A Walk Through Peaks and Valleys: Faith, Mountains, and Discovering God's Provision Amidst Adversity

My name is Bert Fersner.

I serve Somerville Baptist Church as a family care pastor and I'm so grateful for James to allow me to be here.

Many of you may know we have a group at a marriage retreat down, I believe, in St Simon's Island.

What a beautiful area.

About 60 folks from my church have been there all weekend to absorb God's word and to strengthen their marriagehood, and so that's an important task and life trait that they are having this weekend, so I want to pray for them also, but thank you for being here today.

I've been out here for a few times and but it's good to be here and speaking in the gym today, and so that's kind of a thrill.

And y'all look great.

Do you feel as good as you look?

Oh good, thank you very much.

That means you're awake, and so we're ready to go.

But again, it's a pleasure to be here with you today and I'm grateful for the opportunity.

We have a long theory called Mountain Men last week and our journey to Mount Arorack with Noah.

If you did not hear that message here live, I encourage you to check it out online also.

And so today is part two, and it's a privilege that we get to share the faith journey and we're going to go to Mount Moriah.

Who's heard of Mount Moriah?

A couple of you.

Well, hopefully by the end of the hour you will know more than you ever thought you wanted to know about Mount Moriah.

We're going to be in Genesis, okay, genesis chapter 22, and cover a good number of verses there which we'll read together.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

So if you have your Bible, I encourage you to take those out and get ready.

When we launched this series, I started thinking a little bit about my personal encounters with mountains, okay, and I thought a little bit more about my family connections with mountains and recall that I do have a mountain connection, even though I was born and raised in Orangeburg, kind of the Midlands, and down here now in the Low Country.

My grandfather, my mother's father, is from the mountains of North Carolina and we learned some time ago when we were doing some family research that he was from an area in the kind of the North Carolina South Carolina border there and I guess they moved around a lot because we had a lot of different places that quote unquote, they live, but the original location that we understand, with a plate called Hogback Mountain, which is going to appear on your screen.

Who's been the Hogback Mountain?

Nobody Good.

So I was interested to learn.

When I Google Hogback Mountain, you know you can find anything on Google just about there's a Hogback Mountain in at least six or seven locations all around our country.

Okay, and I think it is because it looks like a Hogback.

It's a little bit hard to see in that picture, but if you look at the center part of that mountain and imagine a pink back, okay, it looks a little bit like a Hogback, which I guess is why they named it Hogback Mountain.

But I learned there's a Hogback Mountain in Virginia, there's a Hogback Mountain, of course, in North Carolina and that's connected to South Carolina.

There's even a Hogback Mountain in Maine, a Hogback Mountain in Michigan, and I didn't hear of any Hogback Mountain to the west of the Mississippi, which may make some sense as well, but a lot of Hogback Mountains all around.

But as we did some family research, I actually found a picture and here you go.

I'm not ashamed, I'm a little bit proud.

It's a difficult picture because it was taken in late 1800.

And this is my great grandfather, my mountain man connection, his wife.

His name was Hanson or Hansel, maybe not real sure, and her name was Martha, my wife's name is Martha no connections there as well and then they had a number of children my grandfather is not actually in this picture, but the two children that are there are his brother and sister, and they are twins, and so I'm figuring the reason they had this picture, like I'm going to claim.

It's on Hogback Mountain, right it looks like in the middle of the leaves in the woods, right and so their names are Bessie and Charlie, and I never didn't know my great uncle Charlie, but I knew my great aunt Bessie and she lived into her 90s and I know that she had a walk or a journey of faith because we would go up regularly to Hendersonville, north Carolina, and visit with her and her family and she was a faithful member of Mud Creek Baptist Church.

Okay, so we go from Hogback Mountain to Mud Beach Creek Baptist Church.

So it says a little bit about my heritage, all right, which I'm going to claim today.

But I'm kind of proud to have that picture and just an interesting connection to the mountain for me and I know that all of you have some mountain connections as well.

I haven't developed a mountain acclimation in my life and so I'm not very fond of height, okay, which I think maybe one of the reasons God has us here in the low country.

Okay, anybody else struggle with heights a little bit.

Oh man, am I the only one?

I thank you very much.

I saw those on camera.

But you know, I've never been fond and I can remember, even as a kid, not being very fond of climbing high.

Okay, not much higher than the monkey bars, all right.

But we went, my family and I went, out to Colorado recently and you can put that picture up there, and there are a lot of mountains in Colorado, okay, beautiful, lots of overlooks, as you can see, and my wife took this picture, I think.

And if you can't tell, I'm saying hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, take this picture so I can get that from the edge, and I'm not going to be that close to the edge, but anyway, mountain climbing is not necessarily a part of my life physically, but it is a part of our lives, I think.

All of us in our journey of faith and so that's what we're going to be talking a little bit about today our faith walk, and so all of these men that we are talking about in this series have a journey of faith and they also climbed the mountain, moses.

Moses, noah climbed the mountain last week or when the ark came to rest on Mount Errat, he and his family stepped out to a brand new world, a brand new beginning.

And so today we're going to learn about Abraham journey to Mount Moriah and what that has impact for us today and even beyond.

So, as people of faith or people on faith journey, the people searching for faith we have, we walk by that faith, not necessarily by sight, but we walk by faith.

And then Hebrews 11 said faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

And so God brings us to him in faith, particularly faith in Jesus Christ.

And so, even if we sang in worship today, we lifted up Christ and gave him the honor and glory because who he is, what he has done and given to us, so that we can respond to him in faith.

And it's my prayer and our prayer for you today that that faith is real to you.

But it's also a reality of life in which we have up and down and mountain and valley as well, and so let's look at one of those mountains today through the life of Abraham.

Please join me in prayer as we begin.

Father, thank you.

Thank you for your presence here today.

Thank you for this church, god, that you are planting here at Pinewood, but a tremendous team that works so hard each week to bring this about so that we can gather in worship, so our children can be disciples of God and, father, that we can sing praises to you and give you the glory, father.

Thank you for your word, father.

As we look into your word now, lord, I pray that you speak to our hearts, god, to inter-set with our minds, god, and that you draw us closer to you, father, as we journey together in faith, and we ask it now in Jesus' name.

So look with me in chapter 22 of Genesis, and we're going to read verses 1 through 19.

And this is kind of the whole story of this episode in the life of Abraham.

All right, and it says here after these things, god tested Abraham and said to him Abraham, here I am.

He answered Take your son, he said, your only son, isaac, who'd be love.

Go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.

So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac.

He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about.

On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

Then Abraham said to his young men Stay here with the donkey.

The boy and I will go over there to worship and then we will come back to you.

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac In his hand.

He took the fire and the night and the two of them walked on together.

Then Isaac spoke to his father, abraham, and said my father.

And he replied here I am, my son.

Isaac said the fire and the wood are here, but where is the land for the burnt offering?

Abraham answered God himself will provide the land for the burnt offering my son.

Then the two of them walked on together.

When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood.

He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

Then Abraham reaped out and took the knife to slay his son.

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said Abraham, abraham.

He replied here I am, and he said Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.

Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the sicket by his horn.

So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in the place of his son, and Abraham named that place.

The Lord will provide.

So today, it is said, it will be provided from the Lord on his mountain.

Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said by myself, I have sworn.

This is the Lord's declaration.

Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I will leave you in deep, bless you and make your offering numerous as the seashore.

Your offering will possess the city gate of their enemies and it will be excuse me, and all nations will be blessed through you and your offering and those you have because you have obeyed my command.

Abraham went back to his young men and they got up and went together to Bathsheba and Abraham settled in Bathsheba.

In this story, abraham obeyed God.

In this story he took a journey that was going to change his life forever, but also change even our lives.

As we talk about this today, and if we consider this story and this journey, remember these words from 1 Peter Should be on the screen.

It says you are being guarded by God's power through faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

You rejoice in this, even though now, for a short time, it is necessary.

You suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith, more valuable than gold, through it, though perishable, is refined by fire, may result in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So, as Abraham made this faith walk, as Abraham responded to God, we see that Abraham saw no-transcript God up close and personal and they were God's personal intervention in his life.

But it was also the path that God laid out for him, and also in the provision that God provided not only for Abraham but all the way down for us today, in the path that you see the promise of God.

We know that God and Abraham had a strong relationship, and it goes back to Genesis chapter 12, where God called to Abraham.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

And in Genesis, chapter 12, beginning at verse 1, we read the Lord said to Abram Go out from your land, your relatives and your father's house, to the land I will show you.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you.

I will curse those who curse you and treat you with contempt, and all the people on earth will be blessed through you.

So Abram went as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.

Abram was 75 years old when he left Iran and so from the very beginning when God spoke to Abram, when God kind of introduced and broke into Abram's life, abram had a history of hearing and yet obeying God.

And there were some struggles along the way.

And you know, because God promised to make him a great nation and bless them, abraham or Abram couldn't understand, while they did not have children, and so God continued to encourage Abram and break into his life in a personal way.

And in chapter 15 of Genesis, as we walk on this journey, we read these words it says after the event, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision.

Do not be afraid, abram, I am your shield.

Your reward will be very great.

But Abram said Lord, god, what can you give me?

Since I am childish and the air of my house is Eleazar's of Damascus, abram continued look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.

Now the word of the Lord came to him.

This one will not be your heir.

Instead, the one who comes from your own body will be your heir.

He took him outside and said look at this guy and count the stars, if you are able to count them.

Then, he said to him, your offspring will be that numerous.

Abram believes Lord and he credited to him as righteousness.

So on this journey, god had broken into Abram's life in a personal way, and God sent to do that for each and every one of us when we turned to him as well.

In the epacits from today, from chapter 22, we see that three times Abram is addressed by name, two times by the Lord and one time by his son.

Each of these times Abram responds here I am, and so he is there.

He is connected with God.

He is connected there with his son, of course, and so in the verse one it says the Lord said to him Abraham.

And Abraham said here I am, down there.

When they were on the way to the mountain and Abraham saw the mountain in the distance and even though Abraham knew what was coming, isaac didn't.

Isaac spoke to his father and said my father.

And Abraham yet again said here I am.

And then on that very moment I mean this particular break here if you were a dad and God said this is what I want you to do with your son, would you be that quick to obey?

I'm not sure I would, but Abraham obeyed God.

Without question Some of us would say what are you talking about?

What's going on?

What's the purpose of this?

Abraham was obedient and faithful and responded to God and faith as he walked forward.

And the third time when God called out to Abraham was in the very moment when Abraham was prepared to kill his one and only son and sacrifice him in obedience to God.

And God at that moment called out Abraham twice.

I think that's kind of significant too, because in that moment wanted to be sure that Abraham heard him, be sure that he broke through into Abraham at that very, very moment.

And so it says there he said Abraham, abraham.

And again, abraham replied here I am, and so it's significant that God break through into our lives in person.

God knows our name.

He created us.

He created us long ago, before we even arrived on this earth, and so he very much knows our name and he knows who we are and he knows that he wants to be in relationship with us.

So three times Abraham was called out, three times Abraham was responded here I am, and three times those actions were actions of faith and no question.

Each time he knew that God was faithful, every time he knew that God would provide.

The scripture tells us that after these things God tested Abraham and we know those tests do come in life and I struggle with that.

Sometimes God really tests us.

You know he allows Satan to test Joe and things come into our lives that do test our faith.

They call us to question God.

They call us to honestly say hey, what's going on here?

When we have a relationship with God, when we're connected with God, he wants us to respond to Him in faith and certainly in trust.

So I question to myself and all of us today is when God calls us to do something hard, when God calls us to do the difficult, when God calls us to do the things that we don't understand or can't explain?

How do we respond?

How do we step forward when those unexpected things happen in our lives and things fall apart and God calls us to sacrifice the most important thing in our lives, how do we respond?

Do we respond in faith and say here I am, yes, lord, are we strong in question?

Or how do we respond?

Well, abraham responded here I am.

And so not only was his response personal, he followed the path that God laid out for him.

This path, god said, told him, was clearly there and told Abraham exactly what he needed to do for this journey and this journey of faith.

And Abraham responded, even though he did not know how it would turn out, he responded God's instructions were clearly given.

He even told Abraham exactly what he wanted him to do, not necessarily why, but exactly what he wanted him to do.

He wanted him to get ready and to take his son and go to the place where he would tell him that Abraham had not been before and actually sacrificed his son, his one and only son.

So Abraham responded he got up early, he got equipped for the journey and he prepared for the sacrifice.

And even when his son questioned him on the path there, within sight of the mountain, he responded that the Lord will provide the sacrifice.

So Abraham trusted the Lord, even in that moment, even under the questioning of his son, and so therefore, I think his son trusted his father and therefore, in essence, the Lord as well.

So Abraham followed all the way he set it up, he built the altar, he put the wood on the altar, he put his son on the altar and even to the very moment, he raised his hand with the night to slay his son.

But then God intervened, that kind of dramatic moment that you think about a climax or a highlight.

And God, through the angel of the Lord, called to Abraham from heaven and basically stopped Do not slay your son.

And Abraham responded here I am the angel of the Lord, said, for I know that you fear God, or revere God or obey God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.

And then Abraham looked up and there was the sacrifice caught in the bushes.

And then he knew what God wanted and what God provided and that it was a test.

So Abraham's faith relationship or faith walk or journey with God was personal.

Abraham's faith walk with God was a path that God set out.

And then, on that path, and because Abraham was faithful to walk with God, god provided, there was provision.

There was provision not only in that moment, because of Abraham's faithfulness and obedience, it was provision for the present, the future and really for eternity in every way.

And Abraham honored the Lord.

Abraham rejoiced, I believe, in that Abraham was relieved right and any parent would relieve.

And so Abraham, at that moment, he named that place.

The Lord will provide and even to now that place is known is where it will be provided on the mountain of the Lord.

And so, in some ways, that's why we're studying mountain men, because all of the men have encountered the Lord in some way or seen the Lord in their journey of faith on the mountain.

And we can also have that journey of faith, whether we climb the mountain ourselves, where we like height or prefer the low country, the Lord provides and the Lord is with us.

And that same promise to be personal, to direct that path and to provide for us, is sure and personal today.

It's interesting to me today that Mount Horib— Mount Moriah— Mount Horib is another mountain— Mount Moriah is still in existence today.

We do not know the Pacific place.

It is, but this is what Mount Moriah is today.

This is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Okay, the Temple Mount is known as Mount Moriah and this is where it is seen that it is understood that within this area, within this vicinity, is where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed.

Mount Moriah the Temple Mount, of course is the place where Solomon built the temple.

God instructed Solomon to build that temple on that first day.

We read in 2 Samuel 24,.

It says Then Solomon began to build the Lord's Temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father, david.

David also had an encounter with the Lord on Mount Moriah and purchased the land there as well.

But this Mount Moriah goes all the way back to Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, and what's the place on which the temple was built?

But also on Mount Moriah is another place in that general area, a place called Mount Calvary, where Jesus made the other sacrifice, made that sacrifice for us, that made an eternal difference for all of our lives.

And so, even as God said to Abraham, or Abraham claimed from God that the Lord will provide, god had provided the ultimate sacrifice through his son, jesus Christ.

We read in Galatians 4,.

But when the time had arrived, that was set by God, the Father, god, sent his son, born among us of a woman born under the conditions of the law, so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.

Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage.

You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children, because God sent the spirit of his son into our lives.

Bring out, abba, father, does that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you, that we, are not a slave but a child, and we are a child, we are also in air, through the complete access to the inheritance, the inheritance of the love and the grace and the promise of God.

And so, in that God gave his son as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, on Mount Calvary.

But then we know the end of the story with the empty tomb.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

He did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world would be saved through him, and because the sacrifice that Jesus did on the cross and because he rose on the third day and from that empty tomb.

We have that promise, we have that personal encounter with God available to us, we have the path that the Lord has put out before us that's available to all, and we have that ultimate provision in Jesus Christ, amen, amen.

I don't know about you, but sometimes, when life deals some unexpected thing, for me things can now become unclear.

And sometimes life will become kind of like this right, a jigsaw puzzle, when, just when you think everything is fitting together and life is going pretty good, then the unexpected and the unexplained come along a little bit, maybe like Abraham and this cat, and then so life, then, as we know it kind of falls apart, doesn't it?

And so what do we do with this?

We got to put it together again, but we turn to the one who can help us put it together.

Right, how do you all put together jigsaw puzzles?

Right, you dump it out, you turn the pieces over, you start where, on the edges, right?

And then what?

Most of us, because, well, we cheat a little bit we look at the picture, right, don't we?

Has anybody ever put a puzzle together without looking at a picture?

Some of you may have, and y'all are crazy.

But we look at the picture to see the big picture of where we're going.

And you know, god has that big picture.

He has the whole puzzle for each one of us put together because he loves us that much.

And so when life begins to look like this, he knows what the picture looks like.

And so it's up to us to do our part, to turn to Him, make a personal commitment and connection with Him, to seek His path, to look at the picture that he has in mind and to understand the provision that he's given us in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ.

That gives us complete hope, that gives us really all we need when the day is dark, when the day is stormy, when the days are uncertain.

And so one day we'll understand what the big picture is right when we meet our Savior's face to face.

But one day He'll explain some things in our life, like Abraham being called to sacrifice his time.

He'll explain exactly what that was to Abraham.

Perhaps already has in a way, but maybe He'll help us to understand more.

But I think it helps us to be able to see an example of faith in taking the hard depth and doing the hard things and always understanding that we can hang on to the Lord and the Lord will provide.

The Lord will provide.

Amen.

God is good.

He wants us to be part of His big picture overall, no matter how small or how insignificant we may seem sometimes or how our life may not make sense.

But God has a plan.

The day was April the 15th most of you think that's tax day but the year was 1993.

My boss called me into the office and told me your service is no longer required here.

In other words, I've been fired.

I wasn't too surprised, based on other things that were happening all around me, but you know, when that, something like that happened, it rocks your world.

That very night I went to a Bible study in a Presbyterian church.

Nothing wrong with that.

But I was happy and the path is under discussion of being taught with Jeremiah 29.

I had never heard Jeremiah 29 in my life, I don't know why.

Back in that day it wasn't as popular or used for everything under the sun.

But that night that verse entered my life, impacted my life, for I know the plans I have for you to clear the Lord.

Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.

Plans to give you hope and a future.

And to a young, single guy whose hope had been died, whose life changed like in a moment that day.

That verse gave me all that I needed.

I didn't know what the next day was going to look like, because it all looked like that a little bit, but step by step, faith by faith, it all unfolded.

It actually led me to seminary.

It actually brought my wife into my life.

It actually eventually, through, step by step, brought us here, and we're so grateful for that.

So my encouragement to you today is connect with God, seek his path and always know that he will provide, no matter what.

Amen.

Thank you for hearing that.

Thank you for connecting with that today.

If you've never connected with God in any way or have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we invite you to take that step today.

If you'd like to become a part of this church family and all this is about here at Ironwood, at our downtown campus and more.

If we are a mission for God, we're seeking his plan, not only as individual Christ followers, but as a Church of Christ shining a light into a dark world.

We invite you to be a part of that too.

So if our folks want to come on up now and I'll pray for us.

I'll be over here on the side if you'd like to talk afterwards, or we'll be around here in the next little bit.

We got the next time today, so I encourage you to hang out as we worship one more time and connect with others, meet somebody you don't know and after you're back, I invite you to connect with a group and our folks out front can help you determine what those groups may be.

Let's pray together.

Thank you for this time, guys.

I just pray that your word has gone forth, lord, in a way that helps us to understand who you are, but also to help us to meet you on the mountain today, even if we're in the valley, even if that mountain is a hard place.

Lord, we pray that you will show us where you want us to go, that you will connect with us personally, that you will direct our path.

God and Father, you will always tell us, always help us to know that you have provided in and through your Son, jesus Christ.

And everybody said Amen.

God bless, amen.