July 29th and 30th, 2000

PASSING THE BATON

Genesis 18

16 ¶ When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.

 17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."

PRAYER

-I need a second car. I also need a hobby so when someone offered me a really good deal on a yellow convertible I had to take a real good look. Funny enough, when I ask people’s advice they laughingly say it is a mid-life crisis.

-I am having a mid-life crisis. It has nothing to do with my hair turning or falling. It has to do with recognizing my own limitations.

-I am at a point where I realize that there is no way I can fully do what God has called me to do without the help of others.

-I found myself thinking about the things that God has put in my heart about this church, missions, ministers in other countries and realizing that I didn’t have the resources, time, or energy to do it all. My vision includes other people. I HOPE YOURS DOES TOO. IF IT IS A GODLY VISION IT WILL.

1.    YOU CAN’T DO IT ALONE

EXAMPLE: Freshman Relay in Wentzville. When asked how come I ran so fast…..the real answer was….I didn’t want those who were depending on me to lose the race because of me….I was in PARTNERSHIP.

-You need people.

-If you want to do it alone you have a spiritual problem.

-Abraham’s promises from God involved those who would follow him. He had his part to play but it was never just to/for Abraham.

Genesis 12

1 ¶ The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples (families-mishpachah) on earth will be blessed through you."

Genesis 15

3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."

 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

-Do a study about Abraham and you will see that the blessing and call on his life had to do with his seed/descendents.

-That applies to spiritual as well as physical descendents.

-The call of God on your life includes you spiritual and physical descendents.

-I’ve taken my children aside and told them that when they go somewhere with us that they don’t really want to do…God will bless them. There is a grace in my children and other minister’s children to sacrifice.

-That’s good…..God blesses sacrifice…..ask Abraham.

IN THE FOLLOWING POINTS, APPLY THIS TO YOUR PHYSICAL CHILDREN AS WELL AS SPIRITUAL DESCENDENTS.

EXAMPLE: I HAVE A SERMON CALLED FOUR THINGS NOAH TOOK INTO THE ARK WITH HIM:

1-FAITH IN GOD

2-FAMILY

3-THE TESTIMONY OF A LIFE PLEASING TO GOD

4-THE PROMISE OF A FUTURE BRIGHT IN GOD DESPITE PENDING JUDGEMENT ON THE WORLD

-The first point was….YOU CAN’T DO IT ALONE.

2.    YOU HAVE TO HAVE A LEGACY TO LEAVE ONE

-Abraham was known as the FATHER OF OUR FAITH.

-He radically believed God.

*HE LEFT EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW GOD’S WILL.

(HOMETOWN, FAMILY, FUTURE PLANS, ETC.)

*HE /LIKE NOAH, MADE MISTAKES

*THEY DIDN’T FOLLOW OPINION POLLS

(TALK ABOUT PEER PRESSURE……NOAH’S SONS PROBABLY HAD FRIENDS WHO REALLY LET THEM HAVE IT….WHAT WAS IN NOAH THAT KEPT THE BOYS HEARTS HOOKED UP WITH THEIR DAD? HE WAS RADICAL!)

-Casual Christianity gets you nowhere. Stop waiting for other’s approval.

*ABRAHAM WAS BLESSED BUT HE NEVER LET MONEY CONTROL HIM.

-After defeating the kings he didn’t ask for anything.

Genesis 14

14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.

 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

 17 ¶ After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem {That is, Jerusalem} brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,

 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator {Or Possessor; also in verse 22} of heaven and earth.

 20 And blessed be {Or And praise be to} God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

 21 ¶ The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself."

 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, `I made Abram rich.'

 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me--to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."

-When he and Lot separated, Abraham let Lot pick the best place to go.

-We would never set up a statute of Buddha in our back yard and teach our kids to worship it.

BUT:

-By our values and lifestyle we can set up the idol of money and subconsciously teach them to worship it.

-We do that by working all the time….living for pleasure……never being able to say ENOUGH.

Lu 6:40 A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Deuteronomy 6

1 ¶ These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,

 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.

 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.

 4 ¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. {Or The LORD our God is one LORD; or The LORD is our God, the LORD is one; or The LORD is our God, the LORD alone}

 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.

 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

-In the Hebrew Covenant so much was designed to teach the children principles and remind them of God’s deliverance.

-You can’t pass on what you don’t have.

-If you want your children to serve God…stop believing you can compromise and still have your children be on fire.

1 Timothy 3

1 ¶ Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, {Traditionally bishop; also in verse 2} he desires a noble task.

 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.

 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)

 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.

 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

 8 ¶ Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.

 9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.

 10 They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

 11 In the same way, their wives {Or way, deaconesses} are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

 12 A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well.

-The place to look when you are looking for ministers is not at their ability to preach but at their family.

-God did!!! Remember our text?

Genesis 18

18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."

-Remember, this applies to your spiritual descendants as well as physical.

PRAY FOR PARENTS

PRAY FOR ALL AS SPIRITUAL PARENTS