Podcasts about abraham god

From "Last Retreat Day 9 pt 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 23. Speaking to Abraham God said: “Walk in My presence and be perfect.” 134 This then is the way to achieve this perfection that our Heavenly Father asks of us! St. Paul, after having immersed himself in the divine counsels, 135 revealed exactly this to us when he wrote “God has chosen us in Him before the creation of the world, that we might be holy and immaculate in His presence in love.” 136 It is also by the light of this same saint that I will be enlightened so that I might walk without deviating from this magnificent road of the presence of God on which the soul journeys “alone with the Alone,” 137 led by the “strength of His right arm,” 138 “under the protection of His wings, without fearing the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the evil that stalks in darkness, nor the attacks of the noonday devil. 139 24. “Strip off the old man in whom you lived your former life, “ he tells me, “and put on the new man, who has been created according to God in justice and holiness.” 140 This is the way set forth; we have only to strip off self to follow it as God wills! To strip off self, to die to self, to lose sight of self. It seems to me the Master meant this when He said: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him take up his cross and deny himself.” 141 “If you live according to the flesh,” the Apostle also says, “you will die, but if you put to death in the spirit the works of the flesh, you will live.” 142 This is the death that God asks for and of which it is said: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 143 “O death,” says the Lord, “I will be your death”; 144 that is: O soul, my adopted daughter, look at Me and you will forget yourself; flow entirely into My Being, come die in Me that I may live in you! The post BTP-LR12 – Day 9, pt. 2 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Pastor Zachary walks through the initiation of the Abrahamic Covenant in Gen. 15 as we continue in our study of Father Abraham.

Listen in as Pastor Tyler preaches through Gen. 12:10–20. As the story continues, Abram attempts to take matters into his own hands in an attempt to secure God's blessing. Despite Abram's foolishness, the Lord is sovereignly at work to preserve and protect Abram in order to fulfill His promises.

Paul closes out his arguments on why the OT Law cannot save: The OT Law is not God's promise to Abraham God's promise to Abraham was to bless both him and his ONE offspring All the nations of the earth will be blessed through Jesus, not just Israel The OT Law is nothing but a "tutor" There's neither Jew nor Gentile, just children of God   There are so many other things P40 does! Check it out: YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnh-aqfg8rw Ko-Fi - https://ko-fi.com/p40ministries  Website - https://www.p40ministries.com Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/p40ministries  Contact - jenn@p40ministries.com  Rumble - https://rumble.com/c/c-6493869  Books - https://www.amazon.com/Jenn-Kokal/e/B095JCRNHY/ref=aufs_dp_fta_dsk  Merch - https://www.p40ministries.com/shop  YouVersion - https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/38267-out-of-the-mire-trusting-god-in-the-middle    Support babies and get quality coffee with Seven Weeks Coffee  https://sevenweekscoffee.com/?ref=P40   This ministry is only made possible due to your generous support https://ko-fi.com/p40ministries

https://www.podbean.com/lsw/X0V2CaNu5K?lsid=3pd0GhMoSJx A walk through the Scriptures proving that Jesus Christ is the God of Adam and Eve, of Abraham, of Moses, of Isaiah and more. This is really an introduction to the idea that Jesus Christ is NOT a ”nice guy” that the modernist Judeo-Christian church has invented. Hell is not a nice place. Neither was Sodom. Same God, same results. Part 1 1 John 4:12. No one has seen God at any time. John 6;46.  No that anyone has seen the father except the One who is from God, He has seen the Father. John 1:18.  No one has seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. John 10:30. I and the Father are One. Colossians 1:15. He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn (or source) of Creation. John 14:9. He who has seen Me has seen the father. Part 2: Exodus 33:11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, the Lord [Jesus]. Abraham God mean, bread and water. He washed their feet and prepared a physical meal.  He was standing under the tree as they ate. Isaiah 6:1 I saw the Lord sitting on a throne lofting and exalted with the train of his robe filling the temple. Isaiah 6:5 for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.  Part 3: Genesis 7:23.  He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the earth, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. Genesis 12:29.  The Lord struck the first born in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoah who sat on the throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and the firstborn of the cattle. Job: (Job was a righteous man and still he suffered extensively by the will of God - he went through his tribulation) Genesis 19: the men of the city, the men of Sodom, sorrounded the house both young and old (the perversion of the youth) Genesis 19: 24 The Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. He overthrew the cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground Genesis 19:26 But [Lots] wife  . . . looked back and became a pillar of salt. Deuteronomy 28: For the entire nation 1 Samuel 15:33.  Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.  Samuel was not an effete man of letters -- he could wield a sword and seemed to have some experience with it. Jeremiah 13:7.  The story of the waistband ruined and rotted, totally worthless.  " . . . and the waistband was totally worthless." Jeremiah 26:66 and I will make this house like Shiloh and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth. Nahum 1:2.  A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; the Lord is avenging and wrathful.  THe Lord takes vengeance on HIs adversaries and He reserves his wrath for His enemies. Nahum 1:3 and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Psalm 137:9.   How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones agains the rock. Fritz Berggren, PhD bloodandfaith.com  

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Men's Ministry

Dr. Bob Logan Brett Sanner Genesis 12:1-9

Summary Introduction Erica starts with an illustration about her son singing a children's worship song and how it made her think about brokenness and God's mercy. Recap of Last Week's Sermon Erica summarizes the previous sermon where they spoke about the importance of trusting God even in difficult situations. Abraham's Story - Genesis 15 Erica focuses on Genesis 15 where Abraham has just rescued Lot and other people from a battle. Abraham decided to return all the captured plunder to the king of Sodom, even though he had won the battle and could have kept it. This act of giving everything back to the king impressed God because Abraham gave God all the glory for his success. The Importance of Giving God the Glory The message is that we should give God the glory for everything good in our lives, not take credit for ourselves. Often we focus on the temporary pleasures of the world instead of the permanent reward of knowing God. Erica emphasizes that trusting in God will never leave us feeling like we missed out. Abraham Questions God's Promise Abraham reminds God of his promise of a son, as it had been 10-15 years since the initial promise in Genesis 12. This act of reminding God is seen as acceptable because it shows dependence on God's faithfulness. God Reaffirms His Promises to Abraham God reassures Abraham of the promise of a son, using the countless stars in the sky as a metaphor for the multitude of descendants Abraham will have. God establishes a covenant with Abraham, promising him land for his descendants. The Ritual of the Cut Pieces God instructs Abraham to perform a ritual with sacrificed animals, cut in half and laid on the ground. Vultures came to eat the sacrifice, but Abraham drove them away. This is seen as a representation of doubt and negativity that can try to steal our joy and faith. God Shows Abraham the Future Abraham falls into a deep sleep, and God reveals the future struggles and hardships Abraham's descendants will face. Difficulties do not negate God's promises; they are part of the journey. Finding Freedom Through Worship Erica uses Philippians 2:13 to remind listeners that God works in them to desire and do what pleases Him. This means God gets the glory, not us. She emphasizes that God doesn't forget or abandon us, even during moments of doubt about faith or salvation. God's Unwavering Promises Referencing the stars again, Erica highlights God's faithfulness to His promises, even when we doubt. She assures listeners that God remains a covenant-keeping God, even when we are faithless. Quotes Hebrews 13:5 ("I will never leave you nor forsake you") to emphasize God's constant presence. Worship as an Expression of Gratitude The sermon shifts to the purpose of worship. Worship is not about manipulating God to obtain things; His promises are already established. We sing and worship because our hearts overflow with gratitude for God's free gifts and the freedom He offers. Conclusion Erica emphasizes the privilege of being a worshiper and the freedom that comes with focusing on God's faithfulness. The sermon ends with a powerful declaration of "amen." Key Points Give God the glory for everything good in your life. Trusting in God is more valuable than temporary worldly pleasures. Don't be afraid to remind God of His promises. Doubt and negativity can try to steal your faith, but you can overcome them. Struggles and hardships are part of life, but God's promises are still true. God works in us to accomplish His will. God's promises are unwavering, even when we doubt. Worship is an expression of gratitude for God's faithfulness and the freedom He provides. Transcript speak through eric is now in jesus nine uh... one it's dark green now it's dark green jensen i wonder if you could put up that song once again i look upon the cross where you died that first jesus christ i think upon your sacrifice just made me smile i had that song for such a long time and i tell you why it made me smile uh... was because when aiden was very little how old was he probably about three uh... it was probably about three and he uh... he used to love that song and he used to sing the second bit i'm humbled by a mercy but he would sing humbug mercy and and and and and and and and i broken inside was how we saw it and uh... and this morning i was just uh... thinking about that song it's an absolutely brilliant song but i just remember this little three-year-old going humbug mercy and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and broken broken inside so i thought i'd share that with you uh... just as my introduction to powerful really really powerful he did a solo as well uh... once a wedding only once uh... but i was i have to say i just thought that by the grace of god uh... he spoke really clearly uh... last uh... sunday from genesis chapter fourteen and i just kind of want to recap the three points that he spoke about or the god spoke through him and remember the title was when a lot is at stake and a real lot person lot was at stake and it would you mind getting me a glass of water please thank you and and abraham when a lot is at stake there were three things one of them was the first one was keep calm and factor in god but god everything looks impossible but god the army looks huge but god the situation looks bleak but god the second point was gather your three hundred and eighteen trained men uh... and maybe that's not literal well it won't be literal for us three hundred and eighteen trained men but find your trained people the people that will stand alongside you and battle for you and with you and isolation is not gift from god it's a strategy of the enemy it's a strategy of the end we are much stronger together then we will ever be apart and so when we are feeling in that place where things look challenging and difficult gather the people around you that will remind you and help you to strengthen your faith thank you very much and then the third point was abraham and rescued a lot and in the process he freed all the women and other people i'm still trying to understand what that movement of the people mean but um... just to regard again a reminder that our decisions and the choices that we make have a ripple effect on other people and uh... abraham decided to save one man and so many other families were saved in the process don't underestimate what god can do through the decisions that you make and the impact that it can have on the world around you and so we come to chapter fifteen and abraham has rescued lot and a ton of other people and he's also come away from the fight with all the plunder which is normal all the gold and the silver and everything and by law all of that stuff belongs to abraham there's no disputing it he won the battle he gets all the stuff and he goes to the king of sodom to return his people back to him those that he'd rescued and uh... the king of sodom says to him all this plunder is yours and abraham says i don't want any of it and now by right this all belongs to me but i don't want any of it because i don't want anybody out there to say that it was they that made me rich i really was struck by that he didn't he wanted all the glory for any success or any prosperity or any achievement or to go to god so when the king of sodom said you can have it all all of this is yours how amazing really really good stuff he made the choice to walk away from all of that so that god would get all the glory for all the prosperity and all the achievement and all the success that abraham would have and uh... it reminds me that saying from jim elliot you know that famous one don't you he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to take hold of what he cannot lose it's all rightfully his there would have been nothing wrong to take it it wasn't theft he wasn't stealing it but he made a decision he didn't want anyone to be able to say we made you who you are we played a party wanted all the glory to go to god and i just found that really big challenge and asking myself the question this week is i've been mauling it over and i've been mauling this chapter over a lot who do i give credit for the achievements in my life who do i give credit for the successes of the things that i feel i've done well or the right choices who i do who do i give credit to do i give it all to god and say god have all the glory you do i try and share it a little bit well you know it was some garden some may and whatever and i want to be like abraham who says you know what lord jesus it's all yours everything everything is all yours and now we come to genesis chapter fifteen and i'm going to read it if that's all right you're still with me sure okay so genesis chapter fifteen i'm going to read from the beginning after this the word of the lord came to abraham in the visit vindict vision it's given up the plunder and now he has this vision don't be afraid abraham i am your shield and your very great reward but abraham said sovereign lord what can you give me since i remain childless and the one who will inherit my state is aliased of Damascus and abraham said you have given me no children so a servant in my household will be my air then the word of the lord came to him this man will not be your air but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your air he took him outside and said look up at the sky and count the stars if indeed you can count them then he said to him so shall your offspring be make a note in your bible verse six abraham believed the lord and he credit it to him as righteousness he also said to him i am the lord who brought you out of her the childians to give you this land and take possession of it abraham said sovereign lord how can i know that i shall gain possession of it so the lord said to him bring me a heifer a goat and a ram each three years old along with a dove and a young pigeon abraham bought all of these things to him i love that it's all as if it was sitting there waiting uh... he just went out to the supermarket and came back with it all abraham said that sovereign lord oh yeah i've done that but abraham brought all of these things to him cut them into two and arrange the halves opposite each other the birds however he did not cut in half then the birds of prey came on the carcasses but aden drove abraham drove them away as the sun was setting abraham fell into a deep sleep in a thick and dreadful darkness came over him and then the lord said to him no for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in the country not their own and that they will be enslaved and ill-treated but i will punish the nation they serve as slaves and afterwards they will come with great possessions you however will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age in the fourth generation your descendants will come back here for the sins of the amorites has not yet reached its full measure when the sun had set and darkness had fallen a smoking brazier and a flame blazing torch appeared and passed through the pieces and on that day the lord made the covenant with abraham and said to your descendants i give you this land from the wadi of egypt to the great river the uphrates the land of the kennesites kennesites kabmanites and hitites perisites rafayites amorites kennesites and gurgersites and jebusites are men so it's given up the plunder and god comes to abraham in a vision and it says i'd like to paraphrase it i'm not sure that god said it exactly like this but bear with me says it says i saw what you did back there and how you valued me more than all the other stuff and all the other treasure and some people would have thought that abraham was a fool to have passed it all up but god is saying you made the right decision don't be afraid abraham i am going to be your shield not i'm going to be i am your shield your protection against blows against violence against missiles whatever it is i am your shield that was a promise that god made to abraham and to his people and i am your very great reward what he was saying was abraham you will not be a loser when you give up everything for me i will more than make up what you have given up i will more than make up for you and he says that to us today as i go through you'll never be the loser for putting your faith in jesus never you'll never come off worse all the world has to offer and it's got some incredible things to offer amazing valuable stuff out there but when we give our lives to jesus we will never be the poorer for it sometimes we behave like god is a killjoy or he's out to ruin our fun or make life miserable but what he's actually saying is when you put your trust in me you will never be the poorer abraham you'll never be the loser and he says that to you this morning so he says to him don't pine after all the other joy just know abraham that i am your shield i am your very great reward the king of sodden was offering so much amazing and valuable stuff but god was not saying i'm going to give you more stuff abraham i'm going to give you more gold and more silver he says i'm actually going to give you myself wait in the balance all the stuff out there or god himself who are we sure yeah well i'm sure this morning i'm really sure this morning because i'm in the presence of all you lovely people and we've sung some really amazing stuff about the promises of god and i feel quite good because i've read this chapter and i'm so excited about it all that god has said about his promises and but i know that monday morning is coming way up all that that is out there or god himself and i love abraham's reply because he's kind of blunt because he kind of says oh yeah thanks ever so much god thank you for giving yourself to me but what about that what about that other concern i have what about that other thing that you promised me what about the other stuff that i need you to do and i just realized how easy it is for us to focus on the dirt and the dust of daily living that we actually forget that god himself has promised to walk with us every day god with me and all the other stuff out there that he's promised it's all there god hasn't forgotten he's not forgotten me his concern is for me but sometimes i lose sight of the glorious truth of his promise and i hold on to the dust and the dirt of today god with you and abraham reminds god of the promise of a son as if god had forgotten now to be fair to abraham the promise was initially given in chapter 12 and there are there was about 10 to 15 years between chapter 12 and chapter 15 like for us it's just a few pages in the bible isn't there there's chapter 12 oh look there's chapter 15 but for abraham that was that was 10 to 15 years that god that god had promised all that time ago and it'd be easy to imagine that god had forgotten have you ever felt like that time passes maybe god you've forgotten maybe god i hadn't heard you properly maybe god is getting older and we know what happens as people get older don't wait you think like that yeah god is getting out what do happens when people forget i say they forget people can have a conversation with me do you remember i told you about that thing a week ago no i told you no it happens with nicholot actually sometimes i have to go back to the original conversation and i'll say it was a sunny day and we were out walking with the dogs and we had quite a robust conversation about it and we came to the conclusion and this was going to happen and that was going to happen do you remember and sometimes i can even see the cogs turning like i know i'm supposed to remember so i'm going to put my remembering face on and hopefully she'll think well i've remembered and remember you said i've got i've got a memory of an elephant who said yeah that's right yeah are you calling me an elephant but sometimes we behave as if god is getting older and we all know what happens when people get older they forget and so god is abraham is reminding god about a promise that god hasn't forgotten about but it's just wonderful to know that god isn't offended when we go back to him and we say i feel a bit wobbly about this i feel a bit uncertain about this i feel a bit doubtful about this it's been a long time lord some of you have been praying over god's promises for your children for a long time for your children for a long time and sometimes you think and you can feel like god's forgotten them because that's what we do we forget don't we we forget the promises that we've made and i love that god doesn't get offended or he doesn't get cross and he reiterates the promise and he says to abraham i've not forgotten and then he takes him outside and i really hope i can communicate this this morning because it's the most beautiful thing god takes him outside and he shows in the stars in the sky and he says to him this is your reminder abraham your children your offspring that i've promised you they're gonna outnumber the stars in the sky you know what came to me this morning and i may be wrong my theology is wrong but i just wonder whether god put the stars in the sky in order that there would be a reminder for abraham all those years later so thought isn't it isn't that what he did with Noah with the rainbow i don't think a rainbow existed until that point didn't exist and suddenly there is a rainbow that is just there to remind Noah that he was never ever going to flood the earth again maybe god put the stars in the sky just for abraham to remind him that he hadn't forgotten and he takes him out 15 to he takes him out and says i'm gonna fulfill my promise just you look at the stars now it would be another 15 to 25 years before he would become a father just like god had said do you know how many night skies there are in 25 years 9 000 night skies to stare at every time abraham had a wobble every time he had a doubt every time he wondered whether he'd misunderstood god or not heard properly or that god might have forgotten or they wouldn't do it because other people had let him down maybe god would do the same he was human just like us abraham was and every single time he had that wobble he was able to go out to the sky and look at the stars and be reminded that god's remembrances are have been established in time forever if you remember the story of the children of israel god says to them that to make halters aren't they so that they can go back to remember that's right isn't it you know take your children and go back and remember what god's done and then god would lead him into another thing and he would say make another altar and bring back your children to remember how many of those altars still stand none not a single one of those altars exists today i tell you what exists today though stars in the sky and the rainbow doesn't that tell you something about the promises that god makes with us that they are established that no tsunami or earthquake or as we've heard in Dubai this week cloud seeding any of you seen that nothing no war no missile nothing ever can touch the stars in the sky or the rainbows that will ever come they were established to remind abraham to remind Noah and to remind us that god's promises his relationship with us is rock solid i don't know about you that just makes me so excited when you're on your own you're on your own and you have in that moment of doubt where is god in the middle of this look at the sky look at the sky nine thousand reminders to abraham before the promise actually was fulfilled it blows my mind i hope you can see that i'm getting quite excited about this next time you have the wobbles find a night sky and look up don't look at the wobble find a night sky and look up they're easy to find they happen once every 24 hours round about they're not difficult if you can't find one by yourself give me a ring and i'll find one with you you know if you've got to go search him we're not trusting in the night sky we're not trusting in the stars but we are trusting in the god of the stars the one who flung it all into space and causes it all to exist now this is the nature of this god are you still with me the account tells us in verse six that abraham believed in the lord and the lord accounted to him as righteousness he didn't believe in the promise all the stars all the stuff he believed in the lord and you know what that simple seed of belief did in that moment it put him in a place of righteousness do you know what righteousness means what does righteousness mean right standing before god now it's interesting to go back in time into abraham's life abraham was obedient to god he worshipped god he tithed he went to battle for god he did all of that but it was his belief that putting him in right relationship with god all of that other stuff didn't none of that other stuff was accounted to him as righteousness it was when he put his trust in god and he said lord jesus no i didn't say lord jesus my god i believe in you it was at that moment at that moment that god says this is what puts you in right standing with me isn't that just so exciting bible tells us we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone and when we put our trust in him regardless of how fragile it is or how uncertain we are god credit is that that is a very difficult thing to say that god credits it it it it to us as righteousness and puts us in right standing before god hallelujah hallelujah god reiterates his promise to abraham about it so we've had this you know god says i'm giving myself and abraham goes yes lord but what about that other promise and god chosen the sky and all of that and the remembrance of that and then he comes back again and god says you know i'm going to give you land and an inheritance for your people and again abraham comes back and he says okay god thank you very much for that but how can i know that it will be mine where's the proof god isn't offended we ask him questions it's not offended i actually think he enjoys showing us what he's going to do next because he says to abraham bring me a three-year-old heffa female go around a turtle dove and a pigeon all sounds really weird to us doesn't it any ritual that we do today well we wouldn't do that it would be really messy and steve bode would tell us off for messing up the carpet but as soon as god begins to describe the animals abraham knew exactly what he was talking about because this was a normal ritual when two people were making a contract or a promise with each other they would get these animals and they would cut them into pieces and they would lay them down half of the animal on this side and half of the animal on that side split into and the contract was two people would make that agreement and then they would walk together down the center sounds really weird doesn't it down through the center down through the center of the minute if you had to do that in my marriage now i mean the white dress would be a right mess wouldn't it down through the center two people together and the implication was is that any of them that broke the contract any of them that didn't do their part or failed to do their side of the bargain they were to be put aside just like these birds and the heffers and the rams and all of that they were supposed to be regarded as that so making a contract a covenant a relationship had huge implications if you knew that you couldn't hold up your side of the bargain it was a deadly serious quite literally that deadly serious abraham does exactly what god has asked him to do and i'm sure in his mind he's thinking to himself this is me and god walking down this thing together and you know if i was abraham my heart would be pounding because i know that i am a failure i know that i fail over stuff i have great intentions about things i'm going to do but i know how easy it is for me to break my vows he's making he's preparing himself to walk down this thing with god and god doesn't turn up god isn't there for ages and as abraham waits ready to walk down to play his part the carcasses on the ground begin to dry up and the vultures begin to appear and then you know what abraham does then has to do he then has to try and scare the vultures away because they want to come and devour the carcasses they want to come and devour this ritual that god that abraham knows needs to happen the vultures were physically coming to the animals but i also believe that they were spiritually swirling around abraham's head doubt i've laid it all lord just as you've asked me to do and now i'm waiting where are you maybe i misunderstood maybe i've made god angry any of you's that statement any of you use that statement maybe i've made god angry maybe he won't come maybe he's punishing me maybe i've done something and he's punishing me anybody ever use that statement before yeah maybe he's changed his mind i bet you know what that feels like when people have promised stuff and they've changed their mind the problem is is that we interpret our promises in the same way that we have experienced them ourselves when i was little we used to have something called a pinky promise do you remember those pinky promise i'm just doing it for one four six they were really important promises weren't they the pinky ones because there was this thing that was done it's solid and did you ever have the promise i'm sorry if anybody's offended by this but that we used to do cross my heart hope to die stick ten needles in my eye do you remember those they were like real promises you know if you said that people were supposed to believe you a promise was never just a promise you had to like say something else to make it stick and then you remember the fair weather promises don't you where somebody's promised you something when the weather was nice and then when circumstances got tough i've done that to people made promises that i've not been able to keep because of different things and i can imagine that abraham is putting all of that on gardeners the vultures are swirling around they're swirling around his head as well bringing in doubt bringing in fear maybe god isn't who he says he is maybe god won't come maybe i'm wasting my time all the time the vultures are swirling around well i looked on the internet you know to work out how you're supposed to get rid of birds of prey from your garden you know what it says says don't treat them like pets yelling is good make yourself big and i began to think about that spiritually what does it mean if vultures the vultures can't steal the promise but they can steal my joy and they can steal my peace and they can steal my security and they can fill me with doubt and all of that kind of thing if the vultures are coming to steal your yelling is good make yourself big assert the truth of his promises assert your faith you know what else works rattle your pots and pans every time they come close rattle your pots and pans we had thieves come to our house in zambia one day and i got a saucepan and i ran it down the burglar bars like this to make a huge noise they never came back again rattle your pots and pans when the when the vultures want to come in and steal your joy and tell you that god is not a god of his word or his promises you remind them rattle your pots and pans every time they do they come close disrupt the influence of doubt and negativity worship loud surround yourself with people the other thing you need to do is remove any perches so they can't settle don't give them the platform are you all right there Kathy Kathy sparrow we don't want purchase the vultures though do what you need to dismantle dismantle anything that is that is not creating an environment where faith can flourish and when doubts and fears come you need to want to make sure that they don't take root i'm trying to rush through this what a great passage today so is a Abraham weighted shooing off the vultures god sends him into a deep sleep basically what god is saying is i am making you incapable of walking down this thing with me incapable and as Abraham is asleep god shows him the promise and how it will be fulfilled but also shows Abraham that they will be struggle and strife and difficulty and hardship and all of those things before he would see the the problem filled why do we think that struggle and strife and difficulty and all of those things why do we think that those things undermine the promises of god one of the scriptures in the bible says in this world you will have trouble but take heart in this world you will have to why do we look surprised when it comes as if god is not he's not true to his word he is says you will have trouble but take heart and as Abraham wakes up he sees god the smoking brazier with a burning torch passed through the pieces of the sacrifice together i want you to understand this because this is really crucial we sometimes live as if the promises is down the promise that god has made to us is down to us to maintain and we work really really hard and we forget that when they walked through the pieces to make the covenant to establish the relationship it wasn't two people that walked down each of them making the contract with each other it was god alone why because he knew that we were frail and we were broken and we wouldn't be able to keep our end of the bargain and if we aren't able to keep our end of the bargain that would break the covenant and it would mean all the promises would come to an end so god took himself down there because he was the only one that was able but perfect enough to keep the covenant hallelujah and we're running around frantically trying to keep our end of the bargain we have no end of the bargain to keep he made the covenant by himself we struggle with this we struggle with grace we really struggle with grace because we want to do more and do stuff in order to earn it god made that covenant with you all by himself when you were fast asleep and completely incapable he made a covenant with you oh hallelujah thank you Jesus he took full responsibility for his promise you see it isn't about your effort or your faithfulness or your watchfulness that his promise to you is fulfilled it's about his effort and his faithfulness and he is determination to fulfill his promise hallelujah on that day god made a covenant with Abraham that required nothing from Abraham at all in actual fact he was capable couldn't even get up he'd been in such a deep sleep i was thinking about this the vows that i've made to god over the years and i have to say i failed at every single one of them lord i'm going to get up earlier i'm going to spend more time with you lord jesus i'm going to be up at four i'm going to pray longer i'm going to be a new christian and i'm going to be praying longer any of you said that do you know lord jesus i'm going to be more loving and kind and patient i do the kind bit all right the patient bit i still struggle with a little bit lord jesus i'm going to be more forgiving i'm not going to fail you lord i'm not going to deny you lord jesus i'll be totally devoted to you lord fail fail fail fail fail and if i'd walked down the center of that covenant making ritual that would have been the end of the relationship because of my failure i want to tell you something jesus hasn't failed on his part of the bargain and as he made a contract with himself means that we are completely secure in his promises i'm almost finished i want you to shift forward some and i don't know exactly what date it was but some three thousand five hundred to six thousand years later and it wasn't the blood of animals but we're going to be strewn out for god to walk through for the covenant to be made it was the body of his son jesus he would be the sacrifice where it was rams and lambs and bulls and all of that he would be the sacrifice and his body just as abraham did to those pieces his body was broken into pieces and his blood was poured out in preparation for a new covenant a new promise it didn't mean that the old he got it failed at the old one this was a new one and as he died on the cross the lord jesus he was completely alone and i don't know whether the cross is on either side i've done a lot of reading on this this week maybe the cross is on either side kind of resembled the picture of the animals in abraham's day i don't know but i do know that when that covenant was work made jesus god walked through the center of that sacrifice completely on his own and he made a covenant with you and with me completely on his own and he took full responsibility for it completely on his own and he when he said it was finished he meant it completely and utterly over your life and even though he knew that you would get it wrong i love when people say um you know i'm i feel like i might have disappointed god he had no illusions about what he was taking on he knew exactly what we're like you only disappoint someone if you pretend and then they find out who you really are god knows exactly about each and every one of us is not phased he made a one-sided covenant because he knew that we couldn't do it on our own he knew that we would fail and this promise this promise was the forgiveness of sins once and for all it would mean that we didn't have to go every five minutes to go and slot for a ball or a cow or whatever in order to be forgiven again this sacrifice was a once and for all sacrifice that was made for your sin in the past for your sin today and for your sin in the future that's what the new covenant was it was about reconciliation with god which means that we can walk we walked with god yesterday we can walk with god today and we can walk with god tomorrow and the indwelling of the holy spirit the indwelling when i gave my life to jesus i was filled with the holy spirit the holy spirit took residence in my life that's part of the covenant that jesus has made with us he didn't meet us halfway almost of the way god did it all through jesus because only he gets the credit for the success and the achievements in my life we aren't the promised makers or the promised keepers he makes the promises he keeps the promises and he keeps them all by himself we don't give ourselves to god he's already given himself fully and completely to us hallelujah we don't make covenant with him he makes covenant with us and at the bottom of each contract at the bottom of the thing to do with your life there where there should be two names both playing their part there is one name and it's been signed the name of jesus in his blood no labor or hard work the bible says come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and i will give you rest no effort involved the bible also says that he who began the good work in as he's the one that will carry it out so when you're running around trying to make yourself better go to jesus he is the one that will carry it out to complete fission he is the one who works in us both to will and to do his good pleasure god does it all in us and through us which means we don't get any of the glory all the glory goes to jesus and i'm always almost finished so when you have a wobble about your faith and you're worried about your salvation and afraid that god might forget or be offended or be disappointed with you or might forget you or might neglect you or might not see you in the crowd i want to encourage you they go outside and look up at the stars and remember that god has established a promise in the heavens that cannot be touched by anybody that reminds us that he is a covenant keeping god faithful to his promises even when we are faithless god is still faithful even when we walk away he has said he'll never leave me or forsake me even when i've gone and i've looked for my own source of provision god has still said i'm your provider i'm your protector i'm your shield i'm your deliverer i'm your strong tower i am all of those things yes but i get it wrong lord jesus and i don't do it right and i sing yesterday and he says the promise is still stands they are yes and amen the reason we worship and i'm going to ask the musicians if you would come back the reason we worship is not to make those things happen they're established they're established all those things are established we don't have to sing louder for them to happen they are already established we sing and we worship because our hearts are grateful and our lives are free and we've decided that we're going to look at those things and worship jesus what a privileged people we are what a privileged people we are amen

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Pastor Tom Blackaby. Series: Foundations of Our Faith.

Commentary in the Scriptures about King Solomon and he how became king at an early age. Also describing the responsibilities and wisdom that comes along with it. Let's always keep our first love in the LORD Our God forever! No need to be stay in the flesh with materialism when we have an Eternal God who reigns forever Amen

Pastor Tom Blackaby. Series: Foundations of Our Faith. Genesis 12.

In this podcast Nathan Potts preached on Genesis 16

A new MP3 sermon from Immanuel Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Covenant with Abraham: God's One-Sided Promise Subtitle: Genesis Speaker: Michael Tan Broadcaster: Immanuel Presbyterian Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 1/14/2024 Bible: Genesis 15 Length: 42 min.

A new MP3 sermon from Immanuel Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: The Covenant with Abraham: God's One-Sided Promise Subtitle: Genesis Speaker: Michael Tan Broadcaster: Immanuel Presbyterian Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 1/14/2024 Bible: Genesis 15 Length: 42 min.

In this podcast Nathan Potts preached on Genesis 15:1-6, 16:1-4, 15-16

Speaker - Sam Romijn 

Those who are in covenant with God have their identity changed -- a believer's identity is found in Christ--- God introduces the covenant -v. 1-8-- - The covenant partners -- Yahweh - Abram- - In the space of 24 years, Abram has heard from God only a few times, and only 3 directly about the covenant- - Yahweh appeared visibly to Abram- - -God Almighty- - El Shaddai- - God who is able - sufficient- - First time this name is used- - Abram's response - fell on his face, knowing he doesn't deserve any of this- - More covenant promises- - Abram's name changed to Abraham, to match the covenant promise -- father of multitudes- - These promises are lasting and in perpetuity-- God Gives the Covenant Sign -v. 9-14-- - This covenant creates a covenant community- - Circumcision was not unheard of, but it was unique to do it with infants- - The physical sign doesn't guarantee participation in the covenant- - It was meant as a way to mark people as loyal to Yahweh- - There can be no -lone wolf - lone ranger- Christians -- you must participate in the community- - Our new covenant identity is an outgrowth of the Abrahamic covenant -- we are spiritual descendants of Abraham-- More Covenant Promises -v. 15-21-- - Another renaming- Sarai - Sarah, -princess-- - God specifically says Sarah will give Abraham a son- - Abraham struggles to believe, but God reassures him-- Abraham Obeyed -v. 22-27---The heartbeat of the covenant -- I will be their God - they will be My people -- I give you Myself- -Walk before Me and be blameless -- walk as Christ walked, with wholehearted allegiance-- Yes, we still sin, but it should not be the pattern of our life

Commentary regarding Moses point of view dealing with the Israelites in the wilderness, deliverance, and The Promise Land ! God Is Excellent people trust Him and obey Him !

Transcript:Perfect so the Apostle John is really nice to us this morning um when you were making a point uh there are two ways that you can make a point Point um you can do a deductive point where you state your point and then you explain it or you can do an inductive point where you slowly build to the conclusion and here's the point and John was really nice he did a deductive point the whole reading that we had today can be summarized by the very first verse that Matt read and that was this for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning that we should love one another so that's the point today I thought I'd save us all time in Jesus name amen um we're going to continueous some prayers just kidding can you imagine that would be ridiculous some people were a little too excited I saw a little like oh man we get a brunch early we'll beat the rush um no it's a Johnreally does make this point right off the bat um really quickly he he just says like hey this is what I want you toget out of this section right when you're reading this I want you to know that this message that you've heard from the very beginning that we should love one another now it's an interesting that he makes this point in this part of the letter um if you've been following along with this series chapter 3 is all about being children of God so at the very beginning of chapter 3 a couple weeks ago we had a sermon on this beautiful section where John writes um see how great a love that we have that we should be called um children that we should becalled children of God he goes on to contrast children of God versus Children of the devil says you're you're one or the other um he talks about uh at the beginning how we become children of God what Jesus has done to graft us into his family adopt us and then kind of what that looks like to live out as a child of God so it's interesting that he's talking about children of God and then he's like all right so love one another now it'sfunny because you think like oh if we're brothers and sisters in Christ if we're a family then loving should be given right that should be obvious that why do you need to rehash that that feels like it's just implied and yet John feels the need to talk to Christians and say you know what as brothers and sisters you should love one another it's that important to him to to bring this up because sibling relationships are kind of a funny thing like I don't know if you have brothers and sisters I'm the oldest of five and you love your siblings but you also do stuff to your siblings right things don't always go super smoothly like sometimes there's tension sometimes there a proximity I remember this one time I won't tell you which brother but when we were kids my parents are teachers by trade we were at a Teachers Conference in Minnesota and there's teachers from all across the state of Minnesota and at one point one of my little brothers we were probably in like Elementary School we're playing on this hill and and we're kind of up overlooking everybody and my brother goes hey Mom Dad look at me and he's kind of like shaking his hands or something and they look up and all these teachers look up and it's this cute moment and I saw an opportunity and so I see my brother waving and everybody looking at him and I'm kind of behind him I'm like and I pants him I know this was not good I I Repent of that okay I I've beenforgiven and I you know man what a jerk brother I just I like to think overall that I wasn't that bad of a brother um I don't think you know I hear some stories I'm like you I did pretty well but that was a moment I'm not proud of um and it's not like I just did it to him athome like in front of all these people like this shame and I look back and it's like how in the world could you do that to your brother right like this brotheryou're you're supposed to love you know parents are always telling their kids to get along like how could you do this to yourbrother and and so John is talking about sibling relationships here because he knows that even though you and I I getto call each other's Brothers and Sisters in Christ um those relationships are a little complicated sometimes andwe don't always love one another as we should now John takes this veryseriously he invoked a certain brotherly relationship did anyone catch what brothers hereferenced Cain and Abel if you don't know the story of Cain and a uh let'sjust say this is not the picture of how Brothers should act so you have these two brother s they're the first childrenof Adam and Eve and so the first humans sin has just entered the world and andit goes downhill pretty quick this beautiful paradise is devolving and descending into sin and you have thesetwo brothers Cain and Abel and they're both offer sacrifices to God now we'retold that Abel's sacrifice is really pleasing to God he loves it Cain's sacrifice for whatever reason notdoesn't have the same response so God takes delight and Abel's and not C's soCain like a like a responsible person goes to God and says hey God you know what's wrong with my sacrifice what should I be doing differently no hedoesn't do that instead Cain is jealous of his brother and so he leads him out into a field and he murdershim so John is like hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ you should love one another don't be like Cain now some ofus are probably thinking you know what I have murdered zero Christians I've actually murdered zeropeople so take that I am not like Cain and yet this is what John is evokingbecause he's so concerned about how Christians treat one another and this section we we're called to love all people but this section is very muchabout Christians brothers and sisters how do we get along that's what John's concerned about here and so yes he hereferences the story of Cain he says it like this he says we should not be like Cain who was of the evil one andmurdered his brother and why did he murder him because his own Deeds wereevil and his Brothers righteous now this last sentence is so interesting um that Cain would murderhis brother because his brother's Deeds were righteous we like to think that when you are good and loving and right that people respond well and generallythey do but sometimes um there's something about goodness and righteousness and Holiness that canbring out the worst in other people right so when a light shines it shines into all sorts of Dark Places andexposes what happens in the dark I uh I shared the story our renewal campus a couple weeks ago but when I was in highscho I went to something called boy State now boy state is this uh summer camp that's basically designed to teachpeople about how our government works how you can be a good citizen how you can be involved there's also a girl state so there's a boy and girlequivalent and and boy St was really cool because there's these high schoolers from all over the state and we had a chance to learn about um what itmeans to partake in government we got to run for the kind of mock offices and like here's what the postmaster doeshere's what the secretary of state does all of that now there was this guy at boy state that I met named name SimeonToronto which first off is like the coolest name ever I like that guy hit the jackpot Simeon Toronto I will neverforget that name um Simeon was awesome and I remember when I first met him he was just the most genuine compassionateperson he was just like hey if I can ever do anything for you please let me know and Simeon just was like everyonenoticed Simeon is a really cool dude and you know what happened I started to think he's got tobe faking it there's no way right because I saw all of these good things Simeon was doing and it exposedall of the things that I lacked right man I didn't tell all these people that I was thinking of them and wanted tohelp them I just said hi you know and so I I it was easier for me to try and knock him down to kind of hate him in myheart than it was to just be like wow this guy's great and that's exactly whatwhat John's getting out here with Cain right he he sees his brother and his righteousness exposes Cain's own evildoings and so Cain responds injealousy so much so that he commits murder I I want to share a painting withyou um this is by a French painter and I'm so bad with French I'm going to read his name his name is WilliamAdolf bugaro bgo o okay if anyone knows French find me afterwards I'd love tohelp PR pronounce that William Adolf borero now bgo paints this painting in1888 um called the first morning and when you hear that like when I first heard like oh there's a painting calledthe first morning I thought you know like good morning like it's the first day and I was like oh is this you know the first day of creation or somethingor what's this going to be but the first morning is spelled m o you areaning the first mour the first grieving and he painted this and what hedepicts is the moment that Adam and Eve find the body of their son Abel in thefield this is that painting it's called the first morning by Adolf burgo andwhat you'll see here is you see Abel's body the victim of this terrible monstrosity the victim of this Murder bythe hand of his own brother sprawled out limp dead pale you see Eve mourning herson crying you see Adam holding his wife trying to comfort her kissing her headwhile at the same time holding his heart as he Grieves as well a a a picture depicting whathappens in the most extreme case of when brothers hate instead of loving oneanother and this isn't in scripture but I can just imagine Adam and Eve wondering and talking to Cain and andasking that question that I asked my younger self how could you do that to yourbrother how could you do that to your brother and so John takes for us thestory of Cain and and says don't be like that don't go that route and again mostof us are probably thinking I haven't killed my brother I haven't committed murder and there's no no corpses aroundthat I caused and then John then follows It Up by saying this and and he references Jesus's teaching on The Sermon on theMount he says whoever does not love abides in death everyone who hates hisbrother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding inhim so for John for you to hate your brother is just as bad as murdering themnow there's different consequences and obviously one is much more extreme but it's the Same Spirit right if brothersand sisters are supposed to dwell in harmony then there is this spirit that we are prone to that we can fall victimto that we can give into that leads us to hate one another the same way ha Cain hated Abel that eventually led to murderand so John is concerned about Christians hating their brothers and sisters and he's calling them to dosomething different rather to love one another now um hate shows itself in alot of different ways we don't always see people screaming during worship I at least I don't see you guys screamingduring worship at each other nobody else I hate you which is good don't do thatum but hate shows up in a lot of different ways so John one of the examples he gives is is one of indifference one of the ways that we canhate each other is by being indifferent John says this but if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother inneed yet closes his heart against him how does God's love abide in himJN says if you see a fellow Christian in need and you have something that couldhelp them and you close your heart and walk away it's like somebody drowning infront of you and you could just reach out and give them a hand and you're like oh that water's prettycold yeah and so he's saying if it's that extreme if you're going to see thesee a brother in need and just you have means to helping and you don't how can God's love even abide in youindifference right and and indifference shows all sorts of different ways Francis Chan he's a he's a pastor he had a very largechurch and then he moved overseas was part of the church in Asia came back he's kind of started this new kind ofmovement well he's a good author and he has this book called letters to the church and he's reflecting on some of the trends in the American church andways that um it can get back to its roots get back to kind of the historic faith and what that's supposed to looklike lived out one of the things he comments on is that the American Church traditionally not everywherebut has lost the idea of being siblings with one another and instead functions more like people who just happen to go watch the same movie in the sametheater think about that for a second he's saying we don't operate like brothers and sisters but instead people who just happen to go and watch the samemovie and and so when we look in this room God sees us as siblings brothersand sisters right I hope that you're not indifferent to your biological siblingsum I hope that when you see a need when one of your siblings is down is struggling that you you talk to them youask about them and John says that's exactly how we're supposed to love one another right we don't just walk out ofhere thinking like all right so long everyone but are there people here who need help are there people who I cancheck in on I have a friend who has a family member and there's a struggle in thisrelationship because this friend's family member whenever they are angry just quitstalking they just check out so this friend it's it's so challenging for them because they'll be communicating and allof a sudden they just get ghosted and this family member will just quit chatting because they're they're angry they're mad something offended themsomething was frustrating that's not a healthy way for families to function a healthy way is tosay hey I have an issue but how often in the the church is is it tempting when something is when somebody doessomething to us when somebody says something that we're hurt by or the church makes a decision that we don'tlike we just kind of disappear we just check out I don't want to deal with the confrontation I'm just going to leave orI'm just going to avoid that person right a certainindifference we do this other ways too by the ways that we speak about one another we think about one another yousee this in Generations all the time right so generally this is a generalization Ihave noticed that and this is true of the outside world but it happens in the church too sadly right older Generationstend to look at younger Generations as idealistic they don't really get itthey're selfish instead of older Generations looking at younger generations and saying you are an equal member of thisbody you are just as much much of a part of this church as I am and your opinion and your thoughts and the Holy Spiritthat dwells in you has a place here and my way is not the most importantway inversely um younger Generations s to look at older Generations as outdatedstuck in their ways right instead of viewing them as scripturetalks about as people who have been granted great wisdom right who the Holy Spirit has Sanctified and made holy overthe course of years people to honor and to respect and so this this seeps intothe way that we think of people we write people off it it seeps into the way we speak about oneanother and John's words is that that's hating oneanother and if you allow that to dwell in you if you allow that to be your your mode of operationthen John says how can the love of God abide in you so there's this great call from Johnto look at the people in this room the people in our church not as just other people who are interested in the sameproduct not just to be people who happen to sit near us but it's people that God has putright in front of us to love and to care for and not just in Flowery languagelike Matt read little children let us not love in word or talk but in indeedand in truth it's not enough just to say I love these people it's a whole another thing to actually do it to live it outso that the world sees the church and says wow those are people who really care about one another wow those are people who reallyknow how to love now all of this love is ultimately not something that we muster notsomething that we just come up with ourselves but it's a love that's been given to us which is why John tells ushow do we even know what love is by this we know love that he laid down his lifefor us now it doesn't say he who the he is but hopefully we understand this isJesus how do we even know what love is right the world has tons of definitions of love if you ask a 100 people whatlove is you're going to get 100 answers right John says You Want To Know What Love looks like look at the fact thatJesus laid down his life that's what love is and then John says therefore weought to lay down our lives for the Brethren brothers and sistersso what I want to think about now is again this love that comes from Jesusbecause Jesus saw God's people all sorts of messes right not loving each other umif you know the story of Israel you have these chosen people of God right they they called themselves children of Abraham God's chosen people and there'sall of these issues and people seeing needs and not taking care of it people fighting people hating people oppressingone another and then Jesus came into that to try and sort it all out to tryand fix everything to try and bring Unity to the family again he was righteous he was good andhe was holy and he and he brought love into Loveless places and hope into hopeless places but if we learn something fromthe story of Abel how do how do evil people react to righteousness not usually well I want toshow you this painting Again by adol bordo one detail I didn't uh didn'thighlight earlier is I want you to look at Abel's posture you'll notice his his palms areturned out as if they're stretched out on a beam and his legs are arecrossed so you could drive a nail right through them see what bero was getting at isthat in the story of Abel we get a preview of what would happened toJesus that this true and good brother who is right with God and who lovedperfectly would then be rejected by the very people that he came to love and soin Abel we see a picture of what Jesus would do for us it's like we sang earlier right why are weforgiven because he was Forsaken and that that cost was greatand as you look at Adam and Eve mourning here I can't help but imagine Jesus's own mother Mary there watching this allhappen when Jesus was on the cross I think of of God in heaven looking down on his son whom heloved or even John the Apostle who wrote this letter he was at the Cross Toomourning his savior but Jesus was willing to endure all of this so that as we look atourselves and we realize man I have been lacking love God is asking me to love all thesepeople like brothers and sisters and I barely give them a passing glance or I've been harboring anger I've beenrefusing to forgive I've been refusing to to reconcile I always love when Jesus talks about um reconcil ation he says ifyour brother sins against you who goes to make things right you go but they sinagainst me you go and and Jesus saw all of this and hecame to forgive it and he was willing to endure everything even death on a cross so that way those sins that shame thatwe feel the guilt that we feel from not loving we might look not to our own love but to the love of God made manifest inJesus and know that we were baptized into that death and into that Resurrection and because of it there is hope I lovein this reading that John writes when our heart condemns us when our heart tells us you know what I am messed up Iam sinful and I've geez I've really really hurt some people and I've failed to lovehe says God is greater than our heart and the love of God in Jesus Christ is far greater than any sin the sins thatwe've committed and the sins that we because of the things we failed to do far greater and so we look back to thislove to know that we are restored that we have hope this is why John could kind of summarize this whole section in verse23 by saying and this is the Commandment that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another justas he has commanded us two parts believe in the name of the son hisson Jesus Christ believe in Jesus bring your sins to him trust him and then loveone another just as he has commanded us believe in Jesus and then love oneanother so I just want to take those two and I want you to know walking away from today I want you to know one thing Iwant you to do one thing okay one thing I want you to know whenever your heart condemns you whenever you feel as brokenwhenever you realize how little love you actually show people don't look to your love becauseit'll never be enough but look to the love of Jesus Christ that says in me you areforgiven it's the only way other If we're honest we're only going to fall into Despair and then one thing todo go out of here today maybe during communion while we're singing and you're in your spot reflect on this pray aboutthis maybe in your car ride you can talk to somebody if you came with somebody how can we love the people inthis congregation even better than we do now is there somebody that we have been hating is there somebody that we've been overlooking are there people that we'vebeen indifferent towards and again it sometimes it's small everyone's closer to some siblingsthan others right that's okay but are there ways that we can love better cuz the call of John and the callof Jesus is to love one another just as Jesus loved us and so the way that Paul puts this inPhilippians I love he says this when it comes to the Christians treating one another he says do nothing from selfishambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant thanyourselves I just think about this room for a second think for a moment and realizethat God is asking to think of every single person in this room as more significant than you every person I'm the leastsignificant person here how might I treat them but I treat them with honor respect should I see if I can help themand then Vice vers they then they think of you more significantly than themselves it's this beautiful family relationship that we have and so thecall is are there ways that we can bless this community are there ways that we can love better I think of the JFK quoteright ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country it's the same for us as Christians it'snot hey what can this church do for me but it's hey what can I do for this congregation what can I do for thesepeople right because Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us so we get tolay down ours for others and that doesn't mean only that you're willing to take a bullet forsomebody which you should you know that's good that's great that's you know what John says um No Greater Love isthis than we should lay down our life for another but but as I talk about it in marriage counseling um laying downone's life which is what husbands are called to do for their wives is not just I'll be the one to die if one of us has to but it means that I no longer view mylife is more important than theirs and this life and this gift that I have this is a wonderful opportunity tothen go out and bless other people so one thing to know when youfeel like your love is far shorter than it should be far less don't look to your love look to Jesus's and secondly howcan you love those around us even more than we currently do are the ways that we can Embrace each other as brothersand sisters not as just strangers not as just people who happen to watch the same movie but as people that Jesus died forand has called us into relationship with may that be our goal and our mission as God's familyamen we're now going to enter into a time of prayer um if you're on the live stream I thank you for joining us um youcan comment any prayer request we'd love to as a church pray for you um one thing that I love about prayer is uh Godinvites us to come to him um not just like all right sure I'll hear you out umbut God actually wants us to come to him prayer is actually a really cool thing that God wants to hear from us I'm afather um some of us are parents I love when my son asks me to do things I lovewhen my son says hey I can't reach this Dad can you go get that hey can you come wrestle on the bed it's usually what itis um but but it brings me joy when he wants something from me when he says Hey Dad could you do this for me and in thesame way we're told that God Delights when his children come to him and say hey heavenly father I'm struggling withthis could you help me says yeah I'd love to hey God I just want to thank you for this you're welcome you're welcomeDaughter you're welcome son so we get a chance to pray and to lift up the concerns on our hearts in our minds allthose things um that we're going through that loved ones are going through the world is going through it's one of the best things we can do as a ChristianChurch is just pray for the world and because there's only one person who holds everything in his hands and hisname is Jesus and we actually have an opportunity to come to him and say hey Jesus could you do this so we're nowgoing to go before God in a time of prayer I invite you to Bow your heads withme Heavenly Father we thank you for your son Jesus who was willing to be forsakenso we might be forgiven we we thank you for your love that knows no bounds That Forgives useven with our lack of love our lack of action we pray that you would make us apeople that loves one another that we would mutually lay down our lives for eachother father we thank you for your Apostle St John who wrote these beautiful words for us and as a churchnamed after him I just pray that people would see those words embodied that this is a place that loves one another andsays look how they love I just pray that you continue to stir up a heart of servicegenerosity of sacrifice that we might look at each other as you call us to lookat we now ask you hear these prayers on behalf of your people father we pray for the healingand recovery of Janet strong following knee replacement surgery um we thank youfor doctors and medical professionals who could perform such surgeries and we pray that the recovery would go smoothum keep Janet in good spirits and be with her throughout this whole process and hopefully making a fullrecovery Heavenly Father we lift up to you a request for resolution for theconflict in the Middle East we pray for peace between the Jewish and the Palestinianpeople God there are situations in this world that humanly we cannot see how they're going toresolve and our only hope is that it is all in your control and so we just pray for for all of those who are mourningright now all of those who have lost loved ones all of those who are caught in crossfire we pray for peace in theMiddle East Heavenly Father we pray for all families in our church we pray forhusbands and wives to cling to one another in steadfast love andfaithfulness pray that they would love and honor one another we pray for children to beraised um in obedience in love and in joywe pray that they might grow day by day to know your love and your will more and more we pray for parents that you wouldequip them for this great Duty that you would strengthen and enable them to raise their kids um in love and fear foryou and in love and fear for their parents father we pray for all of thosewho are expectant mothers all of those who have babies on the way um we pray that you would watch over both motherand child um that you would be with them that you would guide them safely to delivery that You' prepare thoseexpectant parents for this great calling that is being put upon them um that you would lead them and prepare them in thistime of anticipation to be good parents to their kids with that Lord we also pray forthose um for whom expectancy in pregnancy is is a struggle is a reminderof pain we pray for all of those who are struggling with infertility all of those who have experienced miscarriages andstillborns we pray that at a time of of tragedy and of mourning for pain that that does notjust go away that you would be in the midst of it that you would bring comfort and hope that you would use us as yourpeople to Bear their burdens with them so nobody has to walk alone through thosepains father we pray for the singles in our church um we thank you for the gift that they are to our congregation forall of those who are currently not married um we thank you for their gifts their blessing we thank you that they are a reminder that your true church isthe true family and that everybody can find a home in here so for those who are singlewe pray that you would give them meaningful relationships and friendships um people to lean on spend time with forthose who desire marriage we pray that you would um provide for them Godlyspouses in your time um but no matter what happens we pray that they would grow in love and Trust according to yourwill and we pray for our church family that we would continue to embody the great desire that you have for yourcommunity of people Heavenly Father we pray for the imprisoned on those who areincarcerated and behind bars who are a waiting trials or serving sentences your son Jesus said to hispeople when I was in prisoned you visited me we pray that we never forget those who are in a situation that isoften isolating and lonely often filled with Despair and we pray that you would bring comfort and hope in that darkplace that you'd bring community we pray for justice in our Judiciary System that everyone would receive faird processthat the truth would remain would come Supreme and we just pray for all ofthose who are currently incarcerated we also pray for all those who are currently exposed to the elements as thetemperature goes down lord there are those who lack shelter lack clothing we just pray that you would whether it'sthrough organizations or programs or through us um keep those individuals exposed warm keep them them fed continueto bless them and be with them Father we pray for your church on Earth we pray that you would remain pureand holy according to the teaching and the love of your son Jesus that youwould be unified and we pray for resolution to the many splinters in your Christian Church that we could unitearound the one true faith we pray that you would keep the church on itsmission to live out your will and to bring more people into the hope and life ofJesus finally father we pray for the victims of the earthquake in Afghanistan for the many people who have lost lovedones um for those who are trying to pick up the pieces um we pray that in themidst of disaster you would again be present to bring comfort and hope we pray that you would use what isbad for your good and maybe at this time you would use This Disaster for people to turn to you as the one source oflight father we thank you um for this time of prayer we thank you that you eagerlyawait our prayers that you love when we speak to you and we come to you and we ask things of you we thank you for yourgoodness and we have confidence that we can do this because of your son Jesus who in his sacrifice and Resurrection isnow the great mediator and so it is with boldness that we can come together and pray with one voice the prayer that hehas taught us to pray Our Father who is in heavenHallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is inheaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as weforgive those who trespass against us lead us not into temptation but DeliverUs from Evil for yours is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and everamen we're not just going to have a time of confession um in the world we often have to try and dress ourselves up makeourselves look successful and good and like everything's together confession is a time when we get to be siblingssiblings see all your worse stuff um my brothers have more dirt on me than anybody but we get to just confess Godyou know what I haven't loved as I should I haven't loved you I haven't loved these people and I'msorry un likee a loving father the word we get back it's okay you're forgiven soI'm just going to give you a moment to silently confess anything that's on your heart or mind especially today's we think about the ways that we have orhave not loved our brothers and sisters in this congregation um we just get touh to confess that to God to be honest about it and then be released from thatand forgiven so I'm just going to give you a moment now to Sil confess [Music]that [Music][Music] please pray with me Lord Jesus Christ we confess to youthat we have sinned by our thoughts by our words and by ourDeeds by both those things that we have done against what you want and those things you've asked us to do that wehaven't done God we have sinned against you we've not Loved You Jesus with our wholeheart mind soul and strength and we have not loved our neighbors and our brothers and sisters asourselves and God according to your perfect holy righteous judgment we would deserve nothing but punishment and yetaccording to your infinite mercy and the love and sacrifice of your son Jesus we ask that you would forgive us that youwould cleanse us from all unrighteous ious nness you would not take your Holy Spirit from us but renew your spiritonce again in US lead us to lives of love not just in words and talk but indeeds and in truth we ask this all in Jesus name amen and our God Delights in forgivingus when we confess he is faithful and just and forgives us all our sins therefore as I called and ordainedservant of the word by the authority and command of my Lord Jesus Christ to hereby forgive you all of your sins in the name of the father and of the sonand of the holy spirit amen and now we have a beautiful opportunity to experience a and receivea family meal um we're told that communion is a foretaste it is a preview of that final Feast that we will getwhen Jesus comes back and we're United with all Christians across all time and place uh this week I got to go to aconference and we had service there and usually when I'm at a worship service I'm usually have a role in it I'musually leading it uh this was one of the first ones in a while that I just got to partake in and one of my favorite things to do when I take Comm communionis to be looking around the room at all the people I'm communing with and saying wow these are my brothers and sistersand these are the people that one day I'm going to be sitting at a table with and we're going to be rejoicing in the love ofGod and this is a family meal just like if you have a a Thanksgiving or Christmas tradition where everyone gathers together and everyone catches upand laughs and talks we get to experience that but this meal is so special it's not just any old food it'sactually Jesus giving himself once again giving his body and his blood blood to us for our life forgiveness andsalvation now it's a meal that we celebrate because Jesus himself told usto because Jesus on the night when he was betrayed tookbread when he had given thanks he gave it to his disciples and said Take and Eat This is my body given for you dothis in remembrance of me and in the same way he took the cupafter supper when he given thanks he gave it to to all of them said take and drink this cup is my blood of the NewTestament shed for the Forgiveness of all of your sins do this as often as you drink it in remembrance ofme so during this next song I invite you if you wish to receive Jesus's body and blood for your life forgiveness andsalvation as part of this family part of this Brotherhood and Sisterhood I inviteyou to come forward and come to the Lord'stable [Music][Music][Music][Music]wory of every song we could ever [Music]sing worthy of all the praise we could everbre worthy of every breath we could ever be we live foryou come on we sing Jesus Jesus the name above every othername Jesus the only one who could eversay you're worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live foryou oh we live for you holy andholy there is no one like you there is is none beside you open up my eyes inWonder and show me who you are and fillme with your heart and Lead Me In YourLove to those around [Music]me come on he's worthy let's sing to himworthy of every song we could eversing worthy of all the praise we could ever[Music] bring worthy of every breath we couldever breathe we live for [Music] you we live for youJesus Jesus the name above every othername Jesus the only one who could ever say youare worthy of every breath we could ever bre we live foryou oh we live for you Lordholy holy there is no one like you there isnothing beside you open up my eyes inWonder and show me who you are and fillme with your heart and Lead Me In YourLove holy we singHoly there is no one like you there isbeside you open up my eyes in Wonder andshow me who you are and fill me withyour heart and need in your love tothose [Music]me Hallelujah[Music] and I will build my lifeupon your love it is a firmfoundation and I will put my trust inyou alone and I will not be I will build youI will build my life upon your love itis a and I will put mytrust in you alone Jesus I will not beShen come on let's sing holy to him this morning andholy there is no one like you there isnone beside you open up my eyes inWonder and show me who you are and F mewith your heart and Le Me In Your Lovecome on just the voices let's lift it up [Music] holy there is no one like you there isnone beside you open up my eyes and showus Lord show who you are and fill me with yourheart and Lead Me In Your Love to thosearound me [Music]now may the eating and drinking of this true body and blood strengthen and preserve you to life Everlasting amenone quick announcement before our final blessing there are more pies this is the last week to buy them go get your piesit's great Sports a good cause and they are delicious um so please please uh know that those are out there um thanksfor having me it's always a blessing to be here thanks for your warm and hospitality and I want to leave you with this blessing from Romans 15 May the godof Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in Hope amenhave a blessed weekEnglish (auto-generated)

Join us as Pastor Brent Johnson visits us from Bethel Church in East Alton, Illinois. Brent continues our new series, "Cloud of Witnesses", with the story of Abraham - his tests, trials, and God given provisions.Thanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook or YouTube.

In this episode, we finally see God's promise fulfilled to Abraham and Sarah!

In this episode, we are reminded that even in Abrams, bad decisions, God is working a future for him!

This week Pastor Scott continues looking at the life of Abraham in the book of Genesis 12:10-13:4

We often begin Mass with the prayer from today's Epistle: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” We praise the God who has revealed Himself as a Trinity, a communion of persons. Communion with the Trinity is the goal of our worship—and the purpose of the salvation history that begins in the Bible and continues in the Eucharist and sacraments of the Church. We see the beginnings of God's self-revelation in today's First Reading, as He passes before Moses and cries out His holy name. Israel had sinned in worshipping the golden calf (see Exodus 32). But God does not condemn them to perish. Instead He proclaims His mercy and faithfulness to His covenant. God loved Israel as His firstborn son among the nations (see Exodus 4:22). Through Israel—heirs of His covenant with Abraham—God planned to reveal Himself as the Father of all nations (see Genesis 22:18). The memory of God's covenant testing of Abraham—and Abraham's faithful obedience—lies behind today's Gospel. In commanding Abraham to offer his only beloved son (see Genesis 22:2, 12, 16), God was preparing us for the fullest possible revelation of His love for the world. As Abraham was willing to offer Isaac, God did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for us all (see Romans 8:32). In this, He revealed what was only disclosed partially to Moses—that His kindness continues for a thousand generations, that He forgives our sin and takes us back as His very own people (see Deuteronomy 4:20; 9:29). Jesus humbled Himself to die in obedience to God's will. And for this, the Spirit of God raised Him from the dead (see Romans 8:11), and gave Him a name above every name (see Philippians 2:8–10). This is the name we glorify in today's Responsorial: the name of our Lord, the God who is Love (see 1 John 4, 8, 16).

God came after Abraham– God reached into a hopeless life and a messed up family and God changed the story. No one is beyond the touch of the Lord. He pursues us with an everlasting love and a covenant that He will never break.

Jesus interrupts His own very important teaching to reach out to a woman in need. What a picture He shows us of His love for us and the love we are to offer to each other! Open your heart and let Jesus pour His lavish love into you today. (Luke 13:10-17) *** Welcome to Walking in the Word, the biblical teaching arm of the Women World Leaders' podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins, and I am so happy you have joined us as we continue our walk through the gospels, asking God what He wants us to know today. So many things are happening at Women World Leaders! On Thursday of this week – February 16th – Dr. Chidi Kalu is offering the first part of her 2-part prayer seminar designed to help you dive deeper into your prayer life! This seminar is on Zoom, so you can join us from wherever you are. Check out our website, womenworldleaders.com, to register. Also upcoming is our Leadership Connect, also on Zoom. Join us next Monday, February 20th for a time of connection and teaching as we grow in our leadership skills. You can get the link by registering on our contact form on the website. And…we have an IN-PERSON event coming to South Florida on March 11th! If you are in the area, you won't want to miss this precious time of worship and prayer and teaching. If you are new to Women World Leaders, we know that God has a place for you to grow AND serve, but for right now, we want to take a few minutes and just rest in His presence as we read and study His Word together. Today's scripture comes from the book of Luke, chapter 13, verses 10-17. Before we begin, let's pray… Dear Most Holy God – as we open your Scripture today, I just want to take a moment to say thank you. Thank you for caring enough to speak into our lives daily. God, your Word is a wonder, a treasure-trove of all you want us to know. Father, you are wise, all-knowing, and you are purposeful in action. Thank you for leading us to these particular verses today. We recognize that your plan is perfect, and we know before we even begin studying that you have something specific to teach each one of us. So we give you this time and ask that you make our minds and spirits sharp so that we may learn exactly what you want us to learn today. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.   We have been following Jesus' teaching, as recorded in Luke, for quite some time now. Jesus has used illustrations and parables and has spoken words of encouragement and warning. So this next event, still as He is in the synagogue teaching, is a veer from the usual. Let's begin in Luke 13:10 from the New Living Translation… 10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! Let's go back to the beginning …Luke says “one Sabbath day”…as Christians in today's society, it is difficult to understand the significance of the Sabbath. For Jews, this day, which came around every 7 days, was holy and was to be a day of rest and worship. Each Sabbath began on Friday evening with the lighting of the Sabbath candles in the home. At sunset, specific readings were presented in the synagogue, which was then followed by alternating periods of ritualistic meals in the home and services in the synagogue. Everything was in a particular order and was highly coordinated. The structure was so intense that I can't even think of a modern-day equivalent – and this happened every single week! The Jewish people knew what to expect and what was expected of them. Governed tightly by the rules and regulations, the word “freedom” would have been the FARTHEST thing from their minds. So on this one Sabbath day, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. And there was a woman there who was following the prescribed protocol of the Sabbath. Presumably, she was faithful, despite having been crippled and bent over for the past 18 years. I have to wonder how tired she was! Surely she had prayed for healing from the effects of the evil spirit, and yet she remained bent, unable to stand up straight. And yet…on THIS Sabath day, Jesus broke from HIS norm when He saw her, and called her to Him. I wonder what was going through her mind. Here she was – a WOMAN – in the synagogue among, no doubt, mostly men. Although it wasn't unheard of for women to be at the synagogue on the Sabbath, the reality was that SOMEONE had to be at home preparing for the three traditional Sabbath meals. Right? If you are a mom, you don't have to imagine what I'm talking about. And…not only was this lady a WOMAN, she was also crippled by an evil spirit. So she wasn't really the kind of person people would flock to. But Jesus saw her. And He called her to His side. He interrupted His own teaching – and we all recognize how important His teaching was - to take notice of this crippled woman.   I imagine her hobbling over to Him, perhaps as the crowd murmured. Who was she to disturb THEIR Sabbath schedule? Jesus is NEVER too busy to meet you where you are! In His eyes, NOTHING is more important than you. When you walk into a room, Jesus sees you. And when you walk through a storm, He calls you to His side. Let me encourage you, whatever shape you are in, go to Him. Even if you have to hobble through a group of grumpy old men to get to Him. When the crippled woman arrived at Jesus' side, He said to her… Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” …the original Greek word Jesus used was apolyo (ah pah LU oh), which means to set free, to grant liberty to… on that Sabbath day, Jesus granted that woman freedom. She was no longer bound by illness or an evil spirit. Luke – who is a physician, remember – reported that the woman was healed, she stood up straight, and she praised God. This SHOULD have been the end of the story – everyone should have joined the woman in praise to God. But it was not to be. Verse 14 continues… 14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” The synagogue leader, despite witnessing an extreme release to freedom, still insisted on keeping his own shackles tightly secured. My mom would have said he couldn't see the forest for the trees. This man was looking so closely at the minutia of the situation that he refused to recognize the wonder of the healing. It was clear to everyone that this woman's illness was a manifestation of evil. And only God is more powerful than an evil spirit, so a slight turn toward common sense would have illuminated the fact, at the very least, God was on Jesus' side. This should have been a cause for celebration – but the synagogue leader was too hardhearted to look past his own pride and desire for control. Jesus called out the naysayers…Verse 15… 15 But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don't you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn't it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?” We mentioned the constraints of the Sabbath. But let's examine the absurdity of some of those constraints more closely. Exodus 20 instructed the people to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy – it was to be a day of rest dedicated to the Lord. Yet, over the years, man added to that God-given law, regulating and putting restrictions on every aspect of life. For example, as Jesus brings up, there were regulations limiting how far from home an individual could travel on the Sabbath, which severely restricted the ability to lead their animals to water. But they knew their animals needed water, so the figured out a way around the tight constraints. They would build a structure around a public well, and then claim that it was now a “home.” This permitted them, by the letter of the law, to ensure the watering of their animals while still being in the legal vicinity of home. Although this was a bit sneaky, perhaps you may see it as a noble cause. After all, the animals needed their daily water. Jesus was not speaking against their…let's call it ingenuity. No…He was appealing to their hearts and their common sense. If they cared enough to figure out a way to water their animals, how much more important was a PERSON'S health. And more than that…Jesus calls the woman a daughter of Abraham – God's faithful child – who was held IN BONDAGE by SATAN for EIGHTEEN YEARS!! And He asks, Isn't it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath? One of the most amazing things I find about God is how big His heart is! God loves each of us SO MUCH that He will stop at NOTHING to care and provide for us. Have you ever seen a child who was lavished with all the good things in life, and thought, nothing good can come of that? Well Christian, God wants to LAVISH you with blessings beyond your wildest imagination! He will stop at NOTHING to give you exactly what you need – because His heart is THAT big – and you hold primary real estate in it! God wants to set you free from everything that holds you in bondage. So He calls YOU to hobble to Him. And when you do, no manmade laws or rules or regulations can stop you from landing in His love. Give Him your life – He WILL heal you. And your life will be better than you ever knew it could be. The crowd reacted to Jesus' display of love and healing power – each in His own way. Verse 17… 17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did. Let's pray… Father, we want to be the ones who rejoice at the wonderful things you do! Enlarge our hearts so that they may look more like yours. Give us your unending compassion, that we might lavish love on others. Give us the strength to put aside our own pride and control as we hobble to you in total and complete surrender. Like the afflicted woman, we crave your healing touch, and we trust that you will shower us with it in your perfect timing. Help us always to look at the heart of others and rejoice in your goodness toward all your children. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.    

Genesis 15:1-21, Nathan Chapman - Lead Pastor

Pastor Ranjit Abraham, our dear friend, gives us an update on his church and ministry Christ for India and gives a palpable word with us on the practicality & spirituality of allowing God to do great things in and through you!Big House Church is cultivating a community of passionate worshippers who partner with Jesus to create a kingdom culture on earth as it is in heaven.www.bighousechurch.com

Pastor Ranjit Abraham, our dear friend, gives us an update on his church and ministry Christ for India and gives a palpable word with us on the practicality & spirituality of allowing God to do great things in and through you!Big House Church is cultivating a community of passionate worshippers who partner with Jesus to create a kingdom culture on earth as it is in heaven.www.bighousechurch.com

Up to this point in Abraham's story we have seen him time and time again try to provide for himself in difficult times. Whether it be going to Egypt, offering his wife to pharaoh, having a child with Hagar, or many other examples, Abraham has a pattern of abandoning God's provision for his own efforts when times get tough. So why would he fully obey the most difficult test God could have given him? Maybe Abraham has finally learned the lesson God has been teaching him his whole life.

Up to this point in Abraham's story we have seen him time and time again try to provide for himself in difficult times. Whether it be going to Egypt, offering his wife to pharaoh, having a child with Hagar, or many other examples, Abraham has a pattern of abandoning God's provision for his own efforts when times get tough. So why would he fully obey the most difficult test God could have given him? Maybe Abraham has finally learned the lesson God has been teaching him his whole life.

Listen on today's program, Fellowship President and CEO Yael Eckstein, as she reflects on the lessons we learn from the life of Israel's first patriarch — Abraham.

Text: Genesis 20-21 Speaker: Josue Sanchez Date: June 26, 2022

Always The Safest RouteReader: Mairi MacPhersonDate: 16th May 2022Passage: Genesis 12:4-------------------People are getting used to having Sat Navs in their cars to help them find their way to where they want to go. This is especially good if they have never been to the place they want to visit. But sometimes things go wrong. We hear stories of big lorries being directed down very narrow lanes and they end up being stuck at a dead end! You always have to be sure of your route.God called Abram to leave his home and to go on a journey. So far so good. But where was he to go? "I will show you the route as you go" God said to him "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him. It is interesting to follow Abram on his journey as he faithfully followed God's instructions. But there were times when Abram listened to instructions that did not come from God and then things went wrong — like the lorries ending up stuck at a dead end. Then we find God patiently guiding Abram back on to the right road again.God calls each of us to follow him. He has given us the best 'Sat Nav' in the shape of the Bible and he has even given us a special Guide in the person of the Lord Jesus who said "I am the way (the road), the truth and the life" (John 14:6). And Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit who he promised "will guide you into all truth" (John 16:3). Abraham (God added a bit to his name!) believed God and God blessed him. Follow his example — it is always the safest route. PrayerDear Lord Jesus, help me to follow you. Guide my life I pray. Amen.

https://youtu.be/1ZVbnWx_rDg Mustard Seed FaithWe all want to see God move in our lives- or at least we SHOULD. I don't want to just know the Bible stories- I want to experience the Bible stories in my life. not historical- right now-I want to see healings. I want to see deliverance. I want to see mountains moved. BIG STUFFMatthew 17:14-20 READLove this story- Guy has a son who is epileptic- goes to the disciples to have his son healed, they don't have what it takes, so he Goes to Jesus. Jesus is indignant, heals the boy and then tells his followers that if they would have had faith the size of a mustard seed- they could have done itNow a mustard seed is only 1-2mm across. It's a very small seed- and Jesus uses this seed as an example of what kind of faith these people should have had to be able to see this boy healedIn my life, I have heard people say before “they didn't have enough faith” or “they didn't believe enough” or “ their faith wasn't strong enough” to get healed, or delivered or whateverThat's demonic abusive language to use on someone who didn't see God movePuts the onus on the individual and not on God and we were never intended to be in that placeMatthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief;” not “your amount of faith”The problem with these disciples was not that they didn't have enough faith- it was that they had no- faith- they didn't believe in God- they didn't believe God or Jesus- no mustardAnd so Jesus challenges them- and says you have NO belief but if you ONLY Had ANY amount of belief in God- you would see AMAZING THINGS- just a small amountLets read the whole verse- Matt 17:20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.This is Bible faith- just believing God. The tiniest amount-not a huge amount, just a tiny amount.Think about Abraham- God told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, but he was old and his wife was past child rearing age- Seems pretty impossible doesn't it?Romans 4:18-20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”Abraham believed God- He didn't waver- against hope- That's that ‘Mustard seed faith” I'm talking about. Its not a huge faith- its just a little bit of faith that says “I'm gonna believe God'Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.God wants us to have faith- He wants us to believe in him- He doesn't want us to doubtJames 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.And if we want to see God move- we have to have Faith in him. (Faith is not what you can see)And I get it- sometimes we don't put our faith in God because we think we're doing God a favor- if we don't believe him, and he doesn't move we don't make him look badListen- God can take care of himself- he does not need you helping him out by not believing himJesus said- John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. Here's what happens when you have mustard seed faith- Mustard seed faith Cast out demonsThis story is a story about a boy who has epilepsy-I always have to clarify this- everything isn't a demon- sometimes its just medicalBut sometimes it IS a demon- Jesus healed blind people of their blindness because they were blind- it wasn't a demon of blindness that was upon them- they were just blind.In THIS story They didn't have the faith of a mustard seed- so they couldn't cast out the demonThey said “why could we not cast it out' Jesus said “because of your unbelief”SO- T...

Marq Toombs continues our sermon series "The Promises" in Genesis 17 as we dive a little deeper into the story of Abraham.

Pastor Zach Pummill continues our sermon series "The Promises" in Genesis 22. What kind of God who would call tell his servant to kill his own son? Why does God Command Abraham to do it? Why does God put His own people to the test? And what does this all mean for us? Join us in diving in deep, as we put these hard questions to the test in light of Abrahams story.

In this episode we discuss the beginning of the story of Abraham from God's perspective. He waited anywhere from 200 to 1,000 years to initiate the next phase of his plan to ultimately bring human nature to its intended goal. We discuss Abraham being called the "friend of God" and how that reveals God's desire to build a genuine friendship with us. God really does want to meet with us, mature us, and multiply his kingdom in and through our lives. We also touch briefly on certain aspects of God wanting to talk with us, and why that is important in developing a relationship with God. Here's a link to the blog post we reference in the episode about 4 Steps to Hearing God. Key Scriptures: Genesis 11:27-32 - Noah's father is Terah, who takes Abraham and the rest of his extended family out of the Ur of the Chaldiz to the city of Haran, dwelling there until Terah dies. Joshua 24:1-2 - Terah is said to have worshipped other gods on the east side of the Jordan Genesis 12:1-4 - God calls Abraham to leave his land and family and go to a land I will show you James 2:23 - Abraham is called the friend of God because of their trusting relationship with one another Leave us a question or comment at our website podcast page. * Intro Music: "Admirable" Carlos Herrera Music --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/onelifenash/support

Doubt is Inevitable. Zach Pummill continues our sermon series "The Promises" in Genesis 15 on our journey through the Bible. This week we look at Abrahams doubt. God makes a promise to Abraham that is so unbelievable and that Abraham can't help but have his doubts as to wether or not God's promise to him will pan out?

Zach Pummill continues our sermon series "The Promises" in Genesis 11 on our journey through the Bible. God Calls Abraham, a pagan, out of unbelief to lead His people.

Abraham GOD @ Work Series Roger Perry Sunday, Feb.13th, 2022

The “Live Laugh Love” philosophy is not a real adventure. It's a rut. God calls us to the greatest adventure of following Him that requires trust and willingness to take the step on the path ahead.

In this episode, we see God's justice through another act of redemption and destruction at Sodom and Gomorrah. God visits Abraham and Sarah and proclaims again their importance to HIs plan. The dialogue between God and Abraham is KEY here. What is your dialogue with God like?