Sermon
The Journey of Faith: Covenant and Confidence (North OC)
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Dallas: All right.
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Good morning, everyone.
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How we doing today?
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All right.
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Well, those that know me and don't know me, my name is Dallas Kauai.
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I currently serve part time here in the campus ministry in North Orange County.
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Come up.
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And I'm really honored and very privileged to be able to speak
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with you guys this morning.
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I'm really excited because we are going to continue our series in the journey
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of faith and the story of Abraham.
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Right now, he's still Abram.
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So if I say Abram or Abraham, just know I'm talking about the same person.
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Let's just clarify that right now.
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But, uh, in a few chapters, in a few weeks, we'll get to Abraham, and so
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then all that will be cleared up.
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Um, but with that, uh, let's see, do I have my clicker on?
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Yes, I do.
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Let's see, does this thing work?
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Um, so I've been a disciple for about nine years.
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Actually, I just turned nine this past, um, Thursday.
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Um, so it's been nine years.
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I was, I got baptized when I was, uh, uh, fourteen years old.
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Sophomore in high school.
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Man, I had no idea what the world was waiting for me after that, but it's been a
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great hard fought nine years and I'm still grateful for the decision I made today.
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So as you can see, there's my dad and my mom, the ones that baptized me,
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who are actually still here as well.
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Um, and I, here I am, here I am still serving, still giving, still
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dedicated to doing God's work.
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And so I'm grateful by the grace of God to be here.
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Um, but like I said, we are continuing our series called the journey of faith.
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And you know, obviously, this is week three, and honestly, I'm glad to
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be preaching today, because I don't know how Marcel could have gotten
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up here after USC's game last night.
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I had to, I'm sorry, I had to let the people know.
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You know, we're talking about going on a journey of faith when USC's giving Marcel
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a reason to lose his faith in this way.
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So, but hopefully we'll turn it around, it's one bad game, one bad
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call at the end, you know, that game.
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But you know, we're reading about the story of Abraham and Abram, like I
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said, and his ups and his downs and his faith and the victories and the
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failures that we really want to focus how God really worked through them.
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Obviously, Abraham is a great man of faith and he's the father
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of our faith, but ultimately it wouldn't be possible without God.
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Amen.
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And so while we're turning over the title of my lesson today actually is
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going to be covenant and confidence.
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Alright, Covenant and Confidence.
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And today we're going to be in Genesis Chapter 15.
Genesis 15 chapter mention
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Alright, Genesis Chapter 15.
Genesis 15 chapter mention
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And so, uh, while we're, while you guys are turning over there, if
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you want to check your Bibles, feel free, or you can look at the screen.
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It's great.
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Let's give you some context.
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So, last week, Daniel preached in Chapter 13, talking about Abraham and
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Lot going their separate ways, right?
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Being able to, Abraham, uh, or Abram, sorry, this is why I clarified in the
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beginning, this is a disclaimer, right?
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So Abram and Lot have to split up because their, um, their abundance and goods
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and resources has been overwhelming to the point where the capacity to spit it
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all in one place was becoming too much.
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So Abram defers.
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Lot says, Hey, you pick one, you pick a land, I'll take the other one.
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So Lot decides, Hey, I'm going to choose that landing near the land of Sodom
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where, you know, it looks a lot better.
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It looks closer, uh, to where there's a lot more city, a lot more business.
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I'm going to choose that one.
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But in following that in chapter 14, we get into this
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place where there's four kings.
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They end up going against some five kings.
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There's a lot of names that I will not name because I
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probably will butcher them all.
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But, no, it's four kings versus five kings.
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And the land, the army with four kings attacks the land with five kings.
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And of course, the one with five kings is in the land of Sodom.
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So, and who's there?
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Good old Lot.
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Alright?
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Causing troubles once again.
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But, he ends up getting captured by the forces and taken away.
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And now he's at a point where Abram catches word of this
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and he's like, Are you okay?
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Well, where are we gonna go?
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Well, we gotta get my nephew back.
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Come on, let's go get him.
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So, Abram, uh, um, creates an army.
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They go and take the land, uh, and take the goods and
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the resources that were taken.
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And they also bring back Lot.
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So, it's great.
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It's a great time, right?
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But after that, post victory, Abram gets some praises and some blessings
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from some kings, especially from a king called, uh, Melchizedek.
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Um, and he was offered to keep the goods, um, that he recovered in battle.
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Um, but in his commitment to God, He didn't accept any of it.
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He, his words were saying that, and I'm probably paraphrasing this,
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but basically saying that I'm not going to be made rich off of man or
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claim to have this on my own, but I will have God be the one to bless.
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So, he denies his great reward.
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So that's what we're picking up in chapter 15.
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So, all this has happened.
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There's a great war.
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He rescues Lot, comes back, denies the reward that he was, that he was, in
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a sense, that he had gotten himself.
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And now here we are.
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So, chapter 15, verse 1 says, After this the word of the
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Lord came to Abram in a vision.
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Do not be afraid, Abram.
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I am your shield.
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Your very great reward.
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You know, it's funny, because if you, look, you check in chapter 14,
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in the beginning of this verse, Does Abram ever initiate anything with
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God, like does he ever reach out to him, does he connect with him at all?
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No.
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You ever have that person in your life, whether that's a spouse or
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a family member or a friend, that you know like something's going
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on with them, but you don't, they don't have to say anything, right?
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They're like, you can see it on their face or their body language
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or the way they're texting.
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You're like, all right, something's going on with this person.
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And God, and God is the same way with us.
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He knows us.
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He knows our hearts.
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He knows our minds.
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And the fact that I said, like, Abram didn't have to say a word, but God knew.
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He says, do not be afraid.
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I mean, Abram had just gone to war against five kings.
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I'd be fearful, too.
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I'm like, man, okay, now I just set myself to be public enemy number one here.
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Right?
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He says, I am your shield.
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I mean, hey, I'm probably, Abram's probably thinking, man, I need protection.
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I need some type of cover.
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God says, let me allow that to be.
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Let me let myself to be that for you.
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And I am your great reward.
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Now, obviously doesn't say what was what the reward that Abraham had and
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the resources that he had brought back, but I'm sure it was a lot though, right?
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I mean five five kingdoms worth of rewards and blessing.
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That's like that's hard to turn down, but he denies all that.
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And so he's probably thinking back.
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I said, man, I probably should have taken it.
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Like I might be regretting this, right?
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But no, gotta say no, but I am your great reward.
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And so he has reasons, right, to believe all this and to think all this.
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But ultimately, God desires to fulfill his needs, not with
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things, but God himself, right?
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He says, I am your shield.
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I am your very great reward.
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Not that I'm going to provide for you in a shield or provide for your
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reward, which he knows God has in time.
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But think about the greater need, think about how much more sustainable it is.
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When God is the one that fulfills our needs.
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Amen?
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You guys with me on that?
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So let's see Abram's response though.
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He says, um, Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless?
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The one will, um, and the one who will inherit my estate is Eleazar of Damascus.
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And Abram said, you have given me no children.
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So a servant in my household will be my heir.
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You know, Abram's basically saying, God, what good is it that you're my reward?
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Who cares?
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Maybe that you're my shield.
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He's doubting.
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He's questioning because he's like, Hey, the one thing that I've
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wanted, the one thing I've desired is for you to provide me a son.
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And so I'm glad that you're my should.
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I'm glad that you're my reward, but I've only ever wanted a son.
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When will you be faithful to me?
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When will you fulfill your promise?
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Now, before we get, you know, very judgmental of Abram's discontentment,
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let's, let's, let's be humble real quick and realize that we've
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also been in that same place, too.
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Amen?
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Now, I want to share a quick story.
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I was in, uh, sixth grade, and my, my dad sat me down, and he was
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like, Hey, if you get straight A's,
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we will get you an iPad.
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And I was like, come on, I'm a sixth grader.
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I'm like, with the iPad, man, I was fired up.
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And so I was grinding first semester, didn't do that great, but the second
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semester, your boy got straight A's.
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Okay.
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Now, when I went back for my award, I was like, Hey dad, check out this report card.
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And he was like, that's awesome.
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We're going to need to postpone the iPad though.
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Just, I was like, like, bro, like, what do you mean?
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Postpone the iPad?
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Like I did what you asked me to do.
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I fulfilled what I needed to do.
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Where is your end of the bargain?
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Respectfully, I love you, but yeah, like, you know.
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But like, in my head, I'm thinking that, right?
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Like, I did what I needed to do.
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Are you going to uphold your end?
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In the same way, Abram's like, God, I'm still faithful.
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I'm still here.
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I'm denying rewards.
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I'm, I'm, I've been called out of a land that you, that I called home to.
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Wherever you're calling me, When are you going to, uh, fulfill the promise?
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When are you going to uphold the end of your bargain?
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You know, and sometimes what can happen with us is that we can get into the
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state of this being of, well, okay, then if God is not going to provide
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the promise that I'm going to go search for it somewhere else, right?
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Whether that's in substances, in alcohol, pornography, sex, addiction, social media.
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Unhealthy eating habits go into isolation.
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We go and desire these things that that give us this temporary gratification.
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It's instant gratification, right?
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And we constantly have to go back for that's why it's so important guys
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for us to have God be the fulfillment of our needs because it's good.
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It's very good.
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It's it's it's whole is completing and the same way.
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We have to understand.
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That God is the fulfillment of our greatest needs.
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Yes, He might give us certain things to be able to fulfill certain things, but
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think about how much more sustainable, how much more rewarding it is when God
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is the fulfillment of our greatest needs.
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Amen?
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You know, God wants to be your best friend
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when you feel like you're isolated.
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God wants to be your shield when you feel like you need protection.
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He wants to be your great reward when the things that you
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desire in this life fall short.
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God is the fulfillment of our greatest needs.
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Now let's pick him in verse 4.
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Let's see what, um, uh, God says to Abram's, you know,
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discontentment, in a sense.
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Then the word of the Lord came to him and says, This man will not be
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your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.
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He took him outside and said, Look up at the sky and count the stars.
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If indeed you can count them.
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Then he said to them, so shall your offspring be Abraham believed the Lord
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and he credited to him as righteousness.
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You know, this is a third time that God reminds Abraham of the
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promise that he had, um, given him.
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You know, and sometimes, and a lot of times God needs to remind us of his
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promises 'cause we forget, or we have selective hearing or selective memory
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on when God did or when God hasn't.
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Right.
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But God responds this time with clarity and certainty.
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He says look up at the stars and obviously where we live
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stars ain't shining too bright.
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But if you go to a place like Joshua Tree, it's a beautiful sight at night.
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There's no city lights, nothing blocking the sight, it's just the
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stars are too numerous to count.
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So I can imagine having the faith of Abram and just being like, wow,
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God, if you want me to count these stars and that's the amount of
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descendants man, that is amazing.
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It's so reassuring.
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It is so fulfilling.
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It is so inspiring.
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You know, and he clarifies even, he's like, it's not going to
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be this spiritual descendant.
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That's not, it's not something that's just going to come into your life and you're
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going to mentor and that will be your son.
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No, no, no.
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It's going to be your own flesh and blood, right?
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It's like, just in case I wasn't clear enough, count the stars,
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flesh and blood of your own.
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But Abraham was inspired by that.
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And what does he do?
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He says he believed.
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He's in the Lord.
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He credit to him as righteousness.
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You know, this is one of the greatest statements in the Bible,
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especially in the book of Romans.
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And you might be asking, well, what does it say in Romans?
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Well, I'm glad you asked.
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Let's go over there.
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Romans chapter four, verses one through three, it reads, this is
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Paul talking to the church in Rome.
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It says, when they, when then, what then shall we say that Abraham,
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our forefather, according to the flesh, discovered in this matter.
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If in fact Abraham was justified by works, he had something to
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boast about, but not before God.
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Amen.
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What does scripture say?
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Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
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You know, Paul was saying that, hey, Abraham was a man of faith,
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and it's inspiring to have that.
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But he hadn't done anything in his works to prove his righteousness.
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The covenant of circumcision that comes later on in about two chapters,
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Is the first thing that Abraham does in a covenant as a wart to be
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one with God or to agree with God.
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Although he's been led by faith out of Ur, and now he's been leading a, uh,
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leading a life of trying to figure out where God is trying to take him, right?
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But, up until then, he has had no warts or anything that he has done, truly, that
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has given him the desire of righteousness, or given him credited righteousness.
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Because think about it, there's two types of righteousness.
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There's the righteousness that you prove by your own works.
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And now there's the righteousness that is proven by faith.
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And obviously the perfect righteousness that we desire is God's righteousness.
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Amen?
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And that's hard to achieve, right?
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We're not going to be perfect at it.
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We are imperfect people.
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Absolutely.
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That's why the righteousness of faith is so fulfilling to us.
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Because it's not about what we do.
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It's about putting our trust and our belief in God's promises.
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We're 18 here.
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It says, Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed, and so became
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the father of many nations.
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Just as it had been said to him, so shall your offspring be.
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Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that
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his body was as good as dead.
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Since he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead.
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Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of
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God, but he was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.
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Being fully persuaded that God had the, had power to do what he had promised.
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This is why it was credited to him as righteousness.
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Thanks.
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Now I want to focus on two things here.
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I think it's worth.
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Yeah, I love it.
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So we got without weakening and yet he did not waver.
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I don't know if you guys have short term memory, but what we just read
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in Genesis chapter 15, that sounds like a little bit of wavering, right?
Genesis 15 chapter mention
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A little bit of weakening.
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So you might be asking, okay, but why would Paul write that?
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Why would Paul say he didn't weaken?
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Why did he say that he did not waver?
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Well, that's the thing guys.
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It's not about the idea of being perfect at it.
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We need to be encouraged and inspired that God can work within perfect faith.
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Then let's think about it, right?
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Like we're not stupid here.
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We ask the same questions.
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We doubt, we weak, we waver.
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We give up hope sometimes, but God still chooses to work with us.
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God still chooses to partner with us.
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I mean, think of Moses.
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Initially, you know, he's called to lead Israel out of Egypt.
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He expresses, but he expressed his own is like, I'm not good enough.
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I'm inadequate.
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I'm not qualified.
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God.
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He's hesitant to lead God's people, but God still worked to
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deliver his people out of Egypt.
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Think about King David, despite being called a man after God's own
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heart and committing adultery and he faltered many times with Bathsheba,
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Jesus is part of his lineage.
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God still uses imperfect faith.
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God built the church on Peter.
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The rock, a man who walked on water, but when he saw the wind,
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he feared and began to sink.
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A man that denied Jesus three times.
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God still uses imperfect faith.
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It's not about being perfect, it's not about desiring to be as good
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as possible, as much as we want to be, because that's not who we
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are in our nature, unfortunately.
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We desire to want to be that because we are disciples.
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Amen.
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But the idea is that God can still work with us even when we are
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choosing not to work with him.
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That God still wants to put hope and faith in us when we
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want to disqualify ourselves.
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So I know for me in my life, like I said, nine years.
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A lot can happen in nine years.
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Going from high school to college, and now college to post grad.
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A lot happens in 9 years.
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And I don't know where you're at in your walk with God.
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You could be 10 years, 20 years, 30 years.
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But, you know, it, it, we'd be, we'd be foolish to say that
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we've had moments where we wanted to, we've, we've, we've not had
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moments where we wanted to give up.
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We'd be foolish to say that we, we disqualified ourselves at times.
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We'd be foolish to say that we hadn't had moments where we
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desired to not even show up.
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But hallelujah, amen, and thanks be to God that He doesn't give up on us.
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That He desires to work with our imperfect faith.
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And it's not by the works that we do.
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It's not about showing up to church and just, you know, doing everything
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you need to do here and serving and giving and being in Bible
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studies and sharing your faith.
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Like, that's all great.
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But what God desires and what He credits for us because we can't be
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perfect in our works is our faith.
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So we need to understand and just drill into ourselves that God can
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and will work with imperfect faith.
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Now, that doesn't give us the green light to go make stupid decisions, right?
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It's like, well, hey, I'm imperfect, you know, it just happens how it be.
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It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
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Right?
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It's thinking, thinking, exactly.
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But even though we are people who have our doubts and our fears, it an incomplete
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trust at times that doesn't disqualify from God's plan as long as we choose
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as you choose to engage and put your trust in God and his perfect promises.
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You know, so while Abraham had or Abram had his moments of human vulnerability
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as we all do, the narrative emphasized in the overall arcing story of Abraham
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that he desired to put his trust in God.
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And, and, and endure his faith in his prophecies.
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Amen.
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So let's go back to Genesis chapter 15.
Genesis 15 chapter mention
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We're going to be in verse 7.
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So it says, He said to them, this is God, back to Abram.
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He says, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur, out of the Chaldeans to give
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you this land to take possession of.
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But Abram said, Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?
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It's like, bro, Abram, don't you get it, bro?
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Like, come on, like, but like I said, like, it's a short term view.
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For us, like, we see the whole picture, but for Abram, in the
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moment, we are like him sometimes.
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Like, yeah, okay, but how for sure, God?
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Like, I want to trust you, but how for sure?
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And it's like, Abram, God's probably like, Abram, do you
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want me to spell it out for you?
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Like, come on, like, what do you, what do you need?
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But God, like I said, works in perfect faith.
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So therefore what?
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He does spell it out for him.
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He says, So the Lord said, Sir, bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each
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three years old, along with a dove and a young, and a young pigeon.
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Um, Abraham brought all these things to him, cut them in two, and arranged
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the halves opposite each other.
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The birds, however, did not, he did not cut in half.
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You know, when God tells Abraham to come and bring all these, these
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animals and sacrifice, he knows exactly what's about to happen.
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The cultural, uh, background of this is that, um, this, there was a contract
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or a covenant about to be made, okay?
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So in those days, the contracts were made by the sacrificial cutting of
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animals with the split carcasses of the animals lying on the ground.
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And the covenant was made when the parties in agreement would walk between
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them, through the animal parts together, repeating the terms of the covenant.
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And the symbolism was very plain.
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First, this was a covenant that was very serious, because it was sealed in blood.
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And it was also sealed, and secondly, if you break the covenant, let the
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same bloodshed be poured out from the animals out onto you as well.
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So it's a very serious covenant that God is setting with Abram right now.
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And so Abram had his doubts and wanted assurance from God.
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God said to him clearly, He said, Let's sign a deal right now.
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I have a dot in line.
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Go get me these things.
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We're gonna sign it, seal the deal.
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So let's jump on over here, um, and continue on in verse, uh, verse 12.
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It says, As the sun was setting, Abraham fell into a deep sleep.
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Thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
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Then the Lord said to him, Know for certain that for four hundred years your
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descendants will be strangers in the country, not their own, and that they
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will be enslaved and mistreated there.
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But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they
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will come out with great possessions.
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It says, You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and
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be buried at a good old age.
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In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here,
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for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.
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It says, And when the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking fire
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pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
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On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, To your descendants,
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I give this land from the Wadi to Egypt and to the great river of the Euphrates.
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You know, it's super, man, God is so cool, guys, you have
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no clue how cool this man is.
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Oh, man, it's so inspiring because.
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The significance of this section, like, goes beyond just reading the text.
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Like, there's just so much that God has already put in store and put in the
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plan, that when I, as I was studying this out, like, it just inspired me.
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Because the significance of the fire pot and the blazing torch was the
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same way that God led the Israelites who were out of slavery in Egypt.
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For 400 years, like I said, 400 years, they would be in
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a land, enslaved to Egypt.
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But as, once they were freed and God led them out, God led them by a
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cloud in the day and a fire at night.
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And so the smoking fire pot is basically the cloud that was led during the day.
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And the blazing torch was the fire that led the Israelites at night.
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So God is like, basically like, he's like, I'm giving you some foresight
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here on what's going to happen.
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Like that's how, like you have to understand like God's plan is so perfect.
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God's plan is so intentional.
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That there's things that he does that may not seem, that seems super
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random and seem coincidental or lucky or weird, but it's very intentional.
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It's very genuine.
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And so that God has already, has already gone before us here and is
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passing through with these two things to show us that what is to come.
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And I love, I love this idea.
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Why?
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Because think of the covenant that we have to sign or that Jesus signed for us.
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Think about it, and then look at verse 18.
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Um, or in, uh, sorry, verse 17.
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Does it say that Abram passed through the pieces?
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It was just God.
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The certainty of this covenant was locked in.
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And this, it would not fail.
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Why?
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Because God cannot fail.
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And then on, on top of that, God is the one that signs it for both of us.
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Because why?
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Because we weren't good enough.
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Why?
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We weren't righteous enough.
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We weren't worthy enough to be able to sign and set a deal that
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puts us in a place of, well, we're going to be faithful to you, God.
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We're going to be, we're going to be all in for you.
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When God has always been all in for us, because we weaken, we waver, right?
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Just like Abram.
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We're human in that way.
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We have imperfect faith.
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So why would we make a covenant with God to be faithful for him forever?
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When we can't even, we can't even stand on our own two feet sometimes.
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God is the one that steps and passes through this covenant to show us that
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he is the one that will not fail.
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He puts his deity on the line for us.
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He puts his sovereignty on the line.
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Why?
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Because he understands that if, like I said, if we were the ones to
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do it, it would not be fulfilled.
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But with him, it is always possible with him.
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There's always hope in the same sense.
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Because think of God the Father walking through the broken body of Jesus.
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to establish his covenant with us.
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God signed it for both of us.
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Like I said, we merely enter into this covenant by faith because we
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didn't make the covenant of God.
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God made it with us.
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Jesus went ahead of us and before us to make this covenant and sacrifice
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himself for us because we could not, we could not be the perfect sacrifice.
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God desires our redemption.
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That's been his plan all along.
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Since the moment that man fell in the garden of Eden, since we got kicked
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out of the garden because we had things that we had desired other than
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Him, God has been fighting for us to get us back into the garden, to be
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in peace, to be at harmony with Him.
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God has been orchestrating everything for us to be with Him.
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And think about it, we enter this new covenant today that we live
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in because of Jesus, because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross.
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And the trust and the confidence that we have that God will and
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still and always will love us and that his promises will never fail.
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I want to encourage you.
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This is your first time hearing about this.
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You're like, what is this redemption that he's talking about?
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It's the idea of you being one with God and you being surrendered to
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living a life for God that Jesus is Lord and understanding that you
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couldn't pay the price for your sin.
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So he did it for you.
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Yeah, whether you were aware of it or not, whether you like it or not,
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it happened, but it's not because it's like, Hey, I'm gonna show you
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how much greater I am than you.
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No, it's just 'cause how much he loves you, how much he desires to be with you.
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The creati, the creator, desires to be with his created, even though we decide
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sometimes that we don't want to be, but we need to have faith at some capacity.
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To know and to trust that God desires our redemption.
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God desires to see us all with Him.
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God desires us all to be with Him.
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But you know what?
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He loves you so much that He lets it be your choice.
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He puts it on you to decide.
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That's the kind of love that has no boundaries.
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That's the kind of love that we need to have with one another.
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The kind of love that doesn't control, that doesn't speak out of, of a place
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that, you know, that fills our own desires, our own needs, but from a
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place that desires to see each and every one of us redeemed before God.
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That's why we're here.
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That's why we're gathered.
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I mean, think about it.
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Each and every one of us comes from different walks of life,
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but God has redeemed so many of us in this room from things that
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we couldn't save ourselves from.
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And like I said, even when you didn't believe in him, even when
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you didn't believe in yourself, God desired your redemption.
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And so we must find the faith and the confidence to
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trust in the covenant of God.
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That's where we get our confidence from.
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Why do we, it's like some of us will be like, you know, asking like Dallas,
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why are you so confident that, you know, God will come through for you?
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Why are you so confident that God might be faithful to you?
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Because of his promises.
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Because he put his deity on the line for me.
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He allowed himself to be the one to set the record straight that he is so in love
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with me and with us that he doesn't give up on us even when we give up on him.
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So I want to encourage us today, church that the confidence you feel
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shouldn't be coming from your own self.
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It shouldn't come from your works.
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Like I said, showing up to church is great.
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Being in Bible studies is great.
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Having devoted times with God in prayer is great.
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Absolutely.
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But it's all for naught if we don't have faith in the one that is unfailing.
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In God, who is unwavering.
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Who doesn't weaken or lower his love for us.
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Amen.
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So just to recap, God is the fulfillment of our greatest need.
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Amen.
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God can work with imperfect faith.
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And God desires our redemption.
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Let us have confidence in the covenant that God has gone before
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us to love us and to be redeemed and to have us be redeemed with him.
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Amen.
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Before we have a final song, I'm just going to go on and pray and then
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we'll have the worship team come up.
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Father God, thank you so much for today.
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Father, we are so grateful in the ways that you have redeemed us.
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God, we know and we, we continue to fight to know and to
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understand how much you love us.
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And though it may be an infinite scale, an infinite spectrum, God, that we see it on.
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And though we're finite beings, I pray that we can just continue
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to grasp how much you do love us.
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That you want to be the fulfillment of our needs.
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That you work with us, even in our imperfect faith.
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And God, that you desire to see us redeemed.
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And I know, God, that sometimes we, we can count ourselves
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out and want to disqualify us.
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But Father, I just pray and hope that we can be confident,
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not in ourselves, but in you.
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And in your promises.
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Father, we are so grateful to be here, and that you have chosen
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us to be redeemed with you.
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God, I pray that we can just take this into our weeks, God, as we just, we
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really focus on our lives and our actions and the way we think and the way we
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speak, God, and speak not from a place of our own confidence, but confidence
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in You, and to live out our faith, and to live out this journey of faith, God,
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because of Your great and unending love.
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We love You, God.
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Thank You for this day and this service.
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Please bless the rest of it and bless our days.
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We pray in Jesus name.
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Amen.