Stuck in Haran: Halfway Hazards from Terah’s Life Perils in Paradise, Genesis sermon series.
Preached at Community Worship Center, in Pullman, WA.
www.tagnet.org/pullman
By E. Douglas Venn
Have you ever been stuck? Got into a situation that was too sticky for you to get out of by yourself?
- A project that overwhelmed you,
- A debt that steam rolled over you,
- Or a conflict that blew up in your face?
Then you know what it means to be stuck!
Stuck in the mud stories
Source www.truckworld.com/Stuck-Of-The-Month/stuck-trucks.html
Anytime you’re stuck you need to call for help!
God’s call comes to all
- The retired Terah – the settled stationary One!
- The beautiful yet barren Sarai
- The mourning Lot – his mountaineering father had just died. So now he looks to his Uncle Abram.
What do we do when God’s call comes to us?
Do we run away?
Do we doubt?
Do we rebel?
We can learn three important lessons from Terah’s half way hazards as he was stuck in Haran.
1. God’s Call Collides with My Complacency
2. God’s Call Comforts My Pain
3. God’s Call Commissions My Quest
Lesson 1. God’s Call Collides with My Complacency
- Terah takes his family from the city, and leaves every security blanket he has behind.
Movie Clip from the Lord of the Rings
Frodo, a hobbit from the Shire leaves everything, when the call comes and collides with his complacency
Where does God’s call collide into your complacency?
Where does God’s call find you today?
Honest Seeker – considering the claims of Christ upon your life. Will you be like Terah? An old dog doing a new trick – leaving the comfortable, and then resettling down, only to abandon God’s dream half way through completion?
Will you continue your quest for God’s best in your life? Will you invite Jesus to lead your fellowship? Will you ask Jesus to give you peace and forgiveness? Will you follow Christ’s example of surrender by submitting your all to God’s call in baptism?
Sincere Believer – Listen to God’s call again.
- Will you like Terah, invite those you love to follow God on this faith quest?
- Will you ask the younger generation to experience the hope and peace that only God can bring?
- Have you share with your friends & family the blessings & benefits you have received from God as you have by grace, obeyed God’s call?
- Peace in pain
- Purpose in trial
- Joy in the journey
- Companionship with Christ in His sufferings
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, Philippians 3:10 NIV
REVIEW
God’s Call Collides with My Complacency
God’s Call Comforts My Pain
Lesson 2. God’s Call Comforts My Pain
Genesis 12:1-5
Abram’s father Terah dies in Haran. They were half way to the Promised Land. On your faith quest, who has died? One halfway hazard of being stuck is how we deal with loss & pain.
What is your reflex when you have a conflicted relationship, someone lets you down, or your dream dies? Do you allow despair to paralyze you?
Quote
"Many are still tested as was Abraham. They do not hear the voice of God speaking directly from the heavens, but He calls them by the teachings of His word and the events of His providence. They may be required to abandon a career that promises wealth and honor, to leave congenial and profitable associations and separate from kindred, to enter upon what appears to be only a path of self-denial, hardship, and sacrifice. God has a work for them to do; but a life of ease and the influence of friends and family would hinder the development of the very traits essential for its accomplishment. He calls them away from human influences and aid, and leads them to feel the need of His help, and to depend upon Him alone, that He may reveal Himself to them.”
Let’s apply this to our lives today . . .
- Am I ready at the call of Providence to renounce my cherished plans?
- Am I ready at the call of Providence to move away from friends and family?
- Will I accept new duties and enter untried fields when I hear God’s call?
- Am I willing to do God’s work willingly?
- Am I ready to counting my losses as gain, to bring glory to the Name of the Lord?
He who will do this has the faith of Abraham, and will share with him that "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," with which "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared." 2 Corinthians 4:17; Romans 8:18.
Patriarchs and Prophets, page 126, written by Ellen G. White in 1890. Published by Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958, in Washington, D.C.
Listen to God’s call.
For God’s call comforts my pain through companionship and community.
a. Community
Church family
Bible study groups
Men’s groups
Small groups
Recreational groups
Cell groups
In Christ we can experience this fellowship of the Cross.
As we work together to seek the lost . . .
b. Companionship
Examples of spiritual companionship include
Accountability partners
Prayer partners
Exercise partners
Walking partners
Lesson 3. God’s Call Commissions My Quest
Movie clip:
Frodo Baggins answers the Call to carry the Ring of Power to its destruction
"I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way."
The Fellowship of the Ring: "The Council of Elrond," p. 284, Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
Web Resources:
The Thain’s Book: An encyclopedia of Middle-earth in the Third Age www.tuckborough.net/frodo.html Copyright © 2003-2005
Abram receives his commission to leave Haran. Terah followed God’s call and commission to leave Ur.
Service
Abram was commissioned for greatness and to be a blessing Terah put all on the line to follow God’s call. He put his Time, his talents, and his treasure.
What is God calling you to do?
Where is God calling you to go?
Who is God asking you to invite?
