back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 12-6-2020
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I want to give a quick announcement before we 00:08:47.500 |
I think this announcement was already made last week, 00:08:49.500 |
but I wanted to kind of re-emphasize with all 00:08:51.500 |
the different things and the rules that are coming down 00:08:58.500 |
I'm sure you may have read it-- the Supreme Court in the United 00:09:01.500 |
States has declared that religious gatherings are 00:09:06.000 |
obviously, it's always been essential for us. 00:09:08.000 |
But as a result of that, the rules that are coming down 00:09:10.500 |
are allowing the church to meet freely, at least on Sunday. 00:09:16.000 |
And so nothing is going to be changing for us on what's 00:09:19.500 |
The weekday stuff that's going on, we want you to be-- 00:09:22.500 |
we want to just use your own discernment of how 00:09:26.500 |
And so there is no regulations that are happening in the church. 00:09:29.000 |
We're just asking you to be sensitive to one another 00:09:33.500 |
and just kind of be careful and use your own judgment, who 00:09:36.000 |
you're with and what you're doing things with. 00:09:39.500 |
we're going to be just meeting together as business as usual, 00:09:45.000 |
Along with that, every year we have a New Year's activity, 00:09:48.000 |
but we will not be having activities here at church. 00:09:51.500 |
And so therefore, we're going to be moving our New Year's Eve 00:09:59.000 |
you can put your kids to sleep and then join us at 11:30. 00:10:06.500 |
And take some time to pray as we welcome the new year. 00:10:10.000 |
So this year, it's going to be a little bit different. 00:10:18.000 |
we're asking you to take some time to come prepare, 00:10:20.000 |
maybe even come a little bit earlier than you normally do 00:10:22.500 |
and take some time to pray and ready your hearts 00:10:24.500 |
for the communion service that will be taking place next week. 00:10:39.500 |
Again, all of that stuff is on Facebook and our app, 00:10:48.500 |
and give you an opportunity to give your offering 00:10:50.500 |
electronically, or again, if you have physical check, 00:10:58.500 |
Heavenly Father, we want to thank you and praise you. 00:11:05.000 |
We thank you, Lord, that we have freedom in this country 00:11:08.000 |
to be able to worship you with clear conscience, 00:11:11.000 |
that we may truly be able to live peaceful and quiet lives, 00:11:23.000 |
We pray, Father, that we would not take for granted 00:11:25.500 |
the privilege that we have to be able to meet together. 00:11:29.000 |
We ask, Lord, that our hearts may be filled and ready 00:11:32.000 |
and prepared, that what we give to you this morning 00:11:44.000 |
would be a blessing to you, and it would be an overabundance 00:11:52.000 |
May it be multiplied for the sake of your name. 00:12:30.000 |
Church family, let's all rise together as we sing these songs. 00:12:54.000 |
We will walk the valley with you by our side. 00:13:14.000 |
The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress. 00:13:23.000 |
Who can stand against us if our God is for us? 00:13:37.000 |
even when I turn back, still your love is sure. 00:13:47.000 |
You will cheer me on with ever ending praise. 00:13:58.000 |
The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress. 00:14:07.000 |
Who can stand against us if our God is for us? 00:15:06.000 |
The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress. 00:15:15.000 |
Who can stand against us if our God is for us? 00:15:25.000 |
The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress. 00:15:34.000 |
Who can stand against us if our God is for us? 00:22:51.000 |
Though the dread of night overwhelms my soul, 00:26:11.000 |
All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me 00:26:47.000 |
and he went out not knowing where he was going. 00:26:50.000 |
By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, 00:26:54.000 |
with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of same promise. 00:26:58.000 |
For he was looking for the city which has foundation, 00:27:03.000 |
By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, 00:27:08.000 |
since she considered him faithful who had promise. 00:27:16.000 |
as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, 00:27:20.000 |
and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. 00:27:23.000 |
All these died in faith without receiving the promises, 00:27:26.000 |
but having seen them, and having welcomed them from a distance, 00:27:29.000 |
and having confessed that they were strangers 00:27:35.000 |
that they are seeking a country of their own. 00:27:37.000 |
And indeed if they had been thinking of this country 00:27:47.000 |
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, 00:27:56.000 |
we ask that you would help us during this time to, 00:28:04.000 |
that we may understand and apply it in our hearts. 00:28:11.000 |
with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, 00:28:16.000 |
but we would render our hearts and not just our garments. 00:28:20.000 |
So we pray that you would anoint this time for your namesake. 00:28:25.000 |
Alright, so we're at part two of the section that we're looking at 00:28:29.000 |
and in the larger section of talking about the heroes of faith. 00:28:33.000 |
And so as we talked about before, just as a refresher, 00:28:50.000 |
"Therefore, concerning all that crisis on who he is, 00:28:53.000 |
that we ought to continue to live our lives in obedience." 00:28:56.000 |
So chapter 11 is that transition where he says, 00:29:09.000 |
but he says, "No, obedience ultimately comes by faith." 00:29:12.000 |
And that's a theme of every single person that is mentioned here. 00:29:21.000 |
So every single person here in the book of Genesis, 00:29:42.000 |
"Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out." 00:29:46.000 |
And that was the first calling of every Christian. 00:29:56.000 |
that you had with the world before you met Christ 00:29:58.000 |
because the very first step of meeting Christ 00:30:06.000 |
We don't add Christ to the life that we live. 00:30:10.000 |
We're pursuing the same things, love the same things, 00:30:13.000 |
value the same things, and then we just happen 00:30:17.000 |
We didn't go to church and now we're going to church. 00:30:20.000 |
But nothing of our pursuit, nothing of our value has changed. 00:30:24.000 |
Hebrews chapter 13, 11, as Christ was crucified 00:30:33.000 |
So again, our justification happens when we recognize 00:30:36.000 |
that not just an act, not just something that we did, 00:30:39.000 |
but our totality of our life was in rebellion against God. 00:30:50.000 |
how Abraham, in order for him to live by promise 00:30:53.000 |
to receive his inheritance, he first had to leave his home. 00:30:57.000 |
The second part we want to get to is also in this verse 00:31:01.000 |
where it says, "They obeyed by going out to a place 00:31:06.000 |
"and he went out not knowing where he was going. 00:31:09.000 |
"By faith he lives as an alien in the land of promise, 00:31:13.000 |
"as in a foreign land dwelling in tents with Isaac 00:31:16.000 |
"and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise." 00:31:19.000 |
Not only did he leave his home, the Bible says 00:31:39.000 |
So I think the best illustration of what our Christian life 00:31:42.000 |
is like is like the Israelites who are wandering 00:31:59.000 |
of this world, we live in a period of sanctification. 00:32:05.000 |
We've seen a glimpse of it, but we're kind of wandering 00:32:08.000 |
in the desert, and again, that's why the theologians 00:32:14.000 |
We have an idea through the church what his kingdom 00:32:17.000 |
looks like, but the actual complete deliverance 00:32:27.000 |
of what our Christian life ought to look like. 00:32:30.000 |
So first thing again that we said was God calls him 00:32:33.000 |
out of his comfort zone, and then he doesn't enter 00:32:39.000 |
He doesn't come out and say, well, he didn't make 00:32:42.000 |
a trade-off between his hometown of Hur or of Chaldeans, 00:32:46.000 |
and then he wandered and then packed his stuff 00:32:48.000 |
and moved into the land of Canaan and then started 00:32:51.000 |
The Bible says that he lived the rest of the life 00:32:54.000 |
that he lived as aliens and strangers in the land. 00:33:04.000 |
He says, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers 00:33:07.000 |
"to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war 00:33:11.000 |
Peter writes that in 1 Peter because the persecution 00:33:17.000 |
I mean, they were always persecuted before that period, 00:33:23.000 |
and that's when Nero started doing his crazy stuff 00:33:26.000 |
where you see movies where you have Christians 00:33:29.000 |
being dragged into the Colosseum, torn apart by lions, 00:33:37.000 |
And this was written right as that was beginning 00:33:40.000 |
to happen, and so they were beginning to feel 00:33:44.000 |
this pressure that some of them not only were having 00:33:46.000 |
a hard time having their jobs, taking care of their children, 00:34:04.000 |
He doesn't tell them that they're not gonna die. 00:34:07.000 |
He doesn't tell them that their life is going to be easy. 00:34:09.000 |
He reminds them, "If you feel like you don't fit 00:34:16.000 |
And he actually reminds them, "If the world rejects you 00:34:21.000 |
"we don't want you among us, and some of them 00:34:24.000 |
"may simply not like you, some of them may persecute you, 00:34:28.000 |
"and some of them may actually try to kill you, 00:34:32.000 |
"when you face that, remember, you are an alien 00:34:42.000 |
"When I send you out and they don't know you, 00:34:52.000 |
"If you wanna keep following me, you pick up your cross, 00:34:58.000 |
And it was actually happening, exactly like Jesus said. 00:35:02.000 |
And so Peter is repeating the words that he heard 00:35:05.000 |
from his Savior, that you are an alien stranger. 00:35:09.000 |
Don't try so hard to fit in here, because you don't fit in. 00:35:26.000 |
You probably heard the term oikos before, right? 00:35:33.000 |
So para oikos, para basically means to be alongside. 00:35:37.000 |
That that's not your home, you're alongside the home. 00:35:46.000 |
You live there, and you have a place to stay, 00:35:53.000 |
You're there, but it's not your permanent home. 00:36:07.000 |
So the word stranger means you are along with the people, 00:36:16.000 |
to another country, and you don't speak the language, 00:36:19.000 |
You come from another land, but you immigrated, 00:36:31.000 |
You have a place to stay, but that's not your house. 00:36:34.000 |
And he is reminding them that when the world reminds you 00:36:41.000 |
and they treat you like you don't belong here, 00:36:51.000 |
but at the core of every single person in this room, 00:37:00.000 |
There's not a single person here that doesn't say, 00:37:08.000 |
When God created Adam, he said it wasn't good 00:37:10.000 |
for him to be alone, and he created Eve as a companion. 00:37:21.000 |
You rarely see people rebelling by themselves. 00:37:24.000 |
Even the anarchists have to check with the other anarchists 00:37:27.000 |
how they are going to be anarchists together, 00:37:36.000 |
I realize all these years of seeing people come and go at the church, 00:37:40.000 |
people will come to church because, not the only reason, 00:37:43.000 |
but people will come to church and look for a church 00:37:45.000 |
where they'll hear the sermon, or they'll see the service, 00:37:48.000 |
or they like the worship and say, "I want to come visit that church." 00:37:54.000 |
but usually people will not stay until they feel like they belong. 00:38:08.000 |
but what causes people to stay is if they feel like they belong. 00:38:13.000 |
See, that desire to belong is innately in us. 00:38:18.000 |
In fact, you guys may remember, some of you, in fact, 00:38:22.000 |
first service, I don't think I had anybody know, 00:38:28.000 |
Okay, I'm going to look in this direction to make sure I'm making connection. 00:38:35.000 |
and it was basically kind of like The Office, right? 00:38:40.000 |
The whole sitcom was based upon what was happening at the office. 00:38:44.000 |
Well, Cheers was a sitcom where everything was happening at this bar called The Cheers, 00:38:49.000 |
and it was just a bunch of friends that would get together and just talk nonsense. 00:38:52.000 |
There was no purpose. It was just them hanging out, just goofing around, 00:39:03.000 |
Taking your way in the world today takes everything you've got. 00:39:07.000 |
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. 00:39:12.000 |
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, 00:39:17.000 |
You want to be where you can see our troubles are all the same. 00:39:20.000 |
You want to be where everybody knows your name. 00:39:24.000 |
Now, this is about this sitcom, about this bar that people are hanging out with, 00:39:28.000 |
but I think that resonates with every single one of us. 00:39:31.000 |
We're almost Christian, but this is not unique to Christians. 00:39:34.000 |
This is every single human being wants to go where they feel like they belong. 00:39:39.000 |
They care that you came. They care that you didn't come. 00:39:43.000 |
Remember the next big sitcom that came around, Friends? 00:39:47.000 |
This is just a bunch of friends hanging around, 00:39:51.000 |
and no specific purpose. It's just their interaction and what their life was like, 00:39:57.000 |
So no one told you life was going to be this way. 00:40:00.000 |
Your job's a joke. You're broke. Your love life's DOA. 00:40:03.000 |
It's like you're always stuck in second gear when it hasn't been your day, 00:40:10.000 |
But I'll be there for you when the rain starts to pour. 00:40:14.000 |
I'll be there for you like I've been there before. 00:40:16.000 |
I'll be there for you because you're there for me too. 00:40:19.000 |
You're still in bed at ten and work began at eight. 00:40:22.000 |
You burned your breakfast. So far things are going great. 00:40:25.000 |
Your mother warned you there'd be days like these, 00:40:28.000 |
but she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees 00:40:31.000 |
that I'll be there for you when the rain starts to pour. 00:40:34.000 |
I'll be there for you like I've been there before. 00:40:37.000 |
I'll be there for you because you're there for me too. 00:40:41.000 |
I'll bet you if you--you know, those of you who are thinking-- 00:40:45.000 |
you may not have articulated this, but I'll bet you there's a longing in your heart 00:40:51.000 |
because that's how God created us--to long to belong. 00:41:00.000 |
if we see that we belong to Christ and that causes us to run to Him, 00:41:12.000 |
and belong in Christ and constantly be reminded that that's where we're headed. 00:41:15.000 |
We're headed home. We're headed where we belong. 00:41:23.000 |
causes us to compromise, to belong where we don't belong. 00:41:28.000 |
We say things that we shouldn't say. We do things that we shouldn't do. 00:41:40.000 |
We want to belong so much that we compromise. 00:41:43.000 |
We do things, say things, jump through the hoops and not jump through the hoops 00:41:54.000 |
is a life that is constantly wandering because we're not home. 00:41:59.000 |
The trouble that you and I get into is that we want home to be here. 00:42:03.000 |
And so we are looking for churches. We're looking for neighborhoods. 00:42:07.000 |
We want, you know, even at work, just wanting to belong 00:42:11.000 |
because that's constantly resonated in our heart and in our mind. 00:42:17.000 |
You know, the problem is that once you belong somewhere 00:42:22.000 |
and you feel like, "Oh, I feel like I belong. I feel like I found a home." 00:42:25.000 |
You know what the next stage is after you feel like you belong somewhere? 00:42:31.000 |
You know, if you don't belong anywhere, you're not competing with anybody 00:42:39.000 |
But as soon as you feel like you belong, "I'm part of this. They know me. I know them." 00:42:42.000 |
And then the next temptation is you start comparing. 00:42:51.000 |
Just like all the other ambitions you had before you belong, 00:42:54.000 |
and you start comparing and competing. And then the third thing that happens 00:42:57.000 |
when you're comparing and you're competing, you start collecting 00:43:01.000 |
in order to fulfill that desire in our hearts. 00:43:05.000 |
So although that essential desire to want to belong 00:43:09.000 |
is something that God has created inside of us, 00:43:18.000 |
because God created it. God gave it to mankind 00:43:21.000 |
in order to procreate. But it became perverted 00:43:24.000 |
because you start expressing it in every other way 00:43:30.000 |
is God-given. But when we start to seek for that 00:43:34.000 |
in places where God hasn't given us, where we don't belong, 00:43:40.000 |
And we deceive ourselves that we think we're living in obedience when we're not. 00:43:44.000 |
See, the first call of Abraham is to leave your home. 00:43:47.000 |
And then the second thing that he told him to do is walk by faith. 00:43:52.000 |
As aliens and strangers, Abraham, it says in verse 8, 00:43:56.000 |
did not know where he was going. He didn't jump from one home 00:43:59.000 |
to another home. He said, "The home is coming, but meanwhile, 00:44:06.000 |
he walked out without ever finding his home." 00:44:09.000 |
You know, whenever we study somebody like Abraham, 00:44:14.000 |
it could encourage us from a distance. You say, "Wow, that guy 00:44:18.000 |
literally left everything. He was willing to wander in the desert." 00:44:21.000 |
But when you take a closer look at Abraham's life, 00:44:27.000 |
Right after he's called, promises made, he steps out in faith, 00:44:34.000 |
right after the promise is made, he's in the land of Egypt, 00:44:38.000 |
and he's concerned, you know, because his wife is so beautiful, 00:44:42.000 |
he's concerned that this powerful nation is going to come, 00:44:47.000 |
So he said, "Well, tell her, tell them you're my sister." 00:44:51.000 |
So he deceives them. Pharaoh comes and takes her 00:44:58.000 |
God's anger is burned because God's blessing is upon this family, 00:45:05.000 |
And you would think he's learned his lesson in Genesis chapter 20, 00:45:14.000 |
and the king of Abimelech show up, and he says, 00:45:17.000 |
"Hey, you know what? I lived last time. It worked last time. 00:45:20.000 |
Let's do it again. Right? Say you're my sister." 00:45:27.000 |
because both times she agreed and she did it. Right? 00:45:30.000 |
I can't imagine people doing that now. Right? 00:45:33.000 |
But she did it. She did it. She followed, and she went through the system, 00:45:39.000 |
and even though he compromised in order to save his own neck, 00:46:04.000 |
you know, in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 11, it says, 00:46:07.000 |
"Faith, even Sarah herself received ability to conceive." 00:46:14.000 |
When God promised at her old age that she was going to have a child, 00:46:18.000 |
Sarah's response was, "Oh, you know, I've been waiting. 00:46:21.000 |
Now, you know, I believe you." That wasn't the response. 00:46:28.000 |
She laughed in unbelief, and God rebukes her. 00:46:32.000 |
And that's why God names the child Laughter, Isaac. 00:46:37.000 |
But here it says, "Because of her faith, she received the ability to conceive." 00:46:52.000 |
They were out wandering as strangers and aliens, 00:46:56.000 |
and yet, even though they believed in the big picture of who God is, 00:47:00.000 |
the means in which God was going to fulfill this, 00:47:08.000 |
We sit here every single day, every single time we're here, 00:47:18.000 |
He was willing to give His only begotten Son, His most precious thing, 00:47:22.000 |
so that rebellious sinners can have a relationship with Him. 00:47:25.000 |
And then what it says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." 00:47:33.000 |
Even though we profess the big picture of what we believe in the grand scheme of things, 00:47:40.000 |
but when the rubber meets the road, we have the same problem as Abraham and Sarah. 00:47:46.000 |
Will you really do that? If I do this, what if my business doesn't do well? 00:47:50.000 |
If I do this, what if I get rejected from my family? 00:48:01.000 |
Sometimes we look at these men and women of faith, and they're so far ahead of us, 00:48:06.000 |
they're to be admired from a distance, but not to be followed. 00:48:11.000 |
Sometimes we read the New Testament that way. 00:48:13.000 |
Apostle Paul, you know, "I've learned the secret of being content in every and all situations." 00:48:26.000 |
Oh, those are the reformers, were specially gifted people, anointed by God. 00:48:31.000 |
But when you take a closer look at every one of these heroes, 00:48:34.000 |
they were just normal people who believed in a great God. 00:48:42.000 |
And he calls us, and every single one of us is journeying through this desert, 00:48:50.000 |
But while we are journeying, we will experience being rejected, danger, 00:48:57.000 |
sometimes doubts, struggles, our own personal failures. 00:49:02.000 |
But in the midst of that, he constantly reminds us, "There is something coming." 00:49:08.000 |
See, that's why the Bible describes the life of a Christian as somebody who walks by faith and not by sight. 00:49:16.000 |
Because somebody who is walking by sight, if God doesn't fulfill the promise immediately, 00:49:26.000 |
In Genesis 12, I'm just going to read starting from verse 1. 00:49:32.000 |
This is the promise that God made with Abraham. 00:49:35.000 |
"Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house 00:49:42.000 |
And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great. 00:49:47.000 |
So you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, 00:49:51.000 |
and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.'" 00:49:56.000 |
You look at three things that he promises to Abraham in his descent. 00:50:02.000 |
You're going to leave your land and I'm going to take you to another land. 00:50:09.000 |
Did Abraham ever see this land during his life? 00:50:15.000 |
The only land that he ever possessed was a tiny little cave that he purchased in Canaan to bury his wife. 00:50:21.000 |
So even though he left everything to follow God, 00:50:25.000 |
because of the promise of land, he never experienced it. 00:50:29.000 |
For a hundred years he wandered around and never saw the land. 00:50:33.000 |
And then he says, "I will make you a great nation." 00:50:37.000 |
That your descendants are going to number the stars in the sand. 00:50:42.000 |
He made this promise when his wife was barren. 00:50:52.000 |
In fact, 400 years after he dies, all his descendants became slaves in Egypt. 00:51:04.000 |
He promised him to be a blessing, that he was going to bless them, 00:51:07.000 |
and through them he was going to bless the rest of the world. 00:51:10.000 |
Did he ever see that? Did he ever see his nation, the nation, 00:51:15.000 |
going to be multiplied and people going to be blessed through them? 00:51:18.000 |
Well, how could he? The nation that was never formed during his life. 00:51:23.000 |
He lived all his life as a wanderer, as a nomad, as aliens and strangers. 00:51:34.000 |
See, the Bible described for us why he was able to wander. 00:51:39.000 |
I would think that if God didn't fulfill the promise that he made, 00:51:43.000 |
you know, after a year or two years, three, I can wait, right? 00:51:46.000 |
Because we can invest. We all know what investment is like. 00:51:49.000 |
If you put your money in this mutual fund, you know, five years, six years, ten years, 00:51:52.000 |
if it doesn't mature and you don't make money off of it, you're going to pull it out. 00:51:56.000 |
But we're willing to sacrifice and not touch that money because we think the payoff is coming. 00:52:00.000 |
But how long will you keep it in there if the payoff never comes? 00:52:04.000 |
How many of you are going to put all that you have into an account 00:52:08.000 |
that you can never touch, will never mature, you'll never see, and then just be done with it? 00:52:21.000 |
All these people who left and was wandering, they never saw the promised land. 00:52:26.000 |
They lived by faith, but they also died by faith without receiving the promises. 00:52:34.000 |
That is not during their lifetime. And having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance 00:52:39.000 |
and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, 00:52:42.000 |
for those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 00:52:47.000 |
They're continuing to go forward even though they didn't receive it. 00:52:53.000 |
And indeed, if they had been thinking of the country from which they had come from, 00:52:57.000 |
they would have had the opportunity to return. 00:53:01.000 |
At some point in their journey, they realized the prize wasn't the physical Canaan. 00:53:08.000 |
Because if that's what they thought, they could have easily returned. 00:53:12.000 |
They would have pulled their money out and reinvested somewhere else. 00:53:16.000 |
Maybe put it back in the bank, at least put it in a CD where it's safe. 00:53:22.000 |
But at some point in their journey, they realized that Canaan wasn't the promised land. 00:53:28.000 |
That they were seeking a city where the foundation is laid by God Himself. 00:53:35.000 |
And that's why they were able to walk this journey and live all their lives as aliens and strangers. 00:53:47.000 |
You see, there's so many people who are Christians who came into the faith thinking, 00:53:54.000 |
"I'm going to follow Christ," and then have been waiting month after month, year after year, 00:53:59.000 |
maybe possibly decade after decade, waiting for a payoff. 00:54:04.000 |
But that payoff never came, at least not the way we imagined it. 00:54:11.000 |
Relationships with other human beings became hard. 00:54:18.000 |
Business became hard. Raising children was hard. 00:54:21.000 |
And so every experience, every stage of life, we're waiting for some kind of payoff. 00:54:26.000 |
"I've been faithful. I've been sacrificed. I picked up my cross. I did what you asked me to do." 00:54:33.000 |
And because payoff never came, and all we were, and all we are experiencing, is rejection. 00:54:41.000 |
I was willing to be an alien and stranger in the beginning. 00:54:48.000 |
But the rest of my life, this is it? This is the payoff? 00:54:53.000 |
And so what did a lot of confessing Christians do? 00:55:00.000 |
"God's not answering my prayer. He's not fixing my problem. 00:55:11.000 |
He said, "But Abraham and Sarah, they realized at some point in their journey that their home's not here. 00:55:21.000 |
That the promised land that God promised them was future. 00:55:25.000 |
And they longed for that, and they kept on going, even though they never saw the physical promise happening in their life." 00:55:30.000 |
And that's why it says, "God is not ashamed to call them His children." 00:55:36.000 |
You know what's interesting with all the COVID that's going on? 00:55:41.000 |
All the COVID that's going on, you know, so many people are going camping and outdoor and all this stuff. 00:55:46.000 |
And I don't know if you've ever looked into it recently. 00:55:49.000 |
All the camping gear, the price has gone up, you know, like crazy. 00:55:54.000 |
Before all this pandemic, you know, the portable toilets were being sold for like $30, $40. 00:55:59.000 |
Now it's like in the hundreds. $120, $130 bucks, because it's in high demand. 00:56:08.000 |
So it's become really popular to go camping and go off-road and all that stuff. 00:56:15.000 |
Is that people who have permanent homes fantasize about being homeless for a period. 00:56:24.000 |
Going off-road, peeing on the side road, sleeping on the floor. 00:56:31.000 |
What would it be like to be homeless out in the woods for a while, right? 00:56:34.000 |
And then people who are nomadic, because you don't have a permanent home, you know, that's all you're thinking about. 00:56:39.000 |
We're going to settle down somewhere someday. 00:56:42.000 |
We're going to buy a house and we're going to be in this neighborhood. 00:56:47.000 |
And whether you have a permanent home, whether you're a nomadic just moving around, 00:56:51.000 |
that longing to want to be permanent, to be home, is inside of all of us. 00:56:57.000 |
But the danger is when we begin to think that somehow, somewhere, that if we get this, 00:57:01.000 |
if we buy a home, if we move, if we do this, that we're going to finally belong. 00:57:07.000 |
See, that's why Abraham and Sarah is an example for us as wanderers. 00:57:14.000 |
They left everything and just followed it, knowing that the payoff is coming. 00:57:23.000 |
You're going to have periods of time when you're going to experience great fellowship, 00:57:27.000 |
and there's going to be periods of time in your life when you're going to feel like you're rejected by everybody. 00:57:32.000 |
There's going to be periods when you're financially stable, 00:57:34.000 |
and there's going to be periods when you're begging God to help you feed your kids. 00:57:40.000 |
There's going to be periods when you're in full health, 00:57:42.000 |
there's going to be periods when sickness comes and it just doesn't leave. 00:57:48.000 |
But no matter what we experience here, we're all just wandering in the desert together. 00:57:57.000 |
But when Christ, who is your life, when He comes, when He comes in glory, 00:58:04.000 |
That's why the Bible speaks about the second coming of Christ 00:58:07.000 |
as redeeming His children to bring us back home. 00:58:14.000 |
You know, Moses, Moses is somebody that I always look to for encouragement. 00:58:22.000 |
Not because of their great faith, but because, I don't know why, 00:58:27.000 |
it may just be, but I find more encouragement with whining and complaining of Apostle Paul. 00:58:35.000 |
He's wrote some great letters, you know, Philippians, like rejoice always, 00:58:38.000 |
and I get sent to rejoice, like that's great. 00:58:41.000 |
And I read, you know, 2 Timothy, it's like don't be like these people. 00:58:57.000 |
I think he would have been perfectly content taking care of sheep all his life. 00:59:01.000 |
God calls him and said, I want you to go talk to some, I want you to lead my people out. 00:59:08.000 |
I call my brother, and then God actually is angry with him. 00:59:11.000 |
You think I'm calling you because I need you? 00:59:20.000 |
And while he goes, the Israelites are not thanking him. 00:59:23.000 |
You know, like when great things happen, it's like God is so good. 00:59:32.000 |
And he's constantly turning around, and I could tell, like, you know, in the beginning, 00:59:43.000 |
You sent us out, and if we all die in the desert, 00:59:46.000 |
And he's begging God, you have to come with us. 00:59:52.000 |
I think he was trying to make a great leader. 00:59:56.000 |
But at the end of the 40-year journey that he didn't even want to go, 01:00:00.000 |
after 40 years of whining and complaining of the Israelites, 01:00:04.000 |
right before they enter the Promised Land, they do it again. 01:00:14.000 |
Like, we're about to enter the Promised Land, and you're going to do this again? 01:00:18.000 |
And he comes to God, whoa, what do you want me to do? 01:00:24.000 |
He goes, and he takes his staff, and he strikes the rock. 01:00:28.000 |
Water comes out, they drink it, they're happy. 01:00:33.000 |
You did not show me as holy, so you will not enter the Promised Land. 01:00:39.000 |
I remember reading that for the first time, and I was like, what? 01:00:47.000 |
You twisted his arm, and you made him go down this path, and he's at the entrance, 01:00:52.000 |
and he didn't commit idolatry, it wasn't adultery. 01:01:04.000 |
Because I went and exposited, and I read sermons, and all these people were like, 01:01:26.000 |
And I remember reading that for the first time, and I was like, oh, my gosh. 01:01:30.000 |
If he got in trouble, he couldn't enter the Promised Land, because he didn't -- 01:01:45.000 |
All that drama, and then you soak it up, and then at the end of your life, you can't go in? 01:01:51.000 |
I still don't get it, at least for that part. 01:01:55.000 |
But one of these days, we're going to get to heaven, and we'll probably -- 01:02:01.000 |
I don't know if we're going to be able to see Moses face to face. 01:02:07.000 |
But if we do see Moses in heaven, I don't think Moses is going to say, 01:02:24.000 |
For 40 years, that's all I wanted, to get into the Promised Land. 01:02:34.000 |
I don't think Moses is in heaven complaining about where he is. 01:02:41.000 |
If you look at it from God's sovereign perspective, 01:02:45.000 |
God actually delivered Moses, because Israelites entered the Promised Land, 01:02:49.000 |
and you think Israelites were complaining and grumbling in the 40 years in the desert. 01:02:59.000 |
As soon as they crossed the line, they started setting up altars and started worshipping. 01:03:07.000 |
You know, all the things that we longed for during this 40 years of wandering in the desert, 01:03:12.000 |
where we're not there yet, do you think any one of us will be in eternity and look at this? 01:03:18.000 |
Oh, man, how come my business didn't succeed? 01:03:24.000 |
I didn't get to go here. I didn't experience this. 01:03:28.000 |
You think any one of us is going to be in eternity in the glory of Christ 01:03:34.000 |
and going to remember and regret anything that we grumble about here? 01:03:42.000 |
In fact, sometimes God allows us to experience that to remind us that we don't belong here, 01:03:48.000 |
that our treasure is not here, that this is not our home, that these are not my people. 01:03:55.000 |
One day, if we continue to persevere and walk in faith, that we will be where God called us to be. 01:04:03.000 |
In Philippians 3, 20 to 21, "For our citizenship is in heaven, 01:04:07.000 |
from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 01:04:11.000 |
who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory, 01:04:17.000 |
by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself." 01:04:24.000 |
So again, as we meditate upon Abraham and Sarai, don't just remember the highlights. 01:04:33.000 |
Remember, they were people just like us, average people, normal people, 01:04:38.000 |
who believed in an awesome God, that we may leave behind what holds us back 01:04:46.000 |
and live the rest of our lives as aliens and strangers longing for the second coming of Christ. 01:04:52.000 |
I'm going to ask the praise team to come up, and I want to introduce a song. 01:04:57.000 |
It's a new song to you that's been around for probably 50 years. 01:05:04.000 |
Okay, so only the little bit more aged people will probably know this song. 01:05:10.000 |
Okay, "This World Is Not My Home." Yes? Okay. 01:05:16.000 |
The first service, yeah, it sounds--you know, again, Joe usually-- 01:05:23.000 |
the worship leaders usually email me and ask, "Hey, what are you preaching on? 01:05:28.000 |
Do you have a particular song you want us to sing after the service?" 01:05:31.000 |
Some days I don't have one, but this one was very distinct because I remember this song, 01:05:35.000 |
"This World Is Not My Home." They say, "Hey, why don't we sing this?" 01:05:37.000 |
It's been a long time since I sang this. It's probably in the '80s and maybe early '90s at most. 01:05:42.000 |
I kind of forgot a little bit what the lyrics sounded like, and then I walked in this morning and said, 01:05:46.000 |
"That sounds like country music." So I'm giving you a heads up, okay? 01:05:51.000 |
So you probably won't fall in love with the music, but pay attention to the words, okay, because it fits. 01:05:58.000 |
Let me read you. "This world is not my home. I'm just passing through. 01:06:02.000 |
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. 01:06:05.000 |
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. 01:06:12.000 |
Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? 01:06:18.000 |
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore." 01:06:23.000 |
Why don't we all stand up as we sing this song together? 01:06:36.000 |
This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. 01:06:43.000 |
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. 01:06:50.000 |
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. 01:07:03.000 |
Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? 01:07:17.000 |
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. 01:07:32.000 |
They're all expecting me, and that's one thing I know. 01:07:39.000 |
Savior, pardon me, and now I offer God. I know He'll take me through, though I am weak at heart. 01:07:52.000 |
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore. 01:07:59.000 |
Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? 01:08:13.000 |
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. 01:08:48.000 |
The saints on every hand are shouting victory. 01:08:55.000 |
Their song of sweetest praise will drift back from heaven's door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. 01:09:08.000 |
Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? 01:09:22.000 |
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. 01:09:35.000 |
Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? 01:09:49.000 |
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. 01:10:02.000 |
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore. 01:10:27.000 |
Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 01:10:34.000 |
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 01:10:41.000 |
When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 01:10:48.000 |
Lord, we pray that this is what we will practice this week. Help us, Lord God, to give our full attention to the things that are coming. 01:10:57.000 |
As you remind us, Lord, we're just passing through, that we are aliens and strangers, Lord. 01:11:02.000 |
So help us, Lord God, that we may long for the home that is coming, that we may long for the fellowship that we will have in you. 01:11:10.000 |
And so we pray that you would give us the faith that you've given Abraham and Sarai, that we may live a life truly worthy of the gospel that you've given us. 01:11:19.000 |
In your name, in your name alone be magnified. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 01:11:24.000 |
God sent his Son, they called him Jesus. He came to love, heal, and forgive. 01:11:44.000 |
He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to put my Savior in. 01:12:05.000 |
Because he lived, I can face tomorrow. Because he lived, all fear is gone. 01:12:26.000 |
Because I know he holds the future. And life is worth the living just because he lived. 01:12:49.000 |
So if I can have, again, this side go out through that door. And if you give us just a minute, okay, on this side. 01:13:05.000 |
Father of kindness, you have poured out grace. 01:13:11.000 |
You brought me out of darkness, you have filled me with peace. 01:13:17.000 |
Giver of mercy, you're my help in time of need. 01:13:33.000 |
Faithful you are. Faithful forever you will be. 01:13:52.000 |
All your promises are yes and amen. All your promises are yes and amen.