Blessed! Series

Intro:

1. Bill White, "Two days ago, I was kneeling in prayer in the front room of our house at 6:30 a.m. I’d just confessed sins and was asking God for a blessing that day, needing to feel loved by him.

Our little boy, Timothy, twenty-two months old, had just gotten up, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he had sneaked quietly into the front room. He is always quiet in the morning when I’m praying because his mom tells him to be, but this time he ambled straight over to me, put a hand on my clasped hands, and said, "Hi, special one. Hi, special one. Hi, special one."

Never once has he called me that before. Six times he called me "special one." He said it enough for me actually to get it — that God was speaking to me and giving me a blessing.

2. Abram was a "special one" not because of what he had done, but because of what God was about to do for him. Truth is, every believer is a "special one" blessed by what God has done.

3. Blessed!

Trans:Gen. 12:1-3

I. FIRST, BLESSING OF THE SECOND CHANCE.

A. The Lord had said.

Now the Lord had said to Abram - Ac. 7 is clear that God first spoke to Abram when he was in Ur.

B. The Lord is now speaking.

Some 15 years later, the Lord speaks again while Abram is in Haran. v. 4

Trans:This is a second chance!

God is the God of the Second Chance [not second and in one, two; but as in another chance].

Moses murdered a man, but 40 years later God gave him a second chance to deliver Israel...

Israelites entire history is that of second chances, in the book of Judges, a repeated cycle of Rebellion and Restoration...

David's kingdom was restored after his fling with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah...

Peter denied the Lord 3 times, yet was restored to being the key note speaker at Pentecost...

John Mark deserted Paul but was restored to service...

Jonah willfully turned his back on God's commission, but the "word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time!"

IN FOOTBALL, basketball, and most sports, there is a halftime. Halftime is an extended break in the middle of a game so that the players can get themselves together.

This is also a time for a coach to call in a struggling team, acknowledge the team's performance, and encourage them to do a better job in the second half.

The beauty of halftime is that there is a whole second half in which a team can turn things around. Halftime acts as a grace period. No matter how messed up the first half might have been, the second half provides an opportunity to make things right.

For many Christians, they have had a bad first half of play in the Christian life. The good news is that God gives halftimes where He encourages us to repent of sin, and begin depending upon His Spirit to live a transformed life.

II. FURTHERMORE, BLESSED BY BEING SELECTED BY A DIVINE CALL.

Abraham had a divine call from God! Ac. 7:2-3

Moses got a divine call from God. Ex. 3:10

Gideon got a divine call from God. Jud.6:14

Isaiah the prophet. Isa. 6:8

Paul. Ac.9:15

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." John 15:16 (NKJV)

You are just as chosen! To Salvation - "4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:4-6

To Service - For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)

Trans:What a blessing to be chosen by God!

Bridget Willard, gave this testimony, "A coworker and I were trading stories today about how we got our jobs. We were expressing thanksgiving that, during this time of uncertainty, we each have such a wonderful job, with unspeakable benefits, and a great boss.

An appointment today with Aflac caused us to both investigate and really think about our company’s benefits. Line by line, our employer has already provided anything we would ever need. From disability to a fully-funded pension. We were literally relishing in our "blessing."