Faithful Obedience: Trusting God's Call in Sacrifice
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Sermon Summary
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1) "The reality is that I think for most of us, we want to make the right decision, and we're afraid, or we don't want to be wrong, but the challenge for us is we don't always know what right is. Because then we also, at certain seasons in our life, have to make bigger decisions. Do I take this job, or do I not take this job? Do we buy this house, or do we not buy this house? Where do I invest my money? How do I move forward in this time of uncertainty? And then as God's people, we bring God into the mix, and we want to know, what does God want me to do?" [02:00] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2) "Obeying God is not always easy. There's going to be these moments where we are tested, and this is what happens to Abraham. God is going to test Abraham. It's this idea that it's an event that ultimately reveals inner reality, but it's externally manifests. Think of it as being pressed. I think we can all relate to, at some point in our lives, being pressed and not knowing what to do. Maybe it was during a medical diagnosis, what's going to happen during the season. Maybe it was during a time where you get a bill from a doctor's visit that happened months ago when you didn't realize you were going to have to pay it, and there's not really enough money to pay it." [04:20] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3) "And so what Abraham does is he responds in faith, and he says, God, I am completely available to you. I am ready to be served, or I'm ready to serve you. Yes, I'm standing here physically, but God, I'm open to whatever it is that you're about to say. You could say it this way, that Abraham is ultimately saying yes, now what's the question, God? It's a response of faith. And no doubt that Abraham is going to need faith when God makes his ask, which we see in the next verse." [06:00] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4) "And even in this moment of uncertainty, even though Abraham knows what God has asked him to do, there's trust, trust that ultimately, God is going to provide some sort of answer. And it's very likely that Abraham thought that I'm going to kill my son and God's going to bring him back to life. And yet, he has this faith, this trust that says, God's going to provide. And so, Isaac and Abraham begin making their ascent to the mountain. You know every step is a tough one for Abraham to make because he knows what's coming." [08:00] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5) "And it's in this moment, this sigh of relief, as Abraham looks up and he sees the ram, the answer to his prayer, the provision that God will in fact provide. And as the story concludes, Abraham and Isaac, they worship God. And they name this place, the Lord will provide. And they return back to the servants and they go home. And yet it's in this moment that we see not this picture of just how great and... faithful Abraham is, but we get this picture of a God who ultimately asked Abraham to do something that he himself was willing to do." [10:00] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6) "It's through Jesus becoming the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Who bears the weight of our sin, and offering himself up for our humanity. So that in this great act of love, ultimately we would see the Father's heart. A heart that gave everything for our redemption. A heart that gave everything to buy us back, to bridge the gap that sin once separated us from. An act that ultimately made God fully available to us, his children." [11:18] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7) "And so the question becomes, is how do we know what God wants us to do? Right? This is, goes back to this idea, is we want to do what's right. We don't want to do what's wrong. But we don't always know what right is. And sometimes we get so caught up in, in trying to make God -honoring decisions, or Christ -like decisions, that we forget, that, that God is ultimately more concerned with us being more like Christ, and making decisions from our identity as His children." [13:00] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8) "So God speaks to us, and directs us clearly through His Word. But then sometimes, God also guides us quietly. The gift of the Holy Spirit that He has placed in each one of our hearts. The gift of the Holy Spirit that nudges us, and moves us in certain directions. The Holy Spirit who works through the people, and the conversations that we have in our lives about, man, I don't know what's going on. I don't know what is happening. And someone is able to offer a perspective, that is oftentimes the Holy Spirit guiding them." [15:00] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9) "And it's in those moments, like Abraham, that we might have to make sacrifices to be obedient to God. And the question that I want us to think about this week, or today especially, is where might God be asking for your obedience? Where might God be asking for you to sacrifice something in your life for His kingdom? Because ultimately, if we look at the story of Abraham, God asked him to sacrifice his son. And even if God had sacrificed Isaac, God would have still worked for his purposes, for his kingdom." [18:15] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10) "And here's what I know is that that ultimately sacrifice looks different for everybody, and that's a good thing because we're not all the same. We're all unique, but God is is after the same thing in each of us. He's after our hearts and lives that are fully submitted to Him because through Jesus we have been created, we have been given this new identity that isn't called to just settle for the status quo. That we have, He has created us for so much more than we often realize." [19:30] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2) "Obeying God is not always easy. There's going to be these moments where we are tested, and this is what happens to Abraham. God is going to test Abraham. It's this idea that it's an event that ultimately reveals inner reality, but it's externally manifests. Think of it as being pressed. I think we can all relate to, at some point in our lives, being pressed and not knowing what to do. Maybe it was during a medical diagnosis, what's going to happen during the season. Maybe it was during a time where you get a bill from a doctor's visit that happened months ago when you didn't realize you were going to have to pay it, and there's not really enough money to pay it." [04:20] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3) "And so what Abraham does is he responds in faith, and he says, God, I am completely available to you. I am ready to be served, or I'm ready to serve you. Yes, I'm standing here physically, but God, I'm open to whatever it is that you're about to say. You could say it this way, that Abraham is ultimately saying yes, now what's the question, God? It's a response of faith. And no doubt that Abraham is going to need faith when God makes his ask, which we see in the next verse." [06:00] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4) "And even in this moment of uncertainty, even though Abraham knows what God has asked him to do, there's trust, trust that ultimately, God is going to provide some sort of answer. And it's very likely that Abraham thought that I'm going to kill my son and God's going to bring him back to life. And yet, he has this faith, this trust that says, God's going to provide. And so, Isaac and Abraham begin making their ascent to the mountain. You know every step is a tough one for Abraham to make because he knows what's coming." [08:00] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5) "And it's in this moment, this sigh of relief, as Abraham looks up and he sees the ram, the answer to his prayer, the provision that God will in fact provide. And as the story concludes, Abraham and Isaac, they worship God. And they name this place, the Lord will provide. And they return back to the servants and they go home. And yet it's in this moment that we see not this picture of just how great and... faithful Abraham is, but we get this picture of a God who ultimately asked Abraham to do something that he himself was willing to do." [10:00] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6) "It's through Jesus becoming the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Who bears the weight of our sin, and offering himself up for our humanity. So that in this great act of love, ultimately we would see the Father's heart. A heart that gave everything for our redemption. A heart that gave everything to buy us back, to bridge the gap that sin once separated us from. An act that ultimately made God fully available to us, his children." [11:18] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7) "And so the question becomes, is how do we know what God wants us to do? Right? This is, goes back to this idea, is we want to do what's right. We don't want to do what's wrong. But we don't always know what right is. And sometimes we get so caught up in, in trying to make God -honoring decisions, or Christ -like decisions, that we forget, that, that God is ultimately more concerned with us being more like Christ, and making decisions from our identity as His children." [13:00] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8) "So God speaks to us, and directs us clearly through His Word. But then sometimes, God also guides us quietly. The gift of the Holy Spirit that He has placed in each one of our hearts. The gift of the Holy Spirit that nudges us, and moves us in certain directions. The Holy Spirit who works through the people, and the conversations that we have in our lives about, man, I don't know what's going on. I don't know what is happening. And someone is able to offer a perspective, that is oftentimes the Holy Spirit guiding them." [15:00] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9) "And it's in those moments, like Abraham, that we might have to make sacrifices to be obedient to God. And the question that I want us to think about this week, or today especially, is where might God be asking for your obedience? Where might God be asking for you to sacrifice something in your life for His kingdom? Because ultimately, if we look at the story of Abraham, God asked him to sacrifice his son. And even if God had sacrificed Isaac, God would have still worked for his purposes, for his kingdom." [18:15] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10) "And here's what I know is that that ultimately sacrifice looks different for everybody, and that's a good thing because we're not all the same. We're all unique, but God is is after the same thing in each of us. He's after our hearts and lives that are fully submitted to Him because through Jesus we have been created, we have been given this new identity that isn't called to just settle for the status quo. That we have, He has created us for so much more than we often realize." [19:30] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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