Look to the stars Part 4

Announcements:

Movie night

Snowbird

Father’s Day

essie story

Flow:

Recap 1st couple of weeks

humanity in shambles:

Abraham chosen for the sake of humanity

All leading to Jesus

Abram tested:

Responds with obedience and worship

Proclaiming the name of Yahweh in a way that would set the Lord apart from all other God’s

Genesis 12:10–20 NIV

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” 14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. 17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

pray

OK. So, we’ve set up the story of Abram right?

humanity in shambles

Abram steps on the scene as a sort of savior

At camp this week we talked about how throughout the Bible we see types of Christ’s

Christ meaning deliverer

Not Jesus but the title Christ

So we see Abraham as a type of Christ pointing to the ultimate savior in Jesus right?

So this is who Abram is supposed to be

But then right out of the gates

right off the heels of this covenant we see this story

And so I want to talk about 4 main points and then the band is going to come back out and we are going to worship our faces off and then have a great week continuing to worship Him with our lives

#1 difficult circumstances will display our true character

Remember what has just happened before verse 10

It’s not that Abram’s life was all cupcakes and roses before this because he is called to leave everything behind

So we have to give him some credit for his faith in the Lord

But that was right on the heels of all of these promises God makes to him

He’s asked to go but then told

The Lord essentially says: Go! But as you go just know that I got you.

When you know that you know that God is calling you to something, that first step is pretty simple.

Honestly, it’s pretty freeing.

I’ve been in situations in my life where I know God is calling me to obedience in an area and I’m just a big baby and throw my sucker in the dirt and go, no no God I ain’t doing it.

That’s miserable! To have to live in direct disobedience to God, especially when you know it’s direct disobedience to God, is a miserable miserable way to live

So to finally go, you know what I’m gonna walk in obedience here is a very freeing thing.

And that’s what we see Abram do. He is walking in obedience and you have to imagine it felt good!

Like if all that happened to you, God calls you out like that and then stand behind you and goes, “hey I got you.” That had to have felt good!

Abram had to be jacked up!

Until the next verse: “now there was a famine in the land.”

Uh oh!

Like that’s that part of the movie where the villain steps on the scene and you just know something bad’s about to happen

Difficult circumstances will display our true character.

Our youth were up at camp this week.

It’s easy to follow Jesus at church camp

It’s a whole different story following Jesus when you walk into school

It’s easy to follow Jesus at church

We’ll raise our hands

Say amen

Take some crazy good notes

Not so easy out on the boat at grassy on a Saturday

Our aim is to be more like Jesus everyday!

Not just Sunday’s not just in the morning time

Not just when we get around other church people

Our lives should begin to mimic Jesus 24/7

Anyone ever watch “chaos walking?”

It’s this movie where everyone can hear everyone’s thoughts.

Can you imagine?

That’s like what some of our nightmare’s are made of

All your thoughts on display for all to hear and see

We aren’t perfect! No one is!

But if we are truly aiming to become more like Jesus then,

What we do on display for everyone to see should also look a lot like what we are doing when no one else sees.

Character, integrity, authentic, real.

These are things we are striving for.

Difficult circumstances will display our true character

We are about to see some of Abram’s true character and what we will see is that as great as Abram was, he was still a man

He was still flawed and still susceptible to sin

#2 Fear of man should never forfeit the fear of the Lord

Abram is headed to Egypt right and apparently Sarai must have been a beautiful women

So Abram goes, “hey you know what, when these Egyptian’s see you they are going to want you and when they find out your my wife they are going to kill me so that nothing is in their way to take you so just tell them you’re my sister.

A fear of man should never cause us to forfeit the fear of the Lord

We can get so caught up in man’s opinion

How is that going to make me look?

What will she think about that?

How is that going to affect my social status?

This constant pursuit of “keeping up with the Jones’s”

Scripture tells us over and over and over again that it’s the fear of the Lord that should drive us, direct us, give us wisdom

Not the fear of man

And today in church culture we want to soften this so much!

Fear just mean respect.

It means respect but it also just means fear

It’s an understanding of the power and authority of God!

We get so caught up in teaching things like, “Oh God would never allow anything bad to happen to you He just wants you happy.”

Jesus is just a dress wearing cloud sitting harp playing soft God who only wants your happiness

That feels really really good until it doesn’t make sense

Explain that to someone who just lost a child

Explain that to your friend who just found out they have cancer and only a few months to live

Explain that to someone who has lost everything

You can’t!

You can’t look at them and tell them that Jesus just wants their happiness!

Read your Bible!

I dare you!

You know what you’ll find

The people of God being beaten, destroyed, persecuted, and killed

Over and over and over again

Why?

Ultimately because of sin

But because that’s when you find out who your really are

Will it be the fear of man that determines the course of your life or the fear of God?

Paul understood this so clearly!

He sounds like an insane person but what was really happening was he just didn’t let the fear of man determine who he was in Jesus

They’d tell him: We will kill you!

Paul’s response “to die is gain.”

Do it! I just get to go be with Jesus!

Fine! we will throw you in prison and beat you senseless

Paul’s response “to live is Christ”

More opportunities to preach the name of Jesus

Paul had a fear of the Lord and the power and authority that the Lord had over him far outweighed anything that man could have done to him

The fear of man should never forfeit the fear of the Lord

#3 Don’t let me be all that you see

Abram gets so caught up with himself

They see you, they want you, they kill me

Me, me, me

The only thing Abram could see and was worried about was himself

You would think a good husband would have some conversations with his wife before trying to pull a stunt like this

He knew what he was doing though

“I know what a beautiful woman you are”

Just feeding her!

He doesn’t ask Sarai

He doesn’t think about the effects it might have on anyone around him and what happens?

A serious disease was inflicted on Pharoah and his household!

This was Pharaoh man!

Like the king, the dude back in this day

This isnt the skinny nerd with glasses at the playground.

This is the man!

But all Abram can think about and see and be concerned for is himself

Don’t let me be all that you see

We can’t be so caught up in ourselves that we miss the opportunities around us

And we can’t be so naive and think that the decisions we make only have an effect on us

If you are a part of a family, the decisions you make or lack thereof, have an effect on your family

You have a friend group, how you act, what you say, the decisions you make effect your friend group

If you are married, you better believe almost every thing you do has an effect on your spouse. You are one flesh. There is no separation there. What you decide and what you do you are also deciding for your spouse so be careful

Mother’s Father’s your decisions effect your children

What you say yes to, you are also saying no to something else

And typically the first thing you are saying no to is your spouse and children

You live in a community, the decisions you make, or the things you decided not to do, will have an effect on your community

Step back, take your eyes off of yourself for just a second, and pray to God to give you eyes to see like Him.

#4 God delivers even when we don’t

Abram does all of this and then what happens?

He goes. With his wife and everything they had

Not only does his nightmare come true

That they found out Sarai was his wife

But they find it out in the middle of being inflicted with a serious disease because Abram lied to them

So, if Sarai wasn’t enough reason to kill Abram now they have every reason to

But they don’t!

They simply send him on his way with his wife Sarai and don’t keep a single one of his possessions from him. He goes with everything he had.

Abram doesn’t deliver on His end of the deal, but God still delivers him out of Egypt.

Perhaps a foreshadowing for the nation of Israel

God is a redemptive God!

He delivers us even when we have nothing to offer Him

God is a God of His Word

Now, there may be consequences to our disobedience but God can not and will not ever go against Himself

God doesn’t allow pharaoh to slaughter Abram or imprison him for the rest of his life

He frees him and allows him to go

God has promised us that He will save us if we call upon His name and declare that He is Lord

And that is not dependent on what you’ve done, what you look like, what you haven’t done

He just promises to save and He is faithful to His Word.