Abraham

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Aren't you glad you're at church today?

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Baptisms, the move of the Holy Spirit, man, can I just,

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don't you just know He's always moving?

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He's always moving.

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You don't have to come here on Sunday

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to experience the move of God.

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You don't have to come here on Sunday to do that.

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Now He does do that, and I'm glad when He does,

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but He will move Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in your lives.

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I'm gonna tell you right now, I got a lot to share.

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So I'm going very fast.

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Get on your horse, you ready to saddle up?

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Stand with me, we're gonna go to Genesis chapter 17.

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And I would like you to read with some gusto this morning.

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Here we go.

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(congregation laughing)

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When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him

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and said, "I am God Almighty.

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"Walk before me faithfully and be blameless.

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"Then I will make my covenant between me and you

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"and will greatly increase your numbers."

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Abram fell face down and God said to him,

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"As for me, this is my covenant with you.

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"You will be the father of many nations.

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"No longer will you be called Abram.

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"Your name will be Abraham,

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"for I have made you a father of many nations.

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"I will make you very fruitful.

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"I will make nations of you and kings will come from you.

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"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant

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"between me and you and your descendants after you

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"for the generations to come.

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"Every male among you shall be circumcised.

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"You are to undergo circumcision

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"and it will be the sign of the covenant

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"between me and you."

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God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai, your wife,

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"you are no longer to call her Sarai.

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"Her name will be Sarah.

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"I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.

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"I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations.

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"Kings of people will come from her."

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Abraham fell face down.

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He laughed and said to himself,

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"Will a son be born to a man 100 years old?

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"Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?"

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And Abraham said to God,

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"If only Ishmael might live under your blessing."

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Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son

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"and you will call him Isaac.

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"I will establish my covenant with him

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"as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

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"And as for Ishmael, I have heard you.

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"I will surely bless him.

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"I will make him fruitful

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"and will greatly increase his numbers.

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"He will be father to 12 rulers

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"and I will make him into a great nation.

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"But my covenant I will establish with Isaac

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"whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."

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On that very day, Abraham took his son Ishmael

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and all those born to his household

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or brought with his money,

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every male in his household and circumcised them

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as God told him.

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Father, I thank you for your word.

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Thank you that it brings truth.

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I pray this morning that it would bring transformative truth

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to our hearts and our lives

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as we explore what you've done in the past

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and how it connects to our story.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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You are indeed a part of the greatest story ever told

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and if you're following along on our Bible reading plan,

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you will have already read this chapter

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and the ones leading up to it as well

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to kind of give some context to where we are.

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But for those of you who may have forgotten what you've read

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or have not read,

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let me give some context building up to Genesis chapter 17.

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In Genesis 10 and 11,

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the nations are scattered at the Tower of Babel

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and Abram's genealogy is introduced in chapter 10 and 11

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and he's born into the family of Terah.

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Now names and families are very important

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and we're gonna learn a little bit more about that later

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but names are very important.

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In Genesis chapter 12,

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God calls Abram to leave his homeland

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and go to the land that he's gonna show him.

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He promises Abram land, great nation

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and a blessing of all the earth.

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Abram obeys and he travels the Canaan

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where he builds altars and he worships God.

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Can I tell you that God will always move in a way

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of blessing you with more

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when you are faithful with the little.

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So what we see here unfolding in Abram's life

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is that God is introducing him to small moments

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where he can have his yes on the table,

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where he can obey so God can release in his life

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more, greater things.

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In Genesis chapter 13,

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Abram and his nephew Lot separate

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due to limited resources that they have

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and God expands the land promise.

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Abram is told his descendants will be as numerous

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as the dust on the earth or the sand on the seashore.

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In other words, your descendants are going to be so many

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that you can't count them.

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That's the type of promises our God makes.

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God makes incredible, wonderful, miraculous promises

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that he does keep.

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Can you say to your neighbor, God keeps his promises?

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In Genesis chapter 14,

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Abram rescues his nephew Lot from evading kings

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and he meets a guy named Melchizedek.

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And this is the first time where we see the tithe rendered.

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Abraham meets Melchizedek, the priest,

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and he renders a tithe, a tenth of what he owns.

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And I believe in that posture of obedience whenever we,

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anytime we walk in obedience to the Lord,

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not just in the tithe, but anytime the Lord continues

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to expand his blessing.

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In that same chapter, we look and we see how Abram

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is not taken by King Sodom, he's taken into the wealth

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'cause the King of Sodom came and said,

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hey, listen, you can have the plunder of everything here.

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Abram's response, my provision comes from the Lord.

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Can I tell you that your provision comes from the Lord?

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Doesn't come from man-made things,

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it doesn't come from even your victories,

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it comes from the Lord.

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In Genesis 15, God formally establishes his covenant

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with Abram, formally establishes his promise.

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And the promise is that he's going to have an offspring

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and it's going to come from him, a biological son,

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not a servant, will be his heir.

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In Genesis 16, I think most of us can find ourselves

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in both Abram and Sarai at this point

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because we often will go impatient,

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waiting on God's promise.

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Has anybody ever felt like you gotta help God along?

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Need to help you along the way, God?

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I don't think you've seen everything here,

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so let me kinda fashion something or make something happen

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so that your blessing can be what it is.

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And so Abram and Sarai have an idea, they say,

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hey, Abram, why don't you sleep with my servant?

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And the blessing could come through her.

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So Abram sleeps with Hagar and they have Ishmael.

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And so, look, God, look what we've done.

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Now you can bless us.

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Now that we've righted what you've forgotten, God,

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you can bless us, right?

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And so here we are in chapter 17, 13 years later,

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Abraham and Sarai, or Abram and Sarai

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have a 13-year-old boy, Ishmael,

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to which they think God's gonna convey this promise.

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Now, in Genesis chapter 17, I believe that,

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anybody here a formula type of person,

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like a checklist type, I like a good checklist,

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check, check, check, and we're done.

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Anybody, is that just me?

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Okay, I believe Genesis chapter 17 is a formula,

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a form, formulaic, is that a word?

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Yeah, formulaic, a checklist type chapter

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of how we can be ready to receive God's great promises

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for our life if we pay attention, okay?

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So Genesis chapter 17, we pick up here,

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and they've got this son, Ishmael,

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and they have fashioned him, or they have made him,

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and they said, this is going to be

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where the blessing's gonna come through, okay?

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When this chapter opens, the very first thing that it says

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is when Abram was 99 years old.

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Is anybody here 99 years old?

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Who's close?

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No, don't answer that.

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(congregation laughing)

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Can I tell you that God is not finished using you

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no matter how old you are?

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I wanna speak to the older demographic

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for just a moment here, because it is very easy

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for the older demographic, after you have what has been

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your prime of life, when you feel like you have done

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the thing, you get outside of that,

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and you begin to scratch your head, and you say,

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what's left for me to do?

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Is there anything left for me to do?

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Where do I belong?

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And really, if you're not careful, discouragement can set up.

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Frustration can set up.

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But can I tell you that as long as you are breathing

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on this planet, God has a plan for your life.

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In the world, there is a retirement plan.

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In the kingdom, there's no such thing.

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God has a purpose and a plan for your life

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as long as you are breathing here on the planet.

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But here's where I think where we miss it.

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Now, I'm not in the age demographic yet,

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but I've witnessed enough and I've talked to enough

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of you who have been in that demographic,

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and here's where I think we kinda miss the boat, okay?

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We miss the boat.

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When you get into that older demographic,

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you kinda look at that season in life

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where you were in the driver's seat,

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and you compare your life where you are right now

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to where it was then.

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And you know what comparison does?

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It's a thief of joy.

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You look at that season and you say,

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why am I not able to do those things anymore?

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Why does my life look like that anymore?

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And can I tell you, older demographic, here's my charge.

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Stop holding the younger generation responsible

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to put you in places of leadership and value.

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You are to hear from the Lord

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and do what the Lord tells you to do.

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When you hear from the Lord and you walk in obedience to Him,

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you will find your place right where you're supposed

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to be.

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Here's the thing.

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Listen, I'm the world's best driver.

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(congregation laughing)

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Okay?

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Just this past week, I took a group of seniors downtown

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to Nashville, went to an escape room and out to eat.

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And when we were there,

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I was driving down the interstate,

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and I kept hearing them shout, bingo, as loud as they could.

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And I was like, wow.

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Now, if you know me very well,

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you know I like a good game of bingo, okay?

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But I have no idea what they're doing

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or why they're saying that and having a conversation

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with somebody in the passenger seat there.

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So I just let it go and get down off the off ramp

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and they yell, bingo, again.

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And I'm like, what is going on?

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They are like into this bingo game, you know?

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So we go play the escape room, we get back in the van,

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we end up at the Thai restaurant.

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So we get out of the Thai restaurant,

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and when we get outside, the kids all run to the van

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and they shout, bingo, and this is where the van is.

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Now, you can't see that very well,

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but there's actually a line that's underneath the van there

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as I am taking two parking spots.

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Before our excursion, before our excursion,

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our seniors got a card together

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and they created a bingo card that had spots on it

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that said things such as,

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he will be cut off by another driver.

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He will slam on his brakes.

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He will park illegally.

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And they were shouting, bingo,

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as I was doing all of these things,

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not knowing that they had it on a bingo card.

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Now, here's the thing.

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Those in the older demographic,

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the current generation is in the driver's seat

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and we are needing some navigators.

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We are needing some navigators because I am driving crazy.

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I've got lines underneath my car.

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I need somebody in the navigator seat

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helping me as I drive the van.

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But here's the difference.

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There's a difference between being a navigator

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and somebody who criticizes.

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And if you're in the older demographic

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and all you're doing is criticizing the driver,

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don't get upset when they don't drive by your house

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and wanna pick you up.

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You have a role.

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Never negate the power of presence.

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One of the greatest gifts that Pastor Ronnie has given me

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in this season, this leg of my race, is that he shows up.

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And for those of you in the older demographic,

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I want you to hear loud and clear

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that there is so many places for you to serve

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here at Springhouse.

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It may not look like it did when you were in your,

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quote unquote, prime.

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It may look differently, but there are so many places

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and it's not my job to tell you what that place is.

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You have to hear from the Holy Spirit of God.

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Lean into what he tells you to do

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and as you walk in obedience to him,

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you will be fulfilled beyond anything in your imagination

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and you probably will be holding the arms up of somebody

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who needs to gain from the wisdom that you have.

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Can I digress from this point?

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God's call is not limited by your age.

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He appears to Abram at 99 years old

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and he says, "I'm gonna deepen my covenant

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"and my promise with you."

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A.W. Tozer says this, "God does not call the qualified,

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"he qualifies the called."

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God's call is, and his gifts are, irrevocable.

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That means no matter your age, where you've gone,

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what you've done, his gifts and his call are irrevocable.

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And so after he shows up, or as he shows up,

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the first thing that God says is this,

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"I am God Almighty."

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All true God's stories start here.

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I am God Almighty.

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The very first thing God is going to do in your life

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is establish the lines of authority.

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The very first thing God is going to do

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is to help you understand that anything that comes

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that's good in your life,

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anything that's about to be a blessing,

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anything that comes of the kingdom or in this world

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as it concerns you, if it's good,

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it starts with I am God Almighty.

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Because everything in your life is about bringing glory

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to not yourself, but to the King of Kings

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and the Lord of Lords.

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To the star breathing God.

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What makes your story so powerful

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is the radical transformative work of Jesus Christ

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in your life, can I hear an amen?

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So the very first thing God will do is establish

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that he is who he is in the relationship.

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And he doesn't start with you, which is very anti-cultural.

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'Cause we do like to start with us

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and we like to know what you're gonna do

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and how it's gonna affect us.

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And we expect everybody to do the same.

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Arwin Jones says this, "The toddler does not run the house."

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Can I tell you that the Christian does not run the kingdom?

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The King runs the kingdom.

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And it starts with I am God Almighty.

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And right behind that, God says,

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"I require two things, Abram,

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"for you to walk faithfully and to walk blamelessly."

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In other words, are you ready for this church?

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I expect excellence.

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I am God Almighty and I expect excellence.

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Who's meeting the mark?

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Raise your hand, anybody?

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Well, here's the thing.

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We cannot walk faithfully and we cannot walk blamelessly

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unless we recognize I am God Almighty.

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Because we need the help of the Holy Spirit

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to do either one of those things.

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The minute we get off the course

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and think that we are faithful in our own right

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and that we're blameless in our own right,

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we have negated that He is God Almighty

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and we put ourselves on the throne.

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He is God Almighty and He says,

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"I need you and I want you to walk faithfully

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"and blamelessly."

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Over in the New Testament, it says, "Be holy."

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Anybody doing that well this morning?

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"Be holy as I am holy," says the Lord.

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You can only do that with the help of the Holy Spirit.

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Day by day, moment by moment.

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Walk faithfully, walk blamelessly before me.

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And so we rarely bring the best to the table.

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We rarely, would you guys lift your hands, lift your hands?

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Lift them higher.

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Why didn't you do that the first time?

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Because we're only willing to bring

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what we're comfortable with.

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We're only willing to get to the line

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to where it doesn't cost us anything.

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And so God is saying, "I want the margin

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"between comfortable and sacrifice.

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"I want all of those things in the in-between there."

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He's calling us up, He's calling us higher.

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But in order to do that, we've gotta understand

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who's God and who's not.

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He is God Almighty.

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So then after that, He establishes His promise

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and He uses this word covenant.

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Covenant is another word for promise

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but it's a deeper word.

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It's a word with foundation and has legs

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and it says, "We're gonna put some meat to this promise

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"and I'm gonna convey to you what I promise

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"and what I'm needing from you.

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"We're gonna put it just like a contract of sorts.

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"We're gonna really understand each other here

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"in this agreement."

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It's a deeper level of promise.

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Have you ever had somebody break a promise?

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How did it feel?

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You know, I've broken promises to my kids before

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and man, it's like you couldn't probably wound me more

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than me realizing I've broken a promise to my child.

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God always keeps His promises.

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You can always count on Him to keep His promises.

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Think about in real time, we're talking about 13 years

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between what Abram did and where we are right now.

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13 years.

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I don't even have a 13 year old yet.

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13 years.

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And God is coming up behind them.

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Guess what, He's gonna keep His promise.

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He's gonna keep His promise.

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I don't know how long you've been waiting on God

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to do what He said He was going to do

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but God will always keep His promise.

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It may not be in your timeline,

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might not look the way that you want it to look

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but if God said it, He will do it.

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If God said it, He will do it.

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And can I also say everything that He said

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He was going to do, He's done

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and everything that He said He's going to do, He will do.

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He is God.

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He is God Almighty.

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The reliability of a promise depends on the one making it.

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And so we can count on God

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because He's the one making the promise.

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I've made promises to God and I've kept every single one.

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That's not true.

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Anybody make a promise to God?

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I asked God if He would let it snow

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so we can get out of school.

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As a high school, I would read all the books of Psalms.

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Didn't happen.

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He made it snow.

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I didn't keep my end of the bargain.

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How many times have you let the Lord down

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with what you said you would do?

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I've done it lots of times.

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You can always count on Him.

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You can always count on the Lord.

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God never breaks His promises.

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Everything He has said will come to pass

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and continue to come to pass.

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So God appears to Abram, declares that He's God Almighty,

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tells him to be faithful and blameless, shares His promise

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and Abram responds.

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Can I tell you, this is so important guys,

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how we respond matters.

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How we respond matters in everything, how we respond.

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And this is Abram's response.

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Abram fell face down.

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We could end the message right here.

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Because our number one go-to of response

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is to open our mouth and say.

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But guys, can I suggest that we need to close our mouth

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and fall down in a posture of worship?

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Recognizing that He is God Almighty,

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recognizing who He is, Abram falls down

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in a posture of worship.

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Guys, worship is not just coming in here on Sunday morning

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and singing a couple of songs.

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You do understand that, right?

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Like a fraction of our worship is us gathering together

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to enthrone Him on our praises this morning.

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We had a powerful moment of worship this morning,

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but it is a fraction of what it is.

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This is what the Scripture tells us that worship is.

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I urge you, brothers and sisters,

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in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies

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as living sacrifices.

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Any living sacrifices in here this morning?

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Holy and pleasing to God,

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this is your true and proper worship.

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This is Monday morning.

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This is Tuesday afternoon.

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This is Wednesday night.

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This is every day of our life,

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offering our bodies, our lives, holy to the Lord.

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I need the Holy Spirit to help me with that.

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I need the Holy Spirit to help me in my worship.

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Worship was Abram's response.

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And whenever we worship, listen,

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worship unlocks greater revelation.

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When we worship, it unlocks greater revelation.

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Some of us have been sitting on a word,

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we have created an Ishmael,

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we bring Ishmael with us into this place,

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and we sit there and we are waiting for a revelation

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from God and God is saying, you have not surrendered to me.

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You are doing more talking than you are listening.

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Your heart posture is, I've got it all together,

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God, I want your plan to fit into my plan.

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And this morning, I believe the invitation

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is for us to evaluate our lives

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to see if we've got any Ishmaels running around

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that we need to trade in for Isaac's.

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That we need to say, God, I've fashioned this Ishmael,

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I put this work and all this time into it,

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and God, your word, just like you did with Ishmael,

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you're not gonna forget about Ishmael,

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but that's not what you said.

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And I believe your word in what it says.

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God will always deliver on his promise.

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God had more for Abram.

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You will be the father of many nations.

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This is what the scripture says.

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You will be the father of many nations.

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No longer will you be called Abram,

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your name will be Abraham.

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But listen to this.

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For I have made,

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I have made you a father of many nations.

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What is will be?

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It is, what is will you?

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Future.

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Will be is future.

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Have made is?

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Do you see what God did there?

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I'm giving you, I'm going to make you fruitful

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based on something that I've already decided to do.

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It's already done.

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You being a father of the nations

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is not predicated on something that you do.

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It's going to be based on what I do through you.

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Are you with me?

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And in that, in the future,

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because of the past thing

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that I already decided to do in present,

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I'm going to bless you and make you fruitful.

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Can I tell you that God has spoken promises over your life?

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Some of you have just decided that they're no more.

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But past tense, he has done it.

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He's going to keep his promise.

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He will prosper you in it.

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He will keep the thing that he said he was going to do.

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And so he changes Abram's name.

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And Abram's name changes from an exalted father

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to the father of nations.

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Which is better, an individual exalted father

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or the father of nations?

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Can I tell you, God always has more

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than you can ever expect.

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Or imagine.

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God has always got more than you can ever expect or imagine.

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And so he changes the name.

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And when it comes to names, church,

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what I want you to understand,

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it's not about what you are called,

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it's about what you answer to.

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I have been called so many things in my life.

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And the only time that I try to render power

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to what I'm called is what I answer to.

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You give power to what you answer to.

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The world has assigned a whole bunch of labels

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and names for your life.

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But God has some other names.

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Which one are you answering to?

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Which one are you, because Abram could have said no,

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no thank you, I'll just continue to be Abram

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and not the father of nations.

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But the blessing rested in the father of nations.

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Which banner, which name are you living your life under?

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Which banner and name are you answering to?

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Because let me tell you, this enemy's out to kill,

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steal and destroy and he's got a lot of crappy things

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to say about you.

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A lot of crazy things to call you.

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And some of you are answering that call,

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going to those vices, destroying your life,

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not understanding that the God of the universe

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has a name for you.

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That he has a promise for you that negates all other things.

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If you just believe it and receive it in worship,

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in worship, God says I have so much more for you.

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Stop answering to a name that is beneath the call

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I've given you and begin to allow me to identify you

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based on my plan and my purpose.

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Do you realize friends that you are a new creation?

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If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come,

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the old has come and the new is here.

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I found this verse in Revelation this week.

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To the one who is victorious, I will give a white stone

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with a new name written on it, known only to the one

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who receives it.

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God is in the business of renaming things.

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The old is gone, the new has come.

Speaker: 00:25:56

Are you ready to receive it?

Speaker: 00:25:59

So what about this deal of circumcision?

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Ouch.

Speaker: 00:26:02

Circumcision.

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Circumcision is listed here as a covenant side

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between God and Abraham, marking a deeper commitment

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and responsibility in their relationship.

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You understand that every covenant,

Speaker: 00:26:21

every, in order for us to get to the covenant promise of God

Speaker: 00:26:25

there has to be the shedding of blood every single time.

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There has to be the shedding of blood.

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We live post-Christ, post what he did on the cross.

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He shed the blood, he was the perfect lamb on the cross

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and so therefore we don't have to kill goats and lambs

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and pay and spill blood for our sin,

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including this whole deal of circumcision,

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which symbolically represents separation from the world

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and devotion to God, much like the other covenant signs

Speaker: 00:26:56

in biblical history such as the rainbow after the flood.

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Circumcision also signifies a cutting away

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of a reliance on human strength,

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especially in contrast to Abraham and Sarah's attempt

Speaker: 00:27:08

to fulfill the promise themselves with Hagar and Ishmael.

Speaker: 00:27:12

Beyond a mere physical sign, circumcision symbolizes death

Speaker: 00:27:16

to the flesh to avoid judgment.

Speaker: 00:27:20

It echoes the themes of Noah's Ark

Speaker: 00:27:21

like we learned about last week.

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Who appreciated Josh's message last week on Noah's Ark?

Speaker: 00:27:26

The Passover blood, God's judgment against sin

Speaker: 00:27:31

demonstrating a need for spiritual renewal

Speaker: 00:27:33

and reliance on God's power.

Speaker: 00:27:34

By instituting circumcision, God calls Abraham

Speaker: 00:27:37

to reject self-reliance and trust in divine intervention

Speaker: 00:27:41

to bring about his promises,

Speaker: 00:27:44

particularly regarding the promised offspring.

Speaker: 00:27:47

The act serves as a reminder of salvation and blessing

Speaker: 00:27:50

do not come through human schemes,

Speaker: 00:27:52

but through God's faithfulness.

Speaker: 00:27:54

In the New Testament, circumcision is fulfilled

Speaker: 00:27:57

through Christ who was cut off in his death

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for human redemption.

Speaker: 00:28:02

Let's look at the book of Colossians chapter two.

Speaker: 00:28:04

It says this, "In him you were also circumcised

Speaker: 00:28:08

"with a circumcision not made with hands,

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"but by the circumcision of Christ

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"in the stripping off of the body of the flesh,

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"having been buried with him in baptism, raised with him."

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This is why we are dead to the world

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and alive in Christ when we baptize.

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'Cause you are dead to the world, you are cut off.

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It's as if you have been circumcised

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to signify that you are cut off.

Speaker: 00:28:30

But guess what?

Speaker: 00:28:31

We don't have to go through the circumcision process

Speaker: 00:28:33

because Jesus was the perfect lamb.

Speaker: 00:28:35

He paid the price.

Speaker: 00:28:39

Jesus' sacrifice replaces the physical circumcision

Speaker: 00:28:44

as the sign of God's covenant,

Speaker: 00:28:46

emphasizing that righteousness comes through faith,

Speaker: 00:28:49

not through human works.

Speaker: 00:28:51

Your works are like filthy rags.

Speaker: 00:28:54

So we don't do works.

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No, we learned last week that we have a job to do.

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But when our value and our salvation

Speaker: 00:29:05

and our relationship with God is defined by those works,

Speaker: 00:29:09

it's like filthy rags.

Speaker: 00:29:11

Because the only way that we can have a relationship

Speaker: 00:29:13

with Jesus Christ is through his blood,

Speaker: 00:29:16

through the spilt blood of Christ.

Speaker: 00:29:20

Abraham was called to trust in God's ability

Speaker: 00:29:22

to bring life from barrenness.

Speaker: 00:29:23

Believers are called to place their faith in Christ's power

Speaker: 00:29:26

to bring salvation, transforming human weakness

Speaker: 00:29:29

into divine fulfillment.

Speaker: 00:29:30

The covenant, listen to this friends,

Speaker: 00:29:33

the covenant is not so much about what you get.

Speaker: 00:29:36

This promise, he's outlining this promise to Abraham.

Speaker: 00:29:39

You're gonna be a father of many nations.

Speaker: 00:29:41

Kings are gonna be all of these things.

Speaker: 00:29:43

But guys, can I tell you at the crux of the promise

Speaker: 00:29:45

is not what you get, it's who you belong to.

Speaker: 00:29:48

You get to be in relationship with God Almighty,

Speaker: 00:29:53

the one who breathes stars, the one who creates your story,

Speaker: 00:29:56

that pins your story so wonderfully well.

Speaker: 00:29:59

Thankfully, the shedding of the blood was taking care of us

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and we no longer have to circumcise

Speaker: 00:30:04

to be a part of his great promise.

Speaker: 00:30:06

The blood allows for the covenant to take place

Speaker: 00:30:08

and now we are charged as to live

Speaker: 00:30:10

as ones marked by the covenant.

Speaker: 00:30:14

This is what Jesus said in Luke.

Speaker: 00:30:15

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves

Speaker: 00:30:19

and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Speaker: 00:30:22

Can I tell you, listen, for some of you,

Speaker: 00:30:25

this is harder than circumcision.

Speaker: 00:30:27

Because you are holding so tightly

Speaker: 00:30:33

onto the things that you want to control

Speaker: 00:30:36

and God is inviting you to relinquish those things

Speaker: 00:30:38

so he can give you something so much better.

Speaker: 00:30:42

So much better.

Speaker: 00:30:44

Some of us are following symbolic crosses

Speaker: 00:30:50

but we're really being led by our own mind

Speaker: 00:30:52

and our own heart and our own thoughts.

Speaker: 00:30:54

The invitation and the promise is a daily invitation

Speaker: 00:30:58

to follow him, a daily invitation to come.

Speaker: 00:31:02

Pain is often the price tag for purpose.

Speaker: 00:31:07

Pain is often the price tag for purpose.

Speaker: 00:31:14

Some of you may have been going through a season

Speaker: 00:31:16

in your life where you're thinking,

Speaker: 00:31:18

man, this doesn't feel good.

Speaker: 00:31:21

Have you ever done something that God's told you to do

Speaker: 00:31:22

and you're like, this doesn't feel good, I don't like it?

Speaker: 00:31:24

Anybody?

Speaker: 00:31:25

Can I tell you that pain could be the catalyst

Speaker: 00:31:30

to your greatest, greatest blessing?

Speaker: 00:31:32

And if we really are attuned to the kingdom

Speaker: 00:31:35

and this whole thing, some of you, he had a 13-year-old.

Speaker: 00:31:40

Who has a teenager here, anybody got a teenager?

Speaker: 00:31:42

Can I tell you it's selfish for you

Speaker: 00:31:45

to just believe a promise for your life

Speaker: 00:31:47

and not believe that that promise

Speaker: 00:31:49

affects your offspring and your kids?

Speaker: 00:31:51

It doesn't start and end with you.

Speaker: 00:31:59

So some of you are so focused in on,

Speaker: 00:32:00

I'm not feeling, I'm not seeing.

Speaker: 00:32:02

What if the greatest act of love as a parent

Speaker: 00:32:06

was that you were to suffer your entire life

Speaker: 00:32:08

so that your children could inherit the blessing?

Speaker: 00:32:11

Would it be worth it?

Speaker: 00:32:17

Would it be worth it to say, God, I don't understand

Speaker: 00:32:22

why I'm having to suffer and go through this,

Speaker: 00:32:24

but I believe beyond my death,

Speaker: 00:32:26

I believe that you're gonna make your promise

Speaker: 00:32:29

come true because you said you would.

Speaker: 00:32:31

You said you would.

Speaker: 00:32:32

So he's gonna ask you to render what you've done.

Speaker: 00:32:38

There's a story of a guy who had a toddler girl

Speaker: 00:32:41

and the mom had to go on a trip.

Speaker: 00:32:42

So he said, I'm gonna hang out with my daughter,

Speaker: 00:32:45

my little toddler.

Speaker: 00:32:46

And he says, what do you wanna do today?

Speaker: 00:32:48

And she says, I wanna paint.

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So he goes out to the store and he gets these paint colors

Speaker: 00:32:52

and these brushes and sets up the water and the canvases.

Speaker: 00:32:55

He's got it all set up so perfect at the table.

Speaker: 00:32:58

And so the toddler, he invites her to the table

Speaker: 00:33:01

and she sits up there and he's expecting her

Speaker: 00:33:03

to grab that brush and dip it in the paint

Speaker: 00:33:06

and just nicely go against that canvas

Speaker: 00:33:09

and dip it back in the water.

Speaker: 00:33:10

She takes that paint, she throws it on the walls,

Speaker: 00:33:13

on the table, on the canvas.

Speaker: 00:33:15

She takes that water and knocks it down all over.

Speaker: 00:33:17

He takes her hand and places it all on that canvas like this

Speaker: 00:33:21

and he is just so frustrated and upset

Speaker: 00:33:24

'cause it didn't go the way that he thought

Speaker: 00:33:25

it was gonna go.

Speaker: 00:33:27

Well later on that day, that little toddler walks up

Speaker: 00:33:30

and grabs her canvas and brings it to her daddy

Speaker: 00:33:33

and says this, look what I did.

Speaker: 00:33:35

That dad's heart changed immediately.

Speaker: 00:33:40

Because all of a sudden it didn't matter what was done.

Speaker: 00:33:44

What mattered was who did it.

Speaker: 00:33:46

And can I tell you, some of you have labored in ministries.

Speaker: 00:33:51

You have raised an Ishmael.

Speaker: 00:33:53

You have crafted things on your own strength

Speaker: 00:33:56

and it looks no better than that painting.

Speaker: 00:33:58

But can I tell you the graciousness of our God?

Speaker: 00:34:00

He'll take that mess and he'll hang it

Speaker: 00:34:02

right on the fridge rater and say,

Speaker: 00:34:03

Kurt, look what you did.

Speaker: 00:34:05

You're such a good boy, right?

Speaker: 00:34:07

Doug, you just painted that and I know you're so proud of it

Speaker: 00:34:11

but he says this, I'm gonna hang this here

Speaker: 00:34:14

and bless you for it but I've got so much better for you.

Speaker: 00:34:19

I've got so much more in store for you

Speaker: 00:34:22

if you will let me move in your life.

Speaker: 00:34:26

So what about your Ishmael?

Speaker: 00:34:29

Have you been sitting on something

Speaker: 00:34:35

that you've crafted together to try to make it happen?

Speaker: 00:34:38

Have you taken a job that you weren't supposed to take?

Speaker: 00:34:40

Have you gotten in a relationship

Speaker: 00:34:41

you weren't supposed to get in?

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Have you said that, have you disconnected

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from a relationship that you were supposed to stay in?

Speaker: 00:34:46

Have you stopped ministering in an area

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you should be ministering in or have you averted

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not going out there and signing up

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for a ministry at those tables

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because of past wounds and hurt?

Speaker: 00:34:55

I don't know what the story is

Speaker: 00:34:57

but I believe that there are some Ishmaels here.

Speaker: 00:34:59

And God wants to tell you

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that he will bless what you've done

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but there's something so much better if you'll let him,

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if you'll surrender.

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Now, Jesus Christ paid the price.

Speaker: 00:35:15

The reason we come to the table,

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if those who are gonna serve the elements come forward,

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the reason that we go to the table every week at this church

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is because when we are gathered

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as a part of our worship time together in this moment,

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we are reminded that we are not having

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to circumcise ourselves, to kill goats and lambs

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and all to do all of those things

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because of Jesus and what he did.

Speaker: 00:35:42

And because of his great big promise

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and laying down his life and shedding his blood,

Speaker: 00:35:49

because of that promise, because he did that for us,

Speaker: 00:35:52

we get to come to the table freely but here's the thing,

Speaker: 00:35:56

he's got a blessing for you.

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He's got some things for you to do.

Speaker: 00:36:01

He's got some unwritten pages of your story

Speaker: 00:36:04

that if you will just render the pen

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and allow him to take it up,

Speaker: 00:36:08

he'll write some remarkable things in your story

Speaker: 00:36:11

that you never thought possible.

Speaker: 00:36:13

But at the end of the day, when you read the story,

Speaker: 00:36:17

when we read the greatest story ever told about Ted's life

Speaker: 00:36:21

or Bob's life or Kurt's life or Hannah's life

Speaker: 00:36:24

or Ronnie's life or Mary Sue's life or April's life,

Speaker: 00:36:27

when you read the end of the story,

Speaker: 00:36:30

it's not going to be an amazement

Speaker: 00:36:31

on all these things you did.

Speaker: 00:36:33

Well, you did that ministry and you did this thing

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and look at that that you built.

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Oh, it's going to be, I got to be with Jesus.

Speaker: 00:36:41

I got to be with the star breather of the universe

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and I had a relationship with him

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and there was nothing that could supersede that.

Speaker: 00:36:51

And so when we come to the table,

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you're not thinking about your sin.

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He forgave your sin.

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He said he forgot about it from the east, from the west.

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Isn't that glorious?

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We want to think about how bad of a wretched person.

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We come, the word tells us we come and we remember.

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What are we remembering?

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I'm such a wretched sinner.

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No, we remember that he came, lived a perfect life,

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paid the price, was buried, rose again.

Speaker: 00:37:20

And here's the best part of all.

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We remember past tense, a future promise.

Speaker: 00:37:26

He's coming again, guys, and he's going to split the sky.

Speaker: 00:37:30

And so we rejoice.

Speaker: 00:37:32

Amen?

Speaker: 00:37:33

We rejoice.

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Would you stand with me this morning?

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We're going to go to the table

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as we close the gathering this morning

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and my encouragement to you is

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as you take the elements this morning

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that you would remember who he is

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and that you have access to him this morning.

Speaker: 00:37:49

You'll come, take communion, go back to your seats

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and then I'll bless you when it's over.

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Let's worship.

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(gentle music)

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(gentle music)

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(gentle music)