Abraham's Incredible Faith Series

The Incredibles: Abraham and His Incredible Faith

Introduction:

Superheroes are really exciting to watch and to read about, especially as a kid. Sadly we all grow up and realize that what they could do is not humanly possible. Sometimes we read of these great stories in the Bible of these people of great faith and stand in awe of what they could accomplish, how they lived their lives, and the dedication that they has in serving God. These people in the Bible, however, were not gifted with a special superhero gift to live better lives; they were real people who had real struggles. They are great examples for us to follow. Sometimes, however, we read of these people and think we could never achieve their greatness, we think that there is no way we can have their measure of faith, but we must understand that they were just normal people putting their faith into practice. Some of these spiritual giants in the Bible fascinate me, their faith and devotion inspires me, but we must realize that spiritual giants are made, not born. Their faith matured and developed, they went through real problems, but the results was a character shaped by God. We too can have that kind of faith.

Some of these Bible character serve as great example for us to follow. Throughout the Scriptures we have examples of how to trust God, of how to stand strong through temptation, and of how to be faithful in an unfaithful world. I hope that as I said last week that we are not content with where we are in life. I hope we want to grow and mature. I hope we want to change things in our lives. I hope we do not look at our lives and really think that we have mastered our spiritual lives, because it is when we become content with where we are that we come to a danger of falling. In fact the Scripture says, “Let he who thinks he stands, take head lest he falls.” Hopefully anytime you hear a message from God’s Word you are looking into your heart and examining yourself to see where you stand, and how that message might relate to you. One of the best questions a Christian can ask of themselves is, “how does that apply to me, or how do I need to respond”

There are times in my life when I really have to admit that I have a lack of faith or trust in God. We all go through difficult times; we all at times wonder what God is doing or why is he allowing things to happen. Having an unswerving faith and trust in God is not always an easy thing.

This morning I want to look at one example of great faith that we read about in the Bible. When I think of a person that had great faith in God the first person that comes to my mind is Abraham. He had an amazing faith and trust in God. In fact on several occasions we see that faith being put to test and being shown in how he chose to live his life and respond to different situations that he was in. He was told by God when he was old that he would have a child and Abraham by faith believed him. He was told to leave his homeland and move into the promised land and he by faith obeyed. He was told to sacrifice his only son and by faith he trusted God and intended to obey. There are periods in life where faith comes fairly easy. Life may be going good, things may be going smoothly, but it is when things get difficult that faith is really put to the test and it is during those times we show what our faith is made out of. Abraham is a great example to us all of how to have faith in God through thick and thin.

Text: Hebrews 11:8-19

I. Abraham’s Faith Led Him to Follow God’s Calling

God came to Abraham and instructed him to leave his homeland and leave his family and go to a land, which God would show Him. That was Abraham’s calling. Abraham was a man of great faith and that faith led him to follow God’s calling. It is not always easy to trust in where God is calling.

Genesis 12:1

Just like Abraham we have a calling from God. Abraham when he received the calling from God to leave his homeland and his family was living in the Ur of the Chaldees, which means fiery destruction and he was called to go into the Promised Land. We too have been called out of fiery destruction and into the Promised Land. What made Abraham so special, however, wasn’t that his calling was a special one per say, but it was his response to the calling. Abraham was comfortable where he was, he was with his family, he was where he always lived and where he was familiar, he had acquired a lot of things, and life was good in Ur of the Chaldees for Abraham. When he was called to leave that land he was being asked by God to leave all that he had ever known, and to leave where he was comfortable and trust God totally.