|
Good morning again. It’s great to be back at First
United Methodist. I can’t tell you how much it warms my
heart to see you guys. I’d like to thank Pastor Tim for
inviting me to preach this morning.
Last year when I was here my sermon was based on a
passage from Revelation. This year the Lord has placed
it on my heart to share with you from a passage in
Genesis. There’s nothing like going from one extreme to
another. It’s very cool how God works in our life. I’m
always amazed at how he places something on my heart to
share with others. Typically it is not something that I
would normally be drawn to but God knows what I need at
any given time. It’s my responsibility to hear him
through the power of the Holy Spirit and to be obedient
to his prompting. As the young people like to say these
days, it’s all good.
Let’s pray. Most merciful Father send your Holy Spirit
to be present with us this morning in a very powerful
manner. Protect us from the evil one as we attempt to
leave behind our earthly cares and draw closer to your
divine presence. Forgive me God of the sins that I have
committed. Use me mightily to share the truths that you
have blessed me with concerning the patriarch of our
faith, Abraham. Help us to understand clearly the
direction that you have placed in each of our lives and
to know that you can and will use us in a significant
way for your glory if we remain ever obedient to you. In
the strong name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen
The sermon text this morning is Genesis 12:1-9. I’ll be
reading from the NIV version of the Bible.
The Call of Abram
1
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your
people and your father's household and go to the land I
will show you.
2
"I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
4
So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went
with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set
out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his
nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and
the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out
for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6
Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of
the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the
Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared
to Abram and said, "To your offspring [a]
I will give this land." So he built an altar there to
the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8
From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel
and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on
the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called
on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and
continued toward the Negev.
Abraham, or in this passage Abram, is the man who God
chose to be the patriarch of our faith. Through
Abraham’s faith this eventually leads to our ability
through grace to live eternally with God through Jesus
Christ.
This is an amazing story of God’s divine plan. This
passage has been used for thousands of years to teach
believers the dynamics of covenant life with God. God
is showing us the pattern of how to live a godly,
faithful, life through Abraham. When we take a close
look at this passage we can learn some very important
aspects of how we should be living our faith for the
glory of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Israel.
It is important for us to understand why and how Abram
responded to God. It is also critical for us to
understand how Jesus is involved in this process. I
think that we sometimes have a tendency to think that
Jesus didn’t really arrive on the scene for about a
thousand years after the beginning of time, when in
reality he was with God right from the beginning. Jesus
as God incarnate came to earth in the fullness of time,
many hundreds of years after Abram was used of God to
get the plan going. Abraham is the seed of the lineage
leading to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Abram was a man who up to this point in his life had not
demonstrated any special characteristics that would have
set him apart from you or me. For reasons that only God
knows he determined to use Abram to set a course through
him that would physically and spiritually lead to the
birth, life, crucifixion, and glorious resurrection of
our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.
Prior to Abram arriving on the scene we had God creating
the heavens and earth. Then the flood with all the
people killed due to God’s anger except for Noah, his
family, and all those animals on the arc. Please talk
to Judy Goodhart if you would like to know more details
on this very cool story.
After the flood it didn’t take long for the people to
start messing things up again. In the eleventh chapter
of Genesis we learn that the people were going to build
a city and a tower that would reach to the heavens. God
didn’t approve of the plan. Once again the people were
messing things up trying to create and be their own
god. It was happening then, and has continued to occur
to this day. At this point there was only one
language. So, God confused their language, so that they
would not understand one another. Thus stopping the
tower of Babel and scattering them all over the earth.
This is yet another example of how God will take control
of a situation demonstrating his sovereignty, to keep us
on track for his glory. You see God has a master plan
and we cannot screw it up. Oh we may think we can, or
Satan will hit us with an attack of guilt that we were
responsible for something that cannot be resolved, but
the truth is God can and will demonstrate his omnipotent
hand for his glory. Praise God for his grace through
the blessed blood of Jesus. It’s all about confessing
our daily sins, asking for forgiveness, and taking the
next step in our faith walk with Jesus. Kind of nice to
know that we are not in control, God is. It takes a lot
of pressure off of us if we can accept this wonderful
liberating truth to penetrate our hearts.
So now we come to our passage. God spoke directly to
Abram and told him to move away from his father’s family
“to the land I will show you”. Abram obeyed “even
though he didn’t know where he was going” (Hebrews
11:8). God goes on to promise Abram lots of children
and grandchildren (the people of Israel), even though
Abram and his wife Sarah, were old by this time and she
was barren. Most importantly God promised Abram that
his offspring would be a special blessing to all nations
of the earth. With this promise, God chose Abram as the
human channel who would bring Jesus Christ into the
world to become the Savior of all who receive him by
faith.
I think that you would probably agree with me that this
is an amazing story. I am struck by Abram’s faith. He
obeyed. That is my challenge and yours on a daily
basis. We need to obey God through Jesus and in the
power of the Holy Spirit walk in faith knowing that just
as he lead Abram, he will lead us too.
Abram believed that God would keep his promises. That
he would use him to make a great nation. That he would
bless him and make his name great. And finally that God
would bless those who blessed him, and curse those who
cursed him; and in Abram all the families of the earth
shall be blessed.
Do you believe that God keeps his promises? For you to
have a daily victory in your life you need to accept and
apply the promises of God. If you do this God will
bless you. He will use you, and others will be blessed
by God through you.
Let’s review some of the promises God has made to all of
us who are followers of Jesus Christ.
·
John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.
·
II
Timothy 1:9: Who has saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace which was given to us in
Christ Jesus before time began.
·
Genesis 9:16: The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I
will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant
between God and every living creature of all flesh that
is on earth.
·
Genesis 28:15: Behold, I am with you and will keep you
wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land;
for I will not leave you until I have done what I have
spoken to you.
·
Deuteronomy 7:9: Therefore know that the Lord your God,
He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy
for a thousand generations with those who love him and
keep his commandments.
·
II
Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,
as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,
not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance.
I just love these promises. To know that God loves us
and has provided for our every need is very reassuring.
Make sure that you are staying in the word of God on a
regular basis so that you may be reminded of these
truths of our faith. You should pray and meditate using
scripture asking God to strengthen you and guide you in
the way He wants you to go.
In Genesis 12, verse 7 we read 7 The LORD
appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [a]
I will give this land." So he built an altar there to
the LORD, who had appeared to him.
When God speaks to you, or provides a blessing of some
sort in your life, you need to thank him. And,
depending on the magnitude of this event, it may even be
appropriate to build an altar in recognition of what God
has blessed you with.
Now I’m sure that some of you may be wondering what I’m
attempting to describe to you. First off God has never
audibly spoken to me or anyone else that I personally
know. But he has spoken to me through the power of the
Holy Spirit by placing various ideas on my heart. Some
of you know what I’m talking about. For instance, two
years ago I knew that it was time for me to sell my
house, take a new job, and move to Quakertown. It was a
rather long, arduous process, perhaps because I’m
strong-willed, but I knew in my heart by the grace of
God that it was time for me to move on. God has blessed
me with another job, house, and most importantly church
family. He has also blessed me with a wonderful godly
girlfriend who also happens to be very attractive.
Praise Jesus!
While I haven’t built an altar in my backyard I have
been sharing with many people how God has blessed me
these past few years. It’s important to testify to love
of God through Jesus and in the power of the Holy
Spirit. To God be the glory. Can I get an amen?
It’s interesting to note what occurred right after
Abram’s encounter with God in Genesis 12. Abram did a
few weird things. That’s the thing about being human.
We screw up a lot. And Abram certainly demonstrated
that by passing his wife off as his sister because of
his fear of being killed by the Egyptians. We’re told
this in verse 11. His wife was beautiful. Abram had
traveled to Egypt in search of food since there was a
famine in the land. Now Abram thought that he needed to
come up this scheme to save himself and his wife.
Needless to say it all works out after God once again
intervenes saving his wife Sari from committing adultery
with the king. Another cool story that you may want to
read when you get a chance.
The critical point is that Abram is an example for us of
faith and obedience. When he stumbled and fell, he
picked himself up and moved on, never permanently
turning his back to his old way of life. At times, it
was two steps forward and one step backward, but his
direction was always heavenward. The author of Hebrews
captures the essence of Abraham’s walk with God: “By
faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would
later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went… For
he was looking forward to the city with foundations,
whose architect and builder is God.
God is so good. He made each one of us. He knows and
loves us and wants the best for us now and forever. If
we can just get this knowledge of his merciful grace
from our minds to our hearts, we will live blessed lives
glorifying God, and receive a peace that surpasses all
understanding.
God used Abraham to start this process of spiritual life
that leads to eternal life with Him, through the blessed
blood of Jesus. My prayer is that you will allow him to
use you as mightily as he used Abraham. Jesus says in
John 14:1
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God,
believe also in me.
Bible teacher Steve Brown recently wrote that someone
has said that the world is run by people who just show
up. I think that’s true and that’s exactly what
Christians are called to do – just show up and be. With
all our sin, our doubts, our fears, our failures, our
neediness, our laughter, our freedom, our forgiveness…
we need to show up. Evangelism is what happens when we
are there and are real. It creates all kinds of
questions for which Christ is the answer.
Abraham showed up and look what happened. God wants to
use you for his glory as much as he used Abraham. Oh,
it might not be to the extent that he used him, but then
again, you may, and will, be surprised when you remain
obedient to your call.
Amen.
Benediction: Lift your hands to the Lord and
receive the benediction. May the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may
abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
|