In this sermon, Marcel Hall encourages the congregation to embrace their decision to worship God and embark on a new series titled 'The Journey of Faith.' The series will explore Genesis chapters 12 through 25, focusing on Abraham's journey of faith. Marcel emphasizes the importance of seeing God's presence and choosing to follow Him, highlighting the call of Abram (later known as Abraham) and the sacrifices and blessings that come with it. He urges listeners to reflect on how they can respond to God's call in their own lives, whether it's committing to a relationship with Him, returning to His path, or fulfilling a specific purpose. The sermon concludes with a communion prayer, tying back to Jesus' fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham and inviting the congregation to remember Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection.

00:00 Welcome and Encouragement

00:49 Introduction to the Journey of Faith Series

02:52 Abraham: The Father of Faith

04:25 When God Calls: Understanding the Call of Abraham

09:50 The Sacrifice and Blessings of God's Call

13:23 The Nature and Answer to God's Call

19:40 God's Call to Us Today

30:22 Responding to God's Call

34:37 Communion and Reflection

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OC Church of Christ

, Marcel: I just want to encourage all of

you today, and I want to encourage you

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for being here this morning You have made

a decision to worship God and Whether

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you've been worshiping God for most of

your life or for many years or maybe

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you're just checking out this Christian

thing Or you just want to visit the

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church I just want to lift you up and

encourage you because you could have made

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a different decision this morning You

But you made a decision to be here and I

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want to encourage you, uh, those who have

been disciples of Jesus for years now

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for continually choosing to follow Jesus.

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And so I want to commend you for that

because it is a journey with God.

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Amen.

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And so, uh, you actually

has been said many times.

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Our walk with God is.

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A journey and we're going to begin

today a new series, a new sermon

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series in which we are calling the

journey of faith, the journey of faith.

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And so we're actually going

to be looking through, um,

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Genesis chapters 11 through 25.

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And we're going to be looking at the,

uh, through the journey of faith through

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the lens of Abraham's journey of faith.

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The patriarch Abraham.

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Uh, who is considered,

uh, the father of faith.

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And so, uh, we're actually, we

actually have a little handout.

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If you want to hand over a physical

copy, but on the church app, we also

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have this on the church app as well.

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And I'm going to put something

on the screen here right now.

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The journey of Abraham.

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And so we're going to learn and

discover through Abraham's journey.

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And we're going to see the parallels

in our journey of faith as well And

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so we're gonna learn from Abraham's

mistakes and victories, but we're not

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really trying to highlight Abraham

We're trying to see God in our journey

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Through the life and journey of Abraham.

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Are you guys with me here?

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And so I want to encourage you as

we go through this that you again

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Insert yourself into the story.

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That's one of the best ways to get,

uh, uh, the most out of your Bible

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study, but also take a step and go,

what do I learn about God through this?

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Not so much.

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What do I learn about Abraham,

but what do I see about God?

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And what are the parallels in my

faith journey that relate to Abraham?

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And so we're going to start this on

Sundays, but we're actually going to

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continue this study through Wednesday.

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And so we're going to send out

and have discussions in our family

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groups and for the college ministry.

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We'll send you guys the handouts

as well digitally so you can have

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that for your quiet times there.

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So we're going to walk through this.

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So through the next two months here,

we're going to be walking through and

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understanding our journey of faith.

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Now, as you see on the screen

here, I want to give you a

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little bit of a context here.

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Abraham is called by

many the father of faith.

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And he's actually been, um, Uh, even

in scripture called the friend of

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God, and he's actually a major figure.

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Uh, really a major figure in

three religions, Christianity,

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Judaism, and Islam.

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And so let's go over a

couple of these things here.

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And so approximately 2100 B.

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C.

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is when we take up the life of Abraham.

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And this part of the Old Testament

covers the life of Abraham.

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It was originally called Abram.

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God called him to faith while he lived

in Ur of the Chaldeans and was part of

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a family that worshipped other gods.

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He set out from Ur, but settled

in Haran before continuing to the

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land of Canaan, modern day Israel.

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Abraham is obviously one of the most

important characters in the Bible.

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He became the father of the Jewish nation

who were chosen and used by God to bring

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salvation to a lost world through Jesus.

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Abraham is mentioned more

than 300 times in the Bible.

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A couple of the themes.

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Abraham is an inspiring example

of what it means to live by faith.

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His sins and failures also give

us an opportunity to see and

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appreciate God's grace and patience.

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In the end, Abraham also became

known as the friend of God.

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And so if you look on the handout that

we will sit, that's on your church

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app there, uh, there's also some.

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Uh, commentaries about five

commentaries that we can suggest to

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you so you can also have your own

deep dive into the journey of Abraham.

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So let's go ahead and, uh, let's start

off today and we're going to be talking

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about when God calls, when God calls,

let's go to the father in prayer.

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Father in heaven, I thank you so

much for this opportunity to worship

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you with my brothers and sister.

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God, we thank you so much for

the AC that we enjoy in here.

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God, we thank you so much that

you are a cool air to our souls.

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We thank you for your word and

the nourishment that we receive.

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Thank you for your faithfulness from the

time of Abraham, really from the time of

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creation till now to your chosen people.

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And God, we pray that today allows us

to learn more of you, our relationship

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with you and draw closer to you

and answer your call for our lives.

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We pray this in the name of Jesus.

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Amen.

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All right.

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Turn over in your Bible

to Genesis chapter 11.

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We'll have it on the screen.

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But in Genesis chapter 11, we'll

start off here in verse 27.

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And so up to this point, we've had the

account of Adam and Eve, uh, the fall.

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We've had the, uh, uh, uh, the,

the, the Noah and the Tower of

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Babel, and we take it in here.

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Right now, there's giving a lot

of genealogies in, in Genesis

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chapter 11, and it says, This is

the account of Terah's family line.

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Terah became the father of Abram.

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Remember Abraham?

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Uh, that's his name change later on.

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No whore and Herod and Herod

became the father of lots.

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While his father Terah was still

alive, Heron died in Ur of the

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Chaldeans in the land of his birth.

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Abram and Nahor both married.

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Then Abram's wife was Sarai.

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Now Sarai was childless because

she was not able to conceive.

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Terah took his son Abram, his grandson

Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter

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in law Sarai, the wife of his son

Abram, and together they set out from

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Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan.

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But when they came to

Haran, they settled there.

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We'll stop right there.

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Just want to make some some

notes here to remind us.

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I know many of us are very familiar

with Abram and his life, but we want

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to stop because some of these things

play a pivotal role for the next.

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Couple of weeks in this bible study

and understanding a bigger picture of

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god's story as well And we see here

they come from the land of ur which

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was a big city Uh during this time

And it was known for its idol worship.

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And so they worshiped the moon and so

there was a moon god I believe it was

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uh, hannah or henan, uh in certain

different translations and so abram's

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family You His family, his parents and

those before him actually worshiped idols,

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which is important to understand and

appreciate when we see the call of Abram.

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Now, Abram's wife, Sarai, she

was unable to have children.

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That's going to play a big role in

understanding the call and also later on.

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And then also, uh, Abram's nephew, Lot.

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Uh, accompanies him and maybe

was actually being taken care of.

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We don't know lots age at the

time, but we know he joins Abram.

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So let's go ahead and let's

continue in verse one.

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It says the Lord said to Abram, go

from your country, your people and

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your father's household to the land.

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I will show you.

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I will make you into a great

nation and I will bless you.

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I will make your name great

and you will be a blessing.

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I will bless those who bless you

and whoever curses you, I will

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curse and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.

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So Abram went as the Lord had

told him and Lot went with him.

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Abram was 75 years old

when he set out from Haran.

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He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot,

all the possessions they had accumulated

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and the people they had acquired in Haran.

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And they set out for the land of

Canaan and they arrived there.

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Abram traveled through the

land as far as the sight of the

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great tree of Moreh at Shechem.

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At that time, the

Canaanites were in the land.

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The Lord appeared to Abram and said to

your offspring, I will give this land.

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So he built an altar there to

the Lord who had appeared to him.

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From there he went on toward the hills

east of Bethel and pitched his tent.

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With Bethel on the west and Ai on the

east, There he built an altar to the

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Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

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Then Abram set out and

continued toward the Negev.

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We'll stop right there.

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All right, so let's recap here.

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They're in the land of Ur, but God calls

Abram and he appears to him and we don't

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know exactly how it happened, but he gives

him his word and he tells him to leave.

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And that he's going to show him

where he should go, but he gives

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them these promises of blessings upon

his life and Abram does follow suit.

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And there's so many things that we can

take from this, but there's a couple

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of things that I want to see here.

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Is that when God calls and we see

here, God has this call for Abraham.

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And, or excuse me, I might say

Abraham and Abram because, you

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know, just interchangeable and I

always think of him as Abraham.

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But when God calls Abram, we

see the sacrifice of God's call.

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We see the blessings of God's call.

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We see the nature of God's call.

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And also we see how to answer God's call.

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And so let's walk through that.

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Church, are you still with me here?

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All right, let's go through this.

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Let's look at the first part the

sacrifice of God's call right

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there in verse 1 He tells him to go

from your country your people your

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father's household and to the land.

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I will show you Was that a sacrifice?

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He says I want you to leave your hometown

Leave your family leave your culture

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and I want you to go somewhere and

I'm not even going to tell you where

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yet Now that's, that's a high calling.

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Some of us, we don't even

want to leave our family.

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Like we want to live with our

parents until we're like 60.

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You know what I'm saying?

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And so none of us, some of us, we don't

want to dare leave Southern California.

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I know that's me.

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But he says, Abram, I'm calling

you and I want you to leave

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your family, your country.

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Your culture, your relationships,

and go to the unknown.

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Is there anything harder than that?

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I don't know about you, but

that would have been tough.

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You know, one of those requests

would have been a challenge, but

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all four, that makes it even more.

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And you have to ask yourself,

why would Abram follow this?

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Put yourself in those shoes.

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Would you have quickly said yes?

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Why would anyone want to do this?

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Well, I think we understand a little

bit more as we think about the

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blessings of God's call He says to Abra.

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I will make you a great nation Your name

will be great and you will be a blessing

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and others a great nation You're gonna

go from one to a great nation again.

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How many kids does he have at this time?

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None, he's 75 years old.

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He's probably looking around

like who are you talking to?

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What are you talking about?

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Oh, my nephew Lodge.

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Okay.

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It's going to be through

him because we're family.

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He probably is reasoning that.

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But he says, I will

make you a great nation.

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I will make your name great.

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That sounds a whole lot

better than a good reputation.

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And he goes on and says

that you will be a blessing.

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You're going to be a blessing

to those you are around.

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You're going to be a blessing to those.

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They're going to be taken care of.

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And he says the whole world

will be blessed through you.

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You're not going to have

just a local impact.

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You're going to have a

worldwide, eternal impact.

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And so I'm sure Abram started

thinking through these blessings.

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And thinking, yes, there's a sacrifice,

but look at all that God is calling me to.

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You know, when God calls to do

something as well, we can see he's

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calling for a greater purpose.

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He's calling for this greater

purpose and we can see, um, also

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that when God calls us to sacrifice,

he also promises blessings.

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And I believe maybe God is trying to

help us because when we're called, if we

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actually follow, there's going to be times

where it's challenging and we're going to

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question, why am I sacrificing so much?

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And then we'll have these

promises to go back to.

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To help motivate us to get over the

hump and continue moving forward.

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Can you relate to that at all?

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And I believe that god is just a

benevolent father who just wants to

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shower us with good things That he

wants to take care of us And so we

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also see something about the nature

of god's call in these verses.

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I'll make you a great nation But

he also says all the peoples on

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earth will be blessed Let's let's

let's stop here for a second.

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One of the things that stood out to

me in this nature of God's call is

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that God's really calling Abram to

a relationship first and foremost.

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Remember, Abram doesn't come from

a family of worshipers of God.

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The people of God, not just the people

of God, but really most people in this

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land at this time, they have deviated

from knowing the true God Yahweh.

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And so Abram is being called first

and foremost to a relationship because

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we're going to go on a journey together.

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What does he call him to?

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Hey, come lead and we're going

to go somewhere together.

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Now how many times do you

journey off with strangers?

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Hopefully you don't do a lot

of this, but you don't, unless

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you're on the Greyhound or Amtrak.

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You know what I'm saying?

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I've DC, boy, that was an experience.

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You know what I'm saying?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I don't have time to get into

that, but boy, trust, I haven't

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been on the Greyhound since.

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All right, so, but when you go on a

journey with someone, what happens

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with you and that someone or someones?

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You bond.

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Kenny and Julie just went on

a journey across the country.

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They drove their daughter

over to Maryland.

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So that's about 3000 miles.

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We said, Kenny and Julie, how was it?

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They said it was terrible.

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No, that's not what they said.

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They said it was awesome.

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They said, man, we did this and have

so many experiences and connections and

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memories from this journey together.

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So when God calls Abram, what's he

calling them to chew and experience

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and adventure of relationship, we're

going to go somewhere together.

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We're going to build some memories and

you know, like all journeys that we'll

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see, there are some ups and downs,

especially if you have kids with you.

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No, we are not there yet.

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No, we're not going to stop yet.

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You know what I'm talking about, parents.

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But he calls into a journey, an adventure.

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And this call is for a bigger purpose.

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It's beyond Abram and his circumstances,

that even what he can fathom or imagine.

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God chose Abram to be a

vessel to redeem his creation.

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That it would be a great nation.

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Who is that nation?

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Israel, you guys got the right

answers, not a true question.

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The nation of Israel comes out, well

what comes from the nation of Israel?

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We have the prophets, we have the

scriptures, and we have the Messiah.

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That comes from the great nation,

which again, this great nation wasn't

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really a promise just for Abram,

but it was a promise for the world.

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It was bigger than Abram.

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It was for you, and for me.

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And we see this great call.

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And we see it's a bigger plan that

Abram really knows nothing of,

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nor will he see it all fulfilled.

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It says, Hey, to your offspring, I will

give this land, your offspring, not you.

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You're not going to fully be able to

appreciate it and live here like this.

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So this is bigger than you, Abram.

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And so we see the nature of God's call.

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But then we also see the

answer to God's call.

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Brothers and sisters, are

you still with me here?

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It says, So Abram went out

as the Lord had told him.

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I just love the simplicity

of the scriptures here.

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Abram's got a lot of people

with him and he's got a wife.

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We're going to go somewhere.

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Where are we going?

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We're just going to hop

on the five and we'll see.

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I would love to know what was that

conversation like with Sarai at that time.

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Hey, God told me which God Yahweh,

uh, what are you talking about?

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We're gonna just gonna leave.

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Where are we going?

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I don't know yet.

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So I'm sure he went but I'm sure

there was some conversations

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that took place in the meantime.

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You with me here?

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And so he went but he comes

in contact with the true God.

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It says that the Lord

appeared to him again.

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We don't know exactly how but we

know that God's word was revealed.

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And so he's beginning to know

the truth of the one true God.

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Hey, if I don't worship, I'm

around, this is actually false.

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You know, I have a chance now to, to go

and be a part of this grand plan that

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the creator wants me to, to be a part of.

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And I believe he starts to go, you

know, I think, I think I should

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trust God and I should do this.

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I think, I think, I think he's going to

get us through and he's going to bless.

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And I think he realized that the

blessings far outweighed the sacrifice.

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And we see here that he obeys, he

sets out for the land of Canaan.

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And not only that, but he goes and

he builds an altar to the Lord.

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So he obeys, he worships, and he makes

God known to the surrounding community.

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He worships and makes God known it says

at the great tree of moray at Shechem So

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this was a place that was known for idol

worship Some commentators think that this

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is maybe where they would give Sermons,

if you will about their idol worship

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and what does Abram do at this location?

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He decides I'm going to erect an

altar to the one true God And remember

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it's not just Abram doing this.

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He has a family of

people that are with him.

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It's a large number of people.

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So this wasn't an event

that was done in quiet.

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This was a public showing

and display of his faith.

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This was the, maybe the first

church perk service, if you will.

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And he's wide out in the open and he's

proclaiming the God of the universe.

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And he builds an altar there.

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And not only that, but then

he goes and builds another

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one and calls upon the Lord.

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No wonder he's the father of faith.

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And so we see the nature of God's call.

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We see the answer to God's call, the

sacrifice, the blessings of God's call.

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But again, we can relate because

we too are all called by God.

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And so here's the thing,

God calls all of us today.

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And when I see, and I say us, I mean yes,

everyone in this room, but every single

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person outside of this room as well.

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That God calls all of his creation.

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And we can see from a

couple of scriptures.

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Jesus says to go and make

disciples of all nations.

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The Apostle Paul tells Timothy that

God wants all people to be saved and

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come to a knowledge of the truth.

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The Apostle Peter says that God

doesn't want anyone to perish, but

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everyone to come to repentance.

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God calls all of us

and every person alive.

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Two day to him

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and we have to understand the nature of

God's call for us as well because God

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has called us to an eternal relationship

with him through his son, Jesus.

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This call to join God

and redeeming the world.

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Remember Abram is a part of this

big colossal cosmic plan to redeem

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all of creation back to God.

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And what does he call for us to

join him in that work in redeeming

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all of creation back to God?

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And he also calls us

to a specific purpose.

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You know, Abram was called to a

specific lane, a specific purpose.

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I am 100 percent convinced that God calls

each one of us to a greater purpose and

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to a specific purpose for our lives.

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And so that God wants to take this

specific time, this specific place,

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your passions, your desires, your

experiences, your talents and your

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resources, and use it to accomplish His

great will and for His glory to be seen.

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Through you and so all of us are called

by God and God, you know, it's funny.

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He chose Abram and we're not

really sure at least from the

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scriptures why he chose Abram.

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There's nothing that seems to be

special about Abram at this point.

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But God chose him and so I

know for some of us we go.

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Yeah, that might apply to someone

else, but I'm just a little old me.

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God's not calling me to something.

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He's calling you.

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Because I'm sure at that point,

Abram wasn't this grand figure that

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would become the father of faith.

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And so we don't know why he

got you, but he chose him.

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And God is choosing and has

chosen you for a greater purpose

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and for a specific purpose.

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And this call by God includes sacrifice.

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It includes many blessings.

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And it requires an answer

and response from God.

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And so we see this

sacrifice that is called.

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Jesus said, If anyone will come

after me and does not hate father,

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mother, wife, children, brother,

sister, yes, even their own life,

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such a person cannot be my disciple.

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And whoever does not carry their own

cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

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And then later on he says, in the same

way, those of you who do not give up

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everything, you cannot be my disciples.

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He doesn't mean hate your father,

mother, and brother, and sisters.

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He's using hyperbole to make a point.

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He's trying to let us know that

Jesus has to be number one,

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so we have to sacrifice all.

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And so that's the sacrifice

for you and me today.

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Family, relationships, past sins, our

attitudes, our way of life, our comfort,

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Jesus must be Lord of our lives.

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We have to leave, like Abraham,

those things behind and give him

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full control, allow him to truly

steer direction of our lives.

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And if you haven't made a choice, if

you haven't felt like, man, I really

397

looked and thought about and decided

I'm going to sacrifice for Jesus.

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I'm going to give up these things.

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Then the likelihood is that you

haven't become a true Christian So

400

I want to encourage you to sit with

that thought because that call is for

401

anyone who would come after Jesus And

again, why would we do such a thing?

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Why would we give up so much?

403

You know the Apostles they had a similar

question one time Peter spoke up.

404

He says we left everything to follow

you Jesus replied, Truly I tell you,

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no one who has left home, or brothers,

or sisters, or mother, or father, or

406

children, or fields, for me and the

gospel, will fail to receive a hundred

407

times as much in this present age.

408

Homes, brothers, sisters,

mothers, children, and fields,

409

along with persecutions, and in

the age to come, eternal life.

410

He says, If you sacrifice for me, I'll

multiply the blessing by a hundred.

411

He's not talking about prosperity gospel

and we'll all be rich and ballers,

412

you know that that that's not what

he's talking about That's Eric Ennis.

413

You know what I'm saying?

414

But he's saying I'm going to bless you

so much That it's gonna be incredible

415

but not just for the here and now but

for the age to come So man, you mean

416

to tell me if I sacrifice I'm gonna be

blessed now and I'm gonna be blessed

417

for eternity Hallelujah sign me up.

418

I Know it's a sacrifice But again

It's eternal blessings from God.

419

And again, how do we do this?

420

He says, you know, Abram

called upon the Lord.

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When do we call upon the Lord?

422

Peter tells us when we call upon

the Lord on the first day that the

423

gospel message was the first gospel

message that was ever preached.

424

The people say, well, how do

we respond to this gospel?

425

Peter tells them repent and be baptized

every one of you in the name of Jesus

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Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

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You receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

428

Spirit.

429

Those who accepted his message

were baptized and about 3, 000

430

were added to the number that day.

431

So what do we receive?

432

We receive forgiveness of sins.

433

We receive God's spirit dwelling in us and

we're, we're, we're related to God and now

434

part of God's greater kingdom and family.

435

These blessings far outweigh

the sacrifices when it

436

comes to the call of God.

437

But like all calls, we either

choose to answer or not.

438

And so the question for us today is

this, will you answer God's call?

439

Will you answer the call?

440

Will you swipe left or will you swipe

right when you see that message from God?

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Will you send it to voicemail

or will you answer and follow?

442

You know how it is.

443

Sometimes you get those calls.

444

You're like, I'm not

answering that one today.

445

And the person goes, I know, I

know you, you, you, you saw my

446

call because it was straight to

voicemail after the second ring.

447

And that means you saw it and

you turn and you decline me.

448

I got a message from that

from somebody the other day.

449

They said, Hey, stop declining me.

450

I was like, hold on,

man How you know that?

451

But I was doing something I say

man was just because I was doing

452

something, you know what I mean?

453

But here's the question for you.

454

Will you answer God's call?

455

I Know we have some people in here.

456

You have not made a decision to follow

Jesus But I want to encourage you God is

457

calling you to be his people and to enter

his promised land of heaven So whether

458

you're in person or you're online, God

is calling you to him, to a relationship.

459

He's calling you to an adventure

and he's calling you to

460

join in his redemptive work.

461

But let's be honest, we have some things

that could hold us back or some reasons.

462

And maybe we're thinking, well,

maybe it's too late for me.

463

Abram was a senior citizen man was 75

years old when he got called by God.

464

Don't say it's too late for you.

465

Okay, maybe we say, well, I'm too sinful.

466

What God chose Abram.

467

And as far as we know, Abram might

have been a moon worshiper, but we know

468

his family was and so we're not too

sinful to respond to the call of God.

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We say it's too difficult.

470

I don't know if I can change, you know,

God has a track record, a track record.

471

Of helping, building, informing,

and shaping us to change into

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the image of his son, Jesus.

473

You say, maybe it's too much to

sacrifice relationships, and my

474

ambitions, my aspirations, and dreams.

475

You know, why would God

command this type of sacrifice?

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Why can't he ask me to sacrifice

just a little bit less?

477

Well, let's think about this for a second.

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I always think of the marriage analogy.

479

Imagine being at the altar.

480

And you're going, yes, I will

give my whole life to this person.

481

And then the person says, yes, I will

give most of my life to this person.

482

Again, what did you say?

483

No, I said, I will give

most of my life to you.

484

Is that not good enough?

485

Why do you want all my hearts?

486

Uh, uh, uh, uh, excuse me.

487

We're going to cut this

wedding ceremony right now.

488

You know what I'm saying, right?

489

Cause you're like, wait,

I'm giving you my all.

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I would want my, I want your all back.

491

You know, God gives his all to us.

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What do you think he's

asking for in return?

493

Some, most, middle, all in return.

494

And we still can't match what he gives us.

495

We can't say, you know what, man,

I kind of got you today, God, I

496

kind of gave more to you today.

497

He's like, the fact that you

can breathe and talk shows that

498

you didn't give more to me.

499

You know, man, I'm, oh man.

500

I'm sorry.

501

We got to get moving here.

502

Here's the thing.

503

You know, I also believe God calls

it to the sacrifice because it's

504

what we need for him to bless us.

505

Some of these things actually

prevent God's blessings in our lives.

506

Because we're holding on to them.

507

And if things aren't there, they

might seem enjoyable, seem the

508

best, but God's like, I have

something so much better for you.

509

And in fact, if you get to me,

I'll give you your desires in

510

a different way or maybe in a

greater way than you even imagine.

511

But just let go of those things

and allow yourself to follow me.

512

And so he calls us to the

sacrifice, not because he's mean

513

or he's selfish or he's arrogant.

514

No, because he knows what's

best and he wants to bless.

515

So that's why we can look

at the sacrifice to go.

516

Hmm.

517

It doesn't really compare to

what God wants in and for my life

518

Sometimes we can say we're too busy.

519

We're never too busy for God.

520

We say you're too scared of the unknown.

521

You know, God was present with Abram and

he fulfilled all of his promises to Abram.

522

Every single one.

523

So I want to encourage every one

of us that God loves you and wants

524

to bless you and the blessings

far outweigh the sacrifices.

525

I do have a message here as well

for those of us who have made.

526

That decision.

527

We answer God's call at some point

in our lives and maybe we've been a

528

member of this church for many years

or maybe just for a couple of weeks.

529

But here's the question for you.

530

Are you still answering God's call?

531

Are you still answering God's call, still

living by faith or now living by sight?

532

What you sacrificed before when you

decided that Jesus was going to be Lord,

533

that you gave up, did you, as you went

on your journey, did you decide, let

534

me go back and pick those things up?

535

When Jesus says to carry your cross and

follow him, we can, yeah, I'm carrying

536

my cross, but maybe we put it down a

couple weeks, months, or years ago.

537

Are we still answering God's Call or are

there a lot of missed calls from God on

538

our call log lists Where God's been he's

been teaching he's been reaching out

539

to us, but we've been hitting decline

Maybe it's discouragement Life hasn't

540

gone the way you thought Maybe it's

distraction Distracted by the world's

541

pleasures or world's worries or the

temptations of earthly desires and

542

all these different things You know,

the one thing I appreciate about the

543

journey of Abram is that it reminds us

that our life is a journey with God.

544

That it's not a one time decision and

a one time call and then that's it.

545

But it's a journey.

546

And as we'll see in studying, there's

going to be ups and downs in this journey.

547

But because of God's love, God

calls us back by His grace to

548

join us again in the journey.

549

And so if you have not been

answering God's call recently,

550

if you have regressed, God's

grace is calling you back today.

551

Not tomorrow, but today.

552

He's calling you to return to his calling.

553

And so what is God calling you to today?

554

Some of us, he's calling you to get

right with him, to make a decision, to

555

seek and pursue a relationship with him.

556

Some of us, it's, hey, we've

been studying the Bible, we've

557

been hearing different things.

558

He's calling you today to commit.

559

For some of us, he's calling

you to return to God.

560

You, you, you aren't answering the call

anymore, and he's calling you to return.

561

For others, it may be to fulfill your

specific purpose, and Right now, your

562

time, your resources, your money, your

availability, your talent, your experience

563

to serve others and fulfill God's

greater purpose in and around your life.

564

And so I believe then that every one of

us, the response is to answer God's call.

565

Whatever he's calling you to today,

to answer God's call, Abram's journey

566

reveals that our journey requires

us to respond in faith to God's call

567

and to follow the Lord's direction.

568

And so I want to encourage you

practically, uh, if you're coming

569

out first time to set up a Bible

study, to get into the word and

570

discover what, what is God's call?

571

More in my life.

572

If you've been studying the

Bible, take that step of faith.

573

Make Jesus Lord and decide to

repent and get baptized and

574

give yourself over to Christ.

575

For those who are disciples of

Jesus, return to God's call.

576

Make that altar in your

neighborhood, if you will, and

577

make God known to those around you.

578

Or it's to answer God's call to serve,

to lead, and to share the good news.

579

You know, we're going to learn a

lot in this series about our journey

580

of faith and be reminded of things

as we study the journey of Abram.

581

But we have to remember the journey

begins with a call and God has

582

called every single one of us and

our response is to answer God's call.

583

Let's answer God's call today

with decisions to follow in faith.

584

Right now we're going to take communion.

585

This is where we, uh, remember

Jesus's life, death, and resurrection.

586

And we take the emblems that

represent his body and his blood

587

that was sacrificed for us.

588

And again, we're reminded that

the promises of God to Abram

589

were all fulfilled in Jesus.

590

And through Jesus and his sacrifice,

we too are blessed and have the

591

opportunity to be a blessing to others.

592

I want to read this passage before we

pray for communion in acts 3 the apostles

593

They're they're talking and they tie it

back into abram and the blessing that is

594

fulfilled through Jesus says and you are

heirs of the prophets and of the covenant

595

god made with your fathers He said to

abraham through your offspring all peoples

596

on earth will be blessed when god raised

up his servant talking about jesus He

597

sent jesus first to you to bless you by

turning each of you From your wicked Ways.

598

Let's go to God in prayer.

599

Father.

600

Thank you so much for Jesus for

him being the fulfillments of all

601

For him being a fulfillment of the

promises that you gave to Abram.

602

We see your plan unfold and God Thank you

that we get a chance to Be embraced by

603

you to participate in this great divine

call to redeem to redeem your creation

604

We thank you for jesus and his life.

605

We thank you for his perfection We thank

you for his death upon the cross for our

606

sins and we thank you for his resurrection

God that we too can have hope And we thank

607

you for the new lives you have given us.

608

God, we pray right now that we

can not only listen and hear

609

your call, but God, that we can

answer your call today in Christ.

610

It's in his name we pray.

611

Amen.