A Heart Set on Pilgrimage

Notes

Lott celebration (gift)

Joni & Friends sharing next week

Community Groups

NEXT Steps

Introduction

In 1946, Mother Teresa (then known as Sister Teresa) was a 36-year-old nun teaching at a convent school in Calcutta, India. She had been content in this role for nearly two decades. However, on September 10, 1946, during a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling for her annual retreat, she experienced what she later described as a "call within a call."

Key elements of her story:

Hearing God's voice: Mother Teresa reported hearing God's voice clearly, calling her to leave the convent and serve the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta.

Stepping out in faith: This call meant leaving behind the security and familiarity of convent life to venture into the unknown and challenging environment of Calcutta's slums.

Uncertainty of the path: Mother Teresa didn't have a detailed plan. She only knew she was to serve the poor, but the specifics of how this would unfold were unclear.

Obedience despite obstacles: She faced numerous challenges, including obtaining permission from her superiors, learning basic medical skills, and navigating the complexities of starting a new mission.

God's faithfulness: Over time, her work grew from helping individuals on the streets to founding the Missionaries of Charity, an organization that now operates in over 130 countries.

Mother Teresa's decision to follow this call led to a life of profound impact, demonstrating how stepping out in faith, even when the path is uncertain, can lead to extraordinary outcomes.

If you have your Bibles or on your devices, you can turn to Genesis 12:1-9. If you are willing and able would you stand with me as I read God’s word this morning… this is the word of the Lord… let us pray… amen… you may be seated.

The Voice of the Lord

As you can tell from your Bibles, the genre of the text seems to change with this juncture as well. We pass from stories that seem very foreign to us about gardens, floods and towers reaching to heaven into a story about a fairly regular guy living a fairly regular life, which is interrupted by the call of God. As I introduced in chapter two, “The Bible in Real Time and Space,” there really is no way for us to know how much time has passed. But what we do know is that with Genesis 12 a new era opens. With this second step in redemptive history the plan begins to come into focus. Having laid the groundwork for his relationship with his fallen people in Noah’s covenant, God is now ready to begin identifying a place, a people and a means of Presence. Richter, S. L. (2008). The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament (pp. 154–155). IVP Academic.

(Graphic from Sandra Richter- Covenant Map)

Having originally departed from southern Mesopotamia and the city of Ur, the first leg of Abraham's migration concludes when the family reaches Haran. They settle there, but eventually Terah dies, leaving his sons to begin their own family units. It's at this point that God speaks to Abram. His command? "Go forth." In other words, leave everything and everyone that provides security in a patriarchal society and trust God for a new identity and place.

(Graphic from Sandra Richter- Map of Abram’s journey)

Imagine translating this into your current economic and social situation: Leave your house, job, friends, church, and relatives. Abandon your inheritance, a non-transferable 401(k), and possibly even the equity in your home—and go somewhere where you don't speak the language, have no business contacts, friends, or relatives… and trust God to make a new place for you. This was indeed a very tall order, especially considering we have no evidence of any prior relationship between Yahweh and Abram. I assure you that most people in the ancient world, and most people today, would not have gone. But Abram believed in Yahweh's good word, and as Genesis 15:6 states, "He [God] reckoned it to him as righteousness."

What was Yahweh's promise in response to Abram's bold confidence in this as-yet-unknown god? Yahweh promised to honor Abram with numerous offspring, making him the father of "a great nation" (Gen 12:2). Moreover, in covenantal language, Yahweh would become Abram's patron. Anyone who blessed Abram would be rewarded by his patron; anyone who cursed him would be penalized by the same (Gen 12:3).

Yahweh would also grant Abram fame. Through Abram, Yahweh promised to bless all the earth (Gen 12:3). These promises in Genesis 12:1–3 were not only monumental to a certain pastoral nomad in the Middle Bronze Age, but they also laid the foundation for everything that would transpire between Yahweh and the patriarchs, and between Yahweh and the nation of Israel. In these promises, we find a promised people ("a great nation") and a promised place ("a land which I will show you"). Abram accepts the stipulations of the covenant, obeys, and a great story begins.

Exciting to hear the voice of the Lord

How do we hear God’s voice?

We first and foremost have God’s living word

Joshua 23:6 ““Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.”

Psalm 119:130 “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”

Matthew 5:17–19 ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

1 Timothy 4:13 “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”

Hebrews 4:12–13 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

We have the Spirit of God

Joel 2:28–29 ““And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

John 14:16–17 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

John 16:12–15 ““I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.””

How do we know if it’s God’s voice?

He will not contradict His own word

Psalm 138:2 “I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name.” (NKJV)

Hebrews 1:1–3 “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

We will know by the fruit of our choices

Chris thought he heard from the Lord but his decisions lead him to isolate, disassociate, paranoia, and it created division amongst his family. Not of the Lord.

Josh heard from the Lord and through walking, praying, and counseling together the decision became clear from which has come a deeper sense of love, gratitude, fulfillment, and Spiritual fruit.

What do we do if we hear God’s voice?

We can choose to follow

We can choose not to follow

Whatever we do… we must count the cost… there is a cost for following and probably even a greater cost for not following.

I’m confident in this… if we knew what God knows, we would choose for ourselves what God offers to us. I believe we all do what we think is best for ourselves. If we could keep in the forefront of our minds that God is for us more than we are for ourselves, we would choose what God chooses for us.

Following the Lord

The sin pattern is “see—take”. The blessing pattern is “hear—follow”

Age is not a qualifier (all are called to be obedient)… Abram was 75 years old (vs4)

Not always given every step (vs1)

He wasn’t shown the land, but was told, “I will show you”

Sometimes we crave the entire map, but God often seeks our obedience in what He's already revealed to us. Through this obedience, He then unveils more. Can we be faithful in the things He’s already revealed to us before He gives us more, before He reveals more to us.

The point is to be obedient to the revelation we have

Matthew 25 and Luke 12 have the principles that when we are faithful in little, the Lord entrusts more.

1 Corinthians 4:1–2 “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”

There is blessing in following the Lord but we must check our hearts that we are not following Him for the blessing, but following Him who gives blessing.

The nature of blessings:

Blessings can be spiritual, emotional, or material

They often come as a result of aligning one's life with God's will.

Blessings are seen as gifts from God, not earned rewards.

The danger of following for blessings alone:

This can lead to a transactional view of faith

It may result in disappointment or loss of faith when blessings seem absent

This approach misses the deeper purpose of a relationship with God

The importance of heart examination:

Regular self-reflection is crucial in spiritual growth

It helps maintain pure motives in one's faith journey

This practice aligns with biblical teachings about guarding one's heart

The primary focus: God Himself

The ultimate goal is to know and love God for who He is

This leads to a deeper, more meaningful spiritual life

It reflects the first commandment to love God above all else

The paradox of seeking God:

When we seek God for Himself, blessings often follow naturally

This aligns with teachings like "Seek first the kingdom of God..."

Cultivating genuine faith:

Developing gratitude for who God is, not just what He gives

Building a relationship based on trust and love, not expectation

Finding joy in obedience and service, regardless of visible rewards

Worship the Lord

In Genesis 12, Abram gets to Canaan and builds an altar *(strikethrough) and does a sacrifice to Ba’al the god of Canaan *(strikethrough). Then he worships YHWH *(strikethrough) as well *(strikethrough). He is loyal to YHWH even in Ba’al land where it will get him in trouble. Khesed

In the land He leads us we can worship

Not always easy (precursor to following week- famine in the land)

But where he goes to worship he names, “Bethel” … which directly translates to the House of the Lord.

The gift that we have of being a New Testament church is that:

The New Testament promise of Jesus' presence:

Matthew 18:20 records Jesus saying, "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."

This promise shifts focus from a physical temple to the gathering of believers

It emphasizes the spiritual nature of worship and community

Believers as the temple of the Lord:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit

This concept individualizes the presence of God within each believer

It implies a constant, intimate connection with God

The church as a transcendent entity:

Physical location: Not confined to buildings or specific geographical areas Can exist in homes, outdoors, or any place where believers gather

Culture: Crosses cultural boundaries and unites diverse groups Adapts to various cultural contexts while maintaining core beliefs

Time: Spans across different historical periods Connects believers from the past, present, and future

Implications of this understanding:

Unity in diversity:Emphasizes the shared faith that unites believers across differences. Encourages embracing various expressions of faith within the global church

Flexibility and adaptability: Allows the church to thrive in various circumstances, including persecution. Enables the spread of the gospel without being tied to specific structures

Continuous presence: Affirms that the church is always "in session" wherever believers are. Encourages living out faith in all aspects of life, not just during formal gatherings.

The role of community:

While emphasizing individual indwelling, it also stresses the importance of gathering

Balances personal faith with collective worship and support

Spiritual over physical:

Shifts focus from outward religious observances to inward spiritual realities Aligns with Jesus' teachings about worshiping in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24)

Universal and local aspects:

Recognizes the global, universal church across all times and places

While also valuing local expressions and gatherings of believers

Conclusion

As we reflect on Abram's journey and God's call, let us remember that we too are on a sacred journey of faith. Like Abram, we are called to listen for God's voice through His living Word and His Spirit. We are invited to follow Him, not for the blessings alone, but for the joy of knowing the One who blesses. And as we follow, we have the privilege of worship - not confined to a single place or time, but as living temples of the Holy Spirit. Whether we gather in this building, in our homes, or anywhere else, we are the church - a people that transcends physical location, culture, and time. So let us go forth from here today, listening intently for God's voice, following Him faithfully wherever He leads, and worshipping Him in spirit and truth. For where we gather in His name, there He is among us, guiding us on our journey of faith. May we, like Abram, be found faithful in responding to God's call, trusting in His promises, and building altars of worship along the way.