First up: Abraham and Isaac [Genesis 22]. Before Pastor D shared a message from God about TRUST and OBEDIENCE, we had awesome announcements from Alex C., Josie, Leo and Evelyn. Thanks, guys! We also heard a dynamic testimony from Alex C. about the Lord using him at our Backyard Mission Trip - as he shared Christ's love to high school kids and people at Venice Beach, Long Beach and Santa Monica...but moreso his heartfelt challenge to make it a part of everyday life and to share the hope he has in Jesus with others 24/7!
We also had a beautiful time of worship, which led us in a time of clearing our minds, responding to His Spirit and preparing our hearts to hear His Word.
"Let love explode
And bring the dead to life
A love so bold
To see a revolution somehow
Now I'm lost in your freedom
And this world I"ll overcome
My God is not dead
He's surely alive
He's living on the inside
Roaring like a lion"
[Song: God's not dead
Newsboys/David Crowder]
The story of Abraham and Issac is a familiar one. The lessons from the story are so valuable that it's worth taking a detailed look into this story again, and again. Abraham had one son Isaac, with his wife Sarah. At their extremely old age, God had come through on a promise to bear them a child and make him [Isaac] the person used to create many generations to come [Genesis 15]. Abraham and Sarah had their promised child even after devising their own plan to get a baby and having Abraham sleep with his servant Haagar [Genesis 16 Don't we often do that? We make our own plans when we should wait for God's best plan ] Ok back to the story - Abraham and Sarah loved their son Isaac and raised him to know God. We begin to see a story unfold that demonstrates to us, how to trust God, obey God and see how "My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts are higher than your thoughts" [Isaiah 55]
We see a major turning point of faith for Abraham in Genesis chapter 22. God asks him to take his son and murder him. Here we see multiple parallels between Abraham and Isaac and God and Jesus. We see two father and son sets, both obeying Divine instruction to sacrifice their 'one and only' son. Both events occurred on the third day, the sons carried wood to to the altar and were obedient until the point of death.
We also see that Abraham and Isaac BOTH trusted in God and didn't rely on their own understanding. They heard God's voice, knew He was trustworthy and obeyed His commands even when what He instructed appeared to contradict His previous promise. This part of the story is easy to read about but can be very challenging to follow through with. As humans we are wired to understand what's happening and we HAVE to know the what, where, when, why and how. Don't we? And yet we are told in God's Word to trust in Him, with ALL our hearts and not lean on our own understanding [Proverbs 3:5-6]!
Pastor D shared this message from God that was straight from his heart, and his own testimony. When he was asked to staff at church years ago, he had to sacrifice his own grand plans to move to NYC and teach. In essence, this was his 'Isaac' and an act of obedience to God. He exercised TRUST and OBEDIENCE and now, he finds himself as the Missions Pastor at CCSB, and also leading a thriving young adult college group [that's us!] He shared that listening to the voice of God and immediately obeying has led him into a greater and more satisfying place in life then He could have ever come to on his own.
In the end, the way we practice trusting and obeying God is by getting to know Him. We read His Word and learn that He is trustworthy and has our best in mind. We are reminded that He is all powerful and He loves us unconditionally. This leads us to a place of surrender where we lay down our own rights and plans and allow His hand to be upon us and lead us to the next step. Here, we also practice sacrificing the dreams, plans and things that become overly important to us [our idols] and we surrender those to God as well. By faith we follow our God, whom we come to love. We will be blown away by God as we surrender our lives to God's will and discover His incredible blessings and plans for us.
In the end, the way we practice trusting and obeying God is by getting to know Him. We read His Word and learn that He is trustworthy and has our best in mind. We are reminded that He is all powerful and He loves us unconditionally. This leads us to a place of surrender where we lay down our own rights and plans and allow His hand to be upon us and lead us to the next step. Here, we also practice sacrificing the dreams, plans and things that become overly important to us [our idols] and we surrender those to God as well. By faith we follow our God, whom we come to love. We will be blown away by God as we surrender our lives to God's will and discover His incredible blessings and plans for us.
