Sermon Central
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Abraham: A Journey Of Faith
Contributed by Daniel Habben on Sep 11, 2016 (message contributor)
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1. Abraham: A Journey Of Faith - A Journey That Begins With God
Contributed on Sep 11, 2016
Our journey of faith begins with God, not our efforts.
Can you finish this well-known saying? “A journey of a thousand miles begins with…a single step.” That’s what the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu observed 2600 years ago and the point of the saying is to encourage action when facing a daunting task which threatens to paralyze ...read more
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2. There Are No Shortcuts
Contributed on Oct 16, 2016
When we try to do things our way instead of relying on God's promises, we only make a mess of things.
My dad was the king of shortcuts. While others stuck to the major roads, he took the back streets to avoid busy intersections throughout Tokyo where we lived. My dad had such a knack for finding these shortcuts that even the Japanese members of his congregation started to ask him the quickest way ...read more
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3. Go With A Name You Can Trust
Contributed on Oct 23, 2016
God Almighty can keep the promises he makes! Trust him.
The last time I shopped for a baseball glove, it took me all summer to find what I wanted. Why? Because I wanted a particular brand, a Mizuno, which is made in Japan. But since I was in the States that summer I had a hard time finding Mizuno equipment. Wilsons and Rawlings were everywhere, but no ...read more
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4. Focus On What's Ahead
Contributed on Nov 27, 2016
Focus on Jesus and his promise of heaven.
Where is your focus when you ride a bike? Do you focus on what’s behind you? No. Do you focus on what’s to your right or left? Not unless you’re crossing an intersection, and even then you just glance to the sides before moving forward. So do you focus on the pavement directly in ...read more
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5. Finish Strong!
Contributed on Oct 30, 2016
God comes to encourage Sarah to finish strong her journey of faith and not to give up on the promise that she would have a son.
What mistake do you suppose most runners make when they race long distances for the first time? Yeah, they start too fast. They’ll zip around the first corner of the track, but halfway down the backside they start to fade. At first the coaches will yell: “Pace yourself!” Then when ...read more
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6. Embrace The Tests
Contributed on Nov 20, 2016
God gives us tests to refine our faith.
There’s never a convenient time for your car to break down is there? I mean who enjoys sitting at the side of the road waiting for the tow truck to come? Who likes spending time (and money) at the mechanic’s? No one that I know of. But have you ever considered why we don’t spend ...read more
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7. Take God's Warnings Seriously
Contributed on Nov 13, 2016
God will judge sin - both obvious and hidden sins.
Have you ever found yourself in this predicament? You’re late for an appointment and halfway to your destination you run into a sign that says, “Road Closed Ahead.” The sign isn’t exactly blocking the way forward so you decide to proceed anyway. At first there’s no ...read more
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8. Show Concern For Your Fellow Travelers
Contributed on Nov 6, 2016
God takes us into his confidence that we may warn others about sin, but that we may also intercede for them,
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that air travel is more about competition than cooperation. For example your goal when boarding the plane is to make sure you snag a spot for your carryon in the overhead bin. Let the other guy have to gate-check his bag because there’s no more ...read more
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9. Abraham: A Journey Of Faith - Mind The Speed Bumps
Contributed on Sep 18, 2016
Don't rely on yourself to get through the speed bumps in life. Turn to the Lord and determine what is best for you to do spiritually speaking.
Do you like to drive? Some people love it. Just give them a bag of sunflower seeds and they can drive forever—much to the chagrin of their family. I like driving except through parking lots. My stress level rises there because there are so many potential hazards like runaway shopping carts, ...read more
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10. Abraham: A Journey Of Faith - Setting A Peacemaker Pace
Contributed on Sep 25, 2016
God's promises make it so that we don't have to cut others off to get ahead. We already have heaven so we can afford to be generous to others.
We’ve all seen those drivers—the ones that keep changing lanes because they believe this will catapult them ahead of traffic so they arrive at their destination a whole two minutes faster! These lane weavers put others at risk because of their self-centered drive to get ahead. Not ...read more
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11. Rushing To The Rescue
Contributed on Oct 2, 2016
God calls on us to keep reaching to out to help others - just as he has helped us.
Last week I began my sermon by talking about those people who constantly change lanes to get ahead of the traffic. Drivers like that put themselves and others at risk and we don’t like it. But when an ambulance with sirens blaring does the same thing, we don’t mind. In fact we’re ...read more
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12. Don't Skip The Tune-Ups
Contributed on Oct 9, 2016
Even Abraham needed regular spiritual tune-ups. Look at how God provided them.
We were eight hours into a sixteen-hour drive when the “check engine” light blinked on. We had just driven through Great Falls, Montana at 11 at night and we had the most desolate part of the drive ahead of us—three and a half hours across the high plains of Montana before we ...read more