Look to the stars Part 10
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Announcements:
Announcements:
Family Day
Prayer Walk Aug 7th @ 5pm
CK website - cornerstonekids.church
YouVersion
More Page
Recap
Recap
Here is the plan for the next couple of weeks
These next few chapters can be a little repetitive at times and can teach us similar things we’ve learned before
There are also some moments in these next few chapters that are honestly just weird and you have to really dive into the weeds and understand cultural norms to better understand what is going on
But there are two major events that happen in the next 6-7 chapters of Genesis and so here is the plan
I will kind of summarize all that goes on but we are going to focus on the two major events the next two weeks. This week and next. So don’t miss next week because it’s a major story and has a massive plot twist in it
Then the 14th we are going to have another family day. So there won’t be any CK that day. We will come in here for worship. We may do a few more songs than normal and than afterwards we are all going to go to the gym and eat some hamburgers and hot dogs and we will have some games and activities to do
The week after that, our youth are going to have their camp review for us and so we will hear some of their testimonies from that and we will talk a little about Awana’s and united youth for this spring
Then we will kick into a book series through 1 & 2 Peter which will probably get us through the middle of October
pray
We left off last week with Abram now being Abraham and Sarai now Sarah
The covenant of circumcision was introduced which actually still carries over into the New Covenant we now live under although it looks much different
And Sarah is promised to bear a son for Abraham
Chapter 18 begins with 3 visitors coming to Abraham and Sarah
and we see this encounter happen
10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
then we see the Lord respond by saying this
14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
Is there anything too hard for the Lord?
Is there anything too hard for the Lord?
That song we sang earlier this morning.
“There’s nothing that our God can’t do”
That’s not just a cool thought strung together with a melody
That something that our faith is built on
Is there anything to hard for the Lord?
The answer is a resounding no!
You may have a testimony that can preach to truth of that statement
You may be going through something right now and there seems to be no way out
You may face something in your future that seems overwhelming and impossible
But just know that this question was asked with the answer already in mind
Is there anything too hard for the Lord?
Nothing is impossible for Him!
We then see Sarah laugh at this statement that she would bear a child at 90 years old
Much like Abraham did in the last chapter
Then we see this conversation happen between the Lord and Abraham
And it’s an interesting one
Essentially the Lord says that He is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah
Which, if we remember, is where Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lives.
So, of course, Abraham is concerned and begins to bargain with God.
And so Abraham makes this argument to God that he shouldn’t kill all the righteous people in Sodom because of the evil people
And so he asks him would you spare the city if he can find 50 righteous people and God agrees
And then there’s this back and forth
what if there’s 45, 40, 30, 20, 10
What if I can find 10 righteous people, will you spare the city and God agrees
Then we get into chapter 19 and instead of telling about Abraham trying to find 10 righteous, which he apparently cannot, it tells us a story to show the evilness and wickedness of the city
Summary of two angels visiting Lot and his house
Then the angels tell Lot to gather his family and to leave and to not look back because Sodom would be destroyed.
24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Then there’s this crazy story about Lot and his daughters
They decide to get him drunk to sleep with him and become pregnant by him so that they can preserve the family name
The next chapter Abraham does again what he did back in chapter 12, he deceives a king by only saying that Sarah is his sister
Which we find out is partially true, same father, different mother, which seems really odd to us but would have been normal then
Either way, he deceives this king
The king and his people become cursed by God until he returns Sarah back to Abraham and when he does the curse is lifted
So, here is what we see, Chapters 18-20 of Genesis.
This is a bunch of jacked up people doing a bunch of jacked up stuff
We like to say that the world is so corrupt and evil now and it’s just gone so far downhill
Look, the world has always been that way, because it has been ruled by jacked up men who have fallen out of the design of the creator
It may have it swings one way or the other and it may manifest itself differently throughout time but the world has always been jacked up and it will be until Jesus returns
But there is a lesson learned here through these chapters that we can still learn from today
And this is something, that if we truly believe God to be true, is life changing, ground shaking, foundation building.
So, all of this evilness and wickedness has just transpired right.
And then here is how chapter 21 starts, you ready?
1 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
The Lord did what He had promised
He is a God of His Word
He is a God of His Word
Right smack in the middle of all of this evilness and wickedness lies this very important reminder
That the Lord will do what He promised to do
And all throughout Scripture are scattered for us the promises of God
Some that have studied this topic have said that there are over 7,000 promises made by God to man
That’s a lot of promises right.
Here are some that we can put our hope in:
So, here are some of those promises to us
29 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
He is near to us
34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
He is good and His love endures forever
His love never fails
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
He has purchased salvation to everyone who believes
This isn’t for the elite of the elite
This is for anyone and everyone
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
He promised that all things work for the good of those who love Him
Nothing is wasted when it comes to the sake of the believer
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
He promises us that he will comfort us in our troubles
No matter the struggle, no matter the pain, no matter the trouble, He comforts us
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
He promises us a new life, to be made into a new creation
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
He promises to bless us with every spiritual blessing and our inheritance is reserved for us
4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
He promises to finish the work He started in us.
He does nothing half way.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
He promises us peace. When we pray, when we trust Him, he guards our hearts with a peace that goes beyond our understanding
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
He promises us rest in Him
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
He promises us an abundant life here on earth
2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
He promises to one day return for us
14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
He promises us eternal life with Him
Eternal, meaning forever!
And there are so many more that we could talk about today but we can trust the fact that God is a god who keeps His promises
And all of these promises find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
All of these promises made to us are not dependent on us but on Christ
He has fulfilled all the prerequisites for us.
We are simply asked to believe it
And if and when we truly believe these truths the natural outcome of that is worship, repentance, and obedience
Those things aren’t forced, they just spring up naturally from the understanding of our prior condition before Christ
And then the promises made to us because of Jesus
God made a promise to Abraham.
And even in the middle of all of this mess what we see is that God is a god of His word
He keeps His promises
And if He keeps His promises here, and He kept His promise by sending His Son for us, we can trust and believe that He will continue to do so.
He will never fail us
Who else can you say that about?