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5 episodes with bible abraham
2 episodes with bible abraham
2 episodes with bible abraham
2 episodes with bible abraham
3 episodes with bible abraham
2 episodes with bible abraham
2 episodes with bible abraham
It's pretty evident that humans aren't faithful. We look at spiritual giants of the Bible Abraham, Moses, David and see them go astray. We look around at our culture and see people not keeping their promises either in business or relationships. We peek into our own hearts and see the same thing. How does God deal with all this unfaithfulness? In a surprising way. Tune in to hear Dr. James Boice talk about God's faithfulness to his people, this week on The Bible Study Hour. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/81/29
Sermon from February 23, 2025; 6:00pm.
Abraham - Genesis 12 and 20 Isaac - Genesis 26 Jacob - Genesis 29
durée : 00:58:22 - Le Souffle de la pensée - par : Géraldine Mosna-Savoye - Aujourd'hui, on parle du livre des livres, le plus traduit, le plus vendu, le plus discuté et le plus disputé : la Bible, en toute simplicité. Avec l'écrivain et éditeur Frédéric Boyer, qui a dirigé sa retraduction en 2001. - réalisation : Nicolas Berger - invités : Frédéric Boyer Écrivain, traducteur et éditeur
Abraham's boldness is a great example for us. Even though God didn't spare the cities, he “read between the lines” of Abraham's prayer.
Abraham and Sarah are the father and mother of God's chosen people, Israel. They set an amazing example of faith as they leave all they know in the city of Ur, and set out to follow God into the unknown. But they also make some big mistakes, some of which cause a lack of unity in major aspects of their marriage. Join us as we look into the famous laugh of Sarah. As we study the context and the Hebrew meaning of the word used for Sarah's laugh, you will find a truth that will help our marriages. Scriptures Referenced: Genesis 17:15; 21 Ecclesiastes 4:9 Follow my journey by subscribing to this podcast. You can also follow me on Instagram, YouTube, and www.nohighercalling.org Subscribe to the NHC email at www.nohighercalling.org
Send us a Text Message.In this verse by verse Bible study episode, we tackle one of the most challenging narratives in the Bible: Abraham's near-offering of his son Isaac. We delve into the complexities of Isaac being referred to as Abraham's "only son," despite the existence of Ishmael, and examine Isaac's crucial role as the promised child. We also draw insightful parallels between Isaac's near-sacrifice and Jesus Christ's ultimate sacrifice, considering the potential geographical significance of Mount Moriah. Witness Abraham's incredible faith and obedience, as well as Isaac's compliance, and explore the vital lesson of accomplishing God's work in God's way without shortcuts. Don't miss these rich biblical insights and reflections that promise to deepen your understanding and faith.Support the Show.
Part 6 | Discussion about the Bible between Pastors Kevin Bates and Jacob Pflug, and Director of Theology, Sharayah Bodnar.resonatelife.orgSupport us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheConstructionistsLike Resonate on Facebook!: https://www.facebook.com/resonatecc/Subscribe to Resonate on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy3jKZulPNzSU3LpocOqJ0wFollow Resonate on Instagram!: @resonatesherwoodDonate to Resonate: https://resonategiving.churchcenter.com/giving
In this episode, we take a look at some of the Biblical "waiters" in the Bible - Abraham, Noah, Daniel, Ruth...just to name a few!Make sure to grab your free copy of Waiting with Purpose!Also, follow us on IG @thefaithfilledentrepreneur**Also, I was honored to be a guest podcaster on the Not Your Momma's Podcast (highly recommend!), so in a few places, I'm talking to her audience!
Some people struggle with the biblical image of God as a father. Their experience of a human father has made the idea of God as a father unappealing. It is true that human fathers are often far from perfect. Even fathers in the Bible—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David—were men of faith but not ideal fathers. We can trust, however, that God is our perfect heavenly Father. He is utterly reliable, caring, and attentive to His children. In Psalm 103, David rouses himself to praise God (vv. 1–2). He reminds himself of many of God's wonderful attributes. God heals, redeems, forgives, and satisfies (vv. 3–5). Even when we fail in our relationship with God, He “does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (v. 10). Instead, God forgives. He removes our sin as far as the east is from the west (v. 12). We find the reason for God's forgiveness in verse 13: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.” God is loving and compassionate. While at times God will correct and discipline His children (Heb. 12:7), He has also provided a way for us to be forgiven and restored in relationship with Him: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). These truths led David to worship God and obey His commands (v. 18). He called out to others to join him in praise. “Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones...all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion” (v. 22)! >> If you have come to faith in Jesus, you are God's child. He is your perfect heavenly Father. Rest in the knowledge that God knows you intimately (v. 14). He loves you and cares for you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In today's conversation, we're going to continue our journey through the Patriarchal Era of the Bible as we stay camped out with the first patriarch and his wife—Abraham and Sarah. We're going to get real in talking about the pain of unfulfilled desires and how difficult it is to wait for God's promises to unfold in our lives. We're going to see the importance of going to God with our questions and how gracious God is to respond when we do. We'll look at one of the most inspirational stories of testing in the Bible and how the faithfulness of God is displayed within it. And we'll be introduced to a new name of God—the God who sees and provides. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let's dive into the conversation.
In today's conversation, we're going to start our journey through the Patriarchal Era of the Bible as we walk alongside the first patriarch—the father of many nations, the man who was called a friend of God—Abraham. We're going to explore the reality that God still calls his people to step out before we know where we're going and that it can sometimes be more difficult to finish than it is to start. We'll see how God always gets us where he wants us when we're walking in obedience and how he continually shows up to remind us of his presence and his promises. We'll watch as God initiates his plan to call forth and set apart a people in preparation for his Son—to save the world from sin and crush the head of that serpent. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let's dive into the conversation.
(Matthew 1:18-25) Yearly Theme: “Patience is…” Series Title: “The Advent of Patience” December 11th, 2022 Follow along in the Bible App: http://bible.com/events/48997253 Have you ever heard the phrase, “God’s timing is perfect?” If so, how many of you struggle with that? If I’m being completely honest, I do. I don’t like to wait. I don’t like to not have what I want when I want it, or do what I want when I want to. However, there’s a benefit to waiting, especially waiting on GOD and His timing. Consider the following examples from the Bible: Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, David, and Hannah. As we learned last week through Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 9 of his book in the Old Testament, the long-awaited Messiah would come as the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, but not for another 700+ years. And today, we come to the fulfillment of that promise of GOD in Isaiah’s prophecy as we explore the birth narrative of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel:
Our 35th phrase as we travel through the Bible: Abraham. READING: Genesis 12:1-9Receive Reading Between the Lines as daily videos at https://www.facebook.com/SpeakLifeUK/Please LIKE, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE
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Why can't I have a biblically based family with multiple partners? Most of the great men of the Bible – Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon – had many wives. Given your ministry's strong commitment to the Scriptures, I can't see why you're against things like polygamy and polyamory. I consider myself a polyamorous Christian. I love several different women, and there's no reason we can't build a strong family together on a foundation of consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy. When did the "change" occur that established marriage as a covenant relationship between one woman and one man?
In Week 1 of our Sermon Series “Give Up” Pastor Lem Turner talks about how God provided for a character in the Bible Abraham. Listen to this life changing message on finances. #compassionchurch #giveup #God #2021Godwillprovide #onlinechurch#churchpodcast --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
The practice of Christian Meditation helps us live with the peace of Christ. Relax to the sounds of peaceful music. Ready to leave behind the old and venture into the new? Meditate on Genesis 12:2-3. Find peace and rest during this guided meditation for mind and body with deep breathing, prayer, and scripture. Use these meditations as a bible study in the morning to center yourself on the truth in God's word. For more Bible meditations, download the Abide app: https://abide.co/awesome
This lesson on heroes of the Bible uses Hebrew 11:1-8 and Genesis 11:31-12:5 to delve into the account of Abraham and his faith. Several important concepts are addressed, including: (1) the relationship of Abraham and God, (2) why did this unique relationship exist, (3) why did God choose Abraham, and (4) what does God want us to realize from this account. The lesson ends with the encouragement to respond to the message.
Looking at how a couple dealt with infertility issues as well as blended family problems. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/happilymarried/support
Kadai mung sa lu // Jinghpaw gospel songs. Karai mungga // Sermon.
Kadai mung sa lu // Jinghpaw gospel songs. Karai mungga // Sermon.
The lives of Abraham and David loom large in the Bible. In fact, we can know very little about the big story of the Bible if we are not familiar with the stories of these two people. The gospel of Matthew opens with these words: "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham… " Jesus is introduced as the heir of these two great, complicated individuals who both walked in unique nearness with God and whose names became synonymous with the great promises of God to humankind. Over the next couple of weeks, we're going to take a dive into the lives of these two figures. We'll begin with Abraham, who we touched on briefly when we looked at the story of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham, the unlikely father of many nations.
Bible Study with Jairus – Leviticus 27 Chapter 27 is the last chapter of the book of Leviticus. It talks about Jehovah giving Moses the laws concerning people's vows and dedications. The value that is set on each person when one makes a vow is not the same. A male has a higher value than a female, older people and children have a lower value (verses 1-8). If a man has already dedicated himself to the Lord, he must not exchange or substitute it. Although the animal and house that he dedicated can be redeemed, a fifth must be added to its value (verses 9-15). If a man who dedicates a field wishes to redeem it, he must add a fifth to its value. If he does not redeem the field, it can never be redeemed (verses 16-25). An animal's firstborn must not be dedicated; he may repurchase the unclean animal after adding a fifth of the value to it. If he does not redeem it, it will be sold at its set value (verses 26-27). But nothing that a man owns and devotes to the Lord may be redeemed (verse 28). No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed (verse 29). A tithe of everything from the land belongs to the Lord. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it (verses 30-31). Leviticus 27:32-33 says, 32 Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod—will be holy to the Lord. 33 No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.'" (NIV) The last verse says, "These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites" (NIV, Leviticus 27:34) One Christian who shared at the beginning of this meeting didn't understand what verses 32-33 meant. Why couldn't they pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution? And if anyone did make a substitution, the animal and substitute became holy and couldn't be redeemed? Although we have briefly outlined what Leviticus 27 is talking about, when people read the Bible, they often get confused and don't understand what they are reading. Is this your experience when you read the Bible? I remember reading a survey about Christians reading the Bible. The first reason why Christians don't read the Bible is not that they are lazy, but rather because they don't understand it. Sometimes after reading the Bible, they don't know what it is saying or how it applies to their lives. If you have finished reading this chapter of the Bible, what do you think it's talking about? I often say that our understanding of the Bible can limit the growth of our spiritual life. For example, how can a person who doesn't understand the Bible or doesn't usually read the Bible be changed by the Word of God? The spiritual growth of new believers is subject to the limitation of their knowledge of the Word of God. On the other hand, a person can thoroughly read the Bible from cover to cover and only see it as words on a page rather than a living word. They don't possess the spiritual experience of the Bible and have a limited understanding. The Chinese are very wise in this area. Although Chinese people don't have a long history of studying the bible, they have a lot of experience understanding the world. For example, the Chinese say that a person can only better understand the world and become a useful person if he/she "travels ten thousand miles and reads ten thousand books." This is a very philosophical statement. "Reading ten thousand books" is like the first example of when we read the Bible. We need to read more about the Bible and various spiritual works. We must also listen to other pastors' teachings to help us understand the Bible and glean as much spiritual knowledge as possible. "Traveling ten thousand miles" is like a Christian who regards prayer as essential and who enjoys pursuing spiritual truths. Through the Holy Spirit working in him and his circumstances, he learns how to deal with the flesh, control his mind, live in the spirit, and become deeply rooted in the Lord. The two are inseparable and complement each other. Of course, I advocate reading the Bible more and reading it every day. I was saved in the Local Church movement and was taught to read three chapters in the Old Testament and one chapter in the New Testament every day. We can read through the whole Bible this way in a year. I still insist on doing this every day. Every morning, I read three chapters in the Old Testament and one chapter in the New Testament, and I find a verse that moves me. I use this verse to practice pray-reading, which is meditation during lunch break. It has been very beneficial to me. In addition to attending the meetings in the Local Church, I diligently read the spiritual works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. When the Lord led me to Pentecostal and Prophetic churches to learn the truths of others, I eagerly read a lot of books about them. On the other side, through the circumstances that the Lord had prepared for me, I have learned to accept God's dealings, and I have slowly experienced that the desires of my flesh have died or are dying. I have gradually grown in my spiritual life, and the many spiritual experiences and dreams given to me by the Lord have deepened my understanding of the Bible. Therefore, in our meeting this week, I explained Leviticus 27 from the perspective of my personal spiritual experience. To a certain extent, it has helped our Bible study members studying this chapter to understand better what the chapter is talking about. Leviticus includes many of the laws or covenants that Jehovah gave to Moses. Leviticus is known as the book of the covenant. It is the book of the covenant between God and man. What is the covenant between God and man? Whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, God compares Himself to a husband and the Israelites as His wife, or the Lord Jesus as the bridegroom, and the church is His bride. The covenant between God and man is a marriage contract. We all know that when Americans get married, there is a ceremony. When the minister officiating the wedding asks the bride if she is willing to marry the groom, she will respond with the words, "I do." This "I do" is the most crucial sentence and the climax or end of this wedding. If the bride says, "I do," basically this ceremony is a success. If the bride says "I don't," like the movie "Runaway Bride" or the "The Graduate,” it would be terrible. Similarly, as in the book of the covenant, Leviticus ends with the Israelites saying, "I do." This is the specific regulation that the Lord established in this chapter after He blessed the Israelites and cursed them for their rebellion against Him in Leviticus 26. These regulations mean that people are willing to dedicate themselves to God. There are two great forces in the world. The first is the power of God's destiny or election for your life. He has a pre-written plan for your life. Even if you are stubborn like Jacob or rebel like the prodigal son of Luke 15, God can save you. The second most incredible power is dedication. If people are willing to dedicate themselves to God, they will then become a great channel of blessing in God's hands, which will bring blessings to countless people. Such examples are innumerable in the Bible - Abraham, Samuel, Mary (the mother of the Lord Jesus), etc. When they dedicated themselves, it changed the universe. Abraham was called righteous when he offered his son Isaac to God. Hannah dedicated Samuel to God, which transformed an era. Mary, the Lord Jesus's mother, dedicated herself to God, bringing in the birth of the Savior of mankind. Their dedication changed the world. When the Lord Jesus was about to be crucified, Mary poured a bottle of perfume to anoint His feet. When the disciples objected, the Lord Jesus told them that this woman's sacrificial anointing should also be preached wherever this gospel was preached throughout the world. Jesus valued this woman's sacrifice and wanted her honored by making sure she was mentioned in the gospel message of his sacrifice for us. Leviticus 27 is about the power of people's dedication. This is closely related to Leviticus 26. Chapter 26 talks about how the Israelites rebelled against God and how they were punished. Chapter 27 revealed how the Israelites could overcome their sins and their own weaknesses, such as rebelling against God and idolatry. The answer to this is to give God authority or dedicate our lives to God and let him work in us and help us. Let me give you an example of what this means. Genesis 12:7 records that Abraham built an altar after the Lord appeared to him. Then in verse 8, it says that he built another altar on the east of Bethel, where he called on the name of the Lord. In the Old Testament, we know that the altar represents one's dedication because the altar is used to put the sacrifices and offerings (animals) on it. Calling on the name of the Lord is an act of spiritual dedication and worship. Because the Lord Jesus said, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." (John 4:24, NIV). After this, something terrible happened. Abraham gradually went south, leaving the altar he had built for the Lord. In the end, he experienced a famine. Remember that the Bible doesn't say that "Abraham moved south after the famine occurred," but "the famine occurred after he moved south." In other words, famine was a trial from God. It was reminding Abraham to return to the altar. But Abraham didn't obey and continued to travel south to Egypt. In Egypt, He lied to Pharaoh about his wife Sarah, saying she was his sister, leading Pharaoh to almost have an immoral relationship with her. Of course, after God intervened and struck Pharaoh, he saved Abraham and Sarah. This matter is considered a weakness or a failure in Abraham's spiritual experience. It is similar to the Israelites who rebelled against God in Leviticus 26, which we mentioned earlier. Of course, God blessed Abraham this time. In Genesis 13:3-4, it states that Abraham returned to Bethel after this incident, where he had previously built an altar for the Lord. There Abraham had called again on the name of the Lord. Compared to the first time when he built the altars, his understanding of the name of the Lord had deepened. Why? He had experienced his own failure, as well as the salvation and faithfulness of the Lord. He experienced his own weakness, unbelief, and Jehovah's unchanging promise. I experienced something similar to this when I was a child. As kids, we often went swimming in the river. There was an older boy who usually accompanied us. One day, a younger child would have drowned but was rescued by the older boy. The rescued child held the older boy's hand and repeatedly shouted his name because he knew that he saved his life. The older boy's name was something to look up to and esteem, unlike before the incident. Similarly, after Abraham experienced failure in Egypt, he returned to the place where he built the altar. There he called on the name of the Lord again. The meaning of the name of the Lord was different for him. His understanding of the Lord's name became deeper because he had experienced the Lord's safeguard and care for him in Egypt. Although he was not faithful, God was still faithful. Why did the Lord help Abraham even though he failed? The secret here is that the two previous altars Abraham built were his dedication to God. When Abraham dedicated himself to God, although he experienced failure later, the power of dedication enabled him to overcome his own weakness and failure. When we dedicate ourselves to God, the authority no longer belongs to us. Instead, it belongs to God. If I dedicate my life to Him and God still allows me to fail, then my failure isn't only mine, but also His. God will surely guard us, allowing us to overcome the trials in our life. Every time I think about this, it makes me happy, especially when facing trials. I am confident that God will guard me because otherwise, my failure will shame not only me but also Him. Abraham's dedication to God came before his failure, not after. It was because of this that his dedication was of more value amid failure. So why did Abraham dedicate himself? It's because the Lord chose him, or possibly it was a response to the Lord's repeated appearances to him. As I said before, God's destiny or election is the greatest power in the universe. But our dedication also has a lot of power, and it is a response to God's destiny for us. When Mary broke the alabaster jar and poured the perfume to anoint the Lord, the Lord accepted her dedication. Similarly, in the Old Testament, God hated Esau. But the reason for Him loving Jacob was because Esau did not make the right dedication when responding to God's election. Esau only paid attention to his flesh. But Jacob was longing for the inheritance rights as the firstborn; therefore, he could please God. Abel's offering pleased God, but Cain's offering didn't. God's election and dedication is a dynamic and dialectical relationship. God elects the best, so don't ask whether his election or destiny for a person is right or wrong, good or bad. Once God has elected a person, others can't evaluate the good or bad of His election. The lady at the beginning was disturbed by this statement. She mentioned that she did not understand what verses 32-33 meant. Why is it that no one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution? And if anyone does make a substitution, the animal and substitute must become holy and cannot be redeemed? Also, why is it that God commanded every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod be offered and be holy to Him? Doesn't this seem this unreasonable? Who will God choose in His election? Only one person will be elected for every ten people. What if His election is wrong? She said with emotion, "This seems to be accidental and also inevitable because God hides the inevitability in chance." Yes. God, who knows the heart, arranges the boundaries of all things and people, so God can't be wrong. She still didn't understand the reason why God would not let anyone pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. Later, under the wonderful leading of the Holy Spirit, we talked about her child and her experience of the Lord dealing with her ways of educating her child. She said that her child has a talent for art but is mediocre in other subjects. Her child is not a straight A or a well-rounded student. This mother has been a straight-A student ever since she was little. Therefore, when she teaches her child, she gets frustrated because she finds that her child doesn't live up to her standards. Through God's help, she eventually realized that her child was given to her by the Lord to help mature her. In the end, she was very grateful. She changed her approach to educating her child. She no longer asked her child to meet her standards. Instead, she learned to dedicate her child to God and teach the child according to God's election and preparation. What this mother experienced is not unusual. Many parents of Chinese families will face this problem. Our children may not have the same structural foundation as ours. Therefore, we often try to mold and make our children according to our image, and the result may suppress the child's nature. My situation is like this mother's child. Since I was young, I was a daydreamer and not very good at math. When I was in high school, I ranked first in literature, history, and other subjects. But I ranked last in mathematics. Therefore my total score wasn't very good. My sister happened to be my teacher in high school. Because my overall score was not good, she was ashamed of me. She often burst into tears and even wrote a 10+ page letter to persuade me to study hard. I am only good at certain subjects. My mother doesn't have a high level of education. To a certain extent, my sister played a role in educating me. I still remember the tears that she shed for me. This mother needed to focus on the child's strengths knowing that God always sees the good and has a purpose and destiny unique to each individual. The problem is that people can't accept it and end up having doubts. But when this woman tried to replace God's election by her own efforts by molding the child into someone she likes, she was bypassing what God wanted the child to be. In the end, her way was impossible, and she realized that she needed to not only dedicate her child to the Lord but herself as well. This, in turn, made God's election or destiny and her substitute holy. I mentioned my experience because I also want to talk about this. I was born in a rural area, and I failed a lot when I was growing up. My educational foundation wasn't very good, plus, as I said earlier, I'm only good at certain subjects, which resulted in me having to take the college admission test three times to pass. Plus, I experienced a lot of failures over the years. When I was first saved, I was defeated and felt utterly worthless. Later, in 2004, the Lord appeared to me. He asked me to dedicate myself to Him. After struggling, I dedicated my life to Him. In a previous study, I mentioned that I was saved in 2002, and in 2004 the Holy Spirit inspired me to attend a special meeting where they encouraged everyone to dedicate themselves to the Lord. I didn't want to, but the Lord urged me through the Christians at that meeting. I prayed and said in the evening, "If Jesus reveals the truth about His second coming to me, I will dedicate myself to Him." At that time, I was still in doubt whether the Lord Jesus would really come again. I dreamed that night that two people were fighting for my heart. One man was stronger, and he won. I think that was the Lord. The next day, I dedicated myself to Him. Later, I prayed and dedicated my marriage to Him. In 2006, my wife and I met each other in the church and got married. But after marrying, we experienced a lot of tough times. We experienced a lot of struggles financially and emotionally. These hardships once again knocked me down. In 2008, I hit rock bottom. I didn't have a job, and I lost my work permit. Money was scarce, and I saw no future for myself. This situation caused more arguments with my wife. She said, "Look, you can't earn money, you don't have a green card, and you don't care about me." These hurtful accusations from my wife caused me to have a breakdown. At that time, I was serving in the church. We went to Plano, Texas to attend a special meeting. Because of my service and some other things, my wife and I argued again. Her words made me feel like I was a loser. I walked down the street in Plano until the early morning before returning to my host family. I felt very depressed. The next day, the brother who was serving in the church said, "If God can get 50 people who will fully dedicate themselves to Him today, He can change the world through them." He called those people who were willing to dedicate themselves to God to stand up. I had nothing at the time, but I was willing to stand up and dedicate myself to God. Unexpectedly, after this, the members of my church discovered that I had changed a lot. A man in our congregation recognized that I had the gift of being able to express people's thoughts. I often spoke out even before they started to share their thoughts. I also had discovered that the Holy Spirit had baptized me at that meeting and helped me understand the Bible. I gradually began to learn to lead a Bible study group. On the one hand, my wife was surprised that God often spoke through me. On the other hand, she also curiously asked: "Why you?" In this way, I continued to grow up in the spirit of God's grace. But I still couldn't overcome the shadow brought by my past failures. I often felt that I couldn't complete God's call for my life because I felt inadequate. I said to God many times, "I know that you have a call on me, but I really can't accept this call because I am not wise enough. I have made so many mistakes, and I have a lot of character flaws." And I often heard the voice of the enemy saying, "you don't deserve to be elevated by God." "You have a lot of shortcomings, and you're stupid." If you serve God on a larger scale, not only will you not bring glory to God, you may also bring a lot of shame to Him." Of course, I recognized that this was the voice of the enemy, but because what he said made sense, and he often reminded me of my weakness, it was disconcerting. I had been struggling with this pain for years. Until one day, I read the story of how D.L. Moody dedicated himself to God. Due to low educational attainment, Moody became a shoemaker in his early life. When he found out that he had a calling from God, he struggled between the conflict of his low level of education and the greatness of God's calling. He was very insecure about his low education level and didn't know whether he should accept God's call. One day, a preacher from the United Kingdom said, "The world is yet to see how God can use and will use a person who is absolutely consecrated to God to change the world." This statement greatly encouraged Moody because there was no mention of a person without high educational attainment who could not be used by God. I was also greatly encouraged and dedicated myself wholly to the Lord. I entrusted my "lack of wisdom" to Him and trusted His leading. I just followed His leading and dedicated myself to Him again. These experiences are just like Abraham's repeated experience of building the altars, and each dedication was more profound than the last one. The trials that I encountered didn't end. In 2010 I found out that we couldn't have children. We had been married for ten years before God showed up and miraculously healed us and blessed us with a baby girl in 2017. During this trial, my wife and I experienced countless arguments and tears. The circumstances forced me to further die to myself. I was driven into a corner. I remember once, I could hardly keep going. I said to the Lord while I was walking, "If You don't give me strength now, I can't keep going. I will fail and fall. I might bring shame to your name." As I finished praying, I experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was like an electric current. It baptized me from head to toe. I immediately got the strength in God's grace. I was then able to overcome my weakness and keep going. Looking back at these experiences, although I can't go into detail, I found a pattern. Once we dedicate ourselves to the Lord and give our authority to Him, He will surely keep us from falling. As it says in Psalm 91:11-12 (NIV), "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." Although this verse is widely known because Satan quoted it to put the Lord Jesus to the test, it applies not only to Jesus but also to "whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High" (Psalm 91:1, NIV). In addition to the power of God's destiny or election, dedication is the greatest force in the world. Psalm 110:3 says, "Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning's womb." (NIV) If we are willing to dedicate ourselves to God, God can do wonderful things and change the world through us. Often, the church cannot change the world because it is full of people who haven't dedicated themselves to God. If all Christians would dedicate themselves to God now, I believe that God will accomplish his will soon. We might think that it's only necessary to dedicate ourselves to the Lord when we have reached a place of importance, like the man given five talents in the Bible. That is wrong thinking. We need to dedicate ourselves while we only have one talent, and it will grow to five. The Lord Jesus said, "For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." (Matthew 25:29, NIV). The more you dedicate yourself to the Lord, the more God will expand the gifts and measure in you. Of course, the Lord also said, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48, NIV). At the beginning of Leviticus 27, everyone's value before God was different. The value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty was fifty shekels, and the value of a female of the same age bracket was thirty shekels. For a person between the ages of five and twenty, the value of a male was twenty shekels, and the woman was ten shekels. For a person between one month and five years, the value of a male was five shekels, and the value of a female was three shekels. Infants less than one month of age were not counted. The value of a male sixty years old or more was fifteen shekels, and the value of a female sixty years old or more was ten shekels. This is a valuation. It is a ballpark figure. Just like the US property values. If your county calculates your house price and gives you a figure, and you disagree, you can file an appeal. The same is true here. If you feel that you're not worth the money or if you can't afford this valuation, you can argue with the priest and reassess your value according to the ability that you wish. To give people a chance to visit, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States provides a "you name the price" in addition to the recommended fare. I tried it once. I paid the full price, and I paid one dollar for my friends from China, which they had gladly accepted. The same is true of Jehovah's command to Moses. God is willing to give everyone the opportunity to dedicate themselves to Him. Although He gives everyone a suggested price, people still have the freedom to choose a price that they think is appropriate to them. So with regards to dedicating to God, you have no reason to say that you are not qualified. This is why Jesus was so angry about the person who buried his one talent. As we said in the beginning, Leviticus 27:32 (NIV) says that no one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution on every tithe of the herd and flock that the Lord chooses. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed. This is a special case because it talks about the fact that God's election's authority cannot be denied. Verse 26 also says that no one may dedicate the firstborn of an animal since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord. But when it came to people's volunteer dedication, it involved a variety of factors. For example, if you dedicated animals, house, and field, they could not be replaced, but they could be redeemed. But the price of the redemption was the value set by the priest plus one-fifth of the value. And unclean animals coudn't be dedicated. They must be redeemed, and a fifth must be added to its value. If you didn't redeem it, you'd have to sell it. What does this mean? This means that you need to pay the price when you dedicate yourself to the Lord. What I said is true. A person who totally dedicates themselves to the Lord understands the personal price that must be paid. This is also true for a person called by God. For example, why did Moses struggle so hard when God called him to dedicate his life to Him? You need to pay a high price when you accept God's calling and when you dedicate to Him. Sometimes, we don't understand what it will cost us. Luke 9:57-58 (NIV) says: a man said to the Lord, "I will follow you wherever you go." But Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." This sentence was to remind this person that although he said that he would follow the Lord at any cost, he would endure hardships and pay a high price. Peter said boastfully to the Lord, "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will." (Matthew 26:33, NIV). But the Lord told Peter, "before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." (Matthew 26:34, NIV). In the next verses, Luke 9:59-60 (NIV), the Lord asked another man to follow him, but the man said, "I would first bury my father.” The Lord Jesus said, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." This person's heart towards the world was dead but was not completely cut off. The Lord then helped him to overcome the world. In Luke 9:61 (NIV), another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62, NIV) Look at the three examples above. In the first and third example, they took the initiative to dedicate. The Lord tells them the value of their dedication and the price they'll pay. But the second example is that the Lord Jesus called the man to dedicate. Although the man bargained, the Lord did not permit him to negotiate. This shows that the Lord's authority is something that people cannot resist. I remember Watchman Nee made the statement: "God only used soldiers recruited by conscription. He does not use enlisted soldiers." In other words, when God uses certain vessels to perform specific tasks, He made the choice. It's not just people volunteering themselves. Of course, if people are willing to dedicate themselves, then God will often remind them of the price they have to pay so that they won't regret it. Because God is a great God, He never forces or manipulates people to dedicate themselves. Instead, He asks them to think clearly about the price they'll pay. I heard a story that touched my heart and still moves me every time I hear it. There was a Chinese Christian man who was arrested and sent to prison by the police. He could face years in jail, so he was reluctant to go. He looked back at his wife and young children as he walked. The wife was also a Christian. She didn't cry but instead, she told him, "Just go. No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." She told him not to worry about her and their children and not worry about the price he had to pay. No doubt, the price he had to pay was high. But if he wasn't willing to dedicate himself to God, he would not only lose the blessings on earth but also lose the rewards in heaven. This woman was strong spiritually. She raised her children on her own with help from her church while her husband remained in jail for many years. This is a true story told to me by a Chinese Christian that I know. It's a story of dedication. China will have a great spiritual revival in the future, but these people are all pathbreakers. Undoubtedly, without their dedication and sacrifice, only a few people would be saved, and God's work in China wouldn't go forward. I believe that they will indeed receive rewards in the Kingdom of God in the future. Leviticus 27:28 (NIV) says that nothing a person owns and devotes to the LORD may be redeemed. Once a person dedicates himself, whether a human being, animal, or family land, it cannot be sold or redeemed. Everything devoted is most holy to the LORD. But if you dedicated a field that was not eternally devoted, there are two options. One was to dedicate your family's land. This was okay because it wasn't an eternal dedication. The price was based on the years left until the next Year of Jubilee. But if he does not redeem the field or has sold it to someone else, it could never be redeemed. In the year of Jubilee, the buyer must sell the land. The land would not be given to him. It's like the field devoted to the Lord; it would become His property and the property of the priests. The second option was if a man dedicated to the Lord a field he bought, which was not part of his family land, the field would revert to the person from whom he purchased it in the year of Jubilee. Don't these two seem contradictory to the verse earlier? The earlier verse said if I sold the field to someone else, it could never be redeemed. But in the latter verse, it said that the buyer would revert the field to the person from whom he bought it. Actually, it is not contradictory. There is a constant dedication process here. When we are sinners, it is like selling the field (which represents our inheritance), and when it is Jubilee, the field must be returned to us. Ephesians 4:8 says that the Lord Jesus' led captive those taken captive." This means plucking us from the hands of the enemy and offering us as a sacrifice to God in the ascension of Christ. The Lord Jesus came to preach our Jubilee. We, who were bound by sin and didn't know God or the glorious inheritance that we were called into, will be released by God in the year of Jubilee. We were also offered as a sacrifice to God by Christ. Paul mentioned this in 2 Corinthians 2:15 (NIV), "For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." This is the first stage of the experience, meaning once we are saved, God will "rescue us from the dominion of darkness and bring us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Colossians 1:13). Whether it is Christ, Paul, or other preachers who helped us receive salvation, we are their sacrifices or offerings to God. But are we willing to dedicate ourselves to God as a sacrifice? This is the further experience in Romans 12. Paul even said in Romans 12:1 that we should offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. Since we are all saved and brought into the kingdom of the Son he loves, why should we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice? This is a deeper dedication. But it's not necessarily an eternal dedication. Exodus 21:1-6 (NIV) records that if you buy a Hebrew slave, he must serve you for six years, and he shall go free in the seventh year. But if he marries his wife given by the master and gives birth to a child while he was a slave, and declares that he does not want to go free because he loved his master and his wife and children, the master will pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. This is an eternal dedication. God gives people the free will to redeem before a person eternally devotes himself. To provide a simple example, the Mormon Church encourages young people to dedicate two years of their lives to their missionary program, which involves preaching the gospel in various places. This involves a temporary dedication but is not for eternity. I went to Dayton, Ohio, a few months ago to participate in intensive learning at a theological seminary. I took an Uber, and the driver was from a Mormon family. He told me that his brother had participated in the two-year missionary program, but he did not participate. The church where I was saved also encourages this. It encourages many young Christians to dedicate two years of their lives to training and serving the Lord. After their two years, many return to their professions. However, many are determined to serve the Lord for life. This is like the eternal dedication here. Of course, we are using modern examples just to make an analogy. This is not to say that only full-time preachers totally dedicate themselves to God, and other professions don't. No matter what profession we are in, we can fully dedicate ourselves to God. Previously we mentioned that if you didn't redeem the field or sell it to someone else in the year of Jubilee, it could never be redeemed. It's the same story in Exodus 21. The redemption price represents paying a high price, which is the price for breaking the contract. We established a new covenant with God. The Lord Jesus paid his life as a ransom and redeemed us back to God, giving us a glorious inheritance in Him. This covenant is extremely important. Therefore, we must treat this covenant with caution. The covenant of life between the Lord and us will never be broken, but the personal and ministerial covenant between Him and us is agreed upon by the Lord and us. The Lord gives us the free will to choose, but once we decide to dedicate to God, we can be free if it is short-term when the agreement is over. If the agreement is not over, and we break the contract, we need to pay the redemption price. If, after our initial agreement, we declare that we love the Lord, do not want to be free, and are willing to serve Him forever, then we have made an eternal dedication. Eternal dedication cannot be redeemed. Of course, if God sovereignly elects someone, such as Peter and John, others cannot say anything to them, either good or bad. For example, you aren't permitted to say that Peter was only a fisherman, so he wasn't qualified to be the Lord's top disciple. Peter asked the Lord what would happen to John. The Lord said to Peter, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." (John 21:22, NIV). Each individual has a unique path lead by the Lord that can't be interfered with by others. I repeat, except for God's election, dedication is the greatest power in the universe. The reason why the church has no power it is too caught up in the world. It lacks dedication. Many Christians aren't truly dedicated to the Lord because their lives are focused on their own desires and lifestyles. If God's people would individually dedicate and commit their lives as living sacrifices, He could use us to change the world. The picture of Leviticus 27 should be an inspiration for us to dedicate ourselves more to God. May the Lord bless you and lead you to dedicate your life to Him.
He is often called “The Father of the Faithful,” and although his life was marked by failure and poor judgment, God led Abraham to become one of the most significant figures in human history. Join John Bradshaw for "Great Characters of the Bible" to learn how you can have faith like Abraham and how God’s grace can work in your life.
He is often called “The Father of the Faithful,” and although his life was marked by failure and poor judgment, God led Abraham to become one of the most significant figures in human history. Join John Bradshaw for "Great Characters of the Bible" to learn how you can have faith like Abraham and how God’s grace can work in your life.
In this episode of How to Read the Bible, Nate Claiborne and Mike Allen give context and background for Abraham's story in Genesis. After that, they discuss how the New Testament authors incorporate it in their writings. In Romans 4, Galatians 3, Hebrews 11, and James 2. As we prepare for our upcoming sermon series at NewCity, Blessed to Be a Blessing, we see the New Testament writers drawing on Abraham's story for a variety of pastoral purposes.
Faith isn’t seen in a “no.” It’s seen in a “go.” Today we revealed our 2nd GOAT of the Bible- Abraham. Support the show (https://mychurchunleashed.churchcenter.com/giving)
Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14 Guest Speaker John Dickson tackles a tough passage from the Bible-Abraham’s test with Isaac. Through this story, we see that God is the one who provides. He provides a sacrifice for Abraham and Isaac on the mountain and he provides himself as a sacrifice for us in Jesus. Genesis 22:1-14
Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14 Guest Speaker John Dickson tackles a tough passage from the Bible-Abraham’s test with Isaac. Through this story, we see that God is the one who provides. He provides a sacrifice for Abraham and Isaac on the mountain and he provides himself as a sacrifice for us in Jesus. Genesis 22:1-14
Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14 Guest Speaker John Dickson tackles a tough passage from the Bible-Abraham’s test with Isaac. Through this story, we see that God is the one who provides. He provides a sacrifice for Abraham and Isaac on the mountain and he provides himself as a sacrifice for us in Jesus. Genesis 22:1-14
God begins the story of redemption by calling a single man to live by faith. We'll talk about Hagar and Isaac from a canonical point of view. The whole Bible brings amazing and breathtaking insight into these stories. We'll also explore how the Abraham and Moses narratives can by summarized like this: Abraham lived by faith and walked in the Promised Land. Moses lived by law and died outside of it. The Greatest Story Ever Told begins now... --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Rev. Mitchell Boone preaches on Genesis 22.
In the Bible Abraham shows what happens when God promises us something. Abraham decided to live on the basis of what God said He would do. Find out how important it is to hope in God in this message.
Have you ever made one too many mistakes. You know, you get to a point where you think, That's it! God must be done with me? Well, Abraham was a man of faith who made plenty of mistakes along the way. Yet God seemed to overlook, even to compensate for them. Why was that? Life Changing Moments As we travel through life we all kind of experience these moments and often they are seemingly insignificant events that in fact, turn out to change the whole course of our lives. It's amazing when you think about it! We all have a plan for our lives but there are things just around the next corner or just over the next rise that can change everything – good things and bad things, happy things and sad things. Some people think, “Well, it's all a matter of chance." Well, I don't believe in chance. I remember a brochure that changed my life. I was attending a little church – I had not long become a Christian and it was a Sunday service like every other Sunday. At the end of the service I walked to the back of the little church and I saw a brochure for a particular Bible College, Tabor College in Sydney. It wasn't a particularly attractive brochure or a well designed brochure – I picked it up and that was a defining moment – I took it home, I read about this ministry degree, I prayed and I felt this incredibly strong tug in my heart. Now in my mind I am thinking, "There's no way. You know Berni, you have been a Christian for five minutes" but in my heart I knew. So I rang them, I applied, I went to see the Principal, I felt like such a fraud. "They are never going to accept me." They did! And there I learned so much but also, by chance again, I came into contact with my predecessor in this ministry; the former CEO of Christianityworks and one thing led to another. And today I'm doing what I am doing because I picked up that little brochure at the back of the church. Now I had no idea that morning that something would happen that would change the course of my life. This week we are starting a new series on Christianityworks, it's called “Defining Moments”. It's really exciting! I want to look at this from a different perspective; from God's perspective. See when we look back on our lives most of us can pick three or four, maybe half a dozen defining moments – those little things that seemed to change the whole course of our lives. Now, sure we can see them from our natural human perspective – after all, we are people; we're human, but if we do that I think we miss the point. I want to look at some defining moments in the lives of four people in the Bible – Abraham, Joseph, David and Josiah over the next four weeks and we are starting today with Abraham. I want to see if we can discover how God reaches into our lives with miracles - great and small to define the very course of our lives because God does have a plan. Psalm 139, verse 16, says: Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In Your book were written all the days that were formed for me when none of them as yet existed. And when we at least expect it, and even despite what you and I do or fail to do, His plan is worked out through His grace for His glory. God brings those defining moments. Let's start with Abraham - the man with whom God's engagement of His chosen people began. He was living comfortably in a place called Ur, east of Israel – of course Israel didn't exist back then. Ur was the land of the Chaldeans, later it was called Babylon – it's just south of modern day Baghdad. And he travelled with his father up to Haran and then God called him to leave his comfort and follow this really crazy, absolutely incredulous promise. Let's pick it up – if you have got a Bible, grab it; open it up at Genesis chapter 12. We are going to look at the story of Abraham – it's too much to look at it all in one programme but we are going to have a look at part of his story. Genesis chapter 12, beginning at verse 1: Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram when as the Lord had told him and Lot when with him. Abram was seventy five years old when he departed form Haran.” Seventy five years old! “He and Sarai his wife and they were childless." You see, you have to remember, in the Old Testament, blessing; God's blessing, you knew you had it when you had lots of land and lots of children. They had neither, so they didn't have God's blessing on their lives. Now the word "Abram" means "exalted father". So even his name was a joke, but still he went, off into the never never, based on what – some intangible, crazy call from God? Remember Abram had no Bible; he had no Scriptures to reveal who God was. He had no church tradition, or Jewish tradition – nothing like that. All the other nations had their gods; idols – they worshipped them, they believed all sorts of weird and wonderful things but Abram put his faith; he put his whole life and all his possessions in this God who came up with this incredulous promise. How did God say this to Abram - through an audible voice, a dream, a vision, a whisper of the Spirit in his heart? We don't know but he just heard the call and he trusted in the promises of God and off he went, into the blue yonder. Now God's plan A, remember, is to bless Abram with land and children – impossible of course! Oozes fantasy, not faith – could never happen. And then begins Abram's comedy of errors – pretty tragic actually. We don't have time to look at them all today but we are going to look at some of them. It's a journey where Abram and Sarai his wife, made plenty of mistakes along the way. Take Lot for instance, his nephew – if you look at Genesis chapter 12 again, did God tell Abram to take Lot with him? Not at all – it was Abram's idea. No doubt, this was plan B for Abram. "Well, if God doesn't come through on this promise of a son, at least I'll have a relative to be my heir" and Lot…..Lot causes him all sorts of grief. Let's have a look – Genesis chapter 13, verse 5: Now Lot who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents so that the land couldn't support both of them living together, for their possessions were so great that they could not live together. And there was strife between the herders of Abram's stock and the herders of Lot's stock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land. Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me – between your herders and my herders for we are kindred. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I'll go to the right; of you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” Lot looked about him and saw the plain of the Jordan that was well watered everywhere like this garden of the Lord; like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar - this was before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan and Lot eastward thus he separated from Abram. Gee, plan B worked really well for Abram didn't it? Obviously God didn't know what He was promising Abram and needed a back up! And look how it turned out! Strife, separation and then Abram gave away the best half of the Promised Land. And if you read on in chapter 14, Abram risks his life and God's plan because he has to fight a battle to save Lot's life. Lot was not part of plan A and in chapter 19 of Genesis (we won't go there for now for time reasons) but he ends up sleeping with his own daughters and fathers the Moabites and the Ammonites; both nations that became enemies of Israel. Huh – well done Abram! God obviously needed your help!! Who Can Blame Him? Well, who can blame Abram? He is in his late seventies now on a journey to nowhere and Sarai is no spring chicken either, I have to tell you. And God gives him this utterly incongruous, impossible promise and Abram is aching inside. "God, what are You doing?" Can you relate to that? I can! Let's have a look at the defining moment in Abram's journey. It begins in Genesis chapter 15, verse 1: After these things the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Don't be afraid, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me for I continue childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer, son of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the Word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir. No one but a son coming from your very own body shall be your heir.” God brought him outside and said, “Look toward the heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then the Lord said to him, “So shall your descendants be!” And Abram believed the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. I reckon this is one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. Is Abram a man of faith? Absolutely! But he is struggling – he has tried everything he can do in his own strength and he can't make this promise from God happen and time is marching on. So through his doubt, he ends up with plan C or D or whatever he is up to. How does God respond – with rebuke, with punishment, with discipline? God brought him outside and said, “Look toward the heaven and count the start, if you are able to count them.” Then God said “So will your descendants be! Isn't it beautiful? You know, the Milky Way when you get away from the smog and the lights of the city is just the most awesome thing – there are so many stars out there – it almost looks like clouds. Trillions of stars – this is the love of God! And he believed the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. Abram's faith meant that God's righteousness became part of who he was. It's a theme the Apostle Paul picks up in Romans chapter 4 and in Galatians chapter 3 in the New Testament, much later. See I struggle with the rose coloured glasses that Paul and others in the New Testament use to look back on Abraham. They paint him as this paragon of virtue; this great man of faith. Hebrews chapter 11, beginning at verse 8: By faith Abraham, when he was called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he didn't know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country, for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith Abraham, even though he was past age and Sarah herself was barren, was enabled to become a father. That's great but what about all of Abraham blunders? What about his lack of faith? He goes to God and says to God, "What will You give me? What will You show me? I can't see it – I'm losing hope." See, Abraham was human – Abraham had human failures and he made mistakes just like you and me - but the answer is in what we just read in Genesis. How is it that despite all of Abraham's blunders and doubts, God's plan still came to fruition? Because Abraham: “believed the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Abraham believed – he didn't do it perfectly – but he believed and this was counted by God as righteousness. The righteousness of God when we believe, He forgives our sins – He forgets them. “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” You see, that's why in the New Testament it doesn't talk about Abraham's mistakes because God has forgiven them and they are not relevant. That's how God deals with Abraham's human failings. This is the defining moment in Abraham's journey: he believed the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. This night that was like any other; he was in his tent; he was struggling; he was praying; he was saying, ‘God, what are you doing?' And God just touches him and brings him outside and says, “Look up at the stars; as many as are there so numerous will be your descendants.” It's not about what Abraham did or didn't do. The defining moment is about God's grace! And come and look with me exactly how imperfectly Abraham believed. Come and see with me how human and frail his faith actually is. He is credited with righteousness – God speaks to him and right on the back of that, just two verses later, in Genesis chapter 15, verse 8, begins this: But he said “O Lord, God, how am I to know I shall possess it?” And God said to him, “Bring Me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle dove and a young pigeon.” He brought God all those things and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other but he did not cut the birds in two. And when the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Know this for certain that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs and they shall be slaves there and they shall be oppressed there for four hundred years but I will bring judgement on the nation that they serve and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you yourself, you shall go with your ancestors in peace and you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” When the sun had gone down and it was dark, and a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day (listen to this) On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, “To your descendants I give this land – from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates and the land of the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Raphaim and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” See, in the face of further doubt from Abraham, God gives him this vision and he makes an unbreakable promise; a covenant; a promise from God Himself to Abraham. The Last Laugh Just as well, this covenant from God was an unbreakable promise because what happens next, after the stars thing and the vision and the promise, would have been the final straw for me if I had been God. Have a look at the next Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave girl whose name was Hagar and Sarai said to Abram, “You see the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my slave girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of his wife Sarai, so after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar the Egyptian; her slave girl and gave her to her husband Abraham as a wife. He went into Hagar and she conceived and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you. I gave my slave girl to you to embrace and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me.” Ok, men had more than one wife in those days but people haven't changed that much. Wives, how happy would you be with this outcome? Your husband sleeping with a slave girl and then all of a sudden the slave girl is pregnant. Can you see how perverted this is? And the son that Hagar bore was Ishmail and he became the father of the Arab world! Gee, that worked out brilliantly, didn't it? And so Abram, left to his own devices would have lurched from one blunder to the next but now the bit that really gets me about this story, is the ending. Both Abram and Sarai get to the point – I mean this has been going on for years now; decades where they just end up laughing at God's promises. I mean they are so ridiculous; they are so impossible – have a look – Abram first in Genesis chapter 17, verse 15: God said to Abram, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai anymore but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her and she will give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah who is ninety years old bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmail might live in Your sight.” And God said, “No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.” And then Sarah's turn next! God appears to Abraham in the form of three men and those men said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you in due season and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance, behind them. Now Abraham and Sarah, they were old and advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, “After I have grown old and my husband is old, shall I have the pleasure?” See, can you blame Abraham and Sarah for laughing at God? I mean if you don't laugh you will cry. It has been twenty five years – they headed away on this fool's errand into the blue yonder. Abraham is over a hundred – Sarah is over ninety – come on God, what do You think You are doing? But let's see how it ends! Genesis chapter 21: The Lord dealt with Sarah just as He had said and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah had borne. Do you know what the word "Isaac" means? It means "he laughs" – you see God had the last laugh! They both laughed at God's promises and God gives them a son called Isaac and God has the last laugh! It's the laughter of God's grace. And when you look back on this journey, what was the defining moment? See, what you and I want to look at is say: "What do I have to do….what do I have to do? What do I have to do to get God's favour?" Isn't that what we are always thinking? And you look at all of Abraham's blunders and you see all the mistakes he made but in his heart he believed and it was reckoned unto him by God as righteousness. His faith trumped his failures! Let me say that again ... Abraham's faith trumped his failures! People came to Jesus years later and they said, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” And Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the One whom He has sent.” Do you get it? The defining moment for Abraham was God's gracious, loving, powerful, impossible, unbreakable, ridiculous, only God could ever do it, take it forever….promise. And in his heart Abraham believed. That's the bit that God saw and took and used and blessed Abraham through. That's why the New Testament writers can completely ignore the failures of Abraham because God….God had forgotten them a long time ago. God had decided to overlook them a long time ago. Abraham was not a perfect man – Abraham was human just like you and me. You make blunders in your life; I make blunders in my life. What does God look at? He looks at whether we put our trust in Him through Jesus Christ. God not only forgave Abraham and Sarah but He cleaned up their mess along the way so that His plan would be fulfilled and realised for His glory. Look again at the defining moment in Abraham's life…Genesis chapter 15, verses 5 and 6: God brought Abraham outside and said, “Look up toward the heaven. Count the stars if you are able to count them.” Then God said to him, “So shall your descendants be. And Abraham believed the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. What do I have to do to do the works of God? To believe in the One whom He sent; His Son, Jesus Christ!
A Bible podcast for youth w/Noah Olson
Audio takes a few seconds to load. How God Uses Failure in Our Lives Sermon by Jefferis Kent Peterson, July 21, 2019 Note: God does not cause us to fail; He uses our failures to expose what is already in us. Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com A Man Called Peter: a brash, impulsive, bold a fisherman with gnarled hands who worked hard for a living; muscular from hauling in large wet nets with fish; a tough hide from baking in the sun. Peter’s mindset: he was looking for an earthly kingdom with a David-like leader who would kick out the Romans. Everyone believed the Messiah would establish an earthly reign and restore the fortunes of Israel to its former glory. No one had a concept of a spiritual kingdom after death and resurrection. God’s blessings were material on this earth. So, the idea that Jesus might die before he established this kingdom on earth was unacceptable! Peter was so sure of this that he was not afraid of correcting Jesus’ mistaken understanding of his mission: “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”” (Matthew 16:21–23, ESV) The word for rebuke in Greek means: denounce, express strong disapproval. We are not talking about a mild disagreement. Peter is so certain of his opinion that he cannot comprehend what Jesus is talking about. Peter’s whole worldview, his theology, his expectation is being upended. It would be like saying Jesus will never return. That can’t be right! That is what Peter is thinking. It doesn’t make any sense. Peter is so ready for a military revolution with Jesus as the head of the army that when the time right for a fight, he boasts of his commitment that he is ready to die for the cause! “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.” (Matthew 26:30–35, ESV) Peter dismisses that. He doesn’t believe he will deny Jesus. He is ready to die for him! So, when the time comes and Jesus is surrounded, he takes his sword and starts to attack: “So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”” (John 18:7–11, ESV) So, what happens? Jesus is captured, put on trial and Peter’s whole world starts coming apart!!! Not only has Jesus not turned out to be a military leader, he now is going to die? Jesus is just giving up??? Peter doesn’t know what to do or where to put his faith now. He is struggling, disappointed, confused. Everything he has spent his life on for the last three years is now being destroyed. Remember he said earlier when Jesus asked if he wanted to leave when other disciples walked away, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” In other words, where else. He said before, “we have left everything and followed you.” We walked away from our business. We’ve spent three years on the road following you around. And now you are going to die??? What gives? Were we deceived??? Photo by Nathan Cowley on Pexels.com Remember, at this time, Peter and the disciples did not know that Jesus was going to rise from the dead! In John, it says when they went into the empty tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there, “they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” (John 20:9, ESV) So, from Peter’s point of view, the show’s over! He’s dead. He’s gone and nothing’s going to bring him back. The vision of a new Davidic Kingdom can’t happen, and Rome is not going to be kicked out. Instead of fighting, Jesus is just surrendering and with his death, the whole last three years was a waste of time. On a side note, the reason Judas betrayed Jesus was possibly the same motivation: he thought by turning Jesus in, he could force Jesus’ hand and start the promised revolution against Rome. But then, he was just using Jesus for his own agenda. He was not following him. Well, Peter can’t handle it. It’s all over and under the confusion and stress of this explosion of his hopes, Peter is identified as a follower of Jesus. And Peter denies Jesus 3 times. “Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.” (Matthew 26:69–75, ESV) …..Now Simon Peter sees himself as truly is: a weak man who in the face of death is a coward. He has failed miserably. He boasted he was not like the others and would be a hero, but he came to know himself as he really was. In fact, he has lived up to the curse of his own name, for Simon means weak! Something he had tried to live down and fight his whole life. He felt so bad. He must have remembered the words of Jesus about being a disciple. “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32–33, ESV) “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24–26, ESV) Peter must remember that he is now disqualified not only as being a leader of the disciples but even being a disciple… And he is also looking around at the consequences of following Jesus and he does NOT want to go there. It is one thing to fight and die, but entirely another to go die without putting up a fight. It is against his nature. He must have felt like the odd man out when Jesus appeared to all of them in the upper room, like he didn’t belong. At least not anymore. He decides he’s had enough and he is going to go back to what he knows: Forget this! He’s going fishing. “After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:1–3, ESV) You know the story. Jesus appears on the land, tells them to cast in their nets again and they do and pull in a great haul of fish. Peter jumps out of the boat and goes to see Jesus. “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Notice, the name Peter means the Rock. Rock Solid as we would say, but Jesus addresses by his given name Simon, the weak. Simon, do you love me more than these? What are these? I believe Jesus was asking Peter if he loved his boat and nets and this lifestyle of fishing more than he loved Jesus? In other words: are you willing to follow me, knowing what the cost might be, or do you love the safety and predictability of being a fisherman? And Peter answers: He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”” (John 21:15–23, ESV) God uses failure to teach us that we are not in control of the universe. Failure shows us our weakness and our need for God. In fact, we aren’t fit to succeed until we have had major failures in our lives. Through failure comes humility. Through failure comes patience with and kindness towards others in their frailty. Peter would not have been fit to be a leader unless he had failed. Knowing his personality, he would have been a harsh judge of anyone who was weak or failed. But having failed, he learned he must also extend mercy, patience, and forgiveness to the flock of God. For we all fail in many ways. Like Peter, we must be broken to be fit for the Master’s use. Moses was full of himself as a young man, when he slew the Egyptian. In Hebrews, it says he thought he was the one to deliver Israel. But Moses was sent into the wilderness for 40 years. He was so broken of confidence in himself and his own strength that when God appeared to him in the Burning Bush, he said, I can’t lead anyone. I can’t even talk I stutter so bad. His dream was there, his vision was there, but he failed in his own strength, and then God could use him. It says of Moses that he was the meekest man on earth. The word meek comes from the bit that is put in the horse’s mouth and makes it easy to guide them. Moses was broken to be a man God could lead and use. There are many other examples in the Bible: Abraham, Joseph, David. We only come to our destiny when we are forced to recognize our weakness, and God shows us our weakness when we fail. It teaches us to rely entirely upon him and show no confidence in ourselves.
Gen 12-17 Rom 4:1-25
If you've ever felt like God has been keeping you in a season of waiting, you definitely don't want to miss this episode! This week we discuss one of the hardest challenges that we think a lot of Christians struggle with today - waiting. So often God will make us wait for something, but the question is not only why He makes us wait, but HOW are we supposed to wait? All over the Bible - Abraham and Sarah, Noah, Joshua, Paul - God makes people wait. There's simply no getting around it, and we all have to go through it. But waiting doesn't mean the absence of God while He's busy with other people. It often means the exact opposite. Join us this week as we find out why God will make us wait and what we should do during that time!
Julia Fisher talks to Evan Bass - Today I'm in BeerSheva in the Negev in the south of Israel. Beersheva is mentioned several times in the Bible – Abraham dug a well there, Samuel was a judge there and Elijah took refuge there. Today it is home to over 200,000 Jewish people mostly immigrants from Arab countries, India, Russia and Ethiopia. My guest today is Evan Bass. He knows BeerSheva well. He was born and grew up there. Son of a Messianic Jewish pastor he had the challenge of finding his own identity. We met in a coffee shop and I asked Evan to describe what life was like for him growing up. Our aim is to build bridges... To build bridges of understanding and support, in a spirit of reconciliation, between believers (both Jewish and Arab) in the Holy Land (Israel and the Palestinian Areas) and Christians worldwide. olivetreefund.org
Today it's easy to suffer from information overload - our information age is cluttered and noisy. When hearing God's voice through the Bible it can feel like information overload too. There's a lot happening in the Bible, so how do we cut through the “noise” and dial in to what God is saying?The big message of the Bible is God getting himself to his people so he can get his people to himself. And he accomplishes this through Jesus Christ.The big message broken up into three parts:Justification: God makes his people right.Sanctification: God makes his people holy.Glorification: God makes his people perfect.On JUSTIFICATION: since the Garden the Bible records God's grace to make his people right before him through no effort of their own.Rather than role models to follow, the people in the Bible (Abraham, Noah, David, etc.) are examples of God justifying his people despite their sin.The Exodus is the major event that puts on display God saving his people through no effort of their own.Application: You will hear God's voice in the Bible clearer when you see the Bible is for you, but it's not about you. In others words, the Bible is primarily about what God has done for you. God will speak to you about your justification - he will remind you of it, cause you to rest in it, and to worship because of it.On SANCTIFICATION: “Sanctification or holiness is conformity to the likeness of Jesus Christ.” Jerry Bridges, Disciplines of Grace.The bible won't make much sense if you don't understand that a holy God is speaking to his people about being holy so they can be with a holy God forever.The ceremonial laws (animal sacrifices, clean laws) was God's gracious way of making it possible for a holy God to dwell with his people.The moral law is still binding on us today. We obey because of our justification, not for our justification.Application: when you read through the OT and come to the ceremonial law, read it and hear God speak that the holiness of his people is of utmost importance to God. Without holiness we can't be with God. And also hear the grace of these laws that God would show us what holy living looks like.On GLORIFICATION: this is when the final removal sin happens. When this happens God will dwell with his people forever, his glory will fill the Earth, our bodies will be resurrected like Christ's, and the Earth will be renewed.Our glorification is the completion of God's plan to get himself to his people so his people can be with him forever.The Old Testament prophets speak a lot about a renewed Earth both physically and experientially. The physical Earth will be renewed (deserts blossoming, mountains flowing with wine, etc.), and how we experience the Earth will be renewed (no weeping, there will be righteousness and justice, etc.)When reading these prophecies keep in mind that they will happen when Christ returns.Application: this is our great hope, especially when we suffer. Our suffering pales in comparison to the glory that is coming. We suffer for a little while, we are glorified forever.May we be a church that rests in our justification, pursues our sanctification, and hopes for our glorification.
This week, we tackle difficult subjects. We look at Abraham and Sarah, and how they tried to work out their covenant with God. But then we also look at their collateral damage: Hagar, their slave. We try to hold to the former while not minimizing the latter.
Abraham, our first "bad dad," took his son Isaac up a mountain to sacrifice him! What could be worse than that? Even more disturbing is the fact that God was the one who called Abraham to do it. But if we dive deeper into this troubling story, will we find profound questions and surprising insights into our own relationship with God. Join us.
We have started a series about arguably one of the most influential people in the entire Bible - Abraham
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