In God We Trust - Without Understanding | Sunday Message

Welcome to the Do Life Different podcast by 1128 Community.

Today you're listening to our most recent message.

We are a church community in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, led by co-pastors Mike and Colleen Francisco.

1128 is about helping people do life different by setting rhythms and values with Jesus at the center.

If you want to connect with us, text the word podcast to 414-441-1128.

We hope today's message helps you in your faith journey.

Something about me that that I don't share very often, but I feel comfortable today letting all of you know is I got a little bit of a fear of water.

Anyone else got a fear of water?

Okay.

Just me and Marcy.

Mercy.

Okay.

We're the only ones.

Everyone else is like, no, I love water.

For me, the fear of water goes back to my childhood.

I don't remember it, but my my parents tell me that I almost drowned as a kid.

I thought that I could walk on water like Jesus and just walked right off the edge at the hotel and was down there at the bottom, you know, and my dad had to jump in and pull me out.

And I don't remember that, but I I think that because of that experience, I've I've always had this fear of water.

In middle school, or let me before I even get there, in elementary school, I took swim lessons.

Anybody taking swim lessons right now?

I think there's a couple people.

Anybody that's taken them like currently, I think I there's a couple.

Anybody that's taken them previously, like when you were a kid or a little bit younger.

Yeah.

So for me, my mom and dad wanted me to learn how to swim, and so I went to the YMCA to get swim lessons, and it was a terrible experience.

I got water in my ears over and over and over so bad that I got multiple ear infections.

I eventually had to get tubes put in my ears because it was so terrible.

And so, like my my history with water just it was it wasn't good.

Middle school, we're going down to Lake Geneva to one of the youth camps down there, and uh and I'm in like sixth grade, seventh grade, right?

So I'm a I'm a dumb middle school boy, and I think like, oh yeah, I'm just gonna dump jump into this lake, and uh it's gonna be a great time, right?

It's it's not the big lake, it's one of the little lakes off to the side there.

So I run and I and I go to jump off the dock into the lake.

My feet flip out from under me.

I hit my head on the back of the dock.

I'm I hit the water.

And anybody ever jumped into a lake before?

And you know what's like in the bottom of a lake?

It's it's just nasty.

I don't even know what it is.

It's just like algae and mud and years and years of years of runoff that's probably like contaminated, it's terrible stuff, biohazard in there, right?

And I just stuck in this lake, and the water's like right up to here, right?

And I'm like freaking out, can't get myself out.

Like, I I got a history with water, and I got a little bit of a fear of water.

And so this summer, when our family went away for a family camp for a few days just a little bit north of here in Fredonia, the woods, if you've never heard of it, it's an awesome Christian camp.

They got things going on there all year round for students and families and people of all ages.

Uh, they had one of those water obstacle courses.

And so, in my mind, I'm like, that's nice for everybody to do.

But you see, the problem is I got two kids that fit in the category of everybody that like to do those things.

And so they are wanting to swim out there to this obstacle course and do the water obstacle course.

And Colleen's out there then, and I'm like, oh, I'm I'm the dad sitting on this on the side here, just watching them all have fun.

So I do what every dad probably has done at one point or another.

I suck it up and I start walking through the lake like this, you know, touching all the nasty stuff in the on the ground or in the bottom of the lake there, and just like, what am I doing?

I think I'm gonna lose a foot, you know.

And uh, and I finally get out to the to the point of the water obstacle course, and I'm like, oh, I can still kind of like touch, like this is okay, and uh get myself up onto it.

There's a little step on the outside.

You pull myself up, and I'm like, oh, I'm out, I'm out here.

Then, because I have kids that you know they want to do the obstacle course, that's hey, you've got to do this, dad.

Like, you gotta get around to where we are.

And I'm like, uh, okay, whatever.

Like, yes, I I sure like this thing looks like it belongs to an American Ninja Warrior, right?

But like those people aren't in like the prime physical condition that I'm in, probably.

So like I can do this, I can get from here to there.

So I start making my way around.

And I'm happy to say I got halfway before in my mind I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna do this next one.

Because the next one that I that I had to like sit there and like plan out what I was gonna do was the the kind where like it's got the open middle and it's got a big plate on you know each side, and you kind of like have to hop back and forth.

You know what I'm talking about?

Have you seen this?

So in my mind, I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna hop, hop, hop, hop, and it's six hops, and I'm there, right?

Hop one felt really great.

Hop two, completely whiffed, and I'm down in the center of this thing, like in the water, and I'm like, all the water is just in my mouth, in my nose.

I can't see.

It's I know I'm dying at this point.

I start thinking like I'm drowning, and I'm like bobbing up, trying to grab the sides, and there's no handles anywhere, and I'm all wet anyway, so I'm just like a big whale, like, you know, and sliding back down off this thing.

I can't get up.

And I turn around and there's Colleen looking down at me, right?

And I'm like, help! And she's like, I'm too freaked out at this point to like to like understand if she's saying something or laughing at me or just like hoping that I oh never mind.

Uh and so I'm I'm there in this moment and I'm like freaking out, and uh, and I hear her say, you you gotta go under, you gotta go under, and I'm like, why?

I do that's the last thing that I want to do.

And she's like, go under.

So I went under the thing, and now I'm on the outside.

I could float away in this lake and be dead in a matter of minutes at this point.

And she's like, swim down there, there's a handle.

Now she's very cool, calm, and collected.

And I'm like, pull me out, pull me out, I'm drowning, right?

And this whole time she's like, just swim down there, please.

There is literally a step and a handle, and you can get out easy.

And I swam down there and got out, and then I sat there on the thing for like 40 minutes, contemplating if I was gonna live the rest of my life floating on this thing in the lake.

And it's in those moments where we feel like we're drowning, we're over our head.

We see our life flash before our eyes when we think, like, oh, I need somebody that's got a cool head, I need somebody to be that voice kind of calling me back to reality.

I need a colleen, I need, I need a friend, I need a family member, I need somebody to say, hey, you're gonna be alright.

But a lot of times in those moments when we feel like we're drowning, when we feel overwhelmed, when we're walking through life circumstances that just don't make sense, that feel overwhelming and and then we don't understand them.

When God feels silent, when it feels like life is like just a dead end, and we can see like there's only so much left before like this hits a snag.

In God we trust is kind of the answer I come back to.

In God we trust.

In God we trust, because through it all, from the very beginning to the very end, God has been there each and every step of the way.

And maybe the greatest story that's ever been told, the scripture, maybe that story is actually still being written.

Maybe we are being written into the greatest story ever told.

And it leaves me asking this question this morning.

Do we think, do we think that the people in Scripture, as they were living their lives, thought, oh, I'm being written into Scripture right now?

Or were they just living their lives?

Were they just living and saying, in God we trust?

In God we trust.

What about Abraham?

Do you think Abraham was like, oh, I'm gonna live this way and it's gonna be scripture one day, and everybody's gonna remember me forever because it's this is gonna be the Bible.

What about his son Isaac?

Do we think that Isaac and Abraham they were living their lives thinking like this is scripture?

Or were they just saying, like, no, I'm living each day at a time, and God we trust.

In God we trust.

Check out this story about Abraham and Isaac found in Genesis 22.

It says, God said to Abraham, take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah.

Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain, and I will show you, I'll show you this mountain.

And here's the thing like you you heard it there.

Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac.

And and the the thing about Isaac is like, this was a son that Abraham thought he could never have.

This is a son that he thought, like, man, there is no chance of me having a child.

And and God provided this biological child for him.

This is a blessing that God gave him.

This is a promise that God kept and gave him.

And now God's saying, like, hey, uh, I want you to take this blessing.

I want you to take this child whom you love, your only son, and I want you to sacrifice him.

God asking him to do something that feels impossible.

If it were me, I don't know that I'd be able to say, like, okay, this feels impossible.

But Abraham says, in God we trust.

And the next day, early the next morning, Abraham got up, loaded his donkey, and he took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac.

When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

And we're left asking the question, like, what?

Why?

Why what's going on here?

How does Abraham just get up and leave the very next day and start off on this journey that he knows is gonna lead to his son being sacrificed?

Could I trust God like that?

I really don't think that I could.

And and maybe if we understood a little bit of the history between God and Abraham, like we we could maybe get there.

Like uh Abraham, he was called out of Ur.

And he was told, like, you're gonna become the father of a great nation.

And and and and he trusted God in that moment.

God delivered him, Abraham, and he delivered him from his enemies time after time after time.

He gave him victory in places that felt like victory was impossible.

He provided food and shelter and all the things they needed through droughts and famine.

He gave him Isaac when he thought he could not have children.

It wasn't blind trust that Abraham had in this moment when he woke up the next day and said, Yes, we're gonna go, and yes, uh load up the donkey, and yes, let's start this journey.

This was a trust rooted in what he had already seen and experienced.

He didn't know how things were gonna turn out.

It didn't necessarily make sense to him, but what he did know is God.

And he trusted in God.

The author of Hebrews tells us a little bit of what Abraham was thinking when he says, Abraham reasoned, Abraham thought that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again.

And so for three days, Abraham and Isaac they travel, they journey to this mountain that God's gonna show them.

For three days, the tensions building.

For three days, there's this emotion that's just weighing heavy on Abraham.

And I imagine Isaac is kind of just there, like thinking he's along for the ride.

And I'm sure that it's one of these things that we can almost feel, like a pull on your collar kind of moment.

And on the third day, Abraham looked up and he saw the place in the distance, and he said to his servant, Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there.

We will worship, and then we will come back to you.

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife, and the two of them went on together.

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, Father, yes, my son, Abraham replied, The fire and the wood are here, Isaac said, but where's the lamb for the burnt offering?

We got the fire.

We got the wood.

And I've been to enough of these things before, Dad, to know like the third element is missing.

The third thing isn't here.

Where's where's the lamb?

Where's the sacrifice?

And in the midst of this confusing, painful, unknown moment, Abraham responds and he says, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.

And then the two of them went on together.

And it feels like the question a lot of us might be asking here this morning.

We've got this piece, we've got that piece, but but like, how's it all come together?

Where's the miracle?

We got we've got this thing over here, God, that you promised us.

We've got the tools and the resources over here, but but we're still waiting on the miracle, God.

Are you gonna show up?

Where are you?

God, what are you doing?

This doesn't make sense to me yet.

Where's the provision?

Where is the lamb?

Where is it?

In God we trust.

In God we trust.

Because God Himself will provide the lamb.

And when they reached the place God had told them about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.

He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood, and then he reached out his hand and he took the knife to slay his son.

But the angel of the Lord he called out to him from heaven, Abraham, Abraham, and I'm sure Abraham's just like, thank you, Jesus, thank you, God, thank you for for whatever's about to happen here.

Thank you for hitting pause on this.

And he said, Here I am.

Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said.

Do not do anything to him.

Now I know that you fear God, because you have held, have not withheld from me your son, your only son.

Abraham looked up, and there in the thicket he saw the ram caught by its horns, and he went over and he took the ram and he sacrificed it as the burnt offering instead of his own son.

And so Abraham called that place the Lord will provide.

And to this day it is said, on the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided.

I got a little bit of a cold.

I apologize for my sniffling.

Now I'm no zookeeper.

Any zookeepers in the house today?

Anybody watch like National Geographic or Animal Planet?

Okay.

So you like me can sort out and understand a lamb and a ram are not exactly the same thing.

They're a little bit different, right?

A ram actually has horns.

Uh age differentiates between a lamb and a ram.

A lamb is young less than 12 months, and a ram is generally an adult, mature male.

Uh lambs are playful and young and youthful.

Rams can be a little bit aggressive.

And I've been to the zoo enough times to know you don't go near a ram, but a lamb you can pet.

And Abraham sees this ram caught by its horns in the thicket, and he knows God Himself has provided the lamb for the sacrifice.

But but remember the question?

Like, is this really the lamb?

Because lamb and ram are two different things.

Where is the lamb?

Is this the ram supposed to be that like is this still valid?

Like, does this ram actually count?

Is the lamb, like, what what are we supposed to do here in this moment?

And and Abraham obviously takes the ram and sacrifices, but but wonder if if this question, where is the lamb that Isaac asks is the question that we're supposed to be be stuck on?

Wonder if wonder if this question really isn't answered here.

Wonder if this question in Genesis chapter 22 is meant to go unanswered for 2,000 years.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

Wonder if God provided a ram in that moment to meet the needs of that moment so that 2,000 years later, the question, where is the lamb, would still be fresh in people's mind, and God could provide the lamb, the answer to that question.

Wonder if God said, just wait.

I will provide the lamb.

Because two thousand years later, on another hill, another son would carry wood up that hill to his own death.

And this time, in this place, that son was the Lamb.

That son was the Lamb.

John the Baptist told us so, right, in John chapter one, and he says, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

This question is starting to be answered here in the New Testament.

Where is the Lamb?

John tells us.

The Lamb of God, the Son.

This is him.

He's here to take away the sin of the world.

And this morning, I want to suggest that this story from Genesis 22, the story of Abraham and Isaac.

It's a story about Abraham's faith, yes, but it's more than that.

This story is about Abraham's love and devotion for God.

This morning, I want us to hear that this story is more than Abraham, is more than Isaac.

This story is a story that previews the love of God the Father for you.

For me.

For each of us.

You want to hear something really interesting this morning?

That's where you say yes.

Yeah.

Do you want to hear something really interesting this morning?

Listen to this.

Okay.

Genesis 22, verse 2.

Genesis 22:2

This is where we've just been here this morning.

This is the first mention of love in all of Scripture.

This is the first mention of love.

And it's the Father's love for his only Son.

Now, the first mention of love in the New Testament, it's found in Matthew chapter 3, and this voice from heaven comes down at the baptism of Jesus and says, This is my son whom I love.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

The love of a father for his only son.

But God loved the world so much.

His only son.

The love of the father extended beyond.

The love for his son.

That was a sacrifice.

Not just for me.

Not just for you, but for everyone.

From Genesis.

The very beginning of all.

To Revelation.

God was there.

God was putting love on full display.

He wanted us to know this is a story.

About love.

This is a story about God's love for his creation, for his people.

Process this with me just a little bit.

Jesus' sacrifice.

The tomb is sealed.

The sky is dark.

The veil's torn.

The disciples, they're sitting there waiting.

It's tense.

They're waiting.

Nothing's happening.

Three days go by.

Three days go by, and it just feels like all hope is lost.

But God in his love provided the lamb.

The lamb that was slain, the lamb that paid the debt of our sins.

Why?

Why did he do that?

Because he loves us.

Excuse me.

I heard a story not too long ago about a uh a king who discovered that somebody had been stealing from him.

And this king, he sent out a decree to his people and he said, Hey, if you've stolen from me, return it.

There won't be any kind of punishment.

Won't be any punishment.

Just return what you've stolen.

Nothing came back.

Went into his room a couple days later.

Something else was missing now.

King says, you know what?

Like, I can't, I can't put up with this.

Bring it back, and you only get ten lashes.

Ten lashes with the whip.

Decree goes out, nobody returns anything.

A couple days later, King discovers more has been stolen.

Puts on a decree.

Bring back what you've stolen, and you only get twenty lashes.

Twenty lashes.

The penalty for stealing is twenty lashes, which is nothing.

I mean it's something, but it's nothing.

He goes into the room a couple days later, more has been stolen.

And he's sped up at this point, and he says, All right, to anybody out there that might be stealing from me, forty lashes.

Forty lashes in those days.

It was a death sentence.

And so the penalty for your stealing is death.

He sends out the guards to find who it is that's been stealing, and they come back to him with the perpetrator.

And they're heartbroken to say, hey, it's your daughter.

Your daughter's the one who's been stealing from you.

But it's okay.

You don't have to follow through on those 40 lashes.

And he says, No, justice must be served.

This is the penalty.

This is what's required.

I had said that this is what would happen to the person who's been stealing from me, who's been taking from me.

And so the next day, and in front of the entire kingdom, she's bound.

She's put there in front of everybody.

And the whip master, I don't know what his name is.

Whipper?

Whipmaster.

He starts getting warmed up, getting that elbow ready to go.

And the king says, You can proceed.

And as he's about to pull back and issue that first lash, the king takes off his robe, takes off his cloak, and gets on top of the daughter like this, and says, Go ahead.

Go ahead.

Everyone says, No.

Forty lashes, that's a death sentence.

And he said, I know.

Justice must be served.

The penalty must be paid.

But I love her so much.

I love her so much that I'll pay the penalty with my own life.

I'll pay the penalty myself.

The God of justice, the God of love, he knew that there's a penalty to be paid.

He knew that we've been stealing from him, we've been robbing him, we've been cheating on him, we've been putting other gods before him.

We've been prioritizing other things before God the Father.

And he says, hold up, there's a penalty for that sin.

There's a penalty that has to be paid, a price that is owed, but I will take it on my back.

Because I love them so much.

So Jesus pays that price out of a love for me, for you, for the kids at the table, for the kids in back, for our neighbors, our friends, our relatives, our coworkers, and our classmates, He paid that penalty so that our lives could be different.

So that we could be freed of the burden of sin that we carry with us.

This morning, this morning, if you're here and you're feeling the weight of the world on you, if you're feeling the burden of a broken marriage, or the burden of a financial stress, if you're feeling the burden of a bad grade at school, or the burden of something heavy that you just know is coming down the lane towards you, and life feels like a dead end, or you feel like distressed, or you feel emotional, or you feel something.

God says, I love you.

And I've got something better for you.

Do you want something better in your life this morning?

Not necessarily easier, but better.

Jesus says, I love you enough to offer you a better life.

I love you so much that I want you to have a full life.

A full life.

A life filled with every blessing.

So I'll take that penalty.

I'll pay the price so that you can live in full.

And this morning, if you've never received that gift, if you've never allowed Jesus to wrap you in his arms and take the penalty on his back so that you could experience freedom and a new life, I want to invite you to say yes.

I want to invite you into something different.

I want to invite you into a life of freedom.

And it starts like this: it starts by saying, Jesus, I cannot save myself from the penalty that's owed.

But I know that your son Jesus, who was perfect in every way, paid that price to the full.

Thank you for the justice that was paid with the love of the Father and the love of a son for us.

Man, Lord God, we receive your forgiveness.

We receive your grace.

We receive your love here this morning, God.

Would you change us?

Would you do something inside of us, God?

Would you free us from the burdens we feel, from the stresses we experience?

God, would you help us to experience the full life, the better life, the life that you've promised for us?

Because we've said yes to trusting you as our Lord and Savior here today.

God, would you lead us forward from this moment on in a new way, in a fresh way, in the way of love.

We pray this in your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you for listening to today's message.

We hope you had a meaningful moment with Jesus.

You can join us on Sundays at Oak Creek High School at 10 a.m.

for our in person gatherings.

Hope to see you soon.