Being prepared in the passing

intro:

Good morning church my name is Zach Honnen. I am the student and young adult Director here at The River grand Blanc.

I am grateful and excited to be with you this morning and open up God’s word with you today

If you have a Bible with you this morning, please go ahead and open up to Genesis chapter 25

If you don’t have a Bible with you this morning, would love to invite you to download a Bible app and follow along on there

Today we will be finishing up our father Abraham series

And over the past few weeks, we’ve talked about quite a few things In regards to Abraham and our lives

His origin and obedience:

We see in the beginning of his life that Abraham was a man who lived amongst idolaters

He wasn’t following the Lord. He wasn’t seeking after the things of God.

He lived amongst pagan people living in pagan ways

According to Joshua 24:2

Joshua 24:2 ESV

‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.

Abraham was a man who lived in a land of disobedience to God

And yet God saw him in his disobedience and still called him…

he called him out of that disobedience into God service

And Abraham was obedient

According to Hebrews 11:8

Hebrews 11:8 ESV

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Abraham, not knowing where he was going, trusted the Lord

And put his faith in him, AND this faith continued on… but led into a struggle…

His struggles with the promise:

And we see this promise given in Genesis 12:1-3

Genesis 12:2–3 ESV

2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

He struggled with the idea of having a child with Sarah when they were well Advanced, in years

So with this struggle, Sarah suggested that they would have the baby through one of her servants instead

And that turned into a whole mess…

but In Genesis 15 the Lord be assured Abraham and Sarah That Abraham’s heir would come through Sarah

And God fulfilled the promise of this son in Genesis 21

Abraham Saw God follow through with his promise And Abraham put his faith in the Lord,

And As we saw last week that faith was tested…

His faith in the faithful:

Abraham’s faith was tested when God asked him to sacrifice the promised son in a burn offering to God..

Abraham’s faith was solidified at this point… and he put his faith In the faithful…

God had Demonstrated his ability to keep his promises in the past, and Abraham believed that God was still faithful..

So Abraham walked through the process and the Lord stopped Abraham at the last moment and blessed him… His Promised son Isaac lived.

And today as we close out the series, we are looking at Abraham’s last years, his last moments Really…

We are looking at…

He’s preparedness in the passing:

We are looking at today what Abraham passes down to the next generation

We are looking at how a father’s life can impact his children

Story about my dad and I at the game last night:

Text:

Genesis 25:5–8 ESV

5 Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. 6 But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country. 7 These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.

Pray:

Join me as we ask the Lord for help this morning…

Context:

Today we are looking at the passing of Abraham

Abraham had started this journey as a common man with nothing notable about him, but the Lord has built him up into a mighty man

A man with family and a great wealth

A lot has happened since the sacrifice of Isaac we talked about last week

When that happened, Abraham was roughly about 125-135 years old

But as we see in our text when Abraham passed away, he passed away at 175 years old

So today i want to start by looking at the preparation Abraham had before he passed

The intentionality with which he lived directly shapes the legacy he leaves behind.

If we look back into chapter 24, we will see Abraham realizing that he’s coming to the end of his journey

He is a man full of years and he brings his servant to himself to prepare his son Isaac for the future

A future where himself and Sarah are no longer around

Genesis 24:1–8 ESV

1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, 3 that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, 4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” 6 Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”

In this section, we see that Abraham is concerned for his son’s future

The norm for their Abraham and Isaacs Ancestors was to be married at about 30 years old,

We see this demonstrated in Genesis 11 14 18 22 and 24.

Isaac was about 40; But we don’t see Abraham rushing the process with his son Isaac

Abraham isn’t concerned that his son won’t get married because the Lord had already promised that through Isaac the blessing would come

But he is concerned to take an active role in his son’s future. And I think there’s a few key takeaways we can grab from here

Teaching to Marrying well:

One was to see his son married well

Abraham did not want to see his son take a wife from the land of Canaan

Abraham knew that one day this land would be there’s and they would have to root the people out

And he also saw that these people were moving in the direction of total idolatry and depravity, and complete opposition to God.

These people were not worshiping Yahweh. They were not worshiping God.

And Abraham did not want to see his son becoming tangled with these people

Abraham did not want to see his son compromise his faith in his Lord

Abram wanted to prepare his son for a marriage that would honor God

And he wanted to provide that for him

Will we prepare are kids for relationships?

And for us if any of us are parents, Grandparents, future parents, or even mentor to students or kids…

Are we preparing them to marry within the Lord… within the faith?

Do we teach them of the importance of a godly partner?

Do we teach them of the magnitude and weight of that decision?

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Do We take the time to explain what this means?

Are we preparing our kids to know what to look for when it comes to an equally yoked partner?

Because otherwise our children will be either dragging someone along

Or they will feel like they’re spinning in circles in their walk with the Lord

Do we as parents future parents and mentor take an active role in our children’s life in this way?

Or do we let them just figure it out on their own?

The Bible teaches that finding a good partner, like finding a precious jewel

its rare but worth it…

And Abraham decided to take an active role

We must also not shy away from hard uncomfortable conversations, but we must take an active role in the discipleship and mentorship of the future generation.

Throughout scripture, we see spiritual, Giants, rising, and falling, depending on who they marry

King Solomon was the wisest man to ever live yet he fell into idolatry because of his wives

Who are kids marry matters and we must begin by Disciplining and guiding them and guiding them

and as they get older we must be ready to give wise and Honest counsel

But in looking at Genesis 24 Abraham wasn’t only concerned about who his son would marry, but he was also concerned about his son returning to the land that he left

In Matthew Henry’s commentary on Genesis. He draws the argument and makes the point that Abram is concerned for his son to spiritually backside.

For him to walk backwards instead of running the race spiritually

He doesn’t want his son to return to the land that God Called him out of and truthfully saved him from.

The land of his family was the land full of idolatry and sin

And Abram didn’t want to see his son get tangled with family members and settle back where Abraham left to pursue God

And in our lives, I’m sure God has called us out of different situations

Different habits, different sins, and different pitfalls

And as parents mentors adults, we are called to protect the future generation from our pitfalls

Abraham Saw the spiritual deadness of the land of his Kindred. And he refused to even give his son the possibility to fall into that trap

So what are the things that God has rescued us from in our lives?

What are the sin patterns the pitfalls within our family pattern?

And will we prepare and protect our kids from these?

Or will we allow them to receive what we received and continue the cycle of sin and spiritual back sliding? Or stagnancy?

Abraham’s plan and goal for Isaac’s life was for him to move forward spiritually not back

And as a church are we committed to seeing our children, move forward in faith and not back?

Well, we have the humility to recognize our history and our pitfalls

And in the right time, provide wisdom to our kids, and the future generations on how to avoid those pit falls?

Our goal church should be for us to continue to grow and serve the Lord, but when the time comes to pass on the race, the mission our goal should be for our kids to stand on our backs and climb further and run farther than we ever could

But in order to see this come alive church we must take an active role in what we leave behind and how we prepare the next generation to move past our existence

That is our mission… that is our goal…

And these things were the concern of Abraham in chapter 24

So He sent his servant out to retrieve A wife for his son

A wife from his kindred, who is not from the land of Canaan

And the Lord provides a woman, Whom Isaac loved

And she did not turn his eyes away from the Lord

And Isaac did not return to the land of his father’s kindred, but continued his journey in faith with the Lord

And we come to the end of Gen 24:64-67.

Abram’s son is now married and Abram’s wife. Sarah has passed away.

Picking up In chapter 25:

In versus one through four, we see that Abraham has remarried and had more children with this woman

But then we begin to see his inheritance divided…

5 Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.

This leads us to the question of what did Abraham give to Isaac?

Because Abraham came into this relationship with the Lord with nothing but his family and is now leaving this earth with much to give

Abraham gave everything to Isaac and I think often times as Americans we think of the massive amount of wealth property and success that he gave to Isaac

Which he most definitely did give that to him

But that wasn’t all the Abraham had to give. He gave Isaac much more than just possessions.

We’ve already looked at the fact that Abram gave Isaac a future with a high-quality marriage

But what else was given?

I believe the most important thing that was given, was his faith

Passing On of Faith:

We see in Hebrews 11:17 through 19

Hebrews 11:17–19 ESV

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

We talked about this Last Sunday, Isaac was a grown man about 25 to 35 years old

His father was 125 to 135 years old

There was no way that Abram was able to overpower his son and lay him down on an altar against his will

But the faith that Abraham had in his God and his promise Isaac had as well…

Isaac willingly carried the wood for his sacrifice, laid it down and then laid himself down on the altar to be bound and slaughtered

Isaac willingly believed that the God of his father was the One true God

He shared the same faith that Abraham had

And I don’t believe this is by chance

I believe the Abraham shared his faith with his son, shared his stories of travel and God’s faithfulness with his son

And ultimately shared God’s promise with his son telling him of what the Lord had promised to Abram and by extension to Isaac

And this is a call for us to think about what we pass on to our own children

As parents, we are called to demonstrate what Faith in God looks like through how we live and parent our children

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 ESV

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

The Bible, the Scriptures and our faith in God is something that we are commanded to bring forth to our children

We are called to parent and lead our households for the glory of God

But we’re not going to do this by our own strength

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

When it comes to sharing demonstrating the gospel and living, the gospel starts with the Holy Spirit

It starts with our own personal relationship with God

And through that relationship He will Supply the power and strength we need to teach and and lead our kids in faith in the gospel.

The pattern we see and act 1:8. Is that it starts where we are at

Our first mission field is our home

We are called to raise our kids in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord

We are making disciples not just good citizens

Not just successful business owners

But we are called to pass down our faith to send them out to fight the good fight and run the race

Abraham’s Life; Abraham’s obedience was a pattern that affects generations starting with Isaac leading all the way to us

Our decisions are actions and the way we live our lives matter

Not just for us…

BUT for our kids and our grandkids

There’s a country song that I recently talked about a young adults Growth community

Song illustration:

It’s called watching you by Rodney Atkins

And in this song, this dad is going throughout his day and he realizes that his son is paying attention

That everything he does, his son watches and wants to emulate and copy

The good the bad, the ugly

This child says that he wants to be just like his dad he wants to wear cowboy boots and Camo pants and be strong

And in the song, this dad realizes that he needs to go to God for help

Because he can’t do it on his own

Song point and conclusion:

And church that is where you and I are today.

The good, the bad, and the ugly of how we live and act will be passed down to our kids

So when we reflect and look at our lives What will we be passing down?

PAUSE

What are some changes that we should make for the sake of the next generation?

PAUSE

It’s much bigger than you and I

And if you’re struggling with this, that’s OK

This is a task that we can’t carry on our own

Matthew 11:28 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Today, if you’re realizing that you need to begin the journey of raising your kids for God, praise God

Begin the journey by surrendering yourself and the future of your kids to him

Fully trusting that he can do far more than you and I could ever imagine

Begin to ask the Lord to change your patterns,Because everything we do every aspect of who we are will affect our kids in some way shape or form

And this is a heavy Burden to carry so we must’ve give it to Jesus and have him walk it out with us

We must seek the Lord surrender to the Lord and trust the Lord

Abraham fully trusted God and that surrender can’t be faked, But if it’s genuine, it can be passed on

And the opposite is true if you and I live life contradicting what we say we believe having double standards In our lives…

If retreat a relationship with God like it’s optional or secondary or unimportant

What should we expect our kids to receive and what should we expect our kids to believe?

Josh Morris Story:

I wanna share a story about a friend of mine

He’s a dad at the Goodrich location

And while I was over there, I had the privilege to lead his son’s growth community

I remember when his son was brand new and I asked him some questions about his life and What brought him to Growth community?

He told me that his dad recently came to the christ, as his savior

And his dad said that God is more important than anything

So he took him and his brothers out of all sports except for one so that they could focus and prioritize God

And at firstI thought this was a big extreme, but also very exciting to see. A dad prioritizing faith

And over the years, I got to see this young boy just kind of float through youth group not really fully trusting in Jesus, but knowing a good amount

And this year at camp, I got to see that Student give his life to the Lord

Story Conclusion:

The Lord worked ultimately, but his dad’s obedience to show him what the priority was

Has had an internal impact on his son

Church, we have the opportunity to have that same impact

What we prioritize, our kids will most likely prioritize…

Proverbs 22:6 ESV

6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

This isn’t a promise, but this is wisdom

You and I don’t have the power to save our kids; But we’ve been commanded to teach them about the one who can…

Abraham gave all he had to Isaac, The most important of which being his faith

Church the way we live the way we act will be passed down

The way our kids will view. God will be greatly impacted by how we view God.

The way our kids view sin will be greatly impacted by how we view sin

So will we take an active role in preparing our kids for the passing on of this Faith

The Way Abraham did…

Or will we let time passes by and lose the opportunity to impart God’s truth to The next generation?

Church as we move forward in our lives, we must seek after God for his help in living intentionally In our relationship with him

Not just for our sake, but for the sake of our kids grandkids so on and so forth

And if up until this point this hasn’t been a priority for you let it be a priority for you today

And if it has one, encourage you to continue on and don’t give up

The salvation of our kids is between them and God

So let’s not become control freaks, thinking that we failed our kids or that we need to save our kids

God needs to do that…

But we have a responsibility to do our very best

to preparing to pass on our Faith to the next generation…

Gospel invitation:

As the band comes up, I want to offer you the opportunity if you’re in this room and you don’t know the Lord

If you don’t have a saving relationship with Jesus, I want to invite you to know him as your savior today

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

If you were in here today, and you don’t know the Lord, please know him today

Talk to me, Pastor Chuck, or anybody I guess services we would love to introduce you to Jesus and for you to be saved today

let’s pray