Untitled Sermon

Greetings Lifehouse!

For those who don't know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin. Our family has enjoyed being a partner here for just over 2 years and we just enjoy serving our great here.

Before I take a moment and introduce myself, I want to invite you to turn in your bibles to Genesis chapter 15 where we will continue our in depth look at the life of one of the greats in the Bible… Abraham.

For those who don't know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin. Our family has enjoyed being a partner here for just over 2 years and we just enjoy serving our great here.

Before I take a moment and introduce myself, I want to invite you to turn in your bibles to Genesis chapter 15 where we will continue our in depth look at the life of one of the greats in the Bible… Abraham.

For those who don't know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin. Our family has enjoyed being a partner here for just over 2 years and we are so thankful God has called us to serve here with this wonderful body of believers.

For those who don't know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin. Our family has enjoyed being a partner here for just over 2 years and we just enjoy serving our great here.

Before I take a moment and introduce myself, I want to invite you to turn in your bibles to Genesis chapter 15 where we will continue our in depth look at the life of one of the greats in the Bible… Abraham.

For those who don't know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin. Our family has enjoyed being a partner here for just over 2 years and we just enjoy serving our great here.

For those who don't know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin. Our family has enjoyed being a partner here for just over 2 years and we are so thankful God has called us to serve here with this wonderful body of believers.

For those who don't know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin. Our family has enjoyed being a partner here for just over 2 years and we just enjoy serving our great here.

Before I take a moment and introduce myself, I want to invite you to turn in your bibles to Genesis chapter 15 where we will continue our in depth look at the life of one of the greats in the Bible… Abraham.

For those who don't know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin. Our family has enjoyed being a partner here for just over 2 years and we just enjoy serving our great here.

With Mark being away on vacation, he reached down into the minor leagues of Kid Jr where I normally serve and called me up to the big kids church this Sunday, so I am very excited to be here with you.

For those you who do not know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin and I am a Bible geek.

With Mark being away on vacation, he reached down into the minor leagues of Kid Jr where I normally serve and called me up to the big kids church this Sunday, so I am very excited to be here with you.

With Mark being away on vacation, I was given a promotion for the week from children's ministry and Team Kid Jr, to what we call over here sometimes Team Adult. Sorry there are no snacks or drinks being handed out. And if your looking for a craft like we normally do over there, afterwards I can show you how to turn your program into a paper airplane or something.

For those you who do not know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin and I am a Bible geek.

With Mark being away on vacation, he reached down into the minor leagues of Kid Jr where I normally serve and called me up to the big kids church this Sunday, so I am very excited to be here with you.

For those you who do not know me, my name is Benjamin Hankin and I am a Bible geek.

With Mark being away on vacation, I was given a promotion for the week from children's ministry and Team Kid Jr, to what we call over here sometimes Team Adult. Sorry there are no snacks or drinks being handed out. And if your looking for a craft like we normally do over there, afterwards I can show you how to turn your program into a paper airplane or something.

As we go into our text today, we cannot take this chapter on its own. This chapter in its opening relies heavily on understanding what happened in chapter 14. There we saw amounts to being a world war for that period of time. A large area of unrest in which 4 kings left of path of destruction that was unprecedented, and left its scars on e land for generations to come. All of this would have gone unnoticed and unmentioned in the Bible if not for 4 words, “and they took Lot”. Abram saddles up the special forces and rides into battle and routes, one translation states that they slaughtered the opposition. As he returns victorious, we are treated as readers to a series of interactions that gives us a picture of things to come. Here Abram meets on of the most enigmatic characters in the whole of the Bible. You want a good laugh, read some of the way far out there writings that Jewish literature has on him. They have almost set him up due to the lack of information on him into like a Jewish King Arthur of sorts, turning him into almost a legend. Here Abram and Melchizedek have an interaction that points to Christ and the ministry of Him in the New Testament. Here in the valley of the kings, they break bread and we see what could be considered a foreshadowing of a Priest King of what would be Jersulaem having bread and wine and pointing back to God. That's communion! It's not in the elements, it's in the people that come together and remember what God has done for them. It's in celebrating the Lord and who He is. In this time Abram gives up what I can imagine was a great reward, or spoils from the war not wanting to be considered to have been made rich from man so he can be rich from the Lord. And it is here where we enter into our verses today. So with that in mind let's read .

-- As we go into our text today, we cannot take this chapter on its own. This chapter in its opening relies heavily on understanding what happened in chapter 14. There we saw amounts to being a world war for that period of time. A large area of unrest in which 4 kings left of path of destruction that was unprecedented, and left its scars on e land for generations to come. All of this would have gone unnoticed and unmentioned in the Bible if not for 4 words, “and they took Lot”. Abram saddles up the special forces and rides into battle and routes, one translation states that they slaughtered the opposition. As he returns victorious, we are treated as readers to a series of interactions that gives us a picture of things to come. Here Abram meets on of the most enigmatic characters in the whole of the Bible. You want a good laugh, read some of the way far out there writings that Jewish literature has on him. They have almost set him up due to the lack of information on him into like a Jewish King Arthur of sorts, turning him into almost a legend. Here Abram and Melchizedek have an interaction that points to Christ and the ministry of Him in the New Testament. Here in the valley of the kings, they break bread and we see what could be considered a foreshadowing of a Priest King of what would be Jerusalem having bread and wine and pointing back to God. That's communion! It's not in the elements, it's in the people that come together and remember what God has done for them. It's in celebrating the Lord and who He is. In this time Abram gives up what I can imagine was a great reward, or spoils from the war not wanting to be considered to have been made rich from man so he can be rich from the Lord. And it is here where we enter into our verses today. So with that in mind let's read .

--When we look in the Bible there are some topics that are so very great. So great in fact that it's presence can be felt throughout the entirety of the Bible, and in some cases we live in today. The passage we are going to study this morning is one such passage. In where we will be today, after roughly 4 and a quarter centuries of silence, God decides that the time is right to move back into a relationship with mankind again, and become personal and known to them. It seems as though every time I am tasked with speaking or sharing, God puts an example in my life during the period leading up to it. Almost as if here is a practical example to share, and this time is no different. I want to thank those that were lifting me up in words, prayer, and encouragement during the weeks prior it was truly felt. For me, when I got down to it and really studied the passage, tore it apart, did the research, read the commentaries, listened to the sermons…. I had a ton of head knowledge. Greek and Hebrew words for some of the meanings… It's gonna be great!!!! And then the time to sit down and put it together came about, and a blank piece of paper sat still for a week. Because when the gravity and weight of it being head knowledge, moved away and allowed for God and His Word to speak to the heart, I was crushed by the enormous weight of the passage and it importance to us as Christians even today. I experienced all kinds of personal doubt about presenting and speaking, all kinds of feelings of inadequacy. All of it became a cloud. But God whom is faithful and able to do amazing things, did not leave me in that place, through encouragement of brothers and sisters here, through prayer, and one amazing young lad here at LifeHouse who shared with me. Coming back from a place of doubt on your own is nearly impossible. We were not now nor ever supposed to do life and church on our own. We are a body and made to work, serve, worship, encourage, and love each other. We need to turn most importantly to He and a His word. I believe firmly that I went though this point, to be able to encourage some that are here today. You may find yourself in a place where you have no clue what is going on, where God is leading, I said a prayer and no clue what's next, or any other set of circumstances. I want to share with you this from writer Henry Drummond: “Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is I can't believe; unbelief is I won't believe. Doubt is honesty, unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is being content with darkness.” As we look towards Gods word this morning, if what I shared sounds like you and where you are, keep looking towards not just the light as Drummond mentioned, but the One who is the light, and at the end of the service I would invite you to come down and fully surrender that doubt or that fear or whatever is creating a barrier between you and God here at the alter.

--When we look in the Bible there are some topics that are so very great. So great in fact that it's presence can be felt throughout the entirety of the Bible, and in some cases we live in today. The passage we are going to study this morning is one such passage. In where we will be today, after roughly 4 and a quarter centuries of silence, God decides that the time is right to move back into a relationship with mankind again, and become personal and known to them. It seems as though every time I am tasked with speaking or sharing, God puts an example in my life during the period leading up to it. Almost as if here is a practical example to share, and this time is no different. I want to thank those that were lifting me up in words, prayer, and encouragement during the weeks prior it was truly felt. For me, when I got down to it and really studied the passage, tore it apart, did the research, read the commentaries, listened to the sermons…. I had a ton of head knowledge. Greek and Hebrew words for some of the meanings… It's gonna be great!!!! And then the time to sit down and put it together came about, and a blank piece of paper sat still for a week. Because when the gravity and weight of it being head knowledge, moved away and allowed for God and His Word to speak to the heart, I was crushed by the enormous weight of the passage and it importance to us as Christians even today. I experienced all kinds of personal doubt about presenting and speaking, all kinds of feelings of inadequacy. All of it became a cloud. But God whom is faithful and able to do amazing things, did not leave me in that place, through encouragement of brothers and sisters here, through prayer, and one amazing young lad here at LifeHouse who shared with me. Coming back from a place of doubt on your own is nearly impossible. We were not now nor ever supposed to do life and church on our own. We are a body and made to work, serve, worship, encourage, and love each other. We need to turn most importantly to He and a His word. I believe firmly that I went though this point, to be able to encourage some that are here today. You may find yourself in a place where you have no clue what is going on, where God is leading, I said a prayer and no clue what's next, or any other set of circumstances. I want to share with you this from writer Henry Drummond: “Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is I can't believe; unbelief is I won't believe. Doubt is honesty, unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is being content with darkness.” As we look towards Gods word this morning, if what I shared sounds like you and where you are, keep looking towards not just the light as Drummond mentioned, but the One who is the light, and at the end of the service I would invite you to come down and fully surrender that doubt or that fear or whatever is creating a barrier between you and God here at the altar.

---- I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 15, where this morning we will be looking at the whole of this amazing and important chapter. It is here that we see a God who was quiet, is now about to get extremely personal again with His creation.

As we go into our text today, we cannot take this chapter on its own. This chapter in its opening relies heavily on understanding what happened in chapter 14. There we saw amounts to being a world war for that period of time. A large area of unrest in which 4 kings left of path of destruction that was unprecedented, and left its scars on e land for generations to come. All of this would have gone unnoticed and unmentioned in the Bible if not for 4 words, “and they took Lot”. Abram saddles up the special forces and rides into battle and routes, one translation states that they slaughtered the opposition. As he returns victorious, we are treated as readers to a series of interactions that gives us a picture of things to come. Here Abram meets on of the most enigmatic characters in the whole of the Bible. You want a good laugh, read some of the way far out there writings that Jewish literature has on him. They have almost set him up due to the lack of information on him into like a Jewish King Arthur of sorts, turning him into almost a legend. Here Abram and Melchizedek have an interaction that points to Christ and the ministry of Him in the New Testament. Here in the valley of the kings, they break bread and we see what could be considered a foreshadowing of a Priest King of what would be Jersulaem having bread and wine and pointing back to God. That's communion! It's not in the elements, it's in the people that come together and remember what God has done for them. It's in celebrating the Lord and who He is. In this time Abram gives up what I can imagine was a great reward, or spoils from the war not wanting to be considered to have been made rich from man so he can be rich from the Lord. And it is here where we enter into our verses today. So with that in mind let's read .

--When we look in the Bible there are some topics that are so very great. So great in fact that it's presence can be felt throughout the entirety of the Bible, and in some cases we live in today. The passage we are going to study this morning is one such passage. In where we will be today, after roughly 4 and a quarter centuries of silence, God decides that the time is right to move back into a relationship with mankind again, and become personal and known to them. It seems as though every time I am tasked with speaking or sharing, God puts an example in my life during the period leading up to it. Almost as if here is a practical example to share, and this time is no different. I want to thank those that were lifting me up in words, prayer, and encouragement during the weeks prior it was truly felt. For me, when I got down to it and really studied the passage, tore it apart, did the research, read the commentaries, listened to the sermons…. I had a ton of head knowledge. Greek and Hebrew words for some of the meanings… It's gonna be great!!!! And then the time to sit down and put it together came about, and a blank piece of paper sat still for a week. Because when the gravity and weight of it being head knowledge, moved away and allowed for God and His Word to speak to the heart, I was crushed by the enormous weight of the passage and it importance to us as Christians even today. I experienced all kinds of personal doubt about presenting and speaking, all kinds of feelings of inadequacy. All of it became a cloud. But God whom is faithful and able to do amazing things, did not leave me in that place, through encouragement of brothers and sisters here, through prayer, and one amazing young lad here at LifeHouse who shared with me. Coming back from a place of doubt on your own is nearly impossible. We were not now nor ever supposed to do life and church on our own. We are a body and made to work, serve, worship, encourage, and love each other. We need to turn most importantly to He and a His word. I believe firmly that I went though this point, to be able to encourage some that are here today. You may find yourself in a place where you have no clue what is going on, where God is leading, I said a prayer and no clue what's next, or any other set of circumstances. I want to share with you this from writer Henry Drummond: “Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is I can't believe; unbelief is I won't believe. Doubt is honesty, unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is being content with darkness.” As we look towards Gods word this morning, if what I shared sounds like you and where you are, keep looking towards not just the light as Drummond mentioned, but the One who is the light, and at the end of the service I would invite you to come down and fully surrender that doubt or that fear or whatever is creating a barrier between you and God here at the altar.

--When we look in the Bible there are some topics that are so very great. So great in fact that it's presence can be felt throughout the entirety of the Bible, and in some cases we live in today. The passage we are going to study this morning is one such passage. In where we will be today, after roughly 4 and a quarter centuries of silence, God decides that the time is right to move back into a relationship with mankind again, and become personal and known to them. It seems as though every time I am tasked with speaking or sharing, God puts an example in my life during the period leading up to it. Almost as if here is a practical example to share, and this time is no different. I want to thank those that were lifting me up in words, prayer, and encouragement during the weeks prior it was truly felt. For me, when I got down to it and really studied the passage, tore it apart, did the research, read the commentaries, listened to the sermons…. I had a ton of head knowledge. Greek and Hebrew words for some of the meanings… It's gonna be great!!!! And then the time to sit down and put it together came about, and a blank piece of paper sat still for a week. Because when the gravity and weight of it being head knowledge, moved away and allowed for God and His Word to speak to the heart, I was crushed by the enormous weight of the passage and it importance to us as Christians even today. I experienced all kinds of personal doubt about presenting and speaking, all kinds of feelings of inadequacy. All of it became a cloud. But God whom is faithful and able to do amazing things, did not leave me in that place, through encouragement of brothers and sisters here, through prayer, and one amazing young lad here at LifeHouse who shared with me. Coming back from a place of doubt on your own is nearly impossible. We were not now nor ever supposed to do life and church on our own. We are a body and made to work, serve, worship, encourage, and love each other. We need to turn most importantly to He and a His word. I believe firmly that I went though this point, to be able to encourage some that are here today. You may find yourself in a place where you have no clue what is going on, where God is leading, I said a prayer and no clue what's next, or any other set of circumstances. I want to share with you this from writer Henry Drummond: “Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is I can't believe; unbelief is I won't believe. Doubt is honesty, unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is being content with darkness.” As we look towards God's word this morning, if what I shared sounds like you and where you are, keep looking towards not just the light as Drummond mentioned, but the One who is the light, and at the end of the service I would invite you to come down and fully surrender that doubt or that fear or whatever is creating a barrier between you and God here at the altar.