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What Position Do You Play? · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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You have your Bible, and I hope you do go and make your way to
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Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18.
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We'll be looking at verses one through 21 as we continue our
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series that we've titled Answering God's Call.
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Just a special thanks to all of you who are involved in our
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foster care ministry in the life of our church.
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Just one of the many ways we seek to share and to show the
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love of Christ. And so thank you to Andy and Lee
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Russell for all you guys do to lead and spearhead this
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ministry. So many others that serve in
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support roles. It's great to have Rick Jackson
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who served with Faith Bridge and helps and supports him in so
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many ways. It's a product foster care
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awareness month. So we're just continually
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drawing attention to opportunities and ways that God
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would have a step into ministry opportunities by his Spirit in
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order to be the hands and the feet of Jesus.
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So Amen for all that you do and praise God for just all the ways
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you've been involved in seeing what we saw to begin this
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service, right. I don't have time to go into all
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the stories, but kind of go back to one of those.
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One of those guys that was baptized is the husband and
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father involved in a family because his kids were invited to
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church by another families. Kids in the life of our church,
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Colin Cat Smith and their kids offering an invitation to
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church. And then guess what?
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A whole family coming and realizing what God has in store
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for them and celebrating that today and beyond.
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I could say more, otherwise I wouldn't have time to preach, so
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I'm not. But listen, just thank you for
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being the church. Thank you for sharing the
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gospel. Thank you for being bold with
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your faith. This is what we mean when we say
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as you go, you go to make disciples is to share and show
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the love of Christ and to speak the gospel.
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Invite people to come and see and taste and see the Lord is
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good, right? Amen.
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So well, if you have your Bible there in Genesis 18, I hope it's
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becoming clear by now why we've titled this series Answering
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God's Call. Because every time we flip to a
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new chapter in this book, we're at a new stage of Abraham being
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asked to answer God's call on his life.
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And this is what life is all about.
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No, my call and your call is not exactly the same call as
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Abraham's call. But God's plan and purpose for
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all of us is to answer and say yes to his call on our lives.
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That's where the abundant life in Christ has lived.
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That's where God's plan for your life and mind is realized as we
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say yes to God's call on our lives and we're watching this
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unfold in His life so that we can take and apply what the
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Bible says should be happening and applied in our lives.
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So the truth I want you to see from Genesis 18 is simply this.
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And I'm going to have to explain it because it's probably not
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going to make much sense when I first say it, but here it is.
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You ready. God includes you to use you.
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God has included you to use you. Now before I explain what I mean
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by that, let me just go ahead and say that lots of Christians,
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lots of believers actually don't believe that.
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Now they'll say they believe that, but by the way they live,
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they betray the fact that they actually don't really believe
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that. In fact, I hear it all the time.
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In fact, this past weekend I was at an event with a pastor friend
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of mine in Tennessee called the called the Total Archery
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Challenge. I like shooting a bow and arrow.
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This was a weekend of shooting bows and arrows together.
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So 2 pastors and another guy get together to do that.
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We had a great time and I'm talking with my pastor friend
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about things going on in his church and he tells me about a
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man that I know, mutual friend that survives pancreatic cancer.
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He thought surely the doctor thought surely he would not
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survive. He does tells his pastor, I know
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God's got a calling on my life. But Tim, I'm, I'm divorced.
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I don't feel like God can use me.
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And there's a believer struggling with the fact,
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struggling to believe that God has included him to use him.
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Let me be more specific, right? Lots of Christians live like
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this. They live like God wanted to
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save them but then be done with them.
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Lots of Christians live like God's grace was good enough to
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forgive them, but not to use them.
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Lots of Christians live like God love them enough to rescue them
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from hell, but he doesn't like them enough to use them to get
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anybody else into heaven. Lots of Christians live like God
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wants to include them in His plan of salvation, but not use
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them in the mission of salvation.
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Because of this, lots of believers miss out on the call
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of God on their lives if they would simply believe the fact
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that God has included them, called them, save them, pick
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them on His team, a part of the family of God.
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Why? To be used to be used to expand
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the mission and the truth of others hearing and coming to
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know the love of God in Christ for them.
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Listen to the word of God as I read Genesis 18 beginning in
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verse one, we're going to read through verse 15 to begin with.
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And the Lord appeared to him. That's to Abraham by the oaks of
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Mamre as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
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He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men
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were standing in front of him. And when he saw them he ran from
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the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, and
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said, Oh Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass
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by your servant. Let a little water be brought,
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and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while
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I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and
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after that you may pass on, since you have come to your
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servant. So they said, Do as you have
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said. And Abraham went quickly into
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the tent to Sarah, and said, Quick three, say as a fine
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flour, knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and
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took a calf tender and good, and gave it to a young man who
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prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk in
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the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them, and he
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stood by them under the tree while they ate.
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Then they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife?
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And he said, she's in the tent. And the Lord said, I will surely
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return to you about this time next year and Sarah your wife
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shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the
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tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old,
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advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to
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be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself,
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saying, After I am worn out and my Lord is old, shall I have
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pleasure? The Lord said to Abraham, Why
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did Sarah laugh and say, Shall I indeed bear a child now that I
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am old? Is anything Don't miss this?
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Is anything too hard for the Lord at the appointed time?
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I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall
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have a son. But Sarah denied it, saying I
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did not laugh, for she was afraid.
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He, that is the Lord said no, but you did laugh.
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Abraham is doing a little front porch, sitting in the heat of
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the day out in front of his tent.
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When from the sound of the text, it doesn't seem like he sees
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them coming from a long way off. It seems like all the sudden
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boom, there the three were in front of him.
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Abraham's reaction, Abraham's reaction is a little strange.
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I I don't believe he did this with every random guest that
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came walking by in the heat of the day, but he immediately does
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something strange for a Middle Eastern, especially 100 year old
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Middle Eastern man. All right, dude takes off on a
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dead Sprint. He immediately runs to greet
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them, and then furthermore, he does something even more strange
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besides run as he immediately bows down before these three
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men. Now, some people want to argue
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that maybe Abraham doesn't know who he's talking with.
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I actually believe he knows exactly who he's seeing, who
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he's witnessing in front of him. Why do I say that?
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Number one, because of the way Abraham is acting.
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Surely he doesn't do this for every guest #2 the Lord has
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appeared to Abraham before. This is not something he's
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experienced for the first time, right?
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This is a continuation of something that has happened in
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his life. I believe Abraham knows exactly
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who this is the Lord and two angels appearing in human flesh
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with him. Either way, whether or not he
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knows who it is or not, he says, oh Lord, stop and stay.
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Let me get a little water to wash your feet.
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It's so interesting how he's he is under promising and over
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delivering here. Just watch this.
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All right, he's let me get just a little bit of water, just a
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morsel, just a bite of bread so you can rest in the shade, be
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refreshed for just a second before you continue your journey
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on right The three, the three visitors accept Abraham
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Abraham's offer and Abraham recruits Sarah to start kneading
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the dough and baking the cakes. And then Abraham goes and gets
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some choice, a prime USDA beef. Now, if you've ever been at the
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restaurant and you're like, man, this has been what, 30-45 hours
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since we ordered? And you're thinking, you know,
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you've heard the phrase they have to go find the cow, right?
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Literally, they had to go find the cow.
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This is not like stop and go get gas and a drink, right?
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This is like, hey, stay the day. This is take time.
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I'm about to usher lavish hospitality.
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He goes and gets the best that he's got, right.
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He's got to prepare it from scratch, actually from alive to
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scratch, then ready to eat. All right.
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So he recruits Sarah a spares no expense here.
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And on top of that, Abram doesn't actually sit and eat
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with him. He does what they would do in
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their culture to, again, lavish hospitality.
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If you've ever travelled internationally, you might
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notice it'll make you very uncomfortable at first.
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But you know, in America, if the waiter or waitress is too much
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by your table, what do you kind of like?
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You're kind of like, hey, we're good.
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You can, you can back off, right?
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Well, if you go internationally, they're going to stand typically
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right there and wait and watch you eat and wait on your every
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minute need, which is exactly what Abraham does.
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He's not eating with them. He is waiting on them, serving
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them to the greatest capacity possible.
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Eventually the conversation during the meal goes like this.
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Where is your wife, Sarah? And again, that's an odd
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question, unless this is somebody that number one knows
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who she is and knows her by name.
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All right, well, she's in the tent, Abraham says.
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And then just as casually and coolly as if he's talking about
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the weather, he's like, hey, by the way, but this time next year
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I'm going to return and she's going to have a baby.
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Sarah. The whole time's got ear pressed
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up against the tent. She's listening with all she's
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got, right? Again.
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That's odd. Unless she knew these were some
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VI PS that she ought to be listening, that Abraham's acting
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crazy, running around like a chicken with his head cut off to
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get him served, right? She's listening into their
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conversation, wanting to know what they're saying.
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She hears this, all right? And and, and her immediate
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reaction is, is, is actually pretty funny, but Jesus does in
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the flesh there doesn't think it's funny, but, but, but here's
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what he says. It says the Lord there like
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capital, the Lord. So obviously at this point, they
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know the identity of who they're talking with.
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And not only does he know her name, he can read her internal
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quiet not expressed out loud thoughts, right.
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And so hearing these words of a son being born to her.
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She's 90 Abrams 100 not out loud, but in size inside she
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says, my worn out body. And then here's a real problem.
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My old husband. Am I going to have the pleasure
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of a child after my monthly visitor left hadn't seen that in
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decades. God case, you haven't missed
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that. She laughs inside Jesus, there
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in the flesh again. What is this gal?
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This is what we've called a Christophany and appearance of
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the Son of God, who's existed from eternity past, who spoke
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creation into existence, but who did not take on human flesh and
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become fully human while remaining fully God until he was
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born of Mary, just like he was promised.
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But it always existed, and yes, appeared even in bodily form in
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the Old Testament, which you have an appearance of here and
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here. He asked why to her husband.
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Why did your wife laugh? Now you got to think Abram
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didn't hear a laugh, right? I'm wondering what's going
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through his mind. And then he speaks her very
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thoughts. If Abram and Sarah don't know
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who this is, now they do. And then the Lord drops.
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The question, is anything too hard for the Lord?
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Is anything too hard for the Lord?
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The first thing, the first lesson that we learn from these
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first 15 verses is this. Nothing is impossible with God.
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God can use anybody in any situation.
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God can use anybody in any situation.
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Why? Because nothing is impossible
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with God. Is anything too hard for the
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Lord? Obviously he's asking a
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rhetorical question. Why are you laughing?
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Is anything too hard for God? Do you not believe that nothing
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is impossible with him? Let me just break down for a
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moment what happened with Sarah? Because this happens to us too.
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We may not laugh out loud at God, but often times we laugh on
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the inside. So #1 her laughter starts y'all
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by lack of faith in God. Now, again, a lot of Christians,
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most Christians would say, I believe God can do anything with
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anybody. Nothing is impossible with God.
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But as soon as they go through a hard thing or they fail in a in
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a big way, or they stumble and all of a sudden they feel like
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they're unusable, guess what they say?
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They sound like that guy my pastor was describing.
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Yeah, but God can't use me. Yeah, God save me.
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Yes, I plan, I hope is in heaven.
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Yes, Jesus has forgiven me, but I just don't feel like God can
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do anything with me. So she's got a lack of faith in
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God, which leads to laughing at God, not on the outside, but on
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the inside. And then after laughing at God,
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she's afraid of God because she's lied to God.
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And then she's rebuked by God. That's a bad cycle to be in.
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You ever been in it? You ever had some lack of faith
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in God that's LED you to maybe not mock God, but quite
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honestly, you kind of just laughed under your breath, said
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no, that's not possible, God. That's not a good idea, God,
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that can't happen. And then lack of faith in God
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led to being afraid or maybe sin, like lying to God, then
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maybe being rebuked by God. That's the cycle, the result of
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not believing all things are possible with God.
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Are you believing? Let me ask you this question.
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Are you believing right now? Anything is too hard for God.
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Let me be more specific. Does it seem too hard to you to
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be who God has called you to be? Does it seem too hard to you to
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do what God has called you to do?
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Does it seem too hard to you to say no to sin in temptation?
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Does it seem too hard to you to take every thought captive to
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obey Christ? Does it seem too hard for for
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you to have a godly marriage, or to have a godly Christian home
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or to forgive someone? Does it seem too hard for you to
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keep praying for that family member, that coworker, that
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child, or that grandchild that is yet to trust Christ?
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It seems like they never will. Does it seem too hard for you to
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face and walk faithfully through the circumstances where God has
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you? Is anything right now?
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Are you believing anything is too hard for God?
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You don't want to go down that cycle that that path puts you on
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because nothing is impossible with Him.
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Do you believe? Do you believe God has included
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you to use you? Why don't you listen to verses
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16 through 21? Then the men set out from there,
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and they look down towards Sodom, and Abraham went with
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them to set them on their way. And the Lord said, Shall I hide
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from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall
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surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of
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the earth shall be blessed in him?
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For I have chosen him that he may command, that he may command
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his children and his household after him, to keep the way of
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the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord
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may bring to Abraham what He has promised him.
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Then the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and
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Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to
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see whether they have done all together according to the outcry
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that has come to me, and if not, I will know.
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You see, after the meal, the three visitors continue toward
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Sodom and Gomorrah, the destination of their journey.
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And as a gracious host, Abraham doesn't just say goodbye in the
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living room or the foyer. He doesn't even shake their hand
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and hug him and say goodbye on the porch.
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As a good host in this day and time and culture, he would have
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travelled a part of their way with him.
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And obviously by this point, there's a little separation
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between the four because now Abraham and the Lord are having
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a conversation here and the angels with them maybe are a
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little bit ways apart. And the Lord ask a question out
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loud that he already knows the answer to.
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Shall I hide from Abraham? What?
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What I'm about to do. Let me just go and give you this
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second lesson we learned. We're going to explain it.
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Here it is. You ready?
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God shares his secrets with his friends, they say.
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Kyle, that sounds odd. Well, let me explain.
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I think it will become far more clear that God shares His
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secrets with His friends. You see, Abraham is going to
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have the privilege of hearing the will of God because Abraham
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is in a personal relationship with God.
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Abraham's about to get inside. He's about to get a heads up.
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He's about to get inclusion in the will of God that's about to
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unfold. Why?
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Because he is in a friendship. He is in a personal relationship
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with God. This is what I mean by God
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shares his secrets with his friends.
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Let me see if I can be more clear.
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Are you ready? Hey, Noah, friend of God, build
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a boat. I got a little secret for you.
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It's about to rain. Like a lot.
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I bet Noah was glad God shares his secrets with his with his
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friends. Hey, Moses, I'm going to let my
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people go. I want you to go to Egypt and
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say to Pharaoh. Let my people right.
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God shares his secrets with his friends.
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How about King David? Hey, David, a son of yours is
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going to sit on the throne and rule and reign forever.
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You walk before me blamelessly and in righteousness.
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Hey, Daniel, I want you to write what you read and what you what
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what what you've heard and what I've said so that people will
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know what's to come in latter years and generations.
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Hey, Nehemiah, I'm going to restore my people to their land.
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I want you to go back and build the wall of Jerusalem.
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Hey, disciples, all authority has been given to me in heaven
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and on earth. Therefore then go and what?
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Make disciples? Why?
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Because I am Lord, I am ruler, I'm in charge of all.
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And then how about the Apostle Paul?
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I love this Paul says whether in the body or out of the body, I
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don't know. I couldn't tell you, he said,
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but I know a man talking of himself caught up to the 3rd
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heaven. So much so I saw things, I
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experienced things that I can't put into human language.
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Listen, you read those books people say they saw in heaven.
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Paul says I went there and you can't put what I saw in human
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language, so just be careful. God shares His secrets with his.
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What did Jesus say in John 1515? No longer do I call you
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servants, for the servant does not know what his master is
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doing. But I have called you.
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There it is. For all that I've heard from my
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Father, I've what I've made known to you, y'all.
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I've shared all my secrets. I've shared with you the will of
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God with you. Find any friend of God, man or
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woman in Scripture. Find a friend of God.
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You will find a person that whom God shares his will and his ways
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with. Why?
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Because he's included us in order to use us.
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This is exactly what God is doing with Abraham.
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This is exactly what God wants to do with you and with me.
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Do you believe that? You really believe God wants to
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share with you things that He wants to include you in so that
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he can use you. This is God's fun.
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This is why God's put the Holy Spirit in you.
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I read this morning in my quiet time Colossians chapter 2 text
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that I've read before that just jumped out to me like crazy
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again, but it spoke of who Christ is in Colossians 2.
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And Paul writes statements that go like this.
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In him the fullness of deity dwells bodily.
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And then Paul describes just earlier before he says that,
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that the one who indwells us is who none other than Jesus, the
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Son of God by his Spirit indwells us, and in him the
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fullness of deity dwells bodily. You are, if you are a believer,
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the fullness of God dwells in you by the Spirit of Jesus
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Christ through the Holy Spirit who's called you to Himself.
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You don't have, you don't lack anything.
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You need to have to be used by God.
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God has included you in order to use.
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You've got no excuse. All the ones you want to use
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don't matter and don't count. God has breath in your lungs and
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you're on His team. He's included you in order to
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use you. Do you believe that?
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Why does God want to share with Abraham what is about to happen?
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Because it has everything to do with the calling of God on His
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life. This is how God will include you
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in His plan based on His calling on your life.
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He pulls Abraham aside because why?
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Because God has called Abraham to be the one that he's going to
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start with, through whom he's going to being and bring about a
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great and mighty nation, through whom he's going to bring about
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blessing to all the peoples of the earth.
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And guess what? God is about to deal directly
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with some peoples of the earth. Abraham's about to have a front
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row seat to what God's going to do with some peoples of the
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earth that are walking in outright, outright rebellion
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against him. And God wants Abraham to realize
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the criticalness of his calling, that God, through him, let's the
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world see what it is to walk with God, to know him so that
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what's about to happen doesn't continue to happen.
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Now, I want to talk about this for a moment.
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God is about to pour out judgement on the peoples of the
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Jordan Valley because of their extreme wickedness.
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And God is not about to do this flippantly.
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He's not throwing a temper tantrum as an immature God in
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the sky that throws lightning bolts.
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God is not in a rage. God is not acting in a way that
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sometimes he's caricatured. In fact, he's going out of his
22:51
way to investigate the situation personally before doing anything
22:56
about it. Of course, God knows all and
22:59
sees all. He doesn't have to come down to
23:01
see what's going on in the Jordan Valley.
23:03
But he does so and says that he does so.
23:05
So you and I know how the patience and mercy of God and
23:08
the thoroughness of the justice of God before acting.
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The third thing I want you to see here is that there is no
23:14
injustice with God. There is no injustice with God.
23:18
Let me be real honest with you. One of the accusations made
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against God, often by unbelievers who people who
23:25
reject the gospel that's made against God, made against the
23:27
Bible, is how could he, how could he, how could he wipe out
23:31
entire cities, an entire people group, right?
23:34
Entire families? If that's who God is, I don't
23:36
want anything to do with him. Have you heard that before?
23:42
The Bible says here that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was crying
23:47
out to God. The level of injustice, the
23:52
level of wickedness, the level of pain and oppression, the
23:56
level of abuse, the level of rebellion, hard hearted know God
24:01
we're going to live our way. The level of destruction, the
24:05
level of the absolute turmoil and chaos of unleashing the
24:10
havoc of people, men and women living their own way against God
24:14
was literally it affecting all the people from kids and
24:17
families in the community and the society and beyond.
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All of it was crying is as if creation was crying out.
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Is there a God who would ever make this right?
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Is there a God who could reverse this pain?
24:28
Is there a God who could bring justice?
24:30
Is there a God who could do away and make this right?
24:32
Is there a God who could hit reset?
24:34
Is there a God who is holy that can do anything about human sin?
24:37
The sin of the city was crying out for justice.
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Is there a judge? Is there a judge in all the
24:44
universe who would be willing in His Holiness and mercy and His
24:49
goodness to step in and do anything about this?
24:52
Or are we left all alone? Another thing you'll hear a
24:59
false statement about God is you'll hear sometimes people
25:02
say, well God was that way in the Old Testament, but he, he,
25:05
he got better with Jesus in the New Testament.
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Let me read you what the Bible says.
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Matthew 1014 and 15. Jesus says if anyone will not
25:17
receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from
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your feet when you leave that house or town.
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Truly I say to you, it be it will be more bearable on the day
25:27
of judgement for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that
25:29
town. Matthew 1123 and 24 This is
25:34
Jesus again. And you Capernaum, will you be
25:37
exalted to heaven. You'll be brought down to Hades,
25:41
for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it
25:46
would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be
25:49
more tolerable on that day of judgment for the land of Sodom
25:53
than for you. So here's some bottom line
25:55
realities of the universe we got to reckon with.
25:57
God is either holy or he's not. Man is either sinful or he's
26:05
not, and mankind's sin either demands divine judgment from a
26:12
holy just judge of the universe or it does not.
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But if it does not, ladies and gentlemen, explain to me why God
26:20
the Father would so love the world that He would send his one
26:22
and only Son to die in your place.
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Pierce through hands and feet so that the holiness of God could
26:27
be demonstrated and actually satisfied, all the while the
26:31
judgment, the just judgment of God for all of mankind.
26:33
Sin could be paid for out of a God who is both loved and holy
26:37
at the same time, because He is holy and we are sinful, and yet
26:40
we are offered rescue from it because of the holy love and
26:44
justice of God. Friends, there is no injustice
26:51
with God. Don't let anybody else tell you
26:54
otherwise. Back to Abraham, God's call in
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his life is to become a great nation and to be a blessing to
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all the other nations of the earth.
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How? I want you to notice this
27:05
closely in the text. How?
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By living according to the way of the Lord, demonstrating the
27:13
Bible says righteousness and justice for the world to see.
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God is saying in his mercy Abraham, my call on your life is
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to live in such a way so that even through your descendants
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the world can watch and see there is a God in heaven and
27:27
there is a way He has called us to live and there is a way to
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know Him and walk with him. I want the world to see Abraham,
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me through you and your descendants.
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This call on Abraham's life is the same call on our lives in
27:40
Cartersville, GA today for the world to see there is a God and
27:44
he is good to come and see and taste and see that God is good.
27:46
Why? Because I'm watching through
27:48
your life. I'm watching God do through you
27:50
or I'm watching God through me do something that I don't see
27:52
anywhere else. And I want to know what you know
27:54
and who you know and how you know it.
27:57
This is the call on his life and mine #4 is this God's call on
28:01
our lives is to live and share the way of the Lord.
28:06
Our call, God's call on our lives is to live and share the
28:10
way of the Lord. Jesus puts it so clear in the
28:13
New Testament, right? He says to his guys, hey, I'm
28:15
not calling you to fish for fish any longer.
28:17
That was fun. But I'm calling you to fish for
28:20
this is going to be a whole lot more fun, All right?
28:22
He says you're going to be my what witnesses starting right
28:27
here in Jerusalem to the what ends of the ends of the earth.
28:30
He says you're to be the salt of the earth, the light of the
28:33
world. Paul's going to put it another
28:34
language. Paul writes you are ambassadors
28:37
for Christ as if God was making his appeal to the lost through
28:41
you. Paul says also you're going to
28:43
be like living letters of Christ for the world to read and see to
28:47
know there's a God in his love. So friends, our lives literally
28:52
are to be billboards of the gospel wherever we live, work
28:56
and play. And and in case you, in case
28:59
this kind of hasn't sunk in for you yet, most Christians, I
29:10
believe, miss out on the most exciting part of living the
29:16
Christian life. Let me, let me be honest, like
29:24
every day, yes, it's supposed to start with you and God.
29:29
Listen, I wouldn't trade my quiet time with God for nothing,
29:31
all right? But you, you're not going to
29:35
usually find me jumping up and down and crying about 6:00 AM
29:40
when it's just me and God. I mean, they're day.
29:42
There are days. Maybe that happens.
29:44
But you know, when I jump up and down and throw a party, most
29:53
Christians get bored. Being a Christian.
29:58
You know why? Because their lives are not
30:01
being lived as gospel billboards for the world to see.
30:06
And as a result, their party pooping on God's greatest call
30:10
on their life. And no wonder.
30:12
It's sad, boring, and complacent.
30:15
Because guess what? If your life is not leading to
30:17
seeing anybody, I guarantee if anybody in this room had
30:19
anything to do with what they just saw, you're like, I want to
30:23
do that again. God, give me another chance
30:26
today to do that again. That was fun.
30:29
That's worth living for right there.
30:31
Like God. I mean, no, it's not better than
30:33
knowing God itself, but the only thing next to it is seeing
30:35
somebody else come to know and see and taste and see the Lord
30:38
is good. Just like you.
30:40
I just want John writes in his letters that our joy may be
30:42
complete and our joy may be full right that he's sharing with
30:45
them. But I get that most Christians
30:46
are bored because they're quite honestly wrapped up in their own
30:50
party and it me and God and no more and not worried about
30:53
anybody else's life and living and their life's not advertising
30:55
the gospel. Nobody's learning Jesus lived,
30:57
died, was buried, rose again from you, from them, and
31:00
therefore they're missing out and they think the Christian
31:03
life's boring there. You know what happens then?
31:05
Then they go out and try to taste and chase everything the
31:07
world has to offer, and then they're dissatisfied with that
31:10
thinking that could satisfy the hole in their heart and they're
31:12
missing out on God's greatest call on their life.
31:17
They're shooting bows and arrows up in Tennessee, having a good
31:19
time with my pastor friend lived out God's calling on his life.
31:25
We're asking the guy, young guy, he's like 18, what direction to
31:28
a course. Tim, my buddy, introduces
31:31
himself to him. I'm just thinking about shooting
31:33
my bow and air and Tim's like, Phineas, do you know Jesus?
31:37
I'm like, oh, here we go. Phineas is like I'm working on
31:41
it. That means no.
31:42
By the way, if you know Jesus, you don't say that.
31:48
Tim says Phineas he made you, He loves you, he sees you, he has a
31:54
plan for your life. He sent his son to die for you.
31:57
He paid the price of your sin. If you call on Jesus name to
31:59
save you asking for forgiveness, you can be saved.
32:06
And I'll, I'll be honest, right? Nothing else we did up there
32:09
mattered any more than that 35 seconds.
32:14
I'm going to be honest. Most of what we do to make
32:20
money, most of what we do to have fun, most of what we do to
32:25
have the house in the car and the vacations and all the stuff
32:28
that we want doesn't mean anything compared to the 35
32:32
second conversations you can have every day.
32:37
And I guarantee you it'll be far more exciting and you'll throw a
32:42
party like no other party when you see it lead to that right
32:45
there. God's call in our lives is to
32:49
share and show the way of the Lord.
32:51
I've got one more part of this passage I want to show you, and
32:53
it really deals with parents. All right?
32:55
So if you're a parent or going to be a parent, a grandparent, I
32:58
want you to I want you to lean in verse 19.
33:01
It says Abraham, what am I calling to do and how you to do
33:04
it? He says that I that he that is
33:06
may Abraham may and don't miss this word, command his children,
33:12
the parents. I want you to stay with me.
33:13
Command his children. You ready on 3123.
33:17
Command his children. The world will tell you don't
33:20
command your kids to do anything more about that in a second
33:24
command his kids and his household after him to keep the
33:28
way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.
33:31
But I don't want you to miss is one of the keys to Abraham's
33:34
life here in calling was to be a faithful husband, a faithful
33:37
father and leader of his family. This is just one of the many
33:41
places in Scripture that we see this following final principle
33:44
this morning is that parents are responsible for teaching their
33:48
children the things of God. Parents are responsible for
33:52
teaching their children the things of God.
33:56
And did you notice what specific word God said was to
34:00
characterize Abraham's parenting when it came to his kids
34:04
learning the will and the ways of God?
34:06
Did you notice that the word, it starts with AC.
34:08
It's an imperative that means a command.
34:10
I just said the word, sorry, command, command.
34:16
Now, hey, do y'all want y'all want to think about this?
34:18
We're going to have a family meeting.
34:20
We're going to negotiate. No.
34:24
As for me in my house, Abraham, you're to say we're going to
34:28
what? We're going to serve.
34:30
Like when Joshua said that he wasn't giving the other members
34:33
of the family an option. He was saying, you live in my
34:36
house. This is the way we do.
34:38
This is the way we do life. All right, So what is Abraham
34:43
commanding? To command his kids.
34:44
He's to command them. Two things to be spent to learn
34:47
the ways of God and to then obey the ways of God.
34:52
Now I want you to be, I want to be very clear.
34:54
God did not say here, Abram, command your kids to believe
35:00
because he can't. He can't make the choice for
35:04
your kids and neither can you. The command is to instruct.
35:08
The command is to hold accountable to what you've
35:11
instructed. It's up to between God and your
35:13
children and grandchildren, whether they actually believe
35:16
and receive. All right, but this is a way of
35:18
life you're to set in your home. Learning and obeying the ways of
35:23
God is not to be optional in a Christian home.
35:27
I'm going to say this. It upsets you.
35:30
This is just true. But if, if, if learning and
35:32
living the ways of God is an option in your home, you are not
35:36
biblically parenting the way the Bible says to do it.
35:42
You're just not. I didn't say you could force
35:45
them to believe. I'm just saying you're not doing
35:46
it the way the Bible says do it. Now let me just also be clear.
35:50
There is a way that you can do this harshly and overbearingly
35:53
that will send them running for the hills.
35:58
And so in some ways our culture has pendulum swung over to this
36:01
gentle parenting where we're so passive we negotiate with our 2
36:04
year olds and we were being duped by the devil.
36:10
You know what Proverbs says here, Listen to this Proverbs
36:13
2915, the proverb says leave a kid alone and what you're going
36:16
to get is shame. The rod and reproof give wisdom.
36:22
You hear that? The rod and reproof give wisdom,
36:25
but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
36:28
I don't want to get too personal here, but I just, I just want to
36:34
say this because I, I realize not everyone has had this
36:39
privilege, but I was a benefactor of a mom and dad who
36:43
took that parenting principle seriously.
36:48
And listen, the wood has been laid to my backside, OK?
36:51
So I can talk as a testimony, as a satisfied customer, all right.
36:58
But I can tell you that they did it in the way that the Bible
37:02
says do it, OK? And listen to me.
37:05
My father never, ever spanked me in anger.
37:09
He never did it out of control and he never did it without me
37:12
knowing exactly what I had done wrong and what I should have
37:16
done right in its place. I, I'm just going to be honest,
37:20
my kids are really, I wish I, my kids could say the same, but
37:22
they're not going to be able to say the same.
37:25
Can I just tell you how I feel? They will not be able to say the
37:27
same. But my father would sit me down
37:31
on the bed and he'd say, son, I'm going to be up there in a
37:33
moment and we'd have a conversation and then we would
37:38
experience the consequences and he would depart for me to think
37:43
about it for a month. He'd come back in about 5
37:45
minutes and wrap his arm around me and saying, Kyle, I want you
37:49
to never forget how much I love you.
37:51
What you did was wrong and you experienced the consequences of
37:54
that. And guess what?
37:56
When you leave my home, the consequences probably be far
37:58
worse for bad decisions that don't honor God.
38:01
But I pray one day you'll learn under my roof how to avoid those
38:04
consequences. I praise God my parents did not
38:09
leave my rear end alone. I'm just going to put it like
38:14
that, as odd as that sounds, praise God.
38:22
Parents, God has included you to use you.
38:27
OK, your kids need three things from you spiritually.
38:31
Are you ready? They need a knowledge of what
38:33
you believe. If your kids leave your house
38:35
and they don't know what you believe, what the Bible says,
38:38
you've got to teach them what you believe #2 an understanding
38:40
of why you believe it and #3 an example of how to live it.
38:45
An example of how to live it. God has included you to use you.
38:50
I'm going to call John and praise team out.
38:51
I'm going to finish this way. If you've ever found yourself on
38:55
a team, be whatever sport or activity it is, one of the first
38:59
questions somebody's going to ask you is what position do you?
39:02
Will you play? In other words, how do you
39:05
uniquely contribute? What are your gifts?
39:09
What are your talents? How were you built?
39:11
What do you do for the team that helps the team win?
39:16
All right, you're included on the team so you can be used on
39:23
the team in a specific way. God has included you on the team
39:27
so he can use you on the team in a specific way.
39:30
If you're inhabited by the Holy Spirit, you've been gifted by
39:32
the Holy Spirit to be used in a specific way.
39:36
What position are you? Are you playing?
39:45
Or does the Christian life feel pretty boring because you're not
39:48
even in the game? What position are you playing?
39:51
Have you realized God has included you in order to use
39:55
you? You know This is why we say the
39:57
mission of our church is to love people to life in Jesus Christ.
40:01
You know why? There's not a, there's not
40:04
another even close second reason to live compared to that, to
40:09
love people to life in Jesus Christ.
40:11
That's why we say our vision is to soak our growing community
40:16
with the gospel of Jesus Christ, to see our growing community
40:19
saturated with it. Because my goodness, there's not
40:23
a more exciting thing to live for, to see people's lives
40:27
changed. I don't know if you need to
40:30
trust Christ today. If you need to say Jesus, I need
40:34
to get in the game. If you need to say Lord, I want
40:36
to say yes to the calling. Oh my God, I don't even know
40:38
what the calling is. I'm just ready and willing to
40:41
say yes. If you will clarify for me, I'll
40:43
surrender. I surrender.
40:45
I want to say yes. Would you guide me in what that
40:47
yes is? I'm going to stand here.
40:49
We'll have encouragers close and we're going to sing and worship
40:51
and you respond. Heavenly Father God, I want to
40:54
ask that right now, in this next few moments, we'd say yes to
40:56
you. If someone needs to say yes for
40:59
salvation, yes for service, yes to the call, all the above.
41:03
Whatever it is, God have your way, just as we are in our
41:06
lives. In Jesus name we pray.
41:07
Amen. Would you stand with me?
41:09
We're going to sing you. Come as the Lord leads you.
41:11
We'll wait for you.