CMLC 2026-03-01 Sermon

We'll be in Genesis 12 today. We're not gonna

be walking through the John passage though. That

is a beautiful passage We're gonna be in Genesis

12, which I would argue is one of the first great

commissions or calls within scripture So that's

what we're gonna be hanging out today Let me

set context. Okay, we're in Genesis Not a whole

lot has happened yet, so we've got God speaks,

right? Nothing's really happening. God opens

His mouth, breathes in the universe that's still

expanding today. Massive things happen when God

speaks. We're going to see God do some speaking

in verse 12 also. But God speaks, creation into

being. Then unfortunately, humans, man and woman,

question His provision, question, is He really

going to give us all that we need? Should we

become maybe God -like too? They take... the

fruit of the tree and the fall happens so all

sudden now things are not so awesome within creation

then world spirals even worse and God's like

we're gonna push reset but thanks for Noah we're

gonna preserve him and his family and we're gonna

build a big arc and then we're gonna push reset

and I'm gonna we're gonna roll down and put a

rainbow up and we're gonna promise that I will

never have that behavior again But then unfortunately

again, Noah wasn't amazing either. He parties

too hard after everything dries out and exposes

himself in front of his boys like not a great

dad moment for his boys. And then his boys kind

of drift away as well, dive into some other things

that aren't super great. One of his sons, Shem,

has another son and then that son has Abram,

the man that we're going to be introduced today.

Abraham's resume is not looking so good. It might

feel like maybe your resume or my resume. And

so he's not coming to the table with everything

in order. He's not coming to the table as a righteous

man per se. He's not coming to the table with

any reason for God to choose him outside of the

fact that God is God and he loves all people

as the John passage says. So the gospel and the

calling is for all things. So Abraham's behavior

and his mindset is not one that should call God

to go, let's pick this guy. Even Abraham's behavior

afterwards would also say maybe some of the same.

So the question I want you to ask yourself whenever

we walk through these verses is, what do we learn

about God? What do we learn about Yahweh, which

is the Hebrew name for God in the Old Testament?

What do we learn about Yahweh's character? Because

one thing's real. In the ancient Near East, there's

no such thing as there not being a God. That's

a Western thought. Western folk think we can

outsmart things and like maybe we can have all

the stuff and not have one. That is not the case

in ancient Near East. The ancient world, everybody

understood that there's a God. The question was,

who is it? And so whenever Yahweh is presenting

Himself in Scripture through creation, through

the flood, through this call of Abraham, you've

got to ask, what are we learning about this God,

the true God? Because there's tons of false gods.

People are worshipping anything and everything

under the sun in order to try to get what they

want or add some clarity to their life. But when

God manifests Himself in these Scriptures in

life, we ask, what do we learn? about the character

of this Yahweh, this God. And so, the verses

pick up in verse 1, chapter 12. I'm going to

read just a few and then I'll pause and we'll

unpack some. So again, the Lord had said to Abram,

God, it is pause. Your identity and my identity

is not informed. Your value, my value is not

informed by things that we do. Remember the context.

Things are not awesome in Abram's world. But

God still speaks into Abram's world. And so I

don't know how you feel this morning. I don't

know if you feel awesome as a Christian. I don't

know if you feel like you've drifted some. I

don't know if you feel like you don't know where

God is because he's just not answering prayers

maybe. Maybe a prayer that you've had your whole

life and he's not answered it the way you wanted

it. And so maybe you and God are a little...

You are just kind of having some beef with one

another. I understand that. I've been in those

seasons. I don't know where you are. But if it

feels like there's nothing to offer, well, you

can relate to Abram. He didn't have anything

to offer. The world didn't have anything to offer.

But when God speaks, stuff happens. So the Lord

said to Abram, leave your country, your people,

your father's household, and go to a land I will

show you. Pause again. What did he just ask Abram

to do? He asked him to leave his identity, his

security, and his meaning. So I don't know what

you're building your identity, security, and

meaning on these days. Maybe it's your prowess.

If you're a high school student or college student,

maybe it's your academic GPA. I don't know. If

you're retired, maybe you're asking that question,

I don't really know what my meaning or value

is anymore. I don't know where you stand. But

here God speaks, calls Abram out of his identity,

out of his security, out of his meaning, and

said, I'll show you where to go, but we're leaving

everything you know. Then he says seven promises.

This is a Hebrew poem. It's it's kind of like

a cross ticket the middle thing the number four

is the most important Okay, he's actually going

to repeat it in the seventh place too, but number

four is where all points Okay, so let's read

it. So the Lord speaks And he says I will make

you into a great nation. I Will bless you. I

will make your name great So that you will be

a blessing Bingo. I will bless those who bless

you and whoever curses you I will curse and all

the people of the earth will be blessed through

you. So let's pause. What do we learn about Yahweh

based on these handful of verses? Will we understand

quickly that Yahweh initiates identity, value,

meaning? Abram's bringing nothing to the table.

If you feel like you don't have anything you're

bringing to the table, welcome to the club. That's

the only prerequisite of being a follower of

Christ. Having nothing but maybe a happy meal,

you know, from the kid who had his little sack

lunch and he didn't think he had much, but then

they served thousands of food, right? So you

might not feel like you have much like Abram,

but what we learned about Yahweh is he doesn't

need you and me per se. He's going to speak value

into us, then all of a sudden now I have purpose

and meaning. So yes, He does need us, but He

doesn't need my actions, my resume. So He's gracious.

A lot of times we hear grace as God's riches

at Christ's expense, which is a beautiful description.

But if you really dive into the Hebrew language

and understand what grace is, grace is all about

God's value into you. Abraham didn't bring value

to the table outside the fact that he had a pulse,

and he was created in God's image. Where did

his value come from? In God's speaking life into

him. Where do you and I's value and security

come from? By God's grace, that he's going to

speak into your life and call you into a purpose,

into meaning. That's what we learn about Yahweh.

He doesn't need our resumes He just needs his

voice to speak life and value and truth into

your world So if you're feeling on the edge or

on the outside or like a little lost and what

you should be doing listen for God's voice Because

he's calling He's either calling through this

congregation. He's calling through his word.

Maybe he's calling through me. I don't know he's

calling He's speaking so listen So what do we

learn about Yahweh early on? It's that He speaks

and that's where our identity and that's where

our value comes from. What's the second thing

we learn? We learn that Yahweh, God, is missional.

Again, Abram's not necessarily the most stand

-up man at the time. God didn't pick him because

he was righteous. Abram's willingness to follow

God's lead, now we accredit to him as righteousness.

If we read Hebrews or if we read other John passages

or other Romans passages or some Ephesians passages,

we start to see that, oh, it was Abram's response

to God's call that we would say is righteousness.

He wasn't chosen because of his righteousness.

So God is a missional God. He goes to you and

to me and to Abram who might feel like we're

on the outside or really not sure of our place

and he goes, I got you, I want to use you. He's

missional in his DNA, God is. That's who He is.

His heart is outward focused. His heart is seeking

those who maybe the church will say, you don't

belong here. He would go we'll bring him to my

feet. That's what the disciples learned right

whenever they thought children shouldn't bother

Jesus Right and then the lesson of the day was

actually children are pretty important in Jesus's

economy, so bring him We might say some people

shouldn't belong here and God might go slow down

I Don't need their resumes. I don't need their

righteousness That's what I'm for. So God is

missional in His DNA. He initiates value through

His voice. And whenever we think about this idea

of being missional, He's calling us to potentially

leave something. It's something that you might

be... I don't know. I mean, I'm not wearing my

Aggie ring because I'm probably not a nice guy

as your pastor. I'm not ringing my Aggie ring

because I got a little backwards on what that

thing really meant to me. And so is my identity

in this thing? So I had to ask myself that question

when I was working at Home Depot as a church

planter with my class ring on that my ministry

was Home Depot and the people of Home Depot.

Well, not many people at Home Depot have master's

degrees. Much less an undergraduate degree, and

that's not a hit on them. It's just some of the

reality So when I worked with my class ring on

and people asked where did you go to school?

And I said Texas A &M. It was an automatically

an offense to them It became a stumbling block

to the gospel because I from their perspective

was better than them So let's remove the stumbling

block Put it in the drawer, which I haven't worn.

I just I'm gonna take it to that I was like I

think I kind of want to wear this thing now Maybe

I'm more mature to be able to wear this But where's

my value come from I? Don't know where you might

be putting your value in whether it's your status

whether it's your work whether it's whatever

what you have on I don't know But God goes just

look to me for your status. That's where your

purpose comes from and I'm putting you on mission

for a purpose. What's the purpose? The fourth

reason. It's not just a spiritual forgiveness

purpose. So that is amazing. The purpose of Christianity

isn't just so people can be forgiven. That's

an amazing piece of it. But we can't say it's

all of it. Because whenever Jesus comes back

and He says, whenever I come back and I bring

in the New Kingdom, the New Kingdom, there will

be no more tears, there will be no more grief.

Why? Because there will be no more death because

there will be no more cancer because there will

be no more anxiety Because there will be no more

hunger because there will be no more homelessness

You see the kingdom of God is huge Spiritual

forgiveness is a part of it, which is amazing,

but it's not everything So whenever God says

I am going to cause you to be a blessing to the

world You get to bring people to your chili cook

-off because chili is fun and good and come to

a bounce house because it's a glimpse of God's

kingdom There's flowers on the altar in a boot

Why? Because we want to have fun Why because

in heaven it's probably going to be fun Because

you don't have anything burdening you down You

could actually be free and beat and just be silly

and not worry about someone judging you because

you can't dance Right? You see, that's glimpses

of the kingdom of God. And that's what this blessing

is about. He's calling Abram to go give people

glimpses of my kingdom. Go be a blessing. Not

just go forgive people. It wasn't even a concept

then. Jesus did the same thing when he sent out

the 72. He didn't say, go out and tell people

that Jesus loves them. He didn't say, Go out

and tell him the gospel. He didn't say that either.

He said, go out and tell him that the kingdom

of God is near. Why? Because the kingdom of God

is all encompassing all of me and all of you.

And it has to do with my spiritual forgiveness,

yes, but it has to do with me having food in

my tummy. And it has to do with me feeling secure

and welcome in front of you like I belong somewhere.

You see, so what do we learn about Yahweh? When

He speaks, He gives you purpose. We see that

Yahweh is missional in his heart. We see that

Yahweh restores all of us. That's what blessings

are. You see, so this Yahweh, this God, is much

different than the other gods that people were

worshipping in the ancient. So now all of a sudden

people start to go, that's a different God. He's

using that guy? And they're doing those cool

things? Yes. So we are all included in that.

He's calling you. He's calling us to be missional,

to be parts and glimpses of restoration to the

world, to have fun, to do ministries that actually

solve problems. Because in heaven, there are

no problems. So you're just giving glimpses of

God's kingdom. That's who our Yahweh is. That's

who the God who's calling you. And finally, He's

relational. absolutely mind -blowing for the

people of the day. He wants to dwell with you.

I don't know if you caught it. The Lord said

to Abram, leave your country, your people, your

father's household and go to the land I will

show you. Not go figure it out. Like better than

the twelfth man. Like the twelfth man just stays

in the third deck. Jesus got out of the stands

and put on human flesh and died for us like he

wants to be with us When he comes back on the

last day, he's gonna dwell with his people So

he's going to say I'm removing you from your

security Abram But I'm not gonna leave you alone

and I'm gonna show you where we're going to go

next. I am with you And I love Abram's response.

What does he do at the end of this verses? He

builds an altar and he worships before he builds

his own house. Why? Because he realized that

God speaks and his identity changes. He realizes

that Yahweh is missional and he's important.

He realizes that he... There to be a blessing

not just to build a house in the name for himself

like his ancestors tried to do just a chapter

before in Genesis 11 when they tried to make

a name for themselves for the Tower of Babel

and God goes now That's not the wrong. That's

the right. That's the wrong order So your pride

is not how this is gonna go tears it down distributes

the people and then uses a Guy like Abram to

make his name great not for his own names sake

Abram's name, but for God's name so that he could

be a blessing and the people could know it. That's

what God's calling this congregation. That's

what God is calling you to do because he loves

you. He sees you. He's going to speak into your

life so that you can be a blessing and he's going

to continue to walk with you until he comes back

on the last day.