All right. Good morning, Breen Community Church, both those of you who are here and online. I want to give a quick announcement before we get started. I think this announcement was already made last week, but I wanted to kind of re-emphasize with all the different things and the rules that are coming down from the government about COVID regulations.

One of the good news is-- I'm sure you may have read it-- the Supreme Court in the United States has declared that religious gatherings are essential, which is-- obviously, it's always been essential for us. But as a result of that, the rules that are coming down are allowing the church to meet freely, at least on Sunday.

So that's good news for us. And so nothing is going to be changing for us on what's going on on Sundays. The weekday stuff that's going on, we want you to be-- we want to just use your own discernment of how to be careful. And so there is no regulations that are happening in the church.

We're just asking you to be sensitive to one another and just kind of be careful and use your own judgment, who you're with and what you're doing things with. But as far as Sunday is concerned, we're going to be just meeting together as business as usual, just kind of give you a heads up on that.

Along with that, every year we have a New Year's activity, but we will not be having activities here at church. And so therefore, we're going to be moving our New Year's Eve service online through Zoom at 11:30. So the young parents who have children, you can put your kids to sleep and then join us at 11:30.

And then from 11:30 to about 12:30, we'll be having service together. And take some time to pray as we welcome the new year. So this year, it's going to be a little bit different. Then next week, we have communion service that we're preparing. So again, for every communion service, we're asking you to take some time to come prepare, maybe even come a little bit earlier than you normally do and take some time to pray and ready your hearts for the communion service that will be taking place next week.

And then along with that, the welcome event that's taking place on Sunday, 12/13. Again, if you need to sign up for that, you can ask the welcome table. Christmas service outreach that's going on. Again, all of that stuff is on Facebook and our app, so you can go take a look at that, and then you can sign up for that as well.

All right, so we'll take a minute to pray and give you an opportunity to give your offering electronically, or again, if you have physical check, you can do that after service back there. All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we want to thank you and praise you. We thank you, Father, for sustaining us.

We thank you, Lord, that we have freedom in this country to be able to worship you with clear conscience, that we may truly be able to live peaceful and quiet lives, to live in obedience, to honor you, to share the gospel with others, Lord God, that they also may come to know who you are.

We pray, Father, that we would not take for granted the privilege that we have to be able to meet together. We ask, Lord, that our hearts may be filled and ready and prepared, that what we give to you this morning would truly be in spirit and in truth. May your word go forth.

May it be blessed. May the time that we have, Lord God, would be a blessing to you, and it would be an overabundance of joy and gratitude in our hearts as well. I pray for the offering that you give. May it be multiplied for the sake of your name.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church family, let's all rise together as we sing these songs. We won't fear. We won't fear the battle. We won't fear the night. We will walk the valley with you by our side. You will go before us. You will lead the way. We have found a refuge.

Only you can save. Sing with joy now. Our God is for us. The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress. Raise your voice now. No love is greater. Who can stand against us if our God is for us? Even when I stumble, even when I fall, even when I turn back, still your love is sure.

You will not abandon. You will not forsake. You will cheer me on with ever ending praise. Sing with joy now. Our God is for us. The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress. Raise your voice now. No love is greater. Who can stand against us if our God is for us?

Neither high, neither high nor down can separate us. Hell and death will not defeat us. He who gave his Son to free us holds me in his love. Neither high nor down can separate us. Hell and death will not defeat us. He who gave his Son to free us holds me in his love.

Sing with joy now. Our God is for us. The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress. Raise your voice now. No love is greater. Who can stand against us if our God is for us? Sing with joy now. Our God is for us. The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress.

Raise your voice now. No love is greater. Who can stand against us if our God is for us? From the brightness of his glory Jesus, the Son of God, descends. Takes on the nature of a servant. Jesus, obedient to death. The Father willed to crush him as a sacrifice for sin.

He's satisfied God's justice and in victory he rose again. You are highly exalted. King of the poor and worthy of all praise. You are reigning in glory. Jesus, you're the King of everything. Exalted to the highest place. He's given the name Abba on other names. Sing it together, "Tomb is Empty." The tomb is empty, Christ is risen.

Jesus, the Lamb once crucified. Angels never cease to worship. Jesus, in heaven glorified. To him belongs. To him belongs the power. No fist or rod can stray. All glory, Lord. All glory and dominion to the Lord, Lord and King. You are highly exalted. King of the poor and worthy of all praise.

You are reigning in glory. Jesus, you're the King of everything. Exalted to the highest place. He's given the name Abba on other names. Our knees will bow. Our knees will bow. Our tongues proclaim that you are Lord of all. Our knees will bow. Our tongues proclaim that you are Lord of all.

One more time, our knees will bow. Our knees will bow. Our tongues proclaim that you are Lord of all. You are highly exalted. You are highly exalted. Name above all names. Worthy of all praise. You are reigning in glory. Jesus, you're the King of everything. Exalted to the highest place.

He's given the name Abba on other names. Though the nations reign, kingdoms rise and fall, there is still one King reigning over all. So I will not fear, for this truth remains, that my God is the Ancient of Days. None above Him, none before Him, all of time in His hands.

For His throne it shall remain and never stand. All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For my God is the Ancient of Days. Though the dread of night overwhelms my soul, He is here with me. I am not alone, for His love is true.

And He knows my name. For my God is the Ancient of Days. None above Him, none before Him, all of time in His hands. For His throne it shall remain and never stand. All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For my God is the Ancient of Days.

Though I may not see what the future brings, I will watch and wait for the Savior King. Then my joy come through, standing face to face in the presence of His Ancient of Days. None above Him, none before Him, all of time in His hands. For His throne it shall remain and never stand.

All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For my God is the Ancient of Days. None above Him, none before Him, all of time in His hands. For His throne it shall remain and never stand. All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name.

For my God is the Ancient of Days. May we be seated. All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 11, I'll be reading from verse 8 through 16. We're going to jump back into the text that I started a few weeks ago. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8 through 16.

And I'll be reading out of the NASV. By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of same promise.

For he was looking for the city which has foundation, whose architect and builder is God. By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered him faithful who had promise. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them, and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of this country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Let's pray. Christian loving Father, we ask that you would help us during this time to, not only to hear your word, but that you would illuminate us that we may understand and apply it in our hearts.

Help us to be sanctified, help us Lord God to truly love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, that we would not worship you out of habit, but we would render our hearts and not just our garments. So we pray that you would anoint this time for your namesake.

In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Alright, so we're at part two of the section that we're looking at and in the larger section of talking about the heroes of faith. And so as we talked about before, just as a refresher, that chapter 11 is a transitional chapter starting from chapter 1 through 10, talking about the supremacy of Christ and how we ought to live by faith and what does that mean, to bear fruit in faith.

And then we get to chapter 12, "Therefore, concerning all that crisis on who he is, that we ought to continue to live our lives in obedience." So chapter 11 is that transition where he says, "Obedience comes by faith." It's not one or the other. It's not we believe so it doesn't matter, or we're going to work hard and achieve, but he says, "No, obedience ultimately comes by faith." And that's a theme of every single person that is mentioned here.

And in particular, the life of Abraham. Abraham is considered the father of faith. So every single person here in the book of Genesis, it says if they have become righteous, Abraham, what God declared of him, he is righteous because of his faith. And so last week we talked about his calling as he's one of the greatest examples of what it means to live by faith.

"God called him out," it says in verse 8, "Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out." And that was the first calling of every Christian. You cannot follow Christ while maintaining a continued and same relationship that you had with the world before you met Christ because the very first step of meeting Christ is repenting from the life that we lived before we met Christ.

We don't add Christ to the life that we live. We're pursuing the same things, love the same things, value the same things, and then we just happen to add Christ on Sundays. We didn't go to church and now we're going to church. But nothing of our pursuit, nothing of our value has changed.

Hebrews chapter 13, 11, as Christ was crucified outside the camp, he calls every Christian to go outside the camp. So again, our justification happens when we recognize that not just an act, not just something that we did, but our totality of our life was in rebellion against God. And so we repent and we turn and we begin to walk toward Christ.

That's what repentance means. And so we talked about that last week, how Abraham, in order for him to live by promise to receive his inheritance, he first had to leave his home. The second part we want to get to is also in this verse where it says, "They obeyed by going out to a place "which he was to receive for an inheritance, "and he went out not knowing where he was going.

"By faith he lives as an alien in the land of promise, "as in a foreign land dwelling in tents with Isaac "and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise." Not only did he leave his home, the Bible says that living by faith means to live as aliens and strangers during this life.

The theologians call that here and not yet. Every single Christian who's been called out of this world, we have not gotten home yet. We're wandering. So I think the best illustration of what our Christian life is like is like the Israelites who are wandering in the desert for 40 years.

God delivers them from slavery. So even though they're wandering as free and became a nation, they haven't entered into the promised land yet. They see it, but they're wandering. Every single Christian who's been called out of this world, we live in a period of sanctification. We have not been to glory yet.

We've seen a glimpse of it, but we're kind of wandering in the desert, and again, that's why the theologians call this period here and not yet. We've seen a glimpse of his glory. We have an idea through the church what his kingdom looks like, but the actual complete deliverance is described when he comes in his glory, we will be also glorified with him.

So the life of Abraham is an example of what our Christian life ought to look like. So first thing again that we said was God calls him out of his comfort zone, and then he doesn't enter into his new house. He doesn't come out and say, well, he didn't make a trade-off between his hometown of Hur or of Chaldeans, and then he wandered and then packed his stuff and moved into the land of Canaan and then started building his house.

The Bible says that he lived the rest of the life that he lived as aliens and strangers in the land. He never entered the promised land. That's exactly how our life is described in 1 Peter 2, 11. He says, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers "to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war "against your soul." Peter writes that in 1 Peter because the persecution was ramping up.

I mean, they were always persecuted before that period, but 1 Peter is written around 60 to 65 AD, and that's when Nero started doing his crazy stuff where you see movies where you have Christians being dragged into the Colosseum, torn apart by lions, and they're all being crucified, burned, and I mean, crazy things were happening.

And this was written right as that was beginning to happen, and so they were beginning to feel this pressure that some of them not only were having a hard time having their jobs, taking care of their children, but literally being torn apart by animals. Peter doesn't say, "Hey, trust in God.

"If you trust in God and if you're faithful, "He's gonna show up and deliver you. "He's gonna punish these pagans." He never makes that promise. He doesn't tell them that they're not gonna die. He doesn't tell them that their life is going to be easy. He reminds them, "If you feel like you don't fit "in this world, it's because you don't." And he actually reminds them, "If the world rejects you "and they're constantly telling you, "we don't want you among us, and some of them "may simply not like you, some of them may persecute you, "and some of them may actually try to kill you, "when you face that, remember, you are an alien "and stranger in this world." In fact, this is not the words of Peter.

Peter was taught that by Jesus himself. "When I send you out and they don't know you, "it's because they don't know me. "They hate you, it's because they hated me. "They crucified me, so they're gonna try "to crucify you," and he warned them, "If you wanna keep following me, you pick up your cross, "deny yourself as well, and follow me." And it was actually happening, exactly like Jesus said.

And so Peter is repeating the words that he heard from his Savior, that you are an alien stranger. Don't try so hard to fit in here, because you don't fit in. As long as you are a child of God, you will always be an alien and stranger while you're on this earth.

You know what's really interesting is that those two words, aliens and stranger, in the Greek, alien means para oikos. You probably heard the term oikos before, right? What is the meaning of the word oikos? Home, right? House or home. So para oikos, para basically means to be alongside. That that's not your home, you're alongside the home.

That's what an alien means, that you don't really have your home. It's kind of like living in a rented house. You live there, and you have a place to stay, but that's not your home. That's what the word alien means, right? It doesn't mean that you're not living. You're there, but it's not your permanent home.

The word for stranger is para pidmas. Para, basically it's the same word para, alongside pidmas is the word for people. So the word stranger means you are along with the people, but you don't really belong. It's like somebody who kind of immigrated to another country, and you don't speak the language, you don't speak the culture.

You come from another land, but you immigrated, and you're staying there for a period. That's the word that is being used here, para oikos, para pidmas, that you're living among the people, but you don't belong there. You have a place to stay, but that's not your house. And he is reminding them that when the world reminds you that you are an alien and stranger, and they treat you like you don't belong here, he reminds them it's because you do not.

But you know, it's easy to say here, but at the core of every single person in this room, there is a longing to belong. There's a longing to belong. There's not a single person here that doesn't say, "I don't care where I belong." No, everybody wants to belong, because God created us that way.

When God created Adam, he said it wasn't good for him to be alone, and he created Eve as a companion. And so at the core of who we are, every single one of us wants to belong. Even when people rebel, they rebel together. You rarely see people rebelling by themselves.

Even the anarchists have to check with the other anarchists how they are going to be anarchists together, because they belong in that group. Now I realize that even at church, you know, I realize all these years of seeing people come and go at the church, people will come to church because, not the only reason, but people will come to church and look for a church where they'll hear the sermon, or they'll see the service, or they like the worship and say, "I want to come visit that church." And so it'll bring people to the church, but usually people will not stay until they feel like they belong.

Okay, and I'm not talking about 100%. We're talking about just generally speaking. I found that through the years, right? The Sunday worship will attract people, but what causes people to stay is if they feel like they belong. See, that desire to belong is innately in us. In fact, you guys may remember, some of you, in fact, first service, I don't think I had anybody know, but remember the sitcom Cheers?

Okay, I'm going to look in this direction to make sure I'm making connection. So Cheers was a sitcom back in the '80s, and it was basically kind of like The Office, right? The Office, I forgot when that was. The whole sitcom was based upon what was happening at the office.

Well, Cheers was a sitcom where everything was happening at this bar called The Cheers, and it was just a bunch of friends that would get together and just talk nonsense. There was no purpose. It was just them hanging out, just goofing around, but it was the hottest sitcom at that time, and this is their opening song.

Taking your way in the world today takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You want to be where you can see our troubles are all the same.

You want to be where everybody knows your name. Now, this is about this sitcom, about this bar that people are hanging out with, but I think that resonates with every single one of us. We're almost Christian, but this is not unique to Christians. This is every single human being wants to go where they feel like they belong.

They care that you came. They care that you didn't come. Remember the next big sitcom that came around, Friends? This is just a bunch of friends hanging around, and no specific purpose. It's just their interaction and what their life was like, and this is their lyrics. So no one told you life was going to be this way.

Your job's a joke. You're broke. Your love life's DOA. It's like you're always stuck in second gear when it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year. But I'll be there for you when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you like I've been there before.

I'll be there for you because you're there for me too. You're still in bed at ten and work began at eight. You burned your breakfast. So far things are going great. Your mother warned you there'd be days like these, but she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees that I'll be there for you when the rain starts to pour.

I'll be there for you like I've been there before. I'll be there for you because you're there for me too. I'll bet you if you--you know, those of you who are thinking-- you may not have articulated this, but I'll bet you there's a longing in your heart that is expressed in these very words because that's how God created us--to long to belong.

And that's why this desire to belong-- if we see that we belong to Christ and that causes us to run to Him, then you're going to bear fruit. Our whole life is a journey to get to Christ and belong in Christ and constantly be reminded that that's where we're headed.

We're headed home. We're headed where we belong. But along with that temptation, that desire causes us to compromise, to belong where we don't belong. We say things that we shouldn't say. We do things that we shouldn't do. We believe things that we shouldn't believe all because we simply want to belong.

Sometimes we do that even in the church. We want to belong so much that we compromise. We do things, say things, jump through the hoops and not jump through the hoops all because we all want to belong. See, the life that is lived by faith is a life that is constantly wandering because we're not home.

The trouble that you and I get into is that we want home to be here. And so we are looking for churches. We're looking for neighborhoods. We want, you know, even at work, just wanting to belong because that's constantly resonated in our heart and in our mind. You know, the problem is that once you belong somewhere and you feel like, "Oh, I feel like I belong.

I feel like I found a home." You know what the next stage is after you feel like you belong somewhere? Competing. You know, if you don't belong anywhere, you're not competing with anybody because you're not comparing with anybody. But you long to belong somewhere. But as soon as you feel like you belong, "I'm part of this.

They know me. I know them." And then the next temptation is you start comparing. Right? "Who am I here?" And then you start competing. Just like all the other ambitions you had before you belong, and you start comparing and competing. And then the third thing that happens when you're comparing and you're competing, you start collecting in order to fulfill that desire in our hearts.

So although that essential desire to want to belong is something that God has created inside of us, just like the sexual impulses, in and of itself is not evil because God created it. God gave it to mankind in order to procreate. But it became perverted because you start expressing it in every other way outside of Christ.

So that need to belong is God-given. But when we start to seek for that in places where God hasn't given us, where we don't belong, is where we begin to compromise. And we deceive ourselves that we think we're living in obedience when we're not. See, the first call of Abraham is to leave your home.

And then the second thing that he told him to do is walk by faith. As aliens and strangers, Abraham, it says in verse 8, did not know where he was going. He didn't jump from one home to another home. He said, "The home is coming, but meanwhile, for a hundred years, he walked out without ever finding his home." You know, whenever we study somebody like Abraham, it could encourage us from a distance.

You say, "Wow, that guy literally left everything. He was willing to wander in the desert." But when you take a closer look at Abraham's life, he's not much different than us. Right? Right after he's called, promises made, he steps out in faith, and then in Genesis chapter 12, verse 11, right after the promise is made, he's in the land of Egypt, and he's concerned, you know, because his wife is so beautiful, he's concerned that this powerful nation is going to come, basically take her, and then kill him.

So he said, "Well, tell her, tell them you're my sister." So he deceives them. Pharaoh comes and takes her to make her his concubine. God's anger is burned because God's blessing is upon this family, and God supernaturally delivers them. And you would think he's learned his lesson in Genesis chapter 20, same thing happens.

Right? He's wandering and in danger, and the king of Abimelech show up, and he says, "Hey, you know what? I lived last time. It worked last time. Let's do it again. Right? Say you're my sister." Now, she was a fantastic wife, because both times she agreed and she did it.

Right? I can't imagine people doing that now. Right? But she did it. She did it. She followed, and she went through the system, and then God supernaturally delivers him, and even though he compromised in order to save his own neck, I mean, this is the man of faith. In fact, if you look closer, it says that of Sarah.

Right? Sarah basically did the same thing later on. When God promises a child, you know, in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 11, it says, "Faith, even Sarah herself received ability to conceive." Do you remember Sarah? When God promised at her old age that she was going to have a child, Sarah's response was, "Oh, you know, I've been waiting.

Now, you know, I believe you." That wasn't the response. She turned around like, "Ha!" Right? She laughed in unbelief, and God rebukes her. And that's why God names the child Laughter, Isaac. But here it says, "Because of her faith, she received the ability to conceive." So what happened? Both Abraham and Sarah, their trajectory of life was obedience.

They were out wandering as strangers and aliens, and yet, even though they believed in the big picture of who God is, the means in which God was going to fulfill this, they had a hard time accepting. Just like all of us. We sit here every single day, every single time we're here, we sing praises of His greatness, His glory, the God of the universe.

He died for our sins. He was willing to give His only begotten Son, His most precious thing, so that rebellious sinners can have a relationship with Him. And then what it says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." It's like, "Really?

Really?" Even though we profess the big picture of what we believe in the grand scheme of things, like we believe God, but when the rubber meets the road, we have the same problem as Abraham and Sarah. Will you really do that? If I do this, what if my business doesn't do well?

If I do this, what if I get rejected from my family? If I do this, will I be accepted? Will I be able to take care of my family? These were just normal people. Sometimes we look at these men and women of faith, and they're so far ahead of us, they're to be admired from a distance, but not to be followed.

Sometimes we read the New Testament that way. Apostle Paul, you know, "I've learned the secret of being content in every and all situations." Well, that's an apostle. We're not that. Oh, that's the early church. They saw Jesus. Oh, those are the reformers, were specially gifted people, anointed by God.

But when you take a closer look at every one of these heroes, they were just normal people who believed in a great God. And he calls us, and every single one of us is journeying through this desert, longing to be in the eternal promised land. But while we are journeying, we will experience being rejected, danger, sometimes doubts, struggles, our own personal failures.

But in the midst of that, he constantly reminds us, "There is something coming." See, that's why the Bible describes the life of a Christian as somebody who walks by faith and not by sight. Because somebody who is walking by sight, if God doesn't fulfill the promise immediately, then he's not worth following.

In Genesis 12, I'm just going to read starting from verse 1. This is the promise that God made with Abraham. "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great.

So you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.'" You look at three things that he promises to Abraham in his descent. One is land, right?

You're going to leave your land and I'm going to take you to another land. It's going to be filled with milk and honey. Did Abraham ever see this land during his life? He did not. The only land that he ever possessed was a tiny little cave that he purchased in Canaan to bury his wife.

So even though he left everything to follow God, because of the promise of land, he never experienced it. For a hundred years he wandered around and never saw the land. And then he says, "I will make you a great nation." That your descendants are going to number the stars in the sand.

He made this promise when his wife was barren. Did he ever see the nation come about? No. He wandered around for a hundred years. In fact, 400 years after he dies, all his descendants became slaves in Egypt. So Abraham himself never saw this happen. He promised him to be a blessing, that he was going to bless them, and through them he was going to bless the rest of the world.

Did he ever see that? Did he ever see his nation, the nation, going to be multiplied and people going to be blessed through them? Well, how could he? The nation that was never formed during his life. He lived all his life as a wanderer, as a nomad, as aliens and strangers.

He never stepped foot. See, the Bible described for us why he was able to wander. I would think that if God didn't fulfill the promise that he made, you know, after a year or two years, three, I can wait, right? Because we can invest. We all know what investment is like.

If you put your money in this mutual fund, you know, five years, six years, ten years, if it doesn't mature and you don't make money off of it, you're going to pull it out. But we're willing to sacrifice and not touch that money because we think the payoff is coming.

But how long will you keep it in there if the payoff never comes? How many of you are going to put all that you have into an account that you can never touch, will never mature, you'll never see, and then just be done with it? You know what it says here in verse 13?

All these died in faith. All these people who left and was wandering, they never saw the promised land. They lived by faith, but they also died by faith without receiving the promises. They never received it. That is not during their lifetime. And having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, for those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.

They're continuing to go forward even though they didn't receive it. But look what it says in verse 15. And indeed, if they had been thinking of the country from which they had come from, they would have had the opportunity to return. At some point in their journey, they realized the prize wasn't the physical Canaan.

Because if that's what they thought, they could have easily returned. They would have pulled their money out and reinvested somewhere else. Maybe put it back in the bank, at least put it in a CD where it's safe. If that's what they wanted. But at some point in their journey, they realized that Canaan wasn't the promised land.

That they were seeking a city where the foundation is laid by God Himself. Not with dirt. And that's why they were able to walk this journey and live all their lives as aliens and strangers. Leaving behind what was familiar to them. You see, there's so many people who are Christians who came into the faith thinking, "I'm going to follow Christ," and then have been waiting month after month, year after year, maybe possibly decade after decade, waiting for a payoff.

But that payoff never came, at least not the way we imagined it. Life remained hard. Relationships with other human beings became hard. Serving the church became hard. Business became hard. Raising children was hard. And so every experience, every stage of life, we're waiting for some kind of payoff. "I've been faithful.

I've been sacrificed. I picked up my cross. I did what you asked me to do." And where's the payoff? And because payoff never came, and all we were, and all we are experiencing, is rejection. I was willing to be an alien and stranger in the beginning. I was willing to sacrifice for a period.

But the rest of my life, this is it? This is the payoff? And so what did a lot of confessing Christians do? They went back. They went back home. "God's not answering my prayer. He's not fixing my problem. I don't feel accepted anywhere." And so they went back home.

He said, "But Abraham and Sarah, they realized at some point in their journey that their home's not here. That the promised land that God promised them was future. And they longed for that, and they kept on going, even though they never saw the physical promise happening in their life." And that's why it says, "God is not ashamed to call them His children." You know what's interesting with all the COVID that's going on?

All the COVID that's going on, you know, so many people are going camping and outdoor and all this stuff. And I don't know if you've ever looked into it recently. All the camping gear, the price has gone up, you know, like crazy. Before all this pandemic, you know, the portable toilets were being sold for like $30, $40.

Now it's like in the hundreds. $120, $130 bucks, because it's in high demand. Portable toilets are in high demand, right? So it's become really popular to go camping and go off-road and all that stuff. You know what's interesting? Is that people who have permanent homes fantasize about being homeless for a period.

Going off-road, peeing on the side road, sleeping on the floor. They fantasize about being homeless. What would it be like to be homeless out in the woods for a while, right? And then people who are nomadic, because you don't have a permanent home, you know, that's all you're thinking about.

We're going to settle down somewhere someday. We're going to buy a house and we're going to be in this neighborhood. We're going to settle down someday. And whether you have a permanent home, whether you're a nomadic just moving around, that longing to want to be permanent, to be home, is inside of all of us.

But the danger is when we begin to think that somehow, somewhere, that if we get this, if we buy a home, if we move, if we do this, that we're going to finally belong. See, that's why Abraham and Sarah is an example for us as wanderers. Simply because God promised.

They left everything and just followed it, knowing that the payoff is coming. It's not here. You're going to have periods of time when you're going to experience great fellowship, and there's going to be periods of time in your life when you're going to feel like you're rejected by everybody.

There's going to be periods when you're financially stable, and there's going to be periods when you're begging God to help you feed your kids. There's going to be periods when you're in full health, there's going to be periods when sickness comes and it just doesn't leave. But no matter what we experience here, we're all just wandering in the desert together.

It says your life is hidden now with Christ. But when Christ, who is your life, when He comes, when He comes in glory, you will also be glorified with Him. That's why the Bible speaks about the second coming of Christ as redeeming His children to bring us back home.

You know, Moses, Moses is somebody that I always look to for encouragement. Moses and Paul. Not because of their great faith, but because, I don't know why, it may just be, but I find more encouragement with whining and complaining of Apostle Paul. He's wrote some great letters, you know, Philippians, like rejoice always, and I get sent to rejoice, like that's great.

And I read, you know, 2 Timothy, it's like don't be like these people. They all abandoned me, they all went home. Right? And I say, oh man, Apostle Paul. And he died like that. I look at Moses' life. I think he would have been perfectly content taking care of sheep all his life.

God calls him and said, I want you to go talk to some, I want you to lead my people out. And he said, no, no, no, not me. I stutter. I call my brother, and then God actually is angry with him. You think I'm calling you because I need you?

I made your mouth. So God literally twists his arm. Right? Okay, okay. He goes. And while he goes, the Israelites are not thanking him. You know, like when great things happen, it's like God is so good. When bad things happen, this guy. You sent this guy. And he's constantly turning around, and I could tell, like, you know, in the beginning, he's trying to be a good leader.

He's begging God, you have to come with us. Think about the reputation. You sent us out, and if we all die in the desert, what was all that trauma for? And he's begging God, you have to come with us. As if God wasn't going to go. I think he was trying to make a great leader.

But at the end of the 40-year journey that he didn't even want to go, after 40 years of whining and complaining of the Israelites, right before they enter the Promised Land, they do it again. I'm thirsty. And Moses just had it. Like, we're about to enter the Promised Land, and you're going to do this again?

And he comes to God, whoa, what do you want me to do? And he's like, give it to them. God is so patient. He goes, and he takes his staff, and he strikes the rock. Water comes out, they drink it, they're happy. But God is upset. You did not show me as holy, so you will not enter the Promised Land.

I remember reading that for the first time, and I was like, what? This guy was faithful for 40 years. You twisted his arm, and you made him go down this path, and he's at the entrance, and he didn't commit idolatry, it wasn't adultery. He hit the rock too hard.

And I'm not exactly sure what he did. Because I went and exposited, and I read sermons, and all these people were like, from the text, I don't get it. What did he exactly do? Did he hit it too hard? Did he yell? Whatever it was, it was too much.

And God said, you didn't show me as holy. Like, what did he do? And I remember reading that for the first time, and I was like, oh, my gosh. If he got in trouble, he couldn't enter the Promised Land, because he didn't -- whatever he did, he didn't do it right.

He didn't get into the Promised Land. I don't want to do this anymore. That's what's going to turn out to be? All that drama, and then you soak it up, and then at the end of your life, you can't go in? I still don't get it, at least for that part.

But one of these days, we're going to get to heaven, and we'll probably -- I don't know if we're going to be able to see Moses face to face. We're too close to the throne of God, right? But if we do see Moses in heaven, I don't think Moses is going to say, I can't believe he didn't let me go in.

He didn't let me cross the line. For 40 years, that's all I wanted, to get into the Promised Land. I wanted to touch that dirt. I wanted to set up my tent. I don't think Moses is in heaven complaining about where he is. If you look at it from God's sovereign perspective, God actually delivered Moses, because Israelites entered the Promised Land, and you think Israelites were complaining and grumbling in the 40 years in the desert.

That was the highlight of their life. That was when they were the most obedient. As soon as they crossed the line, they started setting up altars and started worshipping. It's almost like God spared him. You know, all the things that we longed for during this 40 years of wandering in the desert, where we're not there yet, do you think any one of us will be in eternity and look at this?

Oh, man, how come my business didn't succeed? I didn't get to go here. I didn't experience this. You think any one of us is going to be in eternity in the glory of Christ and going to remember and regret anything that we grumble about here? In fact, sometimes God allows us to experience that to remind us that we don't belong here, that our treasure is not here, that this is not our home, that these are not my people.

One day, if we continue to persevere and walk in faith, that we will be where God called us to be. In Philippians 3, 20 to 21, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory, by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself." So again, as we meditate upon Abraham and Sarai, don't just remember the highlights.

Remember, they were people just like us, average people, normal people, who believed in an awesome God, that we may leave behind what holds us back and live the rest of our lives as aliens and strangers longing for the second coming of Christ. I'm going to ask the praise team to come up, and I want to introduce a song.

It's a new song to you that's been around for probably 50 years. Okay, so only the little bit more aged people will probably know this song. Okay, "This World Is Not My Home." Yes? Okay. The first service, yeah, it sounds--you know, again, Joe usually-- the worship leaders usually email me and ask, "Hey, what are you preaching on?

Do you have a particular song you want us to sing after the service?" Some days I don't have one, but this one was very distinct because I remember this song, "This World Is Not My Home." They say, "Hey, why don't we sing this?" It's been a long time since I sang this.

It's probably in the '80s and maybe early '90s at most. I kind of forgot a little bit what the lyrics sounded like, and then I walked in this morning and said, "That sounds like country music." So I'm giving you a heads up, okay? So you probably won't fall in love with the music, but pay attention to the words, okay, because it fits.

Let me read you. "This world is not my home. I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you.

If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore." Why don't we all stand up as we sing this song together? This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through.

My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

They're all expecting me, and that's one thing I know. Savior, pardon me, and now I offer God. I know He'll take me through, though I am weak at heart. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do?

The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Just up in glory land we'll live eternally. The saints on every hand are shouting victory. Their song of sweetest praise will drift back from heaven's door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do?

The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore. It's catchy, huh? All right, let's pray. Reading from Colossians 3, 1 through 4. Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

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. When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 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. As you remind us, Lord, we're just passing through, that we are aliens and strangers, Lord. 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.

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. In your name, in your name alone be magnified. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God sent his Son, they called him Jesus.

He came to love, heal, and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to put my Savior in. Because he lived, I can face tomorrow. Because he lived, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future. And life is worth the living just because he lived.

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. Father of kindness, you have poured out grace. You brought me out of darkness, you have filled me with peace. Giver of mercy, you're my help in time of need.

Lord, I can't help but see. Faithful you are. Faithful forever you will be. Faithful you are. All your promises are yes and amen. All your promises are yes and amen.