El Shaddai

Manuscript Template

Title:  El Shaddai

Focus Statement:  El Shaddai declares that He can make the impossible possible

Function Statement:  El Shaddai is not asking us to be strong, He’s asking us to depend

Tweetable Phrase:  God may allow us to face more than we can handle on our own, but with God, El Shaddai, the all Sufficient God, God will give us everything we need to persevere through the trials we face.

Main Text:  Genesis 17:12

Supporting Text:  Genesis 49:24-25 / Isaiah 66:10-13 / 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 / 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 / 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 / 2 Corinthians 3:3-4

Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus):  Matthew 6:25-34

Benediction:  2 Peter 1:3 / Isaiah 58:11

WELCOME

Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson, and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.

‌Welcome to those joining us online. We hope you're doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.

And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.

ME/INTRO - Tension

This week in the marriage group we’re talking about identity.

It really go me thinking about who I am, and I started paying more attention to the ways other people see me as evidenced by the various social platforms.

It’s quite depressing what the algorithms think about me.

Right now FaceBook must think I am excessively overweight and unhealthy because the #1 add that I see if for the Hume scale. Maybe you haven’t seen it, but it is the scale with the stick for your hands that measures your muscle mass, bone mass, fat mass, water mass; tracks it over time, and uses AI to coach you to losing weight and being healthy. I guess it was developed by Harvard and really accurate...according to the add.

[image: Hume Body System]

YouTube must be talking to FaceBook because the #1 add I see on YouTube is for a therapist, probably because of the depression I’m in because of my unhealthy living. But one thing the therapy add said really got me thinking.

[image: Hume Body System]

They said, “You’re probably not avoiding going to therapy because of the stigma, you’re not going because you’ve gotten too good at coping with the stress and challenges of our lives.”

The basic idea was that we’ve learned to accept the negative aspects of our lives as fixed / unchangeable and have stopped believing that things can get better. Because we don’t have the ability to overcome our problems / stress / challenges, we accept them as permanent fixtures in our lives.

It struck me because, at least for me, it is so true.

We’re not going to go all the way down into the depths of my crazy, but I shared this with the marriage group Wednesday and I think it applies here.

I have a deeply engrained fear that I am not good enough for other people to want to be around me.

Maybe I need to talk to my YouTube therapist about it, but this manifests in some comical ways that I have learned to cope with.

I won’t open things. Even in my own house. I assume that whoever bought it (mainly Andrea) has a plan for it and I don’t want to be responsible for messing up the plan. If I see a bag of Doritos in the pantry, I won’t open it because maybe Andrea bought them for a Taco Salad night. If I see a package of Oreos, maybe Andrea bought them for one of the kid’s classes or plans on making some desert that requires them. I haven’t opened things as far back as I can remember, since before high school. I can’t see this changing any time soon.

I am scared to death to network / mingle / to enter a conversation that is already happening. It may be a bit of the Imposter Syndrome. I fear that people will look at me and immediately say “what are you doing here”, “you don’t belong”. I know networking / mingling is very important, so if I need to talk to someone, I’ll wait in the wings until their conversation ends with whoever they’re talking to and then approach the person when they’re alone, assuming they would agree that talking to me is a better option than talking to nobody. (CONFIDENCE)

I have a hard time believing that friendships can last. I had too many friends abandon me for seemingly no reason when I was young. I started to view friendships (or relationships in general) as chapters within the book of my life. Some chapters are long, some are short. But they all end eventually. (PERSEVERANCE)

I find it really hard to talk about myself, in any context. I have always assumed nobody cared what was going on in my life, or needed the things that I was capable of doing. I read the book “How to win friends and influence people” which said that in conversations people love talking about themselves, so I ask questions about others and do my best to be interested in what they’re doing. Sometimes they ask questions back, but it is depressing how infrequently people ask anything about you. (SERVICE)

But as the therapist commercial said, I’ve learned to cope.

I don’t snack as much at home.

With cell phones, I can look perfectly normal waiting for someone else’s conversation to end before walking up to them to talk

I do my best to be a good friend to others, but emotionally protect myself to save me the pain when the friendship ends

I’ve started to get used to sharing things about myself, but I always let the other person talk first and typically only share points of commonality

I’ve learned to cope with the idea that I am not sufficient in certain areas. That in a lot of ways, I feel I am not good enough.

WE - Tension

Does this describe you to any degree?

Do you live with a quiet feeling of insufficiency:

Not strong enough?

Not capable enough?

Not spiritual enough?

As we continue our series “God is...” exploring the names God has chosen to be known by so we can learn more about who God is and as image bearers of God ourselves, learn who God created us to be, we’re going to look at a passage in Genesis 17 where Abram and Sarai (later known as Abraham and Sarah) find themselves in a position where they feel insufficient to fulfill the calling God has placed on their lives.

If you missed the previous messages, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.

As we begin, please turn with me to [Genesis 17:1-2: Sanctuary Bible Page # 12]

We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.

AND... if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.

Let's dive in.

GOD - Text

El Shaddai

We enter Abram and Sarai’s story 13 years after they tried to fulfill God’s plan themselves by having a child through their servant Hagar. God has presumably been silent for those 13 years.

And...I can only imagine what Abram and Sarai were thinking during those 13 years.

Did we do the right thing?

Is Ishmael the child of promise?

Is this what God had in mind when He promised to make our family into a great nation?

If we did the right thing, why has God been silent for so long?

Or...Did we do the wrong thing?

Has God given up on us?

After 13 years of silence, God breaks the silence and answers their questions, re-establishing His covenant with Abram and Sarai in Genesis 17:1-2:

Genesis 17:1–2 NIV

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

It is here that we also get another name God chooses to be known by: El Shaddai.

God Almighty / All Sufficient

The name El Shaddai

Emphasizes the divine power of God to accomplish what seems impossible

Represents the fact that God is the source of all life-giving abundance

Means that God can make nature bend to His will, suspending the normal rules that govern creation

Abram and Sarai were in an impossible situation.

Abram was 99

Sarai was 89

By the rules God put in place to govern creation, they were far beyond the point in life when having a child was possible.

When have you been in a situation that you felt was impossible to get out of?

When have you felt like your ability to solve your own problems has run out?

If you had heard an audible promise from God (like Abram did) how long could you go with that promise being unfulfilled before you lost faith? 1M? 1Y? 5Y?

This is where Abram and Sarai find themselves.

Their efforts to have the promised child through Hagar failed.

They waited 13 years without hearing from God

They were out of options

But, God, El Shaddai, the All Sufficient God, can make the impossible possible

God can suspend the laws of creation when His purposes require it

And after 13 years, God re-establishes His covenant to provide the promised child and build a great nation through Abram and Sarai.

In Verse 21, God promised that within the next year Sarai give birth to a son later named Isaac.

And even though it is impossible for a 90 year old to have a child, with God nothing is impossible, and within the next year Sarai was pregnant and gave birth to her son Isaac.

No matter how impossible your situation feels, know that with God, anything is possible.

And through Isaac

Jacob and Esau were born

Jacob was renamed Israel

And Israel has 12 sons, who became the 12 tribes of Israel

And through those 12 tribes, Israel did become a mighty nation

God can do anything.

If God promises something will happen, He is sufficient to make it happen.

Even if that seems impossible to us.

Now...there is one more image we have of El Shaddai that I think is worth exploring.

After Jacob has his 12 sons, one of his sons, Joseph, is sold into slavery in Egypt

Through a bunch of events, Joseph becomes #2 in the nation and saved Egypt from a famine.

As a thank you to Joseph, his entire family, the entire nation of Israel is moved to Egypt, to the best land.

And right before Jacob dies he blesses his sons.

As Jacob is blessing Joseph, he says this...

Genesis 49:24–25 NIV

But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb.

How the word for breast her is “SHAD”, the root of the word Shaddai.

Jacob is saying

The God (EL) of your father who helps you, because of the Almighty (Shaddai) who blesses you, you will receive the blessing of the breast (Shad) and womb.

That same word SHAD is used later in Isaiah 66:10-13

Isaiah 66:10–13 NIV

“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance.” For this is what the Lord says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

The image we’re given is of a baby nursing.

When a baby is born, there is only one thing that baby is focused on (food) and that comes from the mother’s breasts.

Just like a nursing mother, who provides 100% of the nourishment to the baby, that is like God (El Shaddai, the all sufficient God) who supplies everything we need.

Nathan Stone - Names of God

It is God as El who helps, but it is God as Shaddai who abundantly blesses with all manner of blessing, and the blessing of the breast

God, El Shaddai doesn’t just help us when we’re in trouble.

God gives us everything we need, exactly when we need it.

And...I’d like to go through three specific things that God, El Shaddai, gives us.

His Sufficiency gives me Confidence that I am Sufficient

The first thing that God, El Shaddai gives us is:

His sufficiency gives us the confidence that we are sufficient

2 Corinthians 9:6–8 NIV

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

God provides everything we need, so that we are fully equipped to do everything that He calls us to.

When we embrace God as our all sufficient El Shaddai, we can launch into life knowing that whatever comes our way, we are sufficient, not of our own strength, but through His strength.

We don’t have to live a life scared, waiting in the wings for the right moment to come, like I got used to doing.

The longer I walk with God, the more faith I have in God’s plan for me, the more I can lean into God’s sufficiency, God’s strength, and engage with people I typically would have been hesitant to approach. Knowing that God is sufficient to do anything, gives me confidence that if God wants me to network, engage in a conversation with someone I am nervous to approach, I am not an imposter, I am someone empowered by God to do His will. And I can go forth, confidently following God’s will.

And God will empower you, just the same, to do the things that He calls you to do.

So, live confidently, empowered by the knowledge that if God calls you to do something, He will provide everything you need to fulfill that calling.

His Sufficiency gives me Perseverance in Suffering

The second thing that God, El Shaddai gives us is:

His sufficiency gives us perseverance in suffering

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 NIV

or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

We’ve heard, from too many places to keep track that, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

That is not true, and not in the bible

1 Corinthians 10:13 actually says God won’t tempt you beyond what you can bear.

God routinely gives people more than they can handle. We have lots of stories of that all throughout the bible.

2 Corinthians 1:8–9 NIV

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

Paul starts his letter to the Corinthians by being honest.

Life is hard.

We were way over our head.

It got so bad, death seemed like a great option.

BUT...God has given us a purpose.

God taught us to rely on His strength and stop relying on our own strength

So, we can persevere through this, with God’s help

It is in James 1:2-4, that James sums up this lesson.

James 1:2–4 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

God does give us more than we can handle on our own, but nothing is too big for God to handle for us with his Sufficient Abundant Supply. God will give us all we need, so we can persevere through suffering

God has shown me that not all relationships have an end date. That all relationships will have moments of struggle, some of those moments are long, but our job is to Love as God loves, and with God’s all sufficient help, persevere with the people we love the most, working through those relationship struggles, learning and growing as people through the process.

And when you learn to rely on God, He will give you everything you need to persevere through any hardship that you are facing.

So, when you’re struggling, know that when you turn to God, He will help you through it, and use it to help you mature in your faith.

His Sufficiency gives me Mission to Serve

The third thing that God, El Shaddai gives us is:

His sufficiency gives us a mission, to go serve one another

2 Corinthians 9:10–11 NIV

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

The bible teaches that more often than not when God chooses to work in someone’s life, he will do it through someone else.

God gives us all a mission, a ministry, that He pre-ordained for us to do for Him and His Kingdom.

As El Shaddai, God doesn’t just give us the mission and leave us to figure it out.

God provides everything we need to accomplish the task He has set before us.

I still hate talking about myself. But through a Ted Talk by Brene Brown, God showed me that the door to relationships and the door to service lies in vulnerability. As God has challenged me to be more open with my life, to share details of my life with others, He has opened many door to ministry. Typically by sharing something that I am doing, or a struggle that I am facing, I find points of commonality with others that they are hesitant to share unprovoked. God has used these moments to minister to others through me more than I can count.

It is truly through my weakness that God is strong, using my weakest moments to encourage, bring hope, and show a path to others who are struggling.

I may feel insufficient in many areas of my life, but El Shaddai, the all Sufficient God, has provided everything I need to be

confident in my sufficiency

persevere through my suffering

be on mission to serve others

YOU - Takeaway

Where are you trying to be enough by your strength?

Where have you lost confidence in God’s sufficiency?

Where is God inviting you to surrender?

WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus most famous and comprehensive sermon found in Matthew 5-7, Jesus addresses the reality that we all feel insufficient from time to time.

Jesus addresses it directly in a section called “Do not worry” in Matthew 6:25. He teaches.

Matthew 6:25–26 NIV

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Jesus is clear, we need to stop all worrying.

And Jesus is clear about what we need to do instead of worrying.

Matthew 6:33–34 NIV

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

We need to seek first Jesus and God’s Kingdom.

Because we serve El Shaddai, the God that can make the impossible possible.

El Shaddai is not asking you to be strong, He is inviting you to depend on His ability to provide.

The Christian life is not “TRY HARDER” it is “TRUST DEEPER”

And this trust is not based on words alone.

The bible is full of stories where God suspended the rules of creation to accomplish His goals.

God’s control over water

God parting the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22)

God stopping the flow of the Jordan (Joshua 3:14-17)

Elisha causing the Iron Ax head to float (2 Kings 6:5-6)

Elijah dividing water (2 Kings 2:8)

Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14:25)

Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:39)

Miraculous Provision

Water to wine (John 2:1-11)

Multiplying 5 loaves and 2 fish (Matthew 14:19-21)

Quail and Manna appeared (Exodus 16:13-15)

Widow’s jar of flour and oil didn’t run out (1 Kings 17:14-16)

Oil poured continuously to fill large jars (2 Kings 4:1-7)

Restoration of Life

Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead ( John 11:43-44)

Peter commanded Tabitha to rise (Acts 9:36-41)

Elisha lay upon dead boy who came back to life (2 Kings 4:32-35)

Celestial / Elemental Phenomenon

Sun delayed going down for a full day (Joshua 10:12-13)

God reversed shadows movement (2 Kings 20:9-11)

Divine fire consumed sacrifice (1 Kings 18:36-38)

3 men walked into fire and were not burned (Daniel 3:19-27)

Donkey speaks (Numbers 22:28)

Jesus restored sight to blind man (John 9:6-7)

Many, many, more...

No matter what you’re going through, no matter how insufficient you feel right now, God, El Shaddai, is all sufficient.

If it is within God’s will, He can intervene, suspend the natural laws, and make the impossible possible.

The one area where we’re all equally insufficient, is our ability to earn our way to heaven.

We cannot be good enough, on our own, to get to heaven.

We need a savior, a sinless sacrifice, to take the consequences of our sins upon himself, so we can be clean and right in God’s eyes.

The only thing that is sufficient to gain us access to heaven when we die is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ when we embrace his payment for our sin on the Cross.

ABCDE’s of faith

Have you admit your insufficiency,

believe in Christ’s sacrifice for our sins on the cross,

confess Jesus as your LORD and SAVIOR,

demonstrate your faith through baptism and daily obedience,

evangelize share your faith with others.

If you are not yet a believer in Jesus Christ, God’s sufficiency is not available to you yet, because He is not your El Shaddai.

But maybe today is your day to take your next step of faith:

Accepting Jesus as your LORD and SAVIOR

Signing up for baptism

Committing to yourself to invite someone you know that doesn’t have a church home to a church event, a Sunday service, or Easter

Please fill out a card in the seat in front of you

give it to me, I’d love to talk with you about this step that you’re taking

put it in the offering bins in the back

give it to the person at the info desk

We’d love to walk with you.

Wherever you are at in your spiritual journey know that

God loves you

God has a plan for you (Jeremiah 29:11)

God wants to prosper you (Jeremiah 29:11)

No matter how impossible the situation you are in right now feels, God is fully sufficient to help you through it

PRAYER 

Will you join me in prayer...

“El Shaddai, All-Sufficient God,

Where I am weak, be my strength.

Where I am empty, be my supply.

Where I am striving, teach me to trust.

Sanctify me by Your sufficient grace.

Amen.”

SONG 

As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who needs God this week. The steps are open for you to pray to the God who is with you, who loves you, you wants to give you His peace.

‌

You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.

BENEDICTION 

2 Peter 1:3 NIV

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

This week...

Let’s stop believing the lies we get told by others about who we are

Let’s stop believing the stresses and challenges of our lives are fixed and unchangeable

Let’s stop engaging in all the coping behaviors we’ve developed

Let’s instead look to God, El Shaddai, the all sufficient God, that is enough

That through His sufficiency gives us confidence that we are enough

That through His sufficiency gives us the strength to persevere through the struggles of our lives

That through His sufficiency gives us a mission to serve others and advance His Kingdom

Let’s stop worrying about the areas of our lives where we struggle, but turn to God, seek His Kingdom, and as a community individually and collectively continue to take steps of faith as God calls us to

Let’s go our this week confident that we serve a God that can make the impossible possible, and loves us enough to use His power to give us everything we need right when we need it.

Quick reminder...

Digging Deeper Bible Study - Wednesday at 6:30 PM - Programming for all ages

Wedding Group - Wednesday 6:30 PM

Easter - April 5th - community party before the service (easter egg hunt, bouncy house, kid’s crafts, breakfast) - Invite people

If you’re new, please fill out the card in the seat back and stop by our info desk, or see me. We’d love to say “hi” and get you know you a bit better.

If you’d like to get more information about taking your next step of faith, fill out the card in the seat back and give it to me or turn it in to the info desk.

I hope you have a great week.

Go in peace.

You are dismissed.

DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)

In what ways do you see God as El Shaddai providing for your needs in your life, especially in challenging times?

How can understanding God as the All Sufficient One encourage you in your current struggles or feelings of inadequacy?

In what areas of your life do you find it hardest to depend on God's sufficiency rather than your own strength?

How can you actively seek God's kingdom first in your daily life, trusting in His sufficiency?

What specific promises from God are you holding onto that require faith in His power to make the impossible possible?

How does knowing that God is sufficient help you face peer pressure or life challenges?

Can you think of a time when you felt insufficient? How can God's sufficiency change your perspective on that experience?

In what ways can you encourage your friends to lean on God’s strength in their difficult times?

What practical steps can you take this week to seek God's kingdom first in your decisions?

How can being aware that God is with you influence your confidence in social situations?