Intro: How do you like telephone telemarketers? They are one of my least favorite occupation of people I deal with. What I especially hate is their low level of integrity. First, I wonder how they can always catch me sitting down at a meal. It never seems they call at a time when you say, “Oh, I’ve got half an hour to kill, tell me all about your product.” Normally they call our house during mealtime. And the last thing I want to do is let my food get cold while I’m arguing about why I don’t want to pay $75 to join a book club.
About two months ago I got a call from one of my credit card companies. They started out, “Mr. Rhine, we’re calling on behalf of your GM card. As a thank you for being such a valued customer, we’re sending you absolutely free vouchers for $50 worth of free gas at the station of my choice” To which, knowingly, I said “Thank You!” Then he went on telling me he would also enroll me in a travel club or some other program that would be conveniently billed to my credit card account.
I declined to join the club, but said, “I’ll just take the free gas.” He said I couldn’t do that, and got mad because I wanted my FREE gas but wouldn’t sign up for the club. I berated him over his lack of honesty in advertising.
We all know many who fail to keep their promises. Sometimes it’s a credit card company or other telemarketer. Sometimes it’s a boss who has been promising us a big raise real soon. Sometimes its a spouse who promised to be faithful “till death do us part.” And sometimes the promise breaker is the face that stares back at us in the mirror. Did you ever promise yourself: “Just one more cookie!”?
#Mrs. Love: now this is the last biscuit I’m going to take -- 7 times
But sometimes our promises we break to ourselves have much more serious consequences than adding a few calories. Sometimes we promise we are going to give up a sinful habit and lifestyle and become committed to God: we want to make a new start. Yet even then, we end up breaking our promises: to ourselves, and to our God.
This morning we want to look at the fact that our God is a God who makes promises. He makes conditional promises that are binding: he calls them covenants. We make these all the time. We put our money in the bank and they say, “If you will pay us 8% interest, we’ll loan you the money for a car.” But if we stop making payments, they come to repossess the car. A covenant -- and both parties have a role to play, a part to keep in the agreement.
God is a God of covenants. Let’s read in Genesis 15.
Read Genesis 15 - whole chapter -- PRAY!!
Here in Genesis 15 we see that God is a God of covenants. He comes to Abram and makes some promises. And they are some pretty amazing promises. When God comes through, he really comes through in a great way. What does he tell Abram?
*1-He reminds Abram there is nothing to fear about relationship with the Lord. He is not someone to flee from, but rather one to run to. This morning what is your view of God? Yes, we are to fear the Lord, in the sense of respecting him and obeying him. But he is not a mean tyrant or bully. He is on our side. He is a shield and a reward for us. He desires to protect us and provide for us. Who would run from a God like that. Often we make our promises to God out of fear. Foxhole prayers: God, get me out of this, and ... --just fill in the blank. We’ve all been there before. But that’s not the type of promise God wants. It would be like someone marrying a foreign girl who didn’t have a VISA. Is she marrying you for love, or is she just desperate to stay in the USA. God tells Abram he has nothing to be afraid of.
*2-The second thing we see about God’s covenant with Abram is that God can bring blessing into our lives, even when we don’t see what he could possibly do. Last week, they were predicting a 100% chance of snow. The predictions were from 6-8 inches or more. I thought, we probably won’t have church. But what happened? We only got about 2”.
God comes to Abram, and Abram is complaining because he has no heirs. Even when God promises blessings, sometimes we think he is a liar. We tend to plot and scheme because we don’t think we can trust him. Look at verse 3. Abram makes plans for an heir. Read vs.3. This morning, ask yourself a few questions.
Would you like God to bless you?
Do you really believe God could bless you if you would obey him?
Do you think anything you could plan could be greater than what an almighty God could do?
God’s blessings are always far beyond what we could ever imagine. Abram was looking for a son; but God was planning a nation, immense and numberless. Look at verse 4&5.
What God promises Abram is beyond belief. Heirs like the stars of the heaven. On a rainy, cloudy night, you might be able to count both of them. But on a clear night out in the country, you realize they are numberless.
##Adirondacks - Stillwater Reservoir - immense number of stars.
In a similar passage in Genesis 22:17, God says his seed will be as the sands of the seashore. Did you ever go to the shore? In 1 square inch there are probably a thousand grains or more. And at the beach there are miles and miles of sand. You know how much there is, because even after you do your best to wash off everyone’s feet and leave the sand all there, you find it for weeks to come: in your car, in your pockets, in your toothbrush: anywhere you can imagine. So great is God’s promise to Abram.
Think with me now. Let’s say you’re Abram. 99 years old. Your wife is barren. Never had any kids. God tells you to look up at the millions of stars. And this is supposed to be how many descendants you will have. It’s enough to make you laugh. In fact, Abram’s wife Sarai did laugh. But not Abram. Look at verse 6! Abram believed! and it was credited to him as righteousness!
Belief is the first step of obedience. Are we willing to believe that what God says is true and right?
Do we obey God because we believe he is true, or because of a ritual our parents passed on to us.
Do we believe God is right when he tells us to be holy, or do we think he just wants to keep us from having fun! Do we believe God when he says murder is wrong? Or do we say, God don’t you know that a woman has the right to do what she wants with her body!
God comes to Abram and he makes a covenant. But this wasn’t the first time he had done this. Remember back in Chapter 12:1-3. God had spoken to Abram while he was still in Ur in the Persian Gulf. Here again in chapter 15, God renews his covenant to Abram. About 25 years later God renews the covenant in chapter 17. Later in chapter 22, God once again repeats his covenant to Abram. God keeps his promises, but he repeats them over and over.
*What wife is content to have her husband tell her only on her wedding day that she is loved?
God offers his covenants over and over to show we are loved!
Look with me now in chapter 15. What does Abram do? He asks for a sign that God will keep his word. God tells him to get 5 animals. Abram knows what to do with them. Let me show you a video clip that explains the meaning of this ceremony.
###Show TTWMK video clip
God’s covenant is as certain as he is. God always keeps his promises.
Yet there is another part to the covenants with God.
We need to consider our part!
##The chicken and pig were talking in the barnyard one day, and the chicken said, “You know, Farmer Brown is so good to us, we should do something really nice for him.” The pig said, “You’re right. What should we do?” The chicken responded, “I know, let’s give him a bacon and egg breakfast!” The pig replied, “That’s nice, but that only a sacrifice for you. For me, that’s total commitment!”
That’s the problem that many of us face. We don’t mind sacrificing a little for the Lord. We’ll even get up early on Sunday morning to come to church. But we get scared of that idea of total commitment. Yet that is our part of the covenant. God’s part is blessing: but our part is obedience.
Look at 17:1 - walk before me and be blameless.
Look at 22:18 - blessing, “because you have obeyed me.”
Looking back in chapter 17, we see God giving a mark of the covenant, circumcision. Every male child was to receive this mark as a reminder of God’s commitment to them and of their commitment to God. Yet in 17:14, God says anyone male child who is not circumcised is to be cut off from his people, for he has broken the covenant.
God’s covenant of blessing is a conditional covenant. With Abram, but also with us.
Sometimes we wonder why God doesn’t bless our lives. But often the answer is that we have failed to keep our covenants with God. We have failed on our part.
This morning, we want to take some time in our service to recommit ourselves to following the ways of the Lord. Really what we want to commit to is our decision to be devoted to pursuing a close relationship with God. Sometimes we get carried away with do’s and don’t’s. Yet, by the same token, we don’t want to just say “follow God.” So this morning, if you look in your bulletin, you will see we have an insert that lists some of the things that are “our part” in keeping the covenant with our God. Take those out at this time if you would. I’d like to read over them with you.
I will follow Christ by seeking to turn from all ungodliness and being like the world, and will seek to lead a life of holiness and devotion to God.
Genesis 17:1 - When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
I will practice love towards others, rendering service to others, maintaining a spirit of unity.
John 13:35 - By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Gal 5:13 - You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Psalm 133:1 - How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
Romans 15:5 -May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus
Eph. 4:3 - Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
I will be diligent in prayer and the study of God’s word.
2 Timothy 2:15 - Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Colossians 4:2
I will serve with time and talent, and contribute financially to Union Chapel in proportion to my ability, as God has prospered me.
Deut. 16:17 - Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.
Eph 4:28 - He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
I will seek to honor God in my family and in my home setting an example in all Christian virtues.
Gen 18:19 - For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
Deut. 6:5-12 - Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates. When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
I will place myself under the authority of the local church, and if a member will be governed by our church Discipline.
Heb. 13:17 - Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
1 Cor. 6:1-2 - If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
As much as possible I will attend services at Union Chapel.
Heb. 10:25 - Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Acts 2:42 - They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
I will be modest in dress, in speech, and in all other personal conduct.
1 Tim. 2:9 - I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes
1 Tim. 4:12 - Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
If a member, I will not join any group teaching another way of salvation, such as a Masonic lodge.
Gal. 1:6-8 - As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
Commitment: This morning, I invite you to recommit yourself to a covenant of following the Lord. If you can affirm the points of this renewal, I invite you to sign and date this commitment at the bottom. I am going to pray, then I will call you to come forward and lay them on the altar as a token of your commitment. Let’s pray.
