Messages with Meaning


Sermons delivered at Sanlando Springs by Pastor Jack Parrott

Faith Faces Forward

Genesis 12:1-5
Presented on April 27, 2008, © Dr. Jack Parrott
I. Introduction

  1. We continue our series "Don't Fake It--Face It!"
    1. Pharaoh needed to learn to face the truth about himself
    2. David discovered freedom through confession
    3. Peter found the strength of God brings deliverance
  2. Today we look at Abraham facing the future with faith. Everybody has a future. God wants us to face the future with faith.
    1. God is creating a people for Himself. He chooses Abraham to be the human father of God's people.
    2. Abraham is the man least likely to succeed in nation-building, but God uses him to build a great nation.
    3. Genesis 12 brings a dramatic shift in narrative. Sara is "barren" but God uses her and her 75 year old husband to build a great nation. Sara and Abraham have come to a dead end, they have no where else to go. This is a word about the future spoken to a family w/o a future.
      Professor Walter Brueggemann: "this family begins its life in a situation of irreparable hopelessness."
  3. Faith faces forward; faith is always about trusting God as you take the next step into the future.
    What do these first steps in Abraham's journey teach us about how to face our future?
II. Your must be willing to risk
  1. Abraham went from the known into the unknown.
    1. He left country, family and friends. When he got the command: "Go from..." he believed God and he went (4) not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8).
    2. following God means leaving the familiar, welcoming the stranger, be willing to try something you have never done before.
    3. Paul says we must take off "the old man" and put on the "new man" of Christ. Most of us try to put the new clothes of faith on over the old clothes of sinfulness. (Ever tried wearing bright colors under light whites? They shine through!)
  2. Abraham wasn't perfect; he had his faith struggles
    1. Famine drives him back into Egypt (12.10) ... don't let your struggles drive you back into sin!
    2. Abraham tries to trick Pharaoh by saying Sara is not his wife, but his sister. Instead of trusting God for deliverance, Abraham relies on his own deception. Don't live a lie.
  3. Once you start, and it begins to get difficult and maybe it gets a little scary, you can't stop.
    1. Florence Chadwick was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, but she had not always been successful in achieving her goal. On July 4, 1952, at age 34 Florence attempted to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the CA coast, a distance of 26 miles. The sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so dense she could hardly see the small boats that watched for sharks as she swam. After about 15 hours the fog grew thicker and Florence told her mother, who was in one of the boats, that she didn’t think she could make it. She swam for one more hour before asking to be pulled out. As she sat in the boat, Florence was told she was less than a mile from shore. Onshore she told a reporter: 'I'm not excusing myself, but if could have seen land I might have made it."
    2. Hebrews 11:1 -- "...faith is the evidence of things not seen as yet."
III. You must be willing to rely on God
  1. Notice the five promises of God: "I will...." (12:1-3)
    1. We need a roof over our head, food to eat, safety and security, love and respect ... listen to what God promises His people through Abraham. He will give us what we need.
    2. Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
  2. Life is a journey with many twists and turns, many ups and downs. The Lord is with us each step of the way.
    1. Certainly no one can read the Old Testament, look at the life of the Jews, understand the New Testament or know the history of the Christian church, and not say that God is not faithful. But neither can you honestly say that life doesn't have its problems.
    2. God is faithful to us through our challenges and problems.
    3. The promises God makes to Abraham will take time and effort to occur (it would take centuries for the Hebrews to occupy the land from the Canaanites). He was called upon to trust God.
  3. We must resist the tendency to want to 'settle down' before we get home.
    1. Terah, Abraham's father, wanted to stay at Haran (11.31-32)
    2. The life of faith is an ever-continuing journey. We are never 'home' until we reach heaven, so don't get too settled just yet!!
    3. God never ask us, 'Are you comfortable?' He asks, 'Are you obedient?'
IV. YOU must be sure to recognize that the right road is always the high road
  1. Life involves choices. Abraham and Lot came to a fork in the road; they had to make a choice of which road to take (13.8-9). Would it be the low country of the Jordan Valley (13.10), or the high country of God's will?
    Abraham is faithful to God, true to his family, and gracious to Lot. God will honor him.
  2. Lot had never developed the ability to make decisions. He always relied on Abraham and he just went wherever Abraham went. Now Lot had to make a decision and he made a less than good one. Learn to make godly decisions!
    1. Lot acted impulsively, he didn't consider the consequences
    2. Lot focused on what satisfied the eyes. Lot saw the immediate benefits of the land and not the dangers beyond the horizon (in Sodom). The low lands may look more attractive and be less challenging to enter than the high lands, but Satan is a deceiver and he always makes bad look better.
    3. He chooses the easy road (always easier to go down than up).
  3. Sometimes we face a dilemma and we put up a quick prayer to ask God, What should I do?
    1. Reminds me of a story I heard recently about this lady who was walking past a pet store when a parrot said, "Hey, lady! You're really ugly!" The lady was angry but continued on her way. On the way home, she passed by the pet store again, and the parrot once more said, "Hey, lady! You're really ugly!" She was enraged now, so she went into the store and said that she wanted the bird disposed of. The store manager apologized profusely and promised he would make sure the parrot didn't say it again. The next day, she deliberately passed by the store to test the parrot. "Hey, lady!" the bird said. "Yes?" she replied. "You know."
    2. When we face choices between right and wrong, good and bad, God-honoring or disobedience, we know what we need to do. We hope maybe God has changed His mind, or different standards apply, or maybe He'll make an exception in our case. Maybe the bar isn't as high; maybe God grades on a curve. But that's not the case. Be sure to recognize that the right road is always the high road.



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