Abram, Where Are We Going? Series

Abram, where are we going? Preaching 11/6/11 Lord willing

In most sermons we get the main point at the end but today I am going to give it at the beginning.

Abram, where are we going? Let’s look at Hebrews 11:8 (NIV)

8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

This is where we are going. We are going to a place called FAITH and a place called Obedience. Where ever that takes us in life that’s where we are going. Not many will go with us but God has promised us that we will have a family that will outnumber the stars in the sky and the sand that is on ocean shore. Come with me to this place.

Matthew 7:13 New International Version (NIV) The Narrow and Wide Gates

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

Abraham, are we almost there? Yes we are, matter of a fact we are already there.

Genesis 12:1-4 New International Version (NIV) The Call of Abram

1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

We hear a lot these days about options. An option is “the act of choosing; choice; the freedom to choose”

Cain has a choice to make: Genesis 4:6-8 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Cain God has called you to obedience! Why have you chosen not to obey?

Elijah “What are you doing here”?

1 Kings 19:8-10 New International Version (NIV)

8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” TO VERSE 15a The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came,….

Abraham I want to go with you to this place called obedience!

Let’s turn to Deuteronomy 28:1-14

After verse 2 teach/preach on “IF” we fully obey the Lord our God, teach here that “The Lord our GOD means that God is supreme, He is number one in our lives” continue to reach from verse 3 stopping thru verse 6 proclaim to the people that God is ready to bless ever part of your life…. Continue reading from verse 7 thru verse 9 again expound on “IF” continue reading thru verse 14 again expounding on “IF” this time expounding on “if you pay attention to”.

Abraham, this is a good place to go, the place called Obedience.

Expounding on Obedience- the act or practice of obeying;

“Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”

Thomas Jefferson Quotes

“Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.”

Aristotle Quotes

Charles Stanley-God knows who we really are-sinners by nature and practice. Before salvation, we were actively rebelling against His authority and pursuing our own way. Yet He loved us so much that He sent His Son to sacrifice His life in payment for the sin debt we owed (John 3:16). God’s love for us is a compelling reason to obey Him in all things.

Christ demonstrated what a life of obedience looks like. He regularly withdrew from the crowds to spend time in prayer and thereby discover God’s will. Jesus sought to please His Father in everything He did-and wanted the world to recognize that to obey demonstrates love (John 14:31).