God's Faithfulness When We Are Unfaithful | Promises Made, Promises Kept | Pastor Zach Weihrauch

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Genesis 16 one through 16.

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Now Sarai, Abraham's wife, had borne him

no children.

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She had a female Egyptian servant

whose name was Hagar.

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And Sarai said to Abraham.

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Behold, now the Lord has prevented me

from bearing children.

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Go in to my servant.

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It may be that

I shall obtain children by her.

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And Abraham, listen to the voice of Sarai.

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So after Abraham had lived

ten years in the land of Canaan,

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Sarai, Abraham's wife, took Hagar

the Egyptian, her servant,

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and gave her to Abraham,

her husband, as a wife.

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And he went into Hagar, and she conceived.

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And when she saw that she had conceived,

she looked with contempt on her mistress.

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And Sarai said to Abraham,

May the wrong done to me be on you.

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I gave my servant to your embrace.

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And when she saw that she had conceived,

she looked on me with contempt.

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May the Lord judge between you and me.

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But Abraham said to Sarai, behold,

your servant is in your power.

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Do to her as you please.

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Then, sir, I dealt harshly with her,

and she fled from her.

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The angel of the Lord found her

by a spring of water in the wilderness.

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The spring on the way to shore.

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And he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai,

where have you come from?

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And where are you going?

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She said, I'm fleeing from my mistress.

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Sarai.

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The angel of the Lord said to her,

return to your mistress and submit to her.

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The angel of the Lord also said to her,

I will surely multiply

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your offspring, so that they cannot

be numbered for multitude.

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And the angel of the Lord said to her,

behold, you are pregnant,

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and shall bear a son.

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You shall call his name Ishmael, because

the Lord has listened to your affliction.

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He shall be a wild donkey of a man.

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His hand against everyone,

and everyone's hand against him.

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And he shall dwell over

against all his kinsmen.

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So she called the name of the Lord

who spoke to her.

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You are a God of seeing.

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For she said, truly here

I have seen him who looks after me.

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Therefore the well was called dear Leroy.

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It lies between Kadesh and Bharat,

and Hagar bore Abraham a son,

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and Abraham called the name of his son,

whom Hagar bore Ishmael.

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Abraham was 86 years old

when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abraham.

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Well, good morning and

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welcome to the weekly gathering of Christ

Community Chapel.

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My name is Zach.

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I'm one of the pastors here, and I'm

so glad you're with us.

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This father's Day weekend.

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I'm excited to continue our sermon series

for the summer.

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We're in week four of a ten week series

where we're looking

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at God, acting in human history

through the family of Abraham,

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making very big promises and keeping them.

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We're actually calling this series

Promises Made, Promises Kept,

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and our hope is over

the course of this summer that by studying

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these stories, we would develop confidence

and an affection for a God

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who is acting in human history

by making promises and keeping them.

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But I do think there's a danger

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the bigger God gets in these stories.

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The bigger

the promises get, the more incredible

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he is and the incredible things

he does in the lives of people.

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There's a danger that for some of us,

if we come in this weekend

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and our stories

are not in a great chapter,

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if we come in, a little cold,

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feeling guilty, ashamed, dirty, distant,

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then a big god like, the bigger he gets,

the more incredible the things he does.

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The smaller we feel.

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The more incredible

he is, the more distance

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we feel between him and us

so that we might say,

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well, God does make promises

and keep them to some people.

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I mean, the way we would say

some people have money

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or some people have good marriages,

healthy families, success.

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That doesn't mean that I do

or that you do.

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The danger is that we would feel like

God is doing incredible things

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in the lives of other people,

but because of our stories,

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our decisions,

that couldn't be true of us.

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So we want to do is kind of hit pause

a little bit and say, well,

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hold on a second.

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Is God still faithful to his promises?

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When we are unfaithful,

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what happens to

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God's promises

when we make a mess of things?

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Does he change? Do they?

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That's the question

we're exploring this weekend.

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We're going to do that

by looking at Genesis 16.

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So if you have a Bible

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and you want to follow along that way,

would you open it to Genesis 16?

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Perfectly okay.

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To take out your phone or your tablet.

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Get there however you can.

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And the verses I reference

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are going to be on the screen behind me,

so don't feel like you have to.

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But if you're here and you're new

and maybe you didn't bring a Bible,

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you're not super familiar

with your Bible with a Bible,

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but you would like to participate

in that way.

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There are Bibles in the pew

in front of you

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or in the back of the room in East Hall,

and those are available for you.

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I actually preach from one of those Bibles

so that I can tell you

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today's reading is on page ten and 11.

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And hey,

if you're new to thinking about God,

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this week was the perfect week

for you to come.

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I'm so glad you're here.

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I can't

wait for what God has to say to you.

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Thanks for being here.

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I am going to use Genesis 16,

of course, to answer the question,

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but I'm also going to weave

in one metaphor throughout the sermon.

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It's a jewelry store, a metaphor.

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So my three points actually go like this

I want to talk about the velvet,

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the diamond

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and the proposal, the velvet,

the diamond and the proposal.

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All right, let's dive into point number

one, the velvet.

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I hope you noticed when this passage

was being read

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that it is a pretty ugly chapter.

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There are a lot of really dark things

going on.

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Like if I told you

that I had just consumed some content.

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And here's what it was about.

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It's about a couple struggling

with infertility and turning

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against each other.

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It's about an affair with an employee

that explodes.

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It's about two women

who are rivals and a weak

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man who can't love either one of them.

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It's about chaos and dysfunction.

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You might think I'm

describing a new series on HBO,

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but I'm not.

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That's Genesis 16 two.

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Two things

I want you to see from Genesis 16.

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The first is that it's full of people

hurting people.

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It's full of people hurting people.

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Like, for example,

Sarai comes to her husband

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Abraham, who I will probably, by the way,

refer to as Abraham and Sarah.

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Their names change in the next chapter.

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But, she comes to him and she says,

hey, look, I know God's made this promise

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that we two elderly people

who have struggled

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with infertility are going to have a baby,

but it's just not happening.

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So I have an idea.

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There's a local custom that says,

if you sleep with my slave girl

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and she gets pregnant, since we own her,

we also own her baby.

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So if we do it that way,

maybe she can give you a child

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and that can be our child.

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It's a monstrous thing to say to her

husband.

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It's a monstrous idea to put in his brain.

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It's similar to Eve going to Adam

and saying, here's some fruit,

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you should eat it.

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But of course, Abraham is hurting Sarah.

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I mean, I've been married

for almost 20 years,

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and I know when Amy says to me,

how do I look in this dress?

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There's a certain

answer I'm expected to give.

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So when Sarah

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goes to Abraham and she says, hey,

what do you think?

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Maybe

you ought to sleep with my slave girl.

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I know she means it,

but I think at least part of her is hoping

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he will say, absolutely not.

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I don't just want a child.

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I want a child with you, Sarah.

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Absolutely not. But he doesn't.

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And then Hagar, of course, the slave girl

who's owned by another human being,

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which, of course is monstrous,

has no say in any of this.

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Abraham and Sarah sin against her,

hurt her by making her do this

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so that they can take the child

if she gets pregnant.

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And then, of course, she's awful

because eventually

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she does get pregnant

and she throws that in Sarah's face.

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Look, you must be defective

because I can give him a child.

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And then Abraham sins against both of them

by being totally unable to lead

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either one of them. Here's the point.

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First thing you see in

Genesis 16 is our world

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is full of people hurting people.

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What about you?

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Is your story like mine?

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Are there are some moments

you wish you could get back?

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Some things you wish you hadn't said,

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some things you wish you hadn't done.

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The second thing I want you to see from

Genesis 16, though, is not just that

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people hurt people,

but hurting people hurt people.

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Because one way of reading Genesis 16

is it's full of people hurting others.

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But the other thing is,

there are three main figures in this story

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and they are all themselves hurting.

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Abraham is an elderly man

who has yet to have a son,

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and I have to be honest,

I hope you're okay with me saying this.

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When I read the story of Abraham,

I often say to God, you know God.

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Infertility is one of the hardest things

for any human being to walk through.

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I have friends who have been through

that journey.

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It's incredibly painful and I can't help

but feel like God in some ways.

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You intense to fight Abraham's pain

because he had made his peace

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with not having a son.

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And then you come in

and you go, you're going to have one.

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And every day wakes up going, is it today?

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Is it today? Is it today?

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Abraham is hurting.

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Sarah is hurting.

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In this culture,

if a couple couldn't get pregnant,

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you blamed the woman,

which of course is horrific.

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So, Abraham, you imagine the first day

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Abraham comes home

and he goes, guess what?

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Talk to God today

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who has two thumbs

and is getting ready to have a baby.

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And then every day,

Sarah can't make that happen.

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And then Abraham sleeps with Hagar

and she gets pregnant.

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Which means, at least in Sarah's

mind, biologically, she is the problem.

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And then, of course, Hagar,

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can you imagine

what it's like to be born a slave?

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You don't have a future

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you don't dream about one day.

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There's no one day for you.

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You're owned by another human being.

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You see,

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the Bible tells us that our world isn't

just full of people hurting people.

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It's full of hurting

people. What about you?

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Your story

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full of times people have hurt you.

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I want you to.

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I want you to see something in the Bible.

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We don't need Genesis 16

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to tell the incredible story

about what God is doing in Abraham.

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You have to understand that

we don't need it.

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God can just come to an elderly couple

that is infertile

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and say, you're going to have a kid.

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Next verse they have a kid and we go, wow.

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But the very next thing

after we say, wow, I would be

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that would never happen in my story

and in my life.

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You see, Genesis 16 is God telling you

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he knows the world you live in.

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He knows your story. He knows mine.

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He knows the world is full

of hurting people who hurt people.

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Genesis 16 is God saying

the Bible takes place in the real world

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with real people who are hurting, with

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real people who are hurting other people.

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It takes place in your world

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and in mine.

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I told you I

was going to use a jewelry store metaphor.

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You know, when you walk in a jewelry store

and you look at a case inside the case,

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you'll find a lot of this

kind of black velvet,

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totally unremarkable on its own, in fact,

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not only unremarkable, little depressing.

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It's black.

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It's void.

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It's pointless.

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It's meaningless.

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That is our world.

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The Bible is telling us.

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That if you came in this weekend,

you're feeling guilty.

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You're feeling dirty.

You're feeling broken.

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You're feeling frustrated

internally and externally.

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If you came in this weekend having hurt

people, if you came in this weekend,

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having been hurt by people,

this chapter of the Bible is for you.

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God sees the velvet of your story

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and he knows he can't

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say one more thing about big promises

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until he talks about that.

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And that leads me to my second point,

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which is to say not just the velvet,

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but the diamond in my pocket.

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Here I have a totally real

and totally expensive diamond.

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You see, the whole reason

jewelry stores have the black velvet is

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so that when you put a diamond on it, it

pops, right.

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The velvet is intended

to make the diamond shine,

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to make sure your attention is drawn

where it needs to be.

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And friends, I want you to see that

the Bible tells a story that in a black

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velvet world,

the diamond of God's promise sparkles.

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And if you're paying attention in Genesis

16, you're saying, well,

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what happens now? Right?

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What happens to God's faithfulness

when we are unfaithful?

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Which is why we have to look ahead

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to Genesis 17, where Pastor Joe

will preach on this next week.

00:14:34:26 - 00:14:37:11

But, he can't stop me,

so I'm going to borrow from it.

00:14:38:34 - 00:14:41:07

If you have a Bible, look on page 11,

very next chapter,

00:14:41:07 - 00:14:44:52

Genesis 17, God's

going to have a conversation with Abraham.

00:14:44:52 - 00:14:48:20

And you have to know this happens

right after Genesis 16.

00:14:48:54 - 00:14:49:18

Okay.

00:14:49:18 - 00:14:53:49

Keep in mind the velvet of Genesis 16

is our background.

00:14:53:49 - 00:14:55:17

Here's how that conversation goes.

00:14:55:17 - 00:14:57:29

Pick it up in verse 15.

00:14:57:29 - 00:15:00:28

And God said to Abraham,

00:15:00:34 - 00:15:03:23

as for Sarah, your wife,

you shall not call her

00:15:03:23 - 00:15:06:23

name Sarah, but Sarah shall be her name.

00:15:07:08 - 00:15:11:27

I will bless her, and moreover,

I will give you a son by her.

00:15:12:03 - 00:15:15:38

I will bless her,

and she shall become nations,

00:15:15:58 - 00:15:19:03

kings of people shall come from her.

00:15:19:34 - 00:15:22:46

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed,

and said to himself,

00:15:22:52 - 00:15:26:38

shall a child

be born to a man who is 100 years old?

00:15:26:38 - 00:15:30:12

Shall Sarah,

who is 90 years old, bear a child?

00:15:30:21 - 00:15:34:40

And Abraham said to God,

oh, that Ishmael might live before you.

00:15:34:40 - 00:15:37:27

That's the son

he had with Hagar. By the way.

00:15:39:21 - 00:15:41:16

And God said, no, but,

00:15:41:16 - 00:15:45:13

Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son,

and you shall call his name Isaac.

00:15:45:24 - 00:15:49:03

I will establish my covenant with him

as an everlasting covenant

00:15:49:14 - 00:15:50:40

for his offspring after him.

00:15:50:40 - 00:15:53:17

As for Ishmael, I have heard you.

00:15:53:17 - 00:15:58:05

Behold, I have blessed him, and will make

him fruitful, and multiply him greatly.

00:15:58:14 - 00:16:01:37

He will fathered 12 princes,

and I will make him into a great nation.

00:16:01:46 - 00:16:04:47

But I will establish my covenant

with Isaac, whom

00:16:04:47 - 00:16:08:09

Sarah shall bear to you at this time

next year.

00:16:08:09 - 00:16:12:37

Friends,

we are only 22 verses from Abraham

00:16:12:37 - 00:16:16:47

and Sarah

sending Hagar into the wilderness to die

00:16:18:33 - 00:16:21:49

were 22 verses removed from an affair,

00:16:21:52 - 00:16:26:53

from an explosion,

from chaos, from dysfunction, from velvet.

00:16:26:53 - 00:16:31:24

And within 22 verses, all three people,

Abraham, Sarah and Hagar,

00:16:31:24 - 00:16:35:58

which we'll look at in a minute, have

already received another promise from God.

00:16:38:11 - 00:16:40:54

You know what that means?

00:16:40:54 - 00:16:43:16

It means that God

00:16:43:16 - 00:16:46:16

is establishing relationship with people,

00:16:47:17 - 00:16:50:17

not on the basis of who they are

00:16:50:21 - 00:16:53:04

and what they do,

00:16:53:04 - 00:16:56:01

but on the basis of who he is.

00:16:56:01 - 00:16:59:44

That means God is making promises

00:16:59:44 - 00:17:04:46

and keeping promises to unfaithful people,

00:17:04:53 - 00:17:08:32

hurting people who have hurt people.

00:17:08:32 - 00:17:10:11

That this means two things.

00:17:10:11 - 00:17:12:01

One is if you're here

and you don't know where you're at

00:17:12:01 - 00:17:13:34

with God,

you wouldn't call yourself a Christian.

00:17:13:34 - 00:17:16:59

You know what you call yourself

and you're going, if God is out there

00:17:16:59 - 00:17:20:49

and if God is doing something,

it isn't for people like me.

00:17:20:49 - 00:17:23:51

Genesis 16 is God hitting the pause

button and saying,

00:17:24:13 - 00:17:27:54

I refuse to move forward with the story

until you know how wrong you are.

00:17:30:57 - 00:17:33:57

His Abraham heroic.

00:17:34:24 - 00:17:37:06

Is Sarah virtuous?

00:17:37:06 - 00:17:39:23

Is Hagar innocent?

00:17:39:23 - 00:17:40:20

No, no.

00:17:40:20 - 00:17:46:31

But God is not basing his promises

on the moral performance of people.

00:17:46:31 - 00:17:51:07

By the way, if he was,

no one could ever get a promise.

00:17:51:16 - 00:17:55:41

There are only in this room

and on this stage and holding this

00:17:55:41 - 00:17:59:27

microphone,

hurting people who hurt people.

00:17:59:29 - 00:18:05:04

God is offering you relationship with him,

a future with him

00:18:05:05 - 00:18:08:41

on the basis of his performance,

not yours.

00:18:08:57 - 00:18:11:57

And it has to be that way.

00:18:12:10 - 00:18:13:45

But second, if you're here

00:18:13:45 - 00:18:17:03

and you're a Christian brother

or sister in Christ, how tempting it is

00:18:17:17 - 00:18:20:08

when we do what we ought not

00:18:20:08 - 00:18:23:17

when when we grow spiritually cold.

00:18:23:19 - 00:18:27:47

How tempting it is to lean in to shame

and to stay away from God.

00:18:27:52 - 00:18:31:37

And days become weeks and weeks

become months and months become years.

00:18:31:37 - 00:18:33:28

Some of you haven't been in church

in a while.

00:18:33:28 - 00:18:35:32

Others sit in church every week.

00:18:35:32 - 00:18:37:04

But the off switch is on.

00:18:37:04 - 00:18:41:12

There's no connection with God

because we're too ashamed to admit to him

00:18:41:19 - 00:18:45:06

what we've done for 22 verses after chaos,

00:18:46:43 - 00:18:50:14

he's reminding

them he's going to do everything he said.

00:18:50:14 - 00:18:54:20

Brother, sister in Christ,

why would you stay away another second?

00:18:55:34 - 00:18:58:48

Hasn't

your hope always been his faithfulness?

00:18:58:57 - 00:19:02:47

Has it your hope always been that

against the velvet of your sin

00:19:02:47 - 00:19:07:06

and mine,

the diamond of his promise shines.

00:19:07:51 - 00:19:12:11

And so we have to open ourselves

up to the idea that God is building

00:19:12:12 - 00:19:16:45

relationship on his work, not ours.

00:19:18:24 - 00:19:19:00

Can I know?

00:19:19:00 - 00:19:22:00

I know what you're thinking

because it's what I would be thinking.

00:19:22:00 - 00:19:24:59

You're thinking, well, okay,

for these people,

00:19:26:44 - 00:19:29:22

but how could I ever know?

00:19:29:22 - 00:19:30:28

How could I ever believe?

00:19:30:28 - 00:19:34:02

How could I ever trust

that God is doing that for me?

00:19:34:02 - 00:19:35:25

Well, that's my third point.

00:19:35:25 - 00:19:38:41

Not just the velvet,

not just the diamond, but the proposal.

00:19:39:48 - 00:19:42:46

Because

after all, if you're single and lonely,

00:19:42:46 - 00:19:45:46

a jewelry store

is the most depressing place to be.

00:19:47:26 - 00:19:49:14

The idea that someone out there is

00:19:49:14 - 00:19:52:14

falling in love is not encouraging to you.

00:19:52:27 - 00:19:55:19

Someone reminded me this week

that you can find lots of diamonds for

00:19:55:19 - 00:19:58:19

sale on Facebook Marketplace.

00:19:58:32 - 00:20:01:31

That's not because things went well.

00:20:03:23 - 00:20:04:38

No, a diamond

00:20:04:38 - 00:20:08:45

only becomes special

when someone picks it out for you.

00:20:08:45 - 00:20:12:35

I remember when I was saving

for Amy's engagement ring.

00:20:12:35 - 00:20:13:34

I was working at a bookstore.

00:20:13:34 - 00:20:16:34

I was in college,

and every Friday I would get paid

00:20:16:40 - 00:20:19:48

and I would go to the bank

and I would take out just enough for gas,

00:20:19:48 - 00:20:20:57

and then I would go to the jewelry store.

00:20:20:57 - 00:20:22:48

I must have had it on layaway

or something.

00:20:22:48 - 00:20:27:05

I would give them the rest of my money

week after week after week

00:20:27:12 - 00:20:30:14

after week

after week, after you get the picture.

00:20:32:49 - 00:20:33:36

And when I look back

00:20:33:36 - 00:20:37:26

on that time now,

I realize that the powerful part of what

00:20:37:26 - 00:20:41:19

I was saying to Amy, and it still holds

true, is that she was worth it.

00:20:43:06 - 00:20:44:21

That's the power of a diamond.

00:20:44:21 - 00:20:48:51

When someone takes it off of the case

and puts it on your finger.

00:20:48:51 - 00:20:52:37

Friends, I wouldn't want you to think

that God's promises are out there

00:20:52:37 - 00:20:56:20

somewhere for someone at some time.

00:20:56:26 - 00:20:58:48

God doesn't

want you to walk in a jewelry store

00:20:58:48 - 00:21:02:11

and see all the diamonds

of what he's doing for everybody else.

00:21:02:11 - 00:21:05:14

God wants to take one out of the case

and put it on your finger.

00:21:05:20 - 00:21:06:37

So how do you know that?

00:21:06:37 - 00:21:10:00

Because the least important person

in this story

00:21:10:00 - 00:21:14:52

in Genesis 16 is a unwed mother

who's a slave

00:21:14:52 - 00:21:18:40

girl living in the wilderness,

thrown out by her owners.

00:21:18:40 - 00:21:21:40

She does not matter to the story,

and she's the only one.

00:21:21:40 - 00:21:23:12

In Genesis 16, God speaks to.

00:21:27:00 - 00:21:28:53

Look with me at Genesis 16, verse six.

00:21:28:53 - 00:21:30:54

It's the most monstrous verse

in the entire passage.

00:21:30:54 - 00:21:33:18

Here's what it says.

00:21:33:18 - 00:21:35:50

But Abraham said, Sarah, I behold,

00:21:35:50 - 00:21:38:52

your servant is in your power

00:21:39:59 - 00:21:42:24

due to her as you please.

00:21:42:24 - 00:21:46:04

And then Sarah, I dealt harshly with her,

and she fled from her.

00:21:46:47 - 00:21:49:12

You know, if Hagar story ends there,

00:21:49:12 - 00:21:52:07

we would get that, wouldn't we?

00:21:52:07 - 00:21:52:59

Wouldn't be right.

00:21:52:59 - 00:21:56:31

But the world shows up and spits out

Hagar's.

00:21:57:25 - 00:21:58:51

We know that.

00:21:58:51 - 00:22:02:20

So if her story ends there, we would

understand what makes sense to us.

00:22:02:38 - 00:22:04:46

But it doesn't.

00:22:04:46 - 00:22:07:40

God comes looking for her.

00:22:07:40 - 00:22:08:50

God wants her.

00:22:08:50 - 00:22:11:55

God is pausing the story

of what he's doing

00:22:11:55 - 00:22:15:37

and Abraham and Sarah to come after her

and after the encounter.

00:22:15:37 - 00:22:17:51

This is what Hagar says in verse 13.

00:22:17:51 - 00:22:23:12

So she called the name of the Lord

who spoke to her, you are a God of seeing.

00:22:24:18 - 00:22:24:45

For she

00:22:24:45 - 00:22:28:35

said, truly here I have seen him

who looks after me did you know

00:22:28:35 - 00:22:32:45

the first person in the Bible to name

God is an unwed

00:22:33:05 - 00:22:36:05

slave girl mother on the run?

00:22:37:15 - 00:22:39:41

And you know what she names him?

00:22:39:41 - 00:22:42:40

The God who sees me.

00:22:43:33 - 00:22:46:57

Because you see, God isn't

just about big stories and big promises.

00:22:47:08 - 00:22:50:40

God isn't just about jewelry stores

and cases of diamonds.

00:22:50:49 - 00:22:55:44

God is about pursuing,

hurting individuals who have hurt others

00:22:55:44 - 00:23:00:43

and been hurt and making sure they know

he has a promise for them.

00:23:00:46 - 00:23:06:08

When you are reading Genesis 16, right,

you love the God who comes after Hagar,

00:23:06:12 - 00:23:09:15

and the hard cry of your life is God.

00:23:09:24 - 00:23:13:06

How could I know that you would

come after me the same way?

00:23:15:19 - 00:23:18:18

And the answer to that, friends,

00:23:18:45 - 00:23:20:06

is the life, death,

00:23:20:06 - 00:23:23:06

and resurrection of Jesus Christ,

00:23:24:20 - 00:23:28:28

God's own son,

who leaves the jewelry store

00:23:29:38 - 00:23:32:38

to find you in the wilderness

00:23:33:07 - 00:23:37:15

so that you wouldn't be left

out of the big promise of God.

00:23:37:15 - 00:23:40:24

Here's what the Apostle Paul writes

in the book of Romans chapter five.

00:23:40:24 - 00:23:44:08

He says it this way tell me,

if you don't hear Hagar echoing in these

00:23:44:08 - 00:23:47:28

verses, it says, for a while

we were still weak

00:23:48:44 - 00:23:50:05

at the right time.

00:23:50:05 - 00:23:52:59

Christ died for the ungodly.

00:23:52:59 - 00:23:55:57

For one will scarcely die

for a righteous person, though

00:23:55:57 - 00:23:59:11

perhaps for a good person

one would dare even to die.

00:23:59:11 - 00:24:02:11

But God shows his love for us,

00:24:02:13 - 00:24:06:46

in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

00:24:06:46 - 00:24:09:19

You see, Jesus is God coming to us.

00:24:09:19 - 00:24:12:44

Jesus is God saying to us, I'm

going to come myself.

00:24:12:44 - 00:24:15:15

I'm going to live

righteously in your place.

00:24:15:15 - 00:24:20:03

Jesus goes to the cross

having never hurt a single person,

00:24:20:10 - 00:24:25:08

but on the cross

he becomes a hurting person who has hurt

00:24:25:08 - 00:24:30:34

people as he carries my sin and he carries

the sins of all who will trust him.

00:24:30:39 - 00:24:34:40

And he comes up under the weight and anger

and wrath of God.

00:24:34:44 - 00:24:39:39

And God pours out his judgment on the

Jesus so that Jesus's final words are.

00:24:39:39 - 00:24:44:17

It is finished and he dies.

00:24:44:48 - 00:24:46:34

And three days later

he raises from the dead.

00:24:46:34 - 00:24:51:16

And he says, if you will see in me

the God who sees you,

00:24:51:16 - 00:24:56:33

if you will find in me an entry point

for you into the great story of God,

00:24:56:33 - 00:24:57:30

if you'll find in me

00:24:57:30 - 00:25:02:27

not just a macro promise,

but a micro promise, a promise for you.

00:25:02:29 - 00:25:05:07

You can be with God forever,

just like Hagar.

00:25:05:07 - 00:25:06:35

Not because you earned it,

00:25:07:51 - 00:25:11:39

but because

praise God he earned it for you.

00:25:12:48 - 00:25:16:02

Friends, we don't need Genesis 16

to tell the story of a promise

00:25:16:02 - 00:25:17:30

making promise, keeping God.

00:25:17:30 - 00:25:19:32

Genesis 16 isn't about God.

00:25:19:32 - 00:25:21:16

It's about you.

00:25:21:16 - 00:25:24:14

It's about me.

00:25:24:14 - 00:25:28:42

It's about letting us know

that if we come to God in faith in Jesus,

00:25:28:42 - 00:25:31:42

his faithfulness

00:25:31:51 - 00:25:36:12

will swallow up our unfaithfulness.

00:25:36:52 - 00:25:37:49

Let's pray.

00:25:37:49 - 00:25:40:43

Father God,

thank you so much for Genesis 16.

00:25:40:43 - 00:25:43:43

Somewhere this weekend there's a Hagar

00:25:44:44 - 00:25:46:16

who has long given up

00:25:46:16 - 00:25:49:30

the idea you you love Abraham,

you love Sarah.

00:25:49:30 - 00:25:54:45

There are some people here who know you,

who are experiencing you, but not them.

00:25:54:45 - 00:25:55:12

And God.

00:25:55:12 - 00:25:58:30

Not because of the sermon, not not because

of anything that happened, but.

00:25:58:46 - 00:26:02:43

But through the power of your Holy Spirit,

would you, the God who sees

00:26:02:43 - 00:26:04:15

draw near to them even now?

00:26:08:35 - 00:26:11:07

God, for those of us who belong to

you already that we would

00:26:11:07 - 00:26:15:02

remember our our unfaithfulness

is not a reason to hide from you.

00:26:15:02 - 00:26:16:57

It's a reason to run to you.

00:26:16:57 - 00:26:18:08

We are the velvet.

00:26:18:08 - 00:26:21:07

You are the diamond.

00:26:21:54 - 00:26:24:54

Our individual diamond.

00:26:26:16 - 00:26:28:06

Jesus name we pray. Amen.