Called Like Abraham: Walking by Faith into Blessing

God wants to pour a entirely new life, his own holy spirit into us and make us new, new creatures, and only he can do that, and it does mean the death of the old in order to embrace the new. The great Christian writer CS Lewis wrote that God became man to turn creatures into sons. Not simply to produce better men of the old kind, but to produce a new kind of man. It's not like teaching a horse to jump better and better, but like turning a horse into a winged creature. [00:39:42] (34 seconds)  #NewCreationLife

But Christ overcomes the result of the curse. He overwhelms the power of sin and death when he's raised to new and glorious life, bursting the bonds and chains of the curse. And because he did that, that cross becomes for us, the cross that Jesus hung on, a new kind of tree of life. And every Lord's day, we gather and we eat of its fruit here in this place. [00:35:52] (28 seconds)  #CrossIsTreeOfLife

And by God's grace, may we even then step out with the faith of Abraham that says, I don't know all the details, I don't know the contours of this place where I'm going, but I know the one who's calling me and I trust him because he's good. And walking with him means blessing and blessing and blessing. And he holds my hand across that way. Let us pray. Gracious God, when we struggle with confusion, when we struggle with doubt, Lord, help us turn and look to you. That our faith will be renewed and help us step out. [00:46:52] (54 seconds)  #StepOutInFaith

Have you ever had something happen in your life and you knew nothing is ever gonna be the same? Life is never gonna be like it was. Maybe you didn't know, but then looking back on it, you realize that is actually how it was. Nothing was the same. I heard someone say recently that every one of us is just one accident, one diagnosis, one unexpected phone call away from a completely different life. And it can be bad, it can also be good. Could be the phone call that says, yeah, it's it's cancer. [00:27:19] (38 seconds)  #LifeCanChangeInAMinute

It's easy to think of Abram's call, and I've always thought of Abram's call as a really scary one like, let's go. I'll tell you when we're there. And maybe as I think about this, it's kinda like what our parents sometimes did with us when, you know, we're going on a trip and where are going? You'll see and you trust, right, and you go. But when God calls to us and we respond, even if it is scary, even if we don't understand exactly what's gonna happen or how it's gonna play out, that always fills our life with a sense of purpose and even adventure. [00:42:50] (34 seconds)  #DivineCallAsAdventure

Faithful Abraham is a sign for us of finally surrendering our life into the hands of God. Saying I surrender all like the old hymn says, into the hands of the loving Lord. That is our calling, that's our struggle all the time as as Christians. Again, Paul says in Romans four, the children of Abraham, the the Christian people are supposed to walk by the faith of Abraham whom God called to a new country. [00:45:46] (31 seconds)  #SurrenderLikeAbraham

I think there's great wisdom in Shakespeare's Hamlet referring to death as the undiscovered country. Because none of us have ever seen those shores yet. None of us have ever seen the other side of death, but we all must prepare ourselves for, unless Christ returns first, for that day when God will call us to step out in faith and to cross the threshold with him to a new and undiscovered country and die in God's hands. [00:46:17] (35 seconds)  #DeathUndiscoveredCountry

This new kind of creation, this new life he promises to us in the holy scripture, in his written word. He also signs and visibly declares and seals that over our lives with the water of baptism, and this promise is a promise we receive by faith. By faith in Jesus, by looking to him, and trusting him, and following him. Here begins the new life. Everything's gonna be different now. [00:40:17] (32 seconds)  #BaptismSealsNewLife