God’s Mysterious, Long Term Plans
Notes
Transcript
Story Commentary - “I” You have got to have a long term plan.
Story Commentary - “I” You have got to have a long term plan.
Abraham is given a big picture - a long range plan. Got to have one. to lose your sense of purpose is a dangerous place to be
HUMAN - do it now or regret it later
First thing I think of: college savings (when? when you think of having children)
retirement (know when you are ready - and able?) still money, but...
health: take care of yourself now, or you may not like what you see in the mirror later
relationships - is this the kind of person (not just like), but count on in the long term
GOD: has a long term plan for you. God has a purpose.
lose your job, loved one, health, lose everything but you can’t lose your purpose
lose your sense of purpose is a dangerous place to be
Story Commentary - “I” You have got to have a long term plan.
Story Commentary - “I” You have got to have a long term plan.
God has one for Abram. I have determined your life’s purpose. I have decided where you will go and what you will do and what you will accomplish. I know what you will leave behind when your life on earth is done. All of this is God’s. God has established a long term plan for Abraham.
Why Listen to this Sermon? - We have got to have a long term plan.
Why Listen to this Sermon? - We have got to have a long term plan.
Human side:
Human side:
Retirement (1st thing we think of) - unable to retire, or retire in poverty
Professional (what jobs will be available in the future?) Arabic!
Relationships (how do I maintain my important relationships?) estranged from children
Church (what will we do when the neighborhood changes (or forced to social distance? monument church
Eternity (pleasure, comfort, good things that aren’t God directed)
We can do ‘good’ things, but if they are not God-directed things, then...
We all need a long term plan. Not having one is disastrous.
this is the human side
Also need the God side: (the focus on Abram) What do we need to know about God’s long term plan for our lives? months, a year, a decade from now? The word for God’s long term plan is “calling.”
Also need the God side: (the focus on Abram) What do we need to know about God’s long term plan for our lives? months, a year, a decade from now? The word for God’s long term plan is “calling.”
lose our purpose if we lose - athletic; health; job; family, friends; our plans, purpose are based on these - if we lose theses, what is our purpose
“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.
Called by God’s Grace
Called by God’s Grace
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
Also need the God side: (the focus on Abram) What do we need to know about God’s long term plan for our lives? months, a year, a decade from now? The word for God’s long term plan is “calling.”
Also need the God side: (the focus on Abram) What do we need to know about God’s long term plan for our lives? months, a year, a decade from now? The word for God’s long term plan is “calling.”
lose our purpose if we lose - athletic; health; job; family, friends; our plans, purpose are based on these - if we lose theses, what is our purpose
Also need the God side: (the focus on Abram) What do we need to know about God’s long term plan for our lives? months, a year, a decade from now? The word for God’s long term plan is “calling.”
Also need the God side: (the focus on Abram) What do we need to know about God’s long term plan for our lives? months, a year, a decade from now? The word for God’s long term plan is “calling.”
lose our purpose if we lose - athletic; health; job; family, friends; our plans, purpose are based on these - if we lose theses, what is our purpose
Abram Called to Leave His Homeland
Abram Called to Leave His Homeland
from a settled location to wandering without a clear destination
we are tied to our physical location: global missions? I have a house. I’m settled in this ministry over here, God is calling you to leave that and go over here;
God will not be tied to a place - neither should we
a sent people who won’t relocate; rejected God’s call
why is hard.
what is hard.
where is the harder question
Abraham Called to Leave His Family (all customs, traditions, security)
Abraham Called to Leave His Family (all customs, traditions, security)
family - identify (things,
Abraham’s home they worshipped the moon. worship, traditions mean alot; community means alot
Preaching Christ from Genesis: Foundations for Expository Sermons Sermon Exposition
“And your kindred,” your more distant relatives? Almost impossible. “And your father’s house?” How could the LORD possibly ask Abram to leave his father’s house, his immediate family? That is his very identity. He is Abram bēn Terah, son of Terah. His father’s house is his house; his father’s goods are his goods; his father’s gods are his gods. “To leave home and to break ancestral bonds was to expect of ancient men almost the impossible.”
Von Rad, Genesis, 161. Cf. Dumbrell, Covenant and Creation, 57, “The call was to abandon all natural connections, to surrender all social customs and traditions, to leave land, clan and family. These were the very areas of strong attachment which in the ancient world would have been thought to provide ultimate personal security.”
Leaving Family is Leaving Your Identity, Your Security (not inheritance, but your identity closely tied to the father’s (e.g. doing what dad does, same trade, same property, name followed by “son of...”)
religion
God Makes Vague Promises”
God Makes Vague Promises”
“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. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
undermine my message - you have purpose, important to know that....can’t really know what it is; God gives a general idea; the purpose, but the plan is not always clear; why? the human side takes over;
disadvantage - God does not make me promises. I thought so, but it didn’t happen. Expecting something that God doesn’t guarantee
sometimes God’s promises are ‘non-specific’
make you a great nation - doesn’t say where
you will bless others - doesn’t say how he will bless, what that blessing looks like
you are called to serve others - where am I supposed to do this? how?
God Makes Impossible Promises
God Makes Impossible Promises
don’t experience signs and wonders because we don’t take that leap of faith; don’t want to risk failure (or experience failure)
God’s Promises Through Christ, through Scripture
God’s Promises Through Christ, through Scripture
What is the core truth of this passage? - We have got to have a long term plan. And God gives it to us, just like he did to Abraham.
What is the core truth of this passage? - We have got to have a long term plan. And God gives it to us, just like he did to Abraham.
Read them. The Bible is a book of promises. So many promises in Scripture. Write them on your mirror. Memorize them. Speak them out loud during the week. ,
(Here’s what God has promised you this morning - see these words on the screen)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Are you poor? God offers you something great.
Are you depressed? Are you overwhelmed with grief? God wants to comfort you.
Are you proud of your own accomplishments? Humble yourself before God, because God raises the humble and lowers the proud.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Continue reading Matthew 5 - they are promises. They are not specific, but they are promises. Your purpose. And God always keeps His promises.
What is God’s long term plan for me? What is my purpose?