”Faith Needs Consistent Infusions” // Genesis 17 // Lakeview Bible Church

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

>> Amen. Amen. Thank you, Heather. Uh, one

more uh announcement I have because

we're starting something new uh this

week and I am pretty pumped about it. We

are starting a monthly prayer night. So,

uh, let me give you some some coaching,

some background. Uh, there's two primary

verses in the Bible. There's a ton about

prayer, but there's two primary that

every time I read them, they grab a hold

of me like a new like I'm reading them

for the first time. The first is in

James chapter 4 where and I'm going to

James 4 · chapter mention

paraphrase it basically says uh you

don't have because you don't ask. And

when I read that I'm like you mean to

tell me there's stuff I could have that

I'm not having because I'm not asking.

Uh yeah. So I'm like that's when I'm

like, "Oh, I'm going to ask for this,

ask for this, ask for this, ask for

this." And uh the other is Matthew

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7 in the sermon on the mount.

Jesus says, "Hey, your uh heavenly

father is a good giftgiver. So ask,

seek, and knock. Ask and it'll be given

to you. Seek and you will find. Knock

and the door will be opened. And what's

interesting in the way he says it with

that kind of like saying the same thing

three different times, here's what Jesus

is saying. He's like, "Hey, I'm inviting

you because God's a good giftgiver to

ask and seek and knock." And when you're

done with that, guess what you do? You

ask and seek and knock. And guess what

you do when you're done with that? You

ask and seek. You just keep asking. Why?

Because your heavenly father gives good.

He actually gives the best gifts, right?

So, every time I read those, I'm like,

man, I'm going to start praying harder

and it just reminds me, stirs me up. So,

here's what we're going to do. The plan

is every first Tuesday of the month,

we're going to gather corporately. We're

going to sing a couple songs of worship

and then we're going to pray for things

that we feel led of God to pray into.

Um, everything from what we need in our

church, what we need in our city, what

we need God to do big picture. We're

going to we're going to pray for it all.

In addition, we're going to have a time

where if you have particular prayer

needs, you lost your job this past week,

you've been battling something

health-wise, you have a relationship

that is not getting better, it's getting

worse, you need something in your

marriage. We're also going to do another

verse that you read in the New

Testament, James chapter 5, where it

James 5 · chapter mention

says, "If you have a need, call the

elders of the church to pray for you."

And so we're going to have a time where

you can get prayed for individually for

the thing that you're like, I I straight

up need God to show up and do this.

That's what we're going to do

logistically, 6:30 to 7:30. And we will

have um child care for preschool age.

And uh that's very intentional, too,

because uh I would love to see your

elementary age kids and older in here as

we continue to help disciple them in the

rhythms that we want to see us all do.

Okay, so that's Tuesday and uh hope to

see as many people there because like I

mean if if five people praying does

something, what about 50 and what about

a hundred and what about we just pack

this place out and and we start getting

after the Lord? Uh that's what I want us

to do. Okay, good. All right. Um so

today, uh we're getting back into our

Abraham series. Uh been walking through

for better part of a month and a half.

And today uh we're going to look at what

it means to just keep your faith

vibrant. What does it look like to tend

to your faith? And the way I want to

jump in is um do you know the phrase the

buck stops here? You've probably heard

that. The buck stops here. Question

history buffs. Who coined that?

Oh man, someone knows. Yeah, that's

right. Someone paid attention in history

class. Uh Harry Truman. He's the 33rd

president. Uh he came after FDR, tail

end of World War II. He served from

mid40s to early 50s. And you can see

it's sat on his desk. The sign says the

buck stops here. What did he mean? He's

like, "Hey, look, I'm the end of the

leadership line. I'm the end of the

decision-making line. There's no one

else to pass the buck to. So, I'm going

to make the decision. I'm going to be

the decision maker." Great. As a leader,

you want that. Uh, here's my second

question because I didn't know this.

What's on the opposite side of that

sign?

So, obviously you're coming into the

Oval Office. You can read the buck stops

here. What was Harry looking at on the

other side of that sign?

I'm from Missouri.

Why did he have that written on the

other side?

I think he was trying to keep himself

humble.

I think he was trying to keep himself

grounded. I think that if I sat in that

chair after a little while, I'd be

thinking pretty proud of myself. I'm the

most powerful man on the planet. I do

consequential things. And Harry Truman

in order to notice this tend to

something he needed to tend to which is

do you when do you make good decisions?

When you're prideful or when you're

humble?

Humble. So if he's going to make good

decisions, he's going to have to

remember from Missouri I came and to

Missouri I will go.

And so what's true about Harry is true

about you. I would recommend like on the

back of my desk is going to say I'm from

New Jersey and I hope I never go back.

No, that's what I'm um

No, what it tells us is everything

that's valuable

needs tending. Everything that's

valuable in your life needs upkeep.

Everything in your life that's of value

needs and the word I'm going to use

throughout this morning is infusions of

things like I'm from Missouri. So

example all my married friends. Does

your marriage need consistent upkeep and

tending to and infusions? Yes. Just try

not doing that for a month and see what

happens. How about your health? Right.

constant nutrition and fitness. What

happens if you're like, I'm gonna go on

a McDonald's fast, meaning that's all

I'm eating. How's that gonna right, you

know? Or if you're a musician or an

athlete, you need constant infusions and

upkeep in order to what? Keep your

skills up. You all need it in all the

most valuable areas of your life. What's

our challenge

when it comes to tending to the things,

infusing the things? What's our

challenge?

I don't want to do it. I'm lazy. What I

want to do is I want to set it and

forget it. I want to wash my truck and

have it stay clean for a long, long

time. I want to Right. It's It's now

springtime. We had our one week of

winter. It was great. Actually got some

ice. That was fun. Couldn't leave your

neighborhood. Um, and now we're spring.

So, what are you thinking about? Well,

I'm thinking about the rose bushes and

pruning them and getting the weeds out

of the flower beds. And what happens a

week or two after you're done doing that

work?

Weeds. Again, that's frustrating, but

that's why I have three sons in order to

get outside and do the stuff I don't

want to do. It's my gift to them.

I'm a good dad.

Here's my question. Here's my question.

You know what you should do in the

marriage front? If you're going to tend

to it, if you're going to upkeep it, if

you're going to infuse it, you better go

on some dates. You better some spend

some time talking. You better have some

intimacy. You better have some cards and

some flowers and different things in

order to keep up your marriage.

Question.

What do you do with your faith?

If you were to list out for me right

now, okay, here's what you do. Step one

to upkeep your faith is this. Step two

is this. Step three is this. What would

you write? For most folks, you would

have a tough time. Well, I don't know.

Pray. I do that. What does it look? What

would God say? Because if we're right

and the most valuable things need the

most upkeep, most valuable thing you

have is your relationship with God

through Jesus. How are you going to tend

to that? That's what I want to talk

about. And here's what I'm just going to

unpack. Our faith needs consistent

infusion. So if you have your Bible, go

ahead and open to Genesis chapter 17 as

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

we get back in the story of Abraham in

order to go, okay, Abraham, he's living

a life of faith. It needs some upkeep.

It needs some tending to. What kind of

things should we do? First truth,

promises.

Faith needs infusions

tending to with promises. So this is

Genesis

17 and we're going to begin in verse

one.

So the word of God says, "When Abram was

99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram

and said to him, I'm God Almighty. Walk

before me and be blameless that I may

make my covenant between me and you and

may multiply you greatly." Now, when we

closed chapter 16 last week, Abram was

86. So, in the span of, I don't know,

two millimeters of blank space in my

Bible, we've moved 13 years. He's now

99. God shows up and he wants to have a

conversation with Abram. And he's going

to do multiple things. And the first

thing he's going to do is remind him of

some promises. He's going to remind him

of some promises. First thing that God

wants to do, he says after he says,

"Walk before me and be blameless."

Essentially saying, Abram, remember to

obey what I say. He says in verse verse

two that I may make my covenant between

me and you. But he's already done that.

He started that in Genesis 12. He

affirmed it in Genesis 15. Why does he

have to repeat it? Well, because your

faith needs infusions of promises. And

then he adds, "And may multiply you

greatly." Something we saw in chapter

12. Something we saw again in chapter

15. And God says, "You know what, Abram?

You need another infusion of promises. I

need you to remind you exactly what I've

already promised you. Abram gets the

message. Look at verse three. Then Abram

fell on his face.

And God said to him, verse four,

"Behold, my covenant is with you, and

you shall be the father of a multitude

of nations. No longer," and now he's

going to change his name. I'm finally

going to stop be able to say it wrong.

uh no longer shall your name be called

Abram but your name shall be Abraham

for this reason why I have made you the

father of a multitude of nations. Now

Abram simply means exalted father. The

AB um prefix is short for aba which

means dad and ram in Hebrew is exalted

exalted father. Abraham same first two

letters you see that so it's father but

this time raham means multitude right or

more colloially if we would say Abram

means daddy Abraham means big daddy

and that's how I would say it if I put

that in a rap song. Um,

but here's the thing that's different

when it comes to names in the Old

Testament, ancient near east, and us,

right? For us, what are names? They're

basically differentiators. You're a

rusty. I'm an Eric. What does Eric mean?

I don't know. Apparently, it means like

Norse king, which I kind of like to be

honest with you,

but I'm not Norse or a king, so it

doesn't really help me a whole lot. Um,

but in the ancient near east, your name

was both your identity and your future.

It was your destiny. We we do a little

bit of this depending on your career.

Maybe what I mean is go back to Truman.

His name changed in the job. It went

from Mr. Truman to what? Mr. President,

right? That that kind of thing. or in

the military as you ascend in rank your

name goes from hey Creekmore whatever to

hey major, hey colonel, hey general or

hey sergeant or in your company your um

boss may just go from their name to hey

boss that kind of thing or if you're a

physician your name went from whatever

it was to what hey doc right it's that

kind of thing but there's also with God

a destiny peace.

Why? Because he says Abraham speaks to

where he's going in the future. Here's

what's interesting. Notice the tense.

God says back to verse five, "For I have

made you," that's past tense, "the

father of a multitude of nations." But

that's interesting. In the present, is

he a father of the multitude of nations?

No. What's God doing? He knows that

Abram, just like you and I, need

promises. Here's what you're supposed to

see with God, who's the one who makes

the promises with you. They are so

certain because he is the one making

them that even though they are future,

you should apply them to your present.

If you're in Jesus, your future is

secure.

You are going to live eternity in

heaven.

Promise.

Promise. What you are supposed to do is

take that promise and back it up right

into your present. How? Well, maybe like

days like yesterday morning where you

turned on the news like I did and I was

like, "Oh,

imagine that. The Middle East is having

problems again."

And you may not or you do get anxious

when you see that. What's going to

happen?

What do you do? Well, you know how your

story ends.

You know you'll be in heaven. And when

those things buffet you, when those

things rock you, when those things push

you, whether they're big geopolitical

things or stuff like there were people

in the worship or in the lobby between

services. Literally, I got laid off

Friday. I had a big interview. Can you

pray for me? Like the stuff that's

rocking your world. Now, what you do is

you take the promise and you bring it

into the present so that you could

stabilize. I'll say more about that in a

second. Look back at the text, verse

six, because what God is also going to

do is he's going to add to the promise.

Verse six says, "I will make you

exceedingly fruitful and I will make you

into nations and kings shall come from

you." Okay, so that's new. He hasn't

told Abram that. So verse 7, "And I will

establish my covenant between me and you

and your offspring after you throughout

their generations for, and this is new,

an everlasting covenant to be God to you

and to your offspring after you." It's

not just that you're going to be a

multitude of nations. I'm going to be

like your offspring, Abraham. I'm going

to be God to them everlastingly so. And

then verse eight, and I will give to you

the land of your soj or excuse me, give

to you and to your offspring after you

the land of your sojourings. That's a

repeat of an earlier promise, the land

of Canaan. Now, here's something new for

an everlasting possession. And I will be

their God. Here's the way to think of

the Old Testament as God moves through

what's called progressive revelation. As

you start reading in Genesis and you

make your way through the Old Testament

into the New Testament all the way to

Revelation, imagine the Old Testament

being like a black and white photo. And

as you go along, God just adds detail

and color and fills it out more and more

as he goes through.

But what's going on? What Abram is

getting is reminders

of the promise.

Reminders of the promise. Abram, I need

you. I need to tell you again. I've got

you. I need you to walk before me. I'm

going to make you into a big big family.

You're a big daddy now.

And then he adds to it. Why? Because as

God leads you in your life, let me just

tell you, he's going to do a lot with

you like he's done with Abram. Has

Abram's life thus far been a crystal

staircase? No. Right into Genesis 12, he

has to move. Why? famine in the land.

And then Genesis 13 happens. He has to

choose where he's going to live. Now

that that's over with, and then Genesis

14, now I got to go rescue my nephew

Lot. I have to engage in conflict.

Chapter 15, awesome, high point, amazing

time with God. Chapter 16, last week,

what happened? Totally messed it up.

What's God going to do with you? He's

going to take you through season and

season and season and season to see what

promises you're trusting.

Because what happens and what you've

seen in in Abraham's life is God shakes

him. Okay? What are you going to trust,

Abraham?

I'm going to shake you again. What are

you going to trust, Abraham? What's he

going to do in your life? He's going to

shake you. What are you going to trust?

What are you going to reach for? What

promise is going to stabilize you in the

moment? That's what you need to see as

we go through his story. Now, question.

Um,

let me try to illustrate this.

Who in here gets seasick?

Yes. Own it.

I totally throw up over the side of the

boat. Yes, I see you in the back. Praise

God. Oh, nice. Um, I I tend not to. Uh,

but I have been on small boats in rough

seas and I could see how you get

seasick. And for those of you who did

raise your hand, I have empathy because

I've seen some people getting seasick

and they do turn a nice shade of green.

It really is. Um, but I want to show you

something. I want to show you something.

For all my friends who get seasick,

this is the seaeper boat stabilizer.

You're like, "What in the what?" Um, in

that sphere is a gyro and what it does,

it sits in the hull of a boat and it

takes out the wave motion. Right? So,

the fine folks at SeaKeeper have tested

it, and I would like to show you what it

looks like.

So, all of our friends who now know this

things exists, now you know what to ask

for when you get on to vote. What's the

point?

That's what the promises of God are

meant to do in your life.

Because here's what's true about your

life and my life. Will the waves ever

stop coming?

No. So, what are you going to do?

What will stabilize you?

What as your life gets rocking around

and you're sort of like I think it's

funny, you're sick of it.

What are you going to do? Has God left

you to yourself to be like start

throwing up over the side? No. He's

given you promises. Here's my question.

Are you using them? Here's what I mean.

Let's just walk through a few. In John

John 16:33

16:33, Jesus says this. I have said

these things to you that in me you may

have peace. In the world you will have

tribulation, but take heart. I've

overcome the world. Are you in a season

where it feel like like everything's

coming down on you? Like everywhere you

turn, you're like, "Oh, another shot.

Oh, another shot." What are you going to

do? What are you going to reach for?

Well, I I know my savior's already

overcome it all. That'll stabilize you.

Or how about this? John 14:2 and 3, one

John 14:2

of my favorite passages. In my father's

house are many rooms. If it were not so,

would I have told you that I go to

prepare a place for you?

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again and will take you to

myself that where I am, you may be also.

This passage is a part of every funeral

message I ever do. Why? Because if

you're burying a loved one, what do you

need? I need a promise.

I need a promise.

Um, I don't want to be the bearer of bad

news, but none of you are getting out of

this life alive.

What are you going to reach for when

your time comes?

You need a promise.

Where else you going to go? Tick tock.

How about this one? The Lord is on my

side. I will not fear.

What can man do to me? Have you ever had

an enemy?

Have you ever had someone feel like is

out to get you?

Ever had a business partner go bad?

What are you going to do? What are you

going to do with your stress and

anxiety?

I know who's on my side. You actually

can't touch me at the end of the day. Or

how about this one? This is Psalm 32. I

will instruct you and teach you in the

way you should go. I will counsel you

with my eye upon you. Have you ever been

in a season like I just don't know which

way to go? This seems like a good

option. This seems like a good option.

This is good option. I don't know which

way. Lord, can you help me? It'd be nice

if you had a God with amazing wisdom

that could Well, you have one.

Are you using it?

And this is one of my favorites. I've

shared this one with you before. Be

strong and courageous. Do not be

frightened. And do not be dismayed. Why?

Because you're never alone.

You're never alone. Every room you walk

into, your father, your savior is with

you. Every hard conversation you go

into, you're going to need some kind of

stabilizing.

What are you going to pick?

Like these actually work.

Here's my question. What promise do you

need right now?

There's been seasons that the Lord has

taken me through. And here's what I've

done. I've gone on Google and I said

Bible verses on hope.

I've just printed out like 20 verses on

hope. I put in my Bible 20 verses on

perseverance. Why? Because I'd really

like to quit rather than persevere

in my Bible.

I need Bible verses on courage

in my Bible. Why? Because this is what

the Lord is going to do. I promise you.

You've already experienced it. He's

going to take you through seasons where

you're going to need a promise. And if

you're listening, you will grab a

promise. You will get it in your head

and in your heart such that guess what?

You can take it with you into whatever

else he has for you. And then over your

lifetime, this is how you tend and

upkeep and infuse your faith. You're

picking up these promises. So, it

doesn't matter what wave hits you, you

know exactly where you're going to go.

Boom. I've got that one. Does that make

sense?

What promise do you need?

What promise do you need right now,

this Sunday morning?

There's one that the father wants to

share with you. I promise. So, there's

promises, but there's also practices.

Look at verse 9.

There's not only promises for us to

believe, there's practices that we

should be doing. So verse 9 says, "And

God said to Abraham, as for you, you

shall keep my covenant, you and your

offspring after you throughout their

generations." And now God is going to

give him a practice

in order to

well, you'll see um this is my covenant

which you shall keep between me and you

and your offspring after you. Every male

among you shall be circumcised.

Congratulations. We now enter the

circumcision section of our message.

All the men, I invite you to just now

stare at your feet for the next 10

minutes or so as we get through this.

Um,

I read this chapter and I'm like,

why this Mark?

Why this practice?

If I'm Abraham, I'm on my face, I look

up, I'm like, "How about we do tattoos?

Maybe an ear piercing. Can we do an ear

piercing?" Um, in fact, in the New

Testament, they will do ear piercings.

Why don't we just fast forward to that?

Um,

but no, there's actually some good

reasons why this practice, why this mark

of the covenant, one, it's visible. Look

at verse 11.

You shall be circumcised in the flesh of

your foreskins. Notice this. And it

shall be a sign. It shall be a picture.

It shall be visible of what? Of the

covenant, which is the promise between

me and you. Why? Okay, so God's

obviously brilliant. He He knows exactly

what he's doing. Here's what I think

he's doing. The folks who remember the

who were the folks who were the first

readers of the book of Genesis, the

Israelites before they enter the

promised land. Were any of those people

alive and experienced anything that

Abraham experienced? No. They're taking

it on just like you are. You're just

reading it just like they would.

Except God had given them a visible sign

when they got to this part of the story

to be like, "Oh, the same mark that

started in this chapter, we still bear

today. I wonder if he's the same God

who's over the same promises, who can do

the same things, not just about 400 or

so years between Abraham and the people

of Israel,

but how about another 3,000 years later

to Austin in 2026?

It's a visible sign. It's also a

generational sign. Look at verse 12.

And he who is 8 days old among you,

you shall uh you shall be circumcised.

Every Hold on, I lost my place. He who

is 8 days old among you shall be

circumcised. Every male throughout your

generations, whether born in your house

or bought with your money from any

foreigner who is not of your offspring.

It's generational what you're supposed

to do. And this is again, God's

brilliant. He figured out a mark. He

figured out a practice that you could

pass from generation to generation to

generation to generation to generation.

Right? Guess what? All the males apply

generation to eight days old. We're

going to do this eight, right? So, it's

generational, but it's also practical.

Look at verse 13.

Both he who is born in your house and he

who is bought with your money shall

surely be circumcised.

So shall my covenant, notice this, be in

your flesh an everlasting covenant. Um,

here's what God is doing. He is

literally marking the reproductive

organ. Why? Because what is the promise

at its foundation? Following

generations, the promise is I will be

with you generation after generation

after generation after generation.

That's why he picks this one. Now, for

you and I in 2026 in our basically

hyperindividualistic

culture, it doesn't land on us like it

should. In fact, you're sitting there

going, I wish it didn't land on me at

all.

Here's here's what for you and I in our

culture, you know what we care about? We

care about mostly if we're a success or

not.

What our culture tells you is if you as

an individual have a good resume, if you

kill it in your career, if you're up and

to the right in whatever you decide to

do, congratulations. You are a success.

Do you know what Abraham cares about? Do

you know what the people in the ancient

near east care about? Very little about

their resume, if at all. You know what

they care about? Their kids.

They care about their grandkids. They

care about their great grandkids.

They set up, they live their life for

their progeny.

And so God in his wisdom gives them a

mark, a practice which points to that

last one is theological. So look at

verse 14 and then we're going to be

done. Great.

Any uncircumcised male who is not

circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin

shall be cut off from his people. He has

broken my covenant.

Here's the deal. The way the Hebrew

reads, it's putting before you this.

You're either going to get cut or you're

going to get cut off. That's the

language. Okay. Why? Why? Okay, we're in

Genesis chapter 15 or 17. You have to

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

remember the story. In Genesis chapter

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

1, we read this.

And God blessed them. And God said to

them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill

the earth and subdue it." So what

happens in Genesis 1 says God says,

"Here's the blessing." And they do. And

when you read Genesis 2 through 6, man,

people did multiply. But how did that

multiplication go? Not great. Because

what happens in Genesis chapter 6? God

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

has to start over with one family. He

brings the flood, destroys everyone

except that one family. Then in Genesis

Genesis 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9, you'll never guess what

you're going to read. Noah, be fruitful

and multiply. We're going to try this

again. And guess what happens in Genesis

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11. It went bad again. Shocker.

Tower of Babel. Look what these people

are doing. I got to confuse their

languages and scatter them. So Genesis

12, God is like, would you please listen

to me? Would you please listen to me? I

am going to mark you in a particular

way. to tell you this, you better do

your multiplication my way because if

you do your multiplication your way, not

great.

And now you're like, I know more about

circumcision than I ever want to know in

my life.

What does this have to do with you?

It's in your Bible.

Eric didn't skip it. Although you'll

pray that I skip some things in the

future.

What are our marks?

Things like baptism, Lord's supper,

prayer, Bible reading, Bible

memorization,

worship, confession, giving, serene

fasting, small group, men's, women's,

family worship, spiritual retreat,

songs, and solitude, disciplem, other

things I could have listed. Do you

notice the difference?

Are any of these physical markings like

we're going to cut on you? No. Why?

Because the circumcision that you and I

need is not of the flesh.

The circumcision that you and I need is

of what organ?

The heart.

And guess what? You just can't pull the

heart out and do a sin.

So, how do you do it if that's what you

need? If there's circumcision and when

you read the prophet Jeremiah hundreds

of years later, this is exactly what

he's going to say. Just so you know,

this marking is pointing to another

marking that everyone needs. Why?

Because your real problem isn't

external. What is your real problem?

Mine. It's in here.

It's in here.

Last weekend

uh was the culmination of the Winter

Olympics and in apologies to any of my

Canadian friends.

Uh we whooped you

and uh you hockey used to be yours. Um

it was awesome, right? I was here with

you guys. I didn't get to watch it, but

that afternoon I watched Jack Hughes

goal probably 15 times

that overtime period. It was awesome. Uh

I love hockey. I played as a kid growing

up in well New Jersey. Um

and so it was awesome and um

I enjoyed the Winter Olympics. Uh really

in particularly curling. Have you seen

curling? Every time I turned it on this

year, there was like curling going on. I

was like, I watch some curling. I think

you can do that drunk, but that's fine.

Like like

there you're like I'm a professional

curling player. I'm sorry I offended

you. Um but no, I bring up I bring up

the Olympics because of this. I you know

what I like even more than the events is

the player profiles that they do. And so

like before like so and so skier or

snowboarder is gonna compete in their

event and they're the American like top

dog, um they'll show you like a video

like five minutes of like pictures of

them as a kid, you know, on their skates

for the first time and their skis for

the first time and you can see them

doing their first tricks and then you

can see how they've progressed and like

there's always some footage of them

training at the uh Olympic training

center and man, I just I just love it. I

love watching it. Why?

This is This is how God's wired me.

I love seeing how greatness gets built.

I'm less concerned like like the event

is great. Like like I said, I'll

probably go watch the end of the hockey

game again today. Um

I love watching and figuring out what it

takes to get there. That's what really

interests me. Why? Because I want to be

a world-class dad. I want to be a

worldclass husband. I want to be a

world-class communicator. I want to be a

world-class leader. I want to get as

much as I can out of my talent as

possible that God has given me. And I

love watching other people who do the

same.

Or in other words, I love trying to

figure out their marks.

What's interesting is the Apostle Paul

in first Corinthians, he said this. He

uses an Olympics, at least the very

earliest versions of the Olympics as an

illustration. He says, "Do you not know

that in the race all the runners run,

but only one receives the prize? So,

conclusion, run that you may obtain it."

What's he saying?

Get after it. That's what he's saying.

Work hard.

Verse 25, every athlete exercises

self-control in all things. And then

here's what Paul's trying to scratch his

head about. They do it to receive a

perishable wreath. Like it's it's vapor.

It's going to vanish. But we and

imperishable, how much more should you

and I when it comes to this list,

get after it?

Should you not? Here's what I've seen as

I observe as more and more lives over my

time as a pastor leader and a brother

and a friend and a

you can be world class.

You can have a worldass faith. And the

same thing that you already know

intuitively, the difference between the

gold medal and like finishing 15th is

all in the practice.

It's all in the preparation.

That day of competition just reveals the

practice that was happening in the

background.

And my prayer for each of us is, man,

Eric, what am I supposed to do? You're

supposed to look at a list like this and

say, "Okay, Lord, what do I need in this

season? I need more Bible memorization,

or I need more fasting, or you know

what? I need to get into some group. Or,

you know what, man? Maybe a spiritual

retreat would be good or maybe some

songs and solitude." You can imagine

this is like your your faith toolbox of

how you grow and you'll be like, "Okay,

God, what do I need?" Boom. I need one

of those. I'm gonna bring that in my

season. Here's what I don't want you to

hear. Eric is not saying, "Okay,

congratulations, Lake View Bible Church.

47 things every week. Go get them." Not

what I'm saying.

Not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is

there's a list of practices that if you

and I go after, you know what happens to

your faith? Boom.

Why not you?

Like, here's the thing that just like

gets me. Like, so many people will break

their back over imperishable wreaths.

First Corinthians 3 says that um what

God is going to do with your life, he's

going to take everything you built and

he's going to light it on fire.

see what remains.

My job as your brother and friend is to

tell you that that day is coming. And

like it says there, build with solid

materials.

Make your life like this.

So there's promises, there's practices,

and then last progress. Look at verse

15.

Verse 15. And God said to Abraham, "As

for Sarah, your wife, you shall not call

her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her

name." So both Abraham and Sarah get

their name changed here. Uh Sarah Sarai,

it's a little unclear what it means etm

etmologically,

but Sarah we know for sure means

princess or queen. Why? Why would her

name need to be that? Well, because

queens give birth to kings.

So, we keep reading. Verse 16. I will

bless her. Moreover, I will give you a

son by her. I will bless her and she

shall become nations. Here it is. Kings

of peoples shall come from her. Remember

what we said about Abraham's name. It's

not just identity. It's destiny.

And then verse 17, how does our

intrepid, faithfilled Abraham respond?

And Abraham fell on his face

and laughed.

And he said to himself, "Shall a child

be born to a man who is a hundred years

old? Shall Sarah, who is 90 years old,

bear a child?"

I don't think Can we talk? I I don't

think when Abraham laughs, it's like

derision. I think it's more like when

like you think about you're a hundred

year old dude and you're going to be a

dad again or a big daddy. Um I think I

think it's more like this. He's like,

"Are you kidding me? I'm a bit I think

it's laughing like that."

Um

why?

Because the things

that people think are laughable,

God thinks are possible.

The things that people tend to laugh at,

God says, "Watch me."

When uh when I was talking about this

verse with a couple ladies on our staff,

um

she read this passage and she's like,

she's in her 50s. Uh she's like, "If God

told me I was going to have a kid, I'd

be like, "You're crazy."

Um, and so you can understand why

Abraham might struggle a little bit,

but God's going to do something with

this laughter. Verse 18, "And Abraham

said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might

live before you." Abraham's trying to

find another way.

God said, "No, but Sarah, your wife,

shall bear you a son, and you shall call

his name Isaac," which means laughter.

Why? Again, we saw this, but with the

naming of Ishmael last week, what God is

going to do is he's going to be so kind

and he's going to be so gracious and

he's going to use the name of the child

as a reminder.

what you think is laughable I can do.

He says, "I will establish my covenant

with him as an everlasting covenant for

his offspring after him. As for

Ishmael," God's going to say, "Don't

worry, I got him. I've heard you.

Behold, I have blessed him and will make

him fruitful and multiply him greatly.

He shall father 12 princes, and I will

make him into a great nation." And then

notice is verse 21. But I will establish

my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall

bear to you at this time next year.

They're finally making progress.

How long have they been waiting? Did you

do the math? When did God show up? How

old was uh Abraham? 75.

They've had to wait 24

years, right? I don't like to wait 24

minutes.

And what's God saying? He's like,

"Progress is coming." I promise you,

progress is coming. It will feel like

for years that nothing's happening. Your

prayers are not being answered. It will

feel like God isn't paying attention to

you. It will feel like he has left you

for some bigger project that he's got to

do in the world. And you'll be like,

"God, when are you going to show up?"

And just when you need it, he's going to

say progress.

My wife Heather and I, not Heather Van

Staver, who you saw a few minutes ago,

my wife is Heather Craigmore. Uh we have

like 57 Heathers here. Uh trying to keep

them all straight. Uh we early on in our

marriage, uh found ourselves in

counseling and you know, just we needed

to work on some things. And let me just

give you some kind of heads up. I highly

recommend it. It's good for you as a

couple. Uh find a good one. We have a

good counselor that actually attends uh

Lake View that I would recommend. Uh but

we go in there and we like every week

we're in there and here's how you tend

to or at least I'll just speak for

myself and Heather. Well, when we walked

into our counselor's office, here's

here's your posture. Hi, I'm the

husband. Would you please fix her?

That's how you do it. and she's there in

her chair going, "He's obviously the

problem. Please help him." Okay? And

then you know what the counselor does?

He works on both of you and both of you

together because guess what? You both

got problems.

One of the things that we worked on was

being able to have better communication.

No one is surprised by that because

partly if this has been your experience

as a couple, you can just now feel like

you're not the only one. So Heather

would bring something up to me and she

would have her list of grievances.

Eric, you're screwing this up and

screwing I'm I'm paraphrasing. Um this

and this and I would because I'm I'm

just a great guy. I would listen

intently and take it all in. No. What

What do we do? I got my list, too.

Here's how you're screwing up. And

here's how you're screwing up. And

married folks, how does that go?

horribly, horribly, horrible.

So, if that's your experience, know

you're not alone.

Here's what happened.

Uh,

one Friday night, we have a disagreement

and Heather goes

something like, "That's what I'm talking

about. That's what the counselor is

trying to tell you. This is what you do

all the time." And for the first time, I

didn't get out my list.

and I was able to receive it. I said,

"You're right

and I'm sorry."

And in that moment, like internally,

like I'm like, "I made progress. I did

the thing that tells me to do."

Why do I tell you that? Well, one,

because I want you to hear that I need

to work on my stuff, too. I'm no

different.

Um,

but what what progress does God want you

to make?

What progress is God trying to get you

to make?

What progress right now? Just you

individually, maybe you as a couple,

maybe you with your relationships, maybe

you with your fear and anxiety, maybe

you in with your courage.

What progress does the Lord want you to

make?

How does that progress happen? Now,

you're going to see Genesis 17. It

starts with promises

and then you add some practices and then

guess what you will inevitably do

because God's in it. You'll make

progress.

I promise you. I promise you. Keep at

the promises.

Keep at the practices

and you will make progress.

It has to work that way. Why? because

he's faithful

and he loves you and he wants you to

make more progress than even you want to

make.

So what do you want to do?

What I want to do is I want us to be a

people who are really getting after it

in all that the Lord has for us. But

guess what? It's going to take work.

Again, just hear me as your brother.

Like if we work hard for imperishable

wreaths,

how much more should you and I get after

taking the promises of God and the

practices that he's given me and allow

that to circumcise this heart

so that I'm different

and that you're different.

That we're all growing a little more

like Jesus.

It's the hardest. I promise you, it's

the hardest thing you'll ever do. But

it's also the most rewarding.

It's better than a gold medal.

Marriage, Heather and I, that's not

perfect, but man, it's so much better.

Last week, I invited us to start asking

and answering this question.

What's the Holy Spirit saying to you?

What are you going to do about it?

What do you What do you think? Do you

think God wants you to make more

progress or less?

I watched the uh the celebration after

the goal.

Did you see it?

So joy

chucking gloves and sticks and hats.

One day that will be your story. Why?

Because you are going to experience

something when you see Jesus. Even

better than that.

Here's the invitation. How much do that

you want to make between this day and

that day.

Let's bow our heads.

Father,

we declare that you are a good God and a

good dad and that you love us, your

kids. And I just pray you a blessing

over each and every one of us. That

whatever it is that you're calling us

into, whatever progress that we're

supposed to make, that you would do it.

That you would speak clearly to our

hearts and minds. that you would work in

us and through us for your good

purposes. That we would run our race

knowing that you're the one that's

carrying us along. It's your energy at

work in us. It's your spirit at work in

us and that you're doing good work.

And I pray that you answer the prayers

of my brothers and sisters and you help

them in every way that you need to.

And I pray that we have great joy on the

journey.

Thank you for your love and thank you

for Jesus. We pray in his name and

everyone said amen.