Called to Believe

We continue this week with our sermon series “Called.” We are allowing the book of Genesis help us discover the various ways that God has called us. So far, we have discovered that we were created by God and how we were created in his image to be on a journey with him.

Last week we looked at the example of Abraham and his willingness to go and do what God asked from him. You can find both of these sermons on our You Tube channel. This week we look at how God calls for us to believe in him. Our scripture comes from Genesis 18:1-15. The words will be on the screen.

18 And the Lord appeared to him, meaning Abraham, by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Last week as a part of our sermon on being “Called to Go” it was mentioned what will often need to happen for us to be willing to go and do what God has called us to do. We will need to be willing to hear from God. We will have to listen for God. We will have to believe that what God told us to do is true, and we will need to trust God.

This week we are looking at why we should believe that what God says to us will happen and how we should desire to listen and respond to what God calls for us to do. This, as was mentioned last week, is often easier said than done.

We also last week looked at how, Abraham, the founder of the Jewish faith, is called to go. Abraham has now reached the land that God wanted him to reside in. We have “the Lord” appear to him as three people. Some believe it is three angels while others view this as God and two of his angels meeting with Abraham.

Abraham receives from these men a promise from God. Abraham listened and did what God asked from him, and he is now being told that he will have a son. The response from Abraham’s wife Sarah is really our focus today.

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We have her laughing and not believing that what is being said is possible. She doubts that what God has promised will come to fruition. This makes sense because as the scripture tells us, “Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years.”

This is pointing out to us that Abraham and Sarah should be too old to conceive. But as the scripture also points out nothing is “too hard for the Lord.” We should believe because of the examples that we have within scripture and that many of us have heard from those around us of God calling people and then helping those same people fulfill that calling.

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The book we are currently focusing on, Genesis, offers to us some examples of where those that were following God showed faith. Our first reading points out some of those examples and how these individuals believed that all things were possible through God.

Hebrews 11 is known as the faith chapter as it runs through various Biblical figures and the times that they showed faith. It begins with Abel, the son of Adam and Eve who ended up being killed by his brother Cain.

Abel showed faith by believing that God was worthy of a sacrifice of the best that was available. We show faith when we are willing to worship and praise our God. We show our faith in God by being willing to take time out of our lives to spend time with him.

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We next have Enoch who is only mentioned briefly within scripture, but who showed faith in such a powerful way that he was allowed to ascend to Heaven without facing death. The only piece of information we have regarding God and Enoch was that he walked with God.

This should inform us that it doesn’t have to be through mighty acts that we serve God. There is no mention of how Enoch served God, but it was a life worthy of having something happen to him that it is believe only was given to one other person named Elijah.

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The scripture continues to point out that it is through faith that we please God and show God our belief by being willing to draw near to him. We ought to be willing to draw near to God. We should desire to have a close personal relationship with our Lord and Savior.

We next have Noah. He had enough faith in what God told him to construct an ark on dry land that would save humanity and the animals. This should remind us that we should have the faith to believe what God tells us even if it doesn’t make any sense.

I am sure the people laughed at Noah until the rain started and they eventually wanted to join him. There may be some that doubt us and our belief, but we should choose to keep the faith. We should expect that at some point we will have the chance to tell others about the one who we have our faith in.

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That brings us to Abraham and Sarah who left all that they knew and were willing to follow the desires of a God that they hardly knew. We may be called to leave our comfort zone and go into places that we had previously not known. We should believe that God is going with us.

These are just a few examples. We can find many other examples for us to look towards within scripture. Many people who can show us what it means to believe that God is with us and desires to help us along our life journey.

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What if these examples are not enough? What are aspects of God that we should look towards to help us reach the decision that we will believe enough to begin a relationship with God or to rely on God more each and every day.

We can begin by looking at who God is. Our God is three entities in one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirt. These three are unique in the roles they play in our lives but together in their thoughts and being. They are three in one.

We have the Father. The one we can view as our creator. The one who helps us desire to begin a relationship with our God and continues to help us develop a love for him and a desire to serve him for our benefit and for the benefit of those around us.

We have the Son, Jesus. He is the one that became our example. We have him as a witness to us on how we should live our lives. He also was willing to die for us on the cross. He was the only one who could pay the price in order to allow for the sins that we have committed against God and those around us to be forgiven. He saved us from sin and death.

We have the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised his early followers a helper when he left the earth. We have the Holy Spirit come at Pentecost and reside within those early followers. He is God within us, helping us connect with the Father and the Son. He leads us down a path towards becoming closer to God and serving God each and every day.

Creator, savior, helper. God has been and will continue to be a part of every aspect of our lives if we are willing to let him. We should believe in God because he has shown those before us and us that he deserves our praise through the ways he has served humanity.

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We have earlier in this sermon series focused on us being God’s creation. We have been made, while God has always been. Since he has always been he has not been influenced or corrupted by others. Therefore, God is always good. Millard J. Erickson in the book “Christian Theology” says it this way.

God is “untouched and unstained by the evil in the world. He does not in any sense participate in it…God’s perfection is the standard for our moral character and the motivation for religious practice.”

This goodness is often expressed through the word holy. It is why we should strive to become holier or gooder each and every day. The help we receive from God to do this is what we call sanctifying grace. We do not attempt to become holier on our own. We believe that God helps us.

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This leads us to the three main qualities of God. God is not only completely good, but he is also all powerful, all knowing, and in all places. The words that you will sometimes hear used for these concepts within the study of God is that God is Omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. We will look at how these qualities of God should affect our lives.

We should believe and be willing to follow God because he is omnipotent or all powerful. What God chooses to do he accomplishes. There is no force that would be able to stop him from doing what he desires to do.

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The problem that can arise is that God doesn’t always do what we want him to do. We don’t know why. It is possible that there is some reason he is choosing not to do what we believe would be best for us or those around us.

This is when life is tough. We know that God can do something, but it seems that he chooses not to do what we want him to do. This is where faith and belief enter in. We have to believe that what we want isn’t being done for a reason.

This is easier said than done. We want to believe but when we believe God has failed us it becomes more difficult. We have to look back and remember what God has already done for us. He wouldn’t fail us without a reason. He loves us and even if we are suffering, he will be there for us.

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God is omniscient or all knowing.  God knows how things started, how they are going, and how they are going to end. He knows when things were made, when new creations are going to be made, and what that means for society. He is AI without any help. We could call him “UI” the ultimate intelligence.

The reason why he can make the right decision 100 percent of the time is that he is all knowing. He doesn’t make mistakes. In fact, he knows the mistakes we are going to make but he loves us enough that he allows us to choose for ourselves instead of choosing for us.

Some would say if God is all knowing then why should I pray. We should pray because we can affect what is going to take place. We find within scripture where God has a plan and someone asks for him to change the plan and he does.

God loves us enough to be all knowing but to also be willing to allow us to be a part of the conversation. I bet everyone has had that person in their life that thinks they know everything. They can be annoying because they don’t listen to others. God is all knowing but he still listens and responds to us.

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God is omnipresent. God is everywhere. He cannot be contained. As Dr Seuss might say to us “He is there, he is here, he is everywhere.” He created time and space therefore time and space have no hold upon him. There is no place in the universe that God has not created and is not located.

God isn’t held still by our earthly limitations. Back to Erikson in the book “Christian Theology,” he says

God “fills the whole heaven and earth. Thus, we cannot hide ‘in secret places’ where we cannot be seen. God speaks of heaven as his throne and the earth as his footstool; the idea that humans can confine God by building him a dwelling place is, then, sheer folly.”

He goes on to quote from Psalm 139

“7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

The point is this, God is everywhere and therefore available for us to be with and speak to no matter where we are.

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We have spent this time looking at why we should make the decision to believe. I realize that what I say will not prevent doubt from entering your mind. What many people have found is that being willing to go and believe God will be with you the first time is the hardest.

It is through that first encounter with God even if it might not be 100 percent successful that we can sense God at work in what we are doing. We are called by God to go and in order to do that we need to be able to believe.

Please pray with me…