see all these clay tablets from these places where Abraham lived. 00:17:07.639 --> 00:17:09.240 I mean there's thousands and thousands of them. 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:10.960 And you can read about covenants there. 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:13.019 And there's covenants and agreements between two equals. 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:15.960 And there's covenants and agreements between someone who's greater and someone who's lesser. 00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:17.319 And this is what this is right here. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.120 And so he comes into this covenant with him. 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:22.940 And the covenant is just based on God. 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:25.720 It's based on God's word. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.380 It's basically God is just promising Abraham himself. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:33.359 The only thing that Abraham has to do is he needs to just trust God. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:36.960 He needs to just have faith in God's word. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:38.839 He just needs to go, right? 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:41.779 That's the only thing he has to do. 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:42.900 He just needs to go. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:50.759 I mean I could get into a lot of other things in this covenant because I just kind of wonder about, you know, he gives them this sign in this covenant. 00:17:50.859 --> 00:17:53.019 This sign is circumcision, right? 00:17:53.460 --> 00:17:57.019 And if I were Abraham I'd be thinking, okay, why circumcision? 00:17:58.079 --> 00:17:59.700 And Noah got like a rainbow, right? 00:18:00.380 --> 00:18:01.319 Can I just get a rainbow? 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:03.659 I don't really want circumcision. 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:05.899 But he didn't really have a choice, right? 00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:08.240 So Abraham just got circumcision. 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:10.480 I don't know. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:14.559 But I think, I personally think it was just this symbol that he carried within his whole life. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:24.339 And whether he was using whatever was circumcised for good or for evil, whatever he was using it for, he realized that God was with him. 00:18:24.339 --> 00:18:28.240 And God had a promise to him. 00:18:28.899 --> 00:18:31.740 And God desired to bless him. 00:18:31.740 --> 00:18:37.579 And we see four times in Abraham's life he comes against these really hard, difficult things. 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:39.180 And each time he doubts. 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:42.819 And whenever he starts to doubt, God comes in. 00:18:42.900 --> 00:18:45.240 And God, the God of the covenant, comes into his life. 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:47.480 God reminds him of this promise. 00:18:47.620 --> 00:18:49.339 God reminds him of what he wants to do with his life. 00:18:49.660 --> 00:18:51.079 God reminds him of his faithfulness. 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:52.200 God reminds him of his character. 00:18:52.620 --> 00:18:54.000 God says, I'm going to make you a great nation. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:54.880 I'm going to bless you. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:56.259 I'm going to give you this land. 00:18:56.339 --> 00:18:57.500 I'm going to give you this inheritance. 00:18:57.620 --> 00:18:58.680 I'm going to give you this great name. 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:02.299 I'm going to make you a blessing to all the people. 00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:03.440 That's verse 3. 00:19:04.100 --> 00:19:08.259 At the end of verse 3, you can just put in brackets right after the word blessed, you can put Jesus. 00:19:09.980 --> 00:19:13.140 Because that's where that blessing is going to come from all people. 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:18.360 And all these things we see in Abraham's life, they require this massive amount of trust. 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:22.840 Question. 00:19:24.700 --> 00:19:26.420 What does God get out of this covenant? 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:39.620 If we're reading the Bible slowly and thinking about this interchange, what does God get out of this covenant? 00:19:44.299 --> 00:19:46.759 The only thing that God gets is he gets someone to bless. 00:19:49.380 --> 00:19:51.039 He gets a people that he can call his own. 00:19:51.100 --> 00:19:52.120 And he can bless them. 00:19:52.180 --> 00:19:57.539 And over 285 times in the Old Testament, we just see these words that God is pursuing his covenant people. 00:19:57.539 --> 00:19:59.039 God is pursuing us. 00:19:59.159 --> 00:20:01.379 God is desiring to pour his love on us. 00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:03.039 And he's desiring to bless us. 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:05.759 And what we see is that Abraham, he just obeys. 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:07.599 I mean, he doesn't do it perfectly. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.519 He responds by taking God at his word. 00:20:10.599 --> 00:20:11.700 He surrenders his life. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:13.859 He gives up the things he's clinging to. 00:20:13.940 --> 00:20:15.700 He gives them all to the Lord. 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:20.960 And for the first time in human history, what you're going to see in the Bible, for the first time is that someone travels west. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:24.860 Someone travels towards the Lord. 00:20:25.860 --> 00:20:27.420 And Abraham is 75 years old. 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:29.180 And remember, he left everything. 00:20:29.299 --> 00:20:30.539 He left it all to follow the Lord. 00:20:30.620 --> 00:20:31.740 He left everything. 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:35.440 He left the known for the unknown. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:40.000 Believing that he was going to be blessed by something he hasn't seen yet. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:43.920 He left the known for the unknown. 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:47.980 Believing God's goodness in his character. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:50.279 That God was going to bless him. 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:53.779 So here's a question for us today, guys. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:57.240 Have we ever done that? 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:03.519 Have you ever left the known for the unknown? 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:08.379 Has God called you to leave something behind? 00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:10.539 Anything? 00:21:11.639 --> 00:21:13.859 Has God ever called you to give up an idol? 00:21:16.579 --> 00:21:17.359 A sin? 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:19.819 A fear? 00:21:22.639 --> 00:21:23.119 Shame? 00:21:25.220 --> 00:21:25.660 Guilt? 00:21:27.180 --> 00:21:28.859 Has God ever said, hey, trust me. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:31.559 Trust me, I can do that. 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:32.740 I can do it. 00:21:32.779 --> 00:21:33.259 Trust me. 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:38.660 And when we read Abraham's story, I just realized that this story is our story. 00:21:39.859 --> 00:21:41.379 It's the story of the Christian life. 00:21:41.460 --> 00:21:47.139 And God is just asking you and me to trust him, to let everything go and to follow him. 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:51.119 But the struggle we learned is in our brokenness, right? 00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:53.660 It's in the shadows. 00:21:53.779 --> 00:21:54.759 And these shadows come in. 00:21:54.819 --> 00:21:55.940 We want to trust ourselves. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:58.639 We want to doubt whether God is really good. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:01.700 And we want to do something greater than God can do. 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:03.160 And Scripture says that's just impossible. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.579 Because you can't do anything greater than God's going to do. 00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:06.299 Because he's God. 00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:13.200 The next thing you see in verses 6 through 9 is Abraham just leaves. 00:22:13.299 --> 00:22:13.839 He takes everything. 00:22:13.940 --> 00:22:14.720 He takes all his possessions. 00:22:14.980 --> 00:22:16.759 And he heads off on this journey. 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:26.339 And for the next 13 chapters, what you're going to see is that every time he comes into this journey, he has to have trust in God. 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:31.159 I mean, he's facing and trusting God's character and God's word. 00:22:31.160 --> 00:22:34.580 And he's giving up everything that he's clinging to by nature. 00:22:34.579 --> 00:22:42.579 Because society and the culture and the things he was going to give up, his country, which was the land, which was all important to people during that day. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:45.599 His relatives, which was acceptance and prosperity and security. 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:46.699 He's giving that up. 00:22:46.899 --> 00:22:48.179 And his house, his father's house. 00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:51.660 All these things got progressively harder and more difficult. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:57.720 And all these things got deeper and closer to his heart and to his idol and to the thing that he clung to. 00:22:58.180 --> 00:23:02.400 And God was telling him just to give up this idea of security, stability, and significance. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:06.380 Because God wants to give it to us. 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:14.000 God wants to take all those things out of our hand that we're clinging to. 00:23:15.120 --> 00:23:16.460 And he wants to give it to us. 00:23:18.200 --> 00:23:22.740 And so we see in the passage that he, because Ur is way over here and Canaan is right here. 00:23:22.800 --> 00:23:23.700 And there's this river up here. 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:24.519 And here's this desert. 00:23:24.620 --> 00:23:26.560 So no one crosses through the desert because you would die. 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:28.480 And so he leaves Ur in Mesopotamia. 00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:30.420 And he travels this water and trade route. 00:23:30.500 --> 00:23:30.900 We know it. 00:23:30.940 --> 00:23:31.680 We've seen all the cities. 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:34.220 We know exactly where it is because he doesn't want to get near the desert. 00:23:34.539 --> 00:23:39.039 And he comes into the north of the Holy Land, this promised land, this land that God has given him. 00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:42.240 And right away he enters into this land and he sees there's a problem. 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:46.080 I mean, there's these Canaanites everywhere. 00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:47.000 They're pagans. 00:23:47.340 --> 00:23:48.480 They're worshiping idols. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:49.440 There's these altars. 00:23:49.860 --> 00:23:51.380 There's these human sacrifices. 00:23:51.539 --> 00:23:56.420 He comes to Shechem and there's this tree where people gather around it to hear the wind blow through the leaves. 00:23:56.539 --> 00:23:58.440 And it speaks as messages of God. 00:23:58.440 --> 00:24:00.880 And it was this evil, wicked place. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:04.100 And he looks there and says, God, what have you done in my life? 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:06.860 You brought me to the worst place possible. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:10.700 You told me that I had the exclusive right for a franchise with Diet Coke in the Holy Land. 00:24:10.860 --> 00:24:12.060 And you brought me into the Holy Land. 00:24:12.100 --> 00:24:13.340 And there's Pepsi everywhere, right? 00:24:14.140 --> 00:24:16.560 I'm trying to make it applicable to me, right? 00:24:17.240 --> 00:24:18.320 But he's saying that. 00:24:18.380 --> 00:24:20.460 He's saying, and God comes to him in the fears. 00:24:20.560 --> 00:24:21.700 And God just reminds him again. 00:24:21.780 --> 00:24:23.340 God reminds him, hey, I'm with you. 00:24:23.339 --> 00:24:35.879 Wherever you're at today, no matter how difficult it is, if you're God's family, if you're God's child, he's saying, I'm with you. 00:24:37.139 --> 00:24:37.879 I'm there. 00:24:37.980 --> 00:24:38.879 I haven't deserted you. 00:24:38.919 --> 00:24:41.039 Even though it's out of control, I'm there. 00:24:41.139 --> 00:24:42.139 My covenant is faithful. 00:24:42.259 --> 00:24:43.179 My word is faithful. 00:24:43.699 --> 00:24:44.919 I am faithful. 00:24:46.539 --> 00:24:47.039 Trust me. 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:52.279 The passage says he leaves Shechem and he travels down to Bethel. 00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:53.440 And it's even further south. 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:54.220 And the same thing happens. 00:24:54.299 --> 00:24:56.700 There's opposition and there's worship and pagan worship. 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:08.359 And you start to realize maybe what God is trying to tell us is that just like in Abraham's life, our life is always going to be lived out in this midst of struggle and opposition. 00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:14.799 And misunderstanding because we've entered into this foreign land and there's these foreign gods. 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:22.079 And each time what we see in this passage, each time Abraham comes, we're told in verses 7 and 8 that he builds an altar. 00:25:24.460 --> 00:25:26.879 He builds an altar to worship God. 00:25:28.119 --> 00:25:33.839 I mean, basically what we see is that Abraham's response every time to God's grace is worship. 00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:44.299 Every time that God pours out his grace and mercy in his life, Abraham's response to that is worship. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:49.599 Remember, we defined worship about four weeks ago, right? 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:56.899 We said worship is bending the knee and bowing and giving to whatever we worship what they're worth because of who they are and what they've done for us. 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:08.639 And so when he comes in and he worships Yahweh, he bends the knee to Yahweh, he bows and he gives everything to Yahweh because of who he is and what he's done for us. 00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:16.240 And it's amazing to me that Abraham lives in this tent, which is movable and it takes apart and they travel to the next place. 00:26:16.620 --> 00:26:19.680 But he builds these massive altars to God, which are permanent. 00:26:20.940 --> 00:26:23.220 And they're memorials to God's faithfulness. 00:26:24.040 --> 00:26:26.900 And it says here that he calls upon the name of the Lord. 00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:30.200 In Hebrew, what it says is he's actually, he's preaching. 00:26:30.200 --> 00:26:39.220 So he comes right up to this big pagan shrine and he builds a shrine to Yahweh and he just starts talking about how amazing God is. 00:26:39.860 --> 00:26:43.120 About God's character and his goodness and all that he's done. 00:26:43.620 --> 00:26:51.460 In the passages, as people hear that, God's spirit just opens eyes and opens hearts. 00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:52.700 It's a miracle, right? 00:26:52.700 --> 00:27:00.620 Just like with KK that last Thursday, it wasn't some kind of formula that we did and we waited just the right time. 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:02.620 We want to think that it's that type of thing. 00:27:02.940 --> 00:27:13.039 But redemption and regeneration is this miracle that God comes in and he enters into our life and he opens our eyes and he opens our heart and we see how amazing he is. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:31.359 And we're told that as Abraham does that, this crowd of people that God is gathering around him gets bigger and bigger and bigger because they're falling in love with this God of creation and they decide to go on this spiritual journey with Abram. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:43.479 What we see in the rest of these 14 chapters is basically that at least 12 times in Abram's life, he hits something that is really difficult. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:46.619 He hits something that's immovable. 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:48.379 He hits something that's impossible. 00:27:48.899 --> 00:27:51.019 And he tries and he tries to do it on his own. 00:27:51.339 --> 00:27:55.099 And whenever we try to do it on our own, we always make a mess of things. 00:27:55.099 --> 00:28:05.119 And even though we make a mess of things, the scripture says that the God of Abraham, our God, comes into our life and he heals us. 00:28:08.159 --> 00:28:10.059 And he fixes these things. 00:28:11.339 --> 00:28:15.939 And he pours his grace over these people that he's been pursuing from eternity past. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:18.659 Did you know that? 00:28:22.719 --> 00:28:24.599 God is pursuing you. 00:28:25.099 --> 00:28:30.579 God is speaking to you. 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:36.019 God is desiring this covenant relationship with you. 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:39.779 God wants to be your God. 00:28:40.619 --> 00:28:42.179 He wants to take care of you. 00:28:42.259 --> 00:28:43.459 He wants to provide for you. 00:28:44.719 --> 00:28:51.219 And each time Abraham fails and God steps in, his faith grows because he sees that more truly. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:53.859 He sees that God is amazing. 00:28:53.980 --> 00:28:55.000 He sees that God is faithful. 00:28:55.099 --> 00:28:56.959 He sees that God is always there. 00:28:58.039 --> 00:29:04.619 And the question in Abraham's life and the question in Tobin's life and in your life, I think it's always the same. 00:29:04.699 --> 00:29:05.759 And the questions are this. 00:29:08.579 --> 00:29:09.599 Can God do it? 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:11.599 Is God faithful? 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:16.099 Is God faithful? 00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:22.439 Is God good? 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:28.299 Does God really know me? 00:29:28.299 --> 00:29:34.519 Does he know all the things that are going on in my life? 00:29:34.619 --> 00:29:37.659 Does he really care for me? 00:29:37.660 --> 00:29:46.880 In the Bible, in the Bible, it says over and over and over, yes. 00:29:47.980 --> 00:29:48.480 Yes. 00:29:50.060 --> 00:29:50.500 Yes. 00:29:50.500 --> 00:29:51.500 The God of Abraham is pursuing his people. 00:29:51.500 --> 00:29:56.559 The God of Abraham is pursuing his people. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:01.879 And the question we have to believe and think about is do we trust him? 00:30:04.419 --> 00:30:05.599 Even when we make mistakes? 00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:11.619 Are we going to allow him to come alongside of us even when we want to do it on our own? 00:30:11.619 --> 00:30:14.059 Sometimes I feel like we're these little four-year-old kids. 00:30:14.139 --> 00:30:16.219 You know, your three- or four-year-old kids, you're trying to teach them something. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:18.359 And you're trying to help them do it, like tie their shoes. 00:30:18.419 --> 00:30:20.079 And the first thing they do is they pull away and go, I do. 00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:24.479 That was the second words my kids spoke after mine. 00:30:25.659 --> 00:30:26.159 I do. 00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:29.940 And God is saying, okay, you can do. 00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:33.100 But he's there. 00:30:34.320 --> 00:30:35.860 He's coming alongside of us. 00:30:37.259 --> 00:30:39.759 And what I want us to see in this passage of Abraham, 00:30:39.860 --> 00:30:42.019 and what I want us to see in God's scripture, 00:30:42.460 --> 00:30:45.279 is that God is so faithful to us. 00:30:47.420 --> 00:30:51.500 And if we are God's children, then God's faithfulness, 00:30:51.560 --> 00:30:53.779 and listen to me really carefully because we're going to get this messed up 00:30:53.779 --> 00:30:54.779 because people are going to ask me afterwards. 00:30:54.779 --> 00:30:59.099 But God's faithfulness to us is not based on our obedience. 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:02.599 Did you know that? 00:31:05.799 --> 00:31:11.960 If we are God's children, his faithfulness to us is not based on our obedience. 00:31:14.259 --> 00:31:15.859 It's based on his character. 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:23.519 It's based on his character, who he is. 00:31:24.779 --> 00:31:29.019 And there's going to be many of us in here who are going to struggle with obeying, obeying, obeying, 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:31.039 even long after we become Christians. 00:31:32.379 --> 00:31:36.819 And we're going to try to turn this idea of grace into works. 00:31:36.819 --> 00:31:44.740 And the story of Abraham and the stories that we've read all the way up to his point tell us that that's not how God works. 00:31:47.879 --> 00:31:50.960 God is the only hero in our story. 00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:53.279 Not us. 00:31:54.059 --> 00:31:54.639 Not me. 00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:58.200 Do you believe that? 00:32:05.980 --> 00:32:08.480 Here's some thoughts I want us to think about, guys, as a church. 00:32:09.259 --> 00:32:10.960 These are some things I've been pondering this week. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:15.600 God's call to Abraham required faith. 00:32:17.059 --> 00:32:20.640 The faith was in God and that God was trustworthy to his word. 00:32:22.100 --> 00:32:25.000 In verse 1, the word go means to separate yourself. 00:32:25.380 --> 00:32:26.539 Separate from your past. 00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:28.400 Separate from your idol. 00:32:28.600 --> 00:32:29.480 Separate from your sin. 00:32:29.620 --> 00:32:30.240 Give those up. 00:32:30.539 --> 00:32:32.100 Allow God to take control of your life. 00:32:32.099 --> 00:32:36.579 How are we doing with that? 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:44.500 How are you doing with the going? 00:32:48.119 --> 00:32:50.279 It seems to me as I talk to people outside of the church, 00:32:50.399 --> 00:32:53.159 one of the biggest reasons they don't want to come to church is because they look at us 00:32:53.159 --> 00:32:55.899 and they realize that our lives are no different than their lives 00:32:55.899 --> 00:33:00.559 and they automatically dismiss what we talk about here because we're no different than them. 00:33:02.099 --> 00:33:10.159 But God's call requires us to surrender and to give to him. 00:33:11.539 --> 00:33:16.139 And this is how faith is lived out in God and his word is being lived out in our lives today. 00:33:16.219 --> 00:33:18.439 And the question is, are we going? 00:33:20.679 --> 00:33:21.819 Are we surrendering? 00:33:24.799 --> 00:33:25.679 Or are we staying? 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:35.060 Second thing is, I've been learning with is that we struggle with trusting the Lord today. 00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:35.560 It's amazing. 00:33:35.660 --> 00:33:39.340 This whole passage and all these things in my life as I've been praying and meditating over this, 00:33:39.840 --> 00:33:44.740 I really struggle with God's faithfulness to me sometimes. 00:33:45.660 --> 00:33:48.320 And these passages tell us that he continues to be faithful. 00:33:48.420 --> 00:33:49.299 He continues to be faithful. 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:50.180 He continues to be faithful. 00:33:50.180 --> 00:34:02.220 Isn't it amazing how you and I trust sinful, broken people with things in our life? 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:10.320 Like our money and our food and driving next to us because they could go over the line 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:11.380 and they could kill us in an instant. 00:34:11.380 --> 00:34:14.860 And we trust sinful, broken people with all these aspects of our life. 00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:24.760 But we're afraid to trust a holy, righteous God to take care of us. 00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:32.920 How are we doing with that? 00:34:36.840 --> 00:34:41.060 The Bible says as we go on this journey like Abraham that we're always going to be wanderers. 00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:42.540 We're always going to be worshipers. 00:34:42.620 --> 00:34:48.300 We're always going to go to different places and we're going to pitch our tent realizing that our home isn't Hong Kong. 00:34:49.560 --> 00:34:50.380 But it's heaven. 00:34:50.380 --> 00:34:59.980 But sometimes we get so confused and we lose focus and we focus on Ur, we focus on Babylon, and we focus on Hong Kong. 00:35:00.059 --> 00:35:02.400 We realize and we think that that's our home. 00:35:06.780 --> 00:35:07.680 Where's your home today? 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:14.480 Did someone want to watch you and you didn't know that? 00:35:15.820 --> 00:35:19.039 You're watching how you used your things and your money and your stuff 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:23.179 and all these things you're talking about in your life, in your time, in your energy. 00:35:25.219 --> 00:35:26.539 Where would they think your home is? 00:35:28.460 --> 00:35:30.440 Would they think it's in Hong Kong? 00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:34.639 Or heaven? 00:35:36.539 --> 00:35:42.980 And finally, the thing that's been challenging to me is that the life of Abraham and God's word says that as we go out 00:35:42.980 --> 00:35:53.139 and we're wanderers and we're worshipers, it means that wherever we go, we worship and we witness to God's greatness in our life. 00:35:54.099 --> 00:36:01.240 That wherever God plants us, wherever we head out, verse 7 and 8 is an example for us that wherever he does, 00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:02.380 we are to build an altar there. 00:36:02.460 --> 00:36:04.760 We are to call upon the name of the Lord. 00:36:04.840 --> 00:36:08.820 We're to tell people of how great he is and how amazing he is. 00:36:08.820 --> 00:36:15.440 So that people will see his goodness, his faithfulness in our life. 00:36:18.100 --> 00:36:19.160 And they'll come to him. 00:36:22.720 --> 00:36:24.380 How are we doing on that worshiping thing? 00:36:29.320 --> 00:36:31.019 How are we doing on the witnessing thing? 00:36:31.019 --> 00:36:39.360 It seems to be really clear that as God's people, those are two of the things that we do 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:46.099 as we see how awesome and wonderful and amazing and gracious God is. 00:36:47.840 --> 00:36:50.940 It's a response to the blessings he gives us throughout all the Bible. 00:36:51.079 --> 00:36:55.619 The response is always among God's people that we worship and we share. 00:36:55.619 --> 00:37:00.000 How are we doing with that? 00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:07.880 I feel like after reading this, I need to spend some really good time with the Lord 00:37:07.880 --> 00:37:12.099 and just continually come before him and just confess and ask him to change me. 00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:14.819 And again, we're not asking people to be perfect, right? 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:19.859 The amazing thing to me about this passage, the amazing thing to me about everything we read is this. 00:37:20.199 --> 00:37:24.599 I grew up in a church and when I came to Christ, I read these stories and what the people told me was, 00:37:24.599 --> 00:37:26.119 you have to be just like him. 00:37:27.259 --> 00:37:28.119 You have to be perfect. 00:37:29.059 --> 00:37:29.639 I mean, he's perfect. 00:37:29.739 --> 00:37:30.079 He's great. 00:37:30.139 --> 00:37:30.539 He's good. 00:37:30.619 --> 00:37:31.699 You need to be just like Moses. 00:37:32.599 --> 00:37:33.599 You need to be just like David. 00:37:33.679 --> 00:37:35.079 You need to be able to slay those giants. 00:37:35.179 --> 00:37:36.079 You need to be all those things. 00:37:36.420 --> 00:37:38.420 And if you don't do those things, something's wrong with you. 00:37:39.699 --> 00:37:44.039 And so I grew up as an early Christian struggling with performing and being and doing. 00:37:44.400 --> 00:37:46.799 And what I did was I forgot grace. 00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:57.220 And the only reason these stories are in the Bible is because they're pointing us to somebody greater than Abraham. 00:38:01.260 --> 00:38:01.980 That's Christ. 00:38:01.980 --> 00:38:08.980 In the passage, it says that one day, this son will come from this foreign land, this amazing land, 00:38:09.119 --> 00:38:12.539 and he's going to leave his land and he's going to come to this world that doesn't like him, doesn't want him. 00:38:13.340 --> 00:38:14.500 And he's going to go wherever he goes. 00:38:14.559 --> 00:38:17.500 He's going to build an altar and he's going to talk about God's greatness and he's going to worship to him. 00:38:18.179 --> 00:38:19.519 And he's not going to let anybody down. 00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:20.119 He's going to be perfect. 00:38:20.219 --> 00:38:20.820 He's going to be sinless. 00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:21.539 He's going to be holy. 00:38:22.559 --> 00:38:23.820 He's never going to make a mistake. 00:38:23.820 --> 00:38:28.720 He's not going to do things that cause the Arab and Israeli conflict like Abraham did 00:38:28.720 --> 00:38:32.860 because he's God and he's perfect and he's 100% man and he's 100% God. 00:38:34.519 --> 00:38:37.380 And as we read these stories, we're asked this question, can we trust him? 00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:38.100 Can we trust him? 00:38:38.140 --> 00:38:38.880 Can we trust him? 00:38:40.320 --> 00:38:43.160 And all these stories point to this Jesus who's going to come. 00:38:43.460 --> 00:38:46.320 And these men didn't even know what he would look like. 00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:51.720 All they knew was somehow God's going to have to make all these things right because I, my life is messed up. 00:38:51.719 --> 00:38:57.819 And you and I look back and we go, yes. 00:39:02.159 --> 00:39:02.839 He has. 00:39:05.899 --> 00:39:07.559 The question is, are we going to trust him? 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.279 Are we going to realize that he's good and he's faithful and that he has this relationship with us? 00:39:14.279 --> 00:39:16.779 Are we going to realize that he's pursuing us and he wants to bless us? 00:39:19.959 --> 00:39:21.059 Or are we going to try to do it on our own? 00:39:21.719 --> 00:39:24.059 Does that make any sense? 00:39:30.839 --> 00:39:31.239 God. 00:39:33.319 --> 00:39:34.419 The story's about God. 00:39:36.719 --> 00:39:38.919 The story's about him pursuing broken people. 00:39:40.559 --> 00:39:41.959 People are trying to fix themselves. 00:39:43.419 --> 00:39:44.939 And God's letting us, I do it. 00:39:44.940 --> 00:39:51.860 But he's always there pursuing grace, mercy. 00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:54.860 The question is, will we let him? 00:39:57.179 --> 00:39:58.440 Father, thank you for this day. 00:39:59.380 --> 00:40:04.059 Thank you for your mercy and your goodness and your grace in our life. 00:40:04.059 --> 00:40:15.659 Lord, I pray that we would learn from his life. 00:40:15.659 --> 00:40:31.460 Lord, I pray that we would learn from his life in the good, in the bad. 00:40:31.460 --> 00:40:32.460 Lord, I pray that we would learn from his life. 00:40:32.460 --> 00:40:32.860 Lord, I pray that we would learn from his life. 00:40:32.860 --> 00:40:39.400 And realize that his life is an arrow pointing outward to someone who's going to come. 00:40:40.820 --> 00:40:42.340 Who's going to make all things right. 00:40:42.340 --> 00:40:47.059 Who's going to establish a covenant that will never be taken away. 00:40:48.240 --> 00:40:49.519 It will be done in his blood. 00:40:50.780 --> 00:40:51.960 In his broken body. 00:40:52.640 --> 00:40:53.519 On a cross. 00:40:55.480 --> 00:41:00.200 Lord, I pray for those of us in here who haven't yet entered into that relationship with Yahweh. 00:41:00.340 --> 00:41:00.720 God. 00:41:01.019 --> 00:41:01.519 The creator. 00:41:01.760 --> 00:41:02.880 The God of the Bible. 00:41:05.240 --> 00:41:08.220 Lord, I pray that you would open their eyes and their hearts to your son Jesus. 00:41:08.219 --> 00:41:13.059 I pray that they would see that he is more wonderful and beautiful. 00:41:13.699 --> 00:41:14.779 That he's trustworthy. 00:41:15.599 --> 00:41:19.039 That there's a track record that far extends past any kind of stock. 00:41:19.959 --> 00:41:21.779 Or mutual fund they're going to invest in. 00:41:22.799 --> 00:41:24.459 This track record is for eternity. 00:41:24.699 --> 00:41:26.319 And it's headed towards eternity. 00:41:28.819 --> 00:41:29.819 And it's amazing. 00:41:31.799 --> 00:41:35.679 What I pray that they would ask their friends who brought them this day. 00:41:35.759 --> 00:41:37.079 Or come up and ask us as staff. 00:41:37.159 --> 00:41:37.699 What does it mean? 00:41:38.219 --> 00:41:39.679 To give our lives to God. 00:41:40.799 --> 00:41:42.339 As KK did on Thursday night. 00:41:42.419 --> 00:41:43.839 To invite Christ into her heart. 00:41:47.599 --> 00:41:48.500 And they would do that. 00:41:51.259 --> 00:41:53.039 Father, I pray for those of us who are your children. 00:41:53.159 --> 00:41:53.919 We've been on this journey. 00:41:54.039 --> 00:41:56.339 Some of us have been on these journeys for 50 years. 00:41:56.399 --> 00:41:58.119 And some of us have been on this journey for one week. 00:41:58.699 --> 00:42:01.439 And in this journey, as we go on it, we realize that you're not. 00:42:03.259 --> 00:42:05.179 You're not calling us to be perfect. 00:42:05.179 --> 00:42:05.259 Perfect. 00:42:05.260 --> 00:42:10.820 If there was a perfect Tobin, we would need a perfect Jesus. 00:42:12.820 --> 00:42:14.560 You're calling us just to trust you. 00:42:14.559 --> 00:42:17.940 To give our life to you. 00:42:17.940 --> 00:42:23.920 To realize that the perfect one will make all things and has made all things right. 00:42:23.920 --> 00:42:27.159 And we don't need to doubt. 00:42:27.159 --> 00:42:30.079 We don't need to fear. 00:42:31.460 --> 00:42:37.740 We don't need to have shame or guilt because he's taken all those things and he's poured his blood out all over those things. 00:42:37.739 --> 00:42:40.319 And those things have been healed. 00:42:42.439 --> 00:42:44.419 So Lord, I pray for us as a church. 00:42:45.879 --> 00:42:50.359 That we would consider Abraham in his life of faith. 00:42:52.299 --> 00:42:54.339 More importantly, we would consider your son, Jesus. 00:42:56.039 --> 00:42:59.819 As we think of all that he's done, we would allow that to change us. 00:42:59.820 --> 00:43:03.680 That we would be different. 00:43:06.260 --> 00:43:07.460 That we'd be your people. 00:43:12.120 --> 00:43:13.019 Father, we love you. 00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:16.220 And we desperately need you. 00:43:17.700 --> 00:43:19.800 We pray all these things in your son, Jesus' holy name. 00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:21.240 Amen.