The Pledge And The Journey Of Faith Series

Gen 11: 27 – 12:9. The PLEDGE ‘the journey of faith’

Recap: The Big picture of the last two weeks: we have looked at the God of Creation and what went wrong, humanity lost a perfect relationship with GOD and a perfect world to rule under God as sin came into the world. And from that moment in time people have really set themselves up against God. They have refused to love God and rule creation under God’s leadership and so we see that things just go from bad to worse:

Gen.4. Cain and Abel. Gen.6. Noah’s day God had to flood the entire earth. Gen.11. Even after the global flood and the dispersal of Noah’s family and the repopulation of the earth, people wanted to make a name for themselves they build a tower, to reach to God in their pride – so God confused the languages @ Babel .

2000 BC The pledge is given: Yet even though humanity is bent on usurping God’s authority, God begins to rebuild his Kingdom, the early shoots of Gods promise from a seed of woman is developing . God calls out a man Abram (exalted father) with a pledge (covenant - promise – promise I will 5 times ) Whose name changed to Abraham (father of a multitude) Abraham by faith would be obedient to God’s call upon his life.

God’s part: The pledge 7 ‘I will’s’ involved: These are certainties......

V1 I will make you into a great nation. V1 And be blessed by God

V2 Abram will be a great name.

V3 to be blessing to others,

V3 others will blessed through him.

V3 Divine protection

V3 All peoples to be blessed through him on the face of the earth.

Abram’s part: But for these blessing to come to fruition the exercise of faith (obedience)

1. He had to leave his own country firstly Ur then Haran going into the unknown.

2. He had to leave his own people, family and enter into the unknown at the age of 75.

3. He had to trust God would provide descendants through his wife Sari when she was barren.

Grace towards undeserving people: Abram was a human being like you and I with weaknesses and failings. Abram was an unlikely character to have been called from Ur, his family worshipped idols Jos.24:2.Moon God the first Jew was a Gentile. Yet it was God who chose him totally unworthy he responded in obedience.

Yet here we have the father of Faith Heb 11: 8 - 19. The Bible says Abraham was a man of faith - Abraham was sure of what God had promised to him and he was certain of what he did not see. It was God who lay behind all his exploits,it was God who motivated this man at the age of 75 to go forward in faith to be a blessing and to be blessed.

For us here @ CBC those of us in Christ God has chosen us also ordinary people (sinners saved by grace) ‘God doesn’t call us upon who we are – but what he will make us to be.’ In Christ we too are part of that pledge of God in Christ (Abram’s spiritual descendants) we are totally undeserving and will fail God on our journey of faith but yet God’s grace has been poured out upon us still.

God calls us to continue stepping out in faith, to go forward.

1. He calls us to go into the unknown land that he has prepared for us

2. He calls us to leave behind the familiar and comfortable v1.

3. Involves us responding in faith where we will we be blessed by God and be a blessing to others.

4. As a result the Lord will bless others will be included into this family of faith when we are obedient to God.

Today we shall look into the divine calling of God to Abram and the response that Abram makes and pointing out the calling that Abram faced all Christians face in some shape or form today . God calls us also to take the journey of faith how will we respond to the journey of faith walking it in obedience

1. The journey of faith involves a divine call of God v1.

The journey of faith with God can only take place when an individual has received the divine gift of faith in God without faith it is impossible to please God a Christian is somebody who has been called by God and received the gift of faith, as a result the call of God will be evident in our lives a call to fulfil our God given purpose and destiny.

God is behind our lives: These days most people have the wonderful blessing of a Sat Nav in their car to direct them in their trtavels. The Sat nav direct’s them to their given destination. Abram had a far superior Sat Nav, God Himself and so do all Christians today. He will lead us on our journey of faith and take us to our God given destination. So most of you men trust the Sat Nav are we prepared to trust God to do the same on the greatest journey of faith?