Book of Acts Church - Part 1
The Book of Acts Church • Sermon • Submitted
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The Wait:
The Wait:
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3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The wait was not a pointless exercise, it was waiting for the promise!
Abraham: A Case Study in Botched Waiting
Abraham: A Case Study in Botched Waiting
God called Abram
Abram obeyed God
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Abram went around searching & looking for the land God was calling him to possess.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
God made Abraham promises that Abraham believed
Belief wasn’t the problem, the wait was.
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
The Quick Timeline of Events:
The Quick Timeline of Events:
10 years after the Covenant in Canaan - Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham & produced Ishmael
Before this time, Sarah perceived that the LORD had restrained her from conceiving ()
Ishmael was 13 years old before God put a due date on Isaac’s arrival
Abraham was 99 years old
Sarah was 90 years old
It was 30 years of waiting from Abraham’s call until Isaac was born
It was 25 years of waiting from God’s promise to Abraham until Isaac was born
We FEEL like if it’s not all green lights, then God must not love us.
There is a lot of “traffic” in life & if everyone had green lights all the time, or if someone chooses to run a red light - a wreck is coming!
If we treat the wait correctly, it is a time of refreshing, equipping, positioning, and growth.
You’ve heard me say it many times before but it bears repeating:
If you are right where God wants to you be, be settled and secure there with patience
If you aren’t where God wants you to be, fight with everything in you to get out of that place IMMEDIATELY!
About the Wait
About the Wait
Waiting is the wisdom and the blessing of the Lord positioning us for success (Acts 1:3-5).
We FEEL like if it’s not all green lights, then God must not love us.
T-Bone Accident Image
There is a lot of “traffic” in life & if everyone had green lights all the time, or if someone chooses to run a red light - a wreck is coming!
If we treat the wait correctly, it is a time of refreshing, equipping, positioning, and growth.
You’ve heard me say it many times before but it bears repeating:
If you are right where God wants to you be, be settled and secure there with patience
If you aren’t where God wants you to be, fight with everything in you to get out of that place IMMEDIATELY!
Waiting takes the fruit of the Spirit (,) called patience
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
We have to LET patience...
If we do not learn the value of patience, knowing that God does not go back on His promises or let them fall (), we will not see the fruits of faith as intended.
Faith is only faith while we are still believing & waiting
We have to get great at the wait!
Red Light Image
We can tend to get impatient at a stoplight, but we KNOW that the light is going to change - we really need to step up our waiting game, don’t we?!
Skeleton in driver’s seat image
We don’t wait indefinitely, we wait UNTIL!
Abraham: A Case Study in Botched Waiting
Abraham: A Case Study in Botched Waiting
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
God called Abram in & Abram obeyed God
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
After wandering around looking for the land God was calling him to posess
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
The Good News!
The Good News!
God made Abraham promises that Abraham believed
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
The wait for The Promise is OVER!
6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
The Holy Spirit has been sent to the earth to stay and to help.
It’s time for us to take advantage of EVERYTHING the promise has to offer!
The Quick Timeline of Events:
The Quick Timeline of Events:
10 years after the Covenant in Canaan - Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham & produced Ishmael
Personally, individually, we are going to go through times of waiting for other promises of God in our life that others may seem to receive sooner.
Ishmael was 13 years old before God put a due date on Isaac’s arrival
Abraham was 99 years old
Sarah was 90 years old
Before this time, Sarah perceived that the LORD had restrained her from conceiving ()
It was 30 years of waiting from Abraham’s call until Isaac was born
It was 25 years of waiting from God’s promise to Abraham until Isaac was born
We have to get great at the wait!
Just One Thing:
Just One Thing:
Wait patiently on God’s timing...
By:
Hearing God’s promise to you
Letting Patience work in you (fruit of the Spirit)
Trusting God’s Word & Character
Discussion Questions:
Discussion Questions:
What artist or band do you always recommend when someone asks for a music recommendation?
What was at least 1 thing that you learned/gleaned from the case study of Abraham’s life story & “botched waiting” that you can use for yourself?
Please read Habbakuk 2:2-3 and share what this passage means to you & how it can help you in the waiting process.
What is the hardest part about the wait for you & how can you allow patience to have its work in your life in a great way?