WEBVTT 00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:03.569 We'll be in Genesis 12 today. We're not gonna 00:00:03.569 --> 00:00:06.269 be walking through the John passage though. That 00:00:06.269 --> 00:00:09.150 is a beautiful passage We're gonna be in Genesis 00:00:09.150 --> 00:00:12.009 12, which I would argue is one of the first great 00:00:12.009 --> 00:00:14.710 commissions or calls within scripture So that's 00:00:14.710 --> 00:00:17.609 what we're gonna be hanging out today Let me 00:00:17.609 --> 00:00:22.730 set context. Okay, we're in Genesis Not a whole 00:00:22.730 --> 00:00:25.679 lot has happened yet, so we've got God speaks, 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:27.640 right? Nothing's really happening. God opens 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:29.899 His mouth, breathes in the universe that's still 00:00:29.899 --> 00:00:32.740 expanding today. Massive things happen when God 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:34.679 speaks. We're going to see God do some speaking 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:38.560 in verse 12 also. But God speaks, creation into 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:44.200 being. Then unfortunately, humans, man and woman, 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:48.659 question His provision, question, is He really 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:50.939 going to give us all that we need? Should we 00:00:50.939 --> 00:00:55.270 become maybe God -like too? They take... the 00:00:55.270 --> 00:00:58.109 fruit of the tree and the fall happens so all 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:01.890 sudden now things are not so awesome within creation 00:01:01.890 --> 00:01:06.370 then world spirals even worse and God's like 00:01:06.370 --> 00:01:10.409 we're gonna push reset but thanks for Noah we're 00:01:10.409 --> 00:01:13.549 gonna preserve him and his family and we're gonna 00:01:13.549 --> 00:01:15.730 build a big arc and then we're gonna push reset 00:01:15.730 --> 00:01:17.810 and I'm gonna we're gonna roll down and put a 00:01:17.810 --> 00:01:21.209 rainbow up and we're gonna promise that I will 00:01:21.209 --> 00:01:24.849 never have that behavior again But then unfortunately 00:01:24.849 --> 00:01:29.629 again, Noah wasn't amazing either. He parties 00:01:29.629 --> 00:01:33.370 too hard after everything dries out and exposes 00:01:33.370 --> 00:01:35.909 himself in front of his boys like not a great 00:01:35.909 --> 00:01:40.030 dad moment for his boys. And then his boys kind 00:01:40.030 --> 00:01:43.689 of drift away as well, dive into some other things 00:01:43.689 --> 00:01:46.969 that aren't super great. One of his sons, Shem, 00:01:47.269 --> 00:01:50.489 has another son and then that son has Abram, 00:01:50.609 --> 00:01:52.310 the man that we're going to be introduced today. 00:01:53.380 --> 00:01:57.260 Abraham's resume is not looking so good. It might 00:01:57.260 --> 00:02:01.319 feel like maybe your resume or my resume. And 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:05.579 so he's not coming to the table with everything 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:08.500 in order. He's not coming to the table as a righteous 00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:11.039 man per se. He's not coming to the table with 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:14.879 any reason for God to choose him outside of the 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:19.639 fact that God is God and he loves all people 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:23.180 as the John passage says. So the gospel and the 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:27.580 calling is for all things. So Abraham's behavior 00:02:27.580 --> 00:02:31.780 and his mindset is not one that should call God 00:02:31.780 --> 00:02:37.500 to go, let's pick this guy. Even Abraham's behavior 00:02:37.500 --> 00:02:39.800 afterwards would also say maybe some of the same. 00:02:40.180 --> 00:02:42.680 So the question I want you to ask yourself whenever 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:46.300 we walk through these verses is, what do we learn 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:49.560 about God? What do we learn about Yahweh, which 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:52.259 is the Hebrew name for God in the Old Testament? 00:02:52.300 --> 00:02:55.280 What do we learn about Yahweh's character? Because 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:00.740 one thing's real. In the ancient Near East, there's 00:03:00.740 --> 00:03:04.340 no such thing as there not being a God. That's 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:07.300 a Western thought. Western folk think we can 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:09.240 outsmart things and like maybe we can have all 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:11.360 the stuff and not have one. That is not the case 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:14.180 in ancient Near East. The ancient world, everybody 00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:16.439 understood that there's a God. The question was, 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:21.039 who is it? And so whenever Yahweh is presenting 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:23.639 Himself in Scripture through creation, through 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:26.460 the flood, through this call of Abraham, you've 00:03:26.460 --> 00:03:29.180 got to ask, what are we learning about this God, 00:03:29.300 --> 00:03:31.939 the true God? Because there's tons of false gods. 00:03:32.180 --> 00:03:34.099 People are worshipping anything and everything 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:36.419 under the sun in order to try to get what they 00:03:36.419 --> 00:03:40.400 want or add some clarity to their life. But when 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:43.840 God manifests Himself in these Scriptures in 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.889 life, we ask, what do we learn? about the character 00:03:46.889 --> 00:03:51.830 of this Yahweh, this God. And so, the verses 00:03:51.830 --> 00:03:55.870 pick up in verse 1, chapter 12. I'm going to 00:03:55.870 --> 00:03:57.449 read just a few and then I'll pause and we'll 00:03:57.449 --> 00:04:01.349 unpack some. So again, the Lord had said to Abram, 00:04:01.389 --> 00:04:09.150 God, it is pause. Your identity and my identity 00:04:09.150 --> 00:04:12.629 is not informed. Your value, my value is not 00:04:12.629 --> 00:04:15.620 informed by things that we do. Remember the context. 00:04:15.659 --> 00:04:19.199 Things are not awesome in Abram's world. But 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:24.040 God still speaks into Abram's world. And so I 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:25.879 don't know how you feel this morning. I don't 00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:28.439 know if you feel awesome as a Christian. I don't 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:31.220 know if you feel like you've drifted some. I 00:04:31.220 --> 00:04:32.980 don't know if you feel like you don't know where 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:35.279 God is because he's just not answering prayers 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:37.680 maybe. Maybe a prayer that you've had your whole 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:40.540 life and he's not answered it the way you wanted 00:04:40.540 --> 00:04:43.860 it. And so maybe you and God are a little... 00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:46.339 You are just kind of having some beef with one 00:04:46.339 --> 00:04:49.120 another. I understand that. I've been in those 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:52.139 seasons. I don't know where you are. But if it 00:04:52.139 --> 00:04:55.220 feels like there's nothing to offer, well, you 00:04:55.220 --> 00:04:57.279 can relate to Abram. He didn't have anything 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:01.160 to offer. The world didn't have anything to offer. 00:05:01.259 --> 00:05:06.759 But when God speaks, stuff happens. So the Lord 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:09.439 said to Abram, leave your country, your people, 00:05:09.620 --> 00:05:12.259 your father's household, and go to a land I will 00:05:12.259 --> 00:05:15.259 show you. Pause again. What did he just ask Abram 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:18.720 to do? He asked him to leave his identity, his 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:21.959 security, and his meaning. So I don't know what 00:05:21.959 --> 00:05:23.899 you're building your identity, security, and 00:05:23.899 --> 00:05:27.480 meaning on these days. Maybe it's your prowess. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.040 If you're a high school student or college student, 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:33.480 maybe it's your academic GPA. I don't know. If 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:35.819 you're retired, maybe you're asking that question, 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:38.899 I don't really know what my meaning or value 00:05:38.899 --> 00:05:45.079 is anymore. I don't know where you stand. But 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:51.980 here God speaks, calls Abram out of his identity, 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:55.379 out of his security, out of his meaning, and 00:05:55.379 --> 00:05:57.500 said, I'll show you where to go, but we're leaving 00:05:57.500 --> 00:06:02.839 everything you know. Then he says seven promises. 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:06.800 This is a Hebrew poem. It's it's kind of like 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:08.980 a cross ticket the middle thing the number four 00:06:08.980 --> 00:06:11.680 is the most important Okay, he's actually going 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:15.279 to repeat it in the seventh place too, but number 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:18.800 four is where all points Okay, so let's read 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:23.120 it. So the Lord speaks And he says I will make 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:27.860 you into a great nation. I Will bless you. I 00:06:27.860 --> 00:06:32.100 will make your name great So that you will be 00:06:32.100 --> 00:06:36.310 a blessing Bingo. I will bless those who bless 00:06:36.310 --> 00:06:39.269 you and whoever curses you I will curse and all 00:06:39.269 --> 00:06:42.310 the people of the earth will be blessed through 00:06:42.310 --> 00:06:48.189 you. So let's pause. What do we learn about Yahweh 00:06:48.189 --> 00:06:51.709 based on these handful of verses? Will we understand 00:06:51.709 --> 00:06:55.949 quickly that Yahweh initiates identity, value, 00:06:56.290 --> 00:07:00.129 meaning? Abram's bringing nothing to the table. 00:07:00.329 --> 00:07:01.970 If you feel like you don't have anything you're 00:07:01.970 --> 00:07:03.829 bringing to the table, welcome to the club. That's 00:07:03.829 --> 00:07:05.930 the only prerequisite of being a follower of 00:07:05.930 --> 00:07:11.050 Christ. Having nothing but maybe a happy meal, 00:07:11.050 --> 00:07:15.970 you know, from the kid who had his little sack 00:07:15.970 --> 00:07:18.670 lunch and he didn't think he had much, but then 00:07:18.670 --> 00:07:21.930 they served thousands of food, right? So you 00:07:21.930 --> 00:07:23.829 might not feel like you have much like Abram, 00:07:23.829 --> 00:07:25.970 but what we learned about Yahweh is he doesn't 00:07:25.970 --> 00:07:31.139 need you and me per se. He's going to speak value 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:34.240 into us, then all of a sudden now I have purpose 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:36.839 and meaning. So yes, He does need us, but He 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:40.899 doesn't need my actions, my resume. So He's gracious. 00:07:41.420 --> 00:07:43.420 A lot of times we hear grace as God's riches 00:07:43.420 --> 00:07:45.920 at Christ's expense, which is a beautiful description. 00:07:46.300 --> 00:07:48.519 But if you really dive into the Hebrew language 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:52.079 and understand what grace is, grace is all about 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:57.389 God's value into you. Abraham didn't bring value 00:07:57.389 --> 00:07:59.810 to the table outside the fact that he had a pulse, 00:08:00.910 --> 00:08:03.490 and he was created in God's image. Where did 00:08:03.490 --> 00:08:06.610 his value come from? In God's speaking life into 00:08:06.610 --> 00:08:10.110 him. Where do you and I's value and security 00:08:10.110 --> 00:08:12.509 come from? By God's grace, that he's going to 00:08:12.509 --> 00:08:15.350 speak into your life and call you into a purpose, 00:08:15.649 --> 00:08:18.399 into meaning. That's what we learn about Yahweh. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.379 He doesn't need our resumes He just needs his 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:24.560 voice to speak life and value and truth into 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.519 your world So if you're feeling on the edge or 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:28.899 on the outside or like a little lost and what 00:08:28.899 --> 00:08:33.080 you should be doing listen for God's voice Because 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:36.480 he's calling He's either calling through this 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.299 congregation. He's calling through his word. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.139 Maybe he's calling through me. I don't know he's 00:08:40.139 --> 00:08:45.120 calling He's speaking so listen So what do we 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.559 learn about Yahweh early on? It's that He speaks 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.080 and that's where our identity and that's where 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:54.000 our value comes from. What's the second thing 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.259 we learn? We learn that Yahweh, God, is missional. 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:00.899 Again, Abram's not necessarily the most stand 00:09:00.899 --> 00:09:03.419 -up man at the time. God didn't pick him because 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:08.230 he was righteous. Abram's willingness to follow 00:09:08.230 --> 00:09:12.070 God's lead, now we accredit to him as righteousness. 00:09:12.169 --> 00:09:15.850 If we read Hebrews or if we read other John passages 00:09:15.850 --> 00:09:18.909 or other Romans passages or some Ephesians passages, 00:09:19.009 --> 00:09:22.850 we start to see that, oh, it was Abram's response 00:09:22.850 --> 00:09:27.129 to God's call that we would say is righteousness. 00:09:28.649 --> 00:09:31.690 He wasn't chosen because of his righteousness. 00:09:32.220 --> 00:09:35.320 So God is a missional God. He goes to you and 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.240 to me and to Abram who might feel like we're 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:39.460 on the outside or really not sure of our place 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:43.779 and he goes, I got you, I want to use you. He's 00:09:43.779 --> 00:09:48.019 missional in his DNA, God is. That's who He is. 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:54.580 His heart is outward focused. His heart is seeking 00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:58.799 those who maybe the church will say, you don't 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.350 belong here. He would go we'll bring him to my 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:04.330 feet. That's what the disciples learned right 00:10:04.330 --> 00:10:06.629 whenever they thought children shouldn't bother 00:10:06.629 --> 00:10:10.629 Jesus Right and then the lesson of the day was 00:10:10.629 --> 00:10:14.009 actually children are pretty important in Jesus's 00:10:14.009 --> 00:10:17.809 economy, so bring him We might say some people 00:10:17.809 --> 00:10:23.350 shouldn't belong here and God might go slow down 00:10:23.350 --> 00:10:27.610 I Don't need their resumes. I don't need their 00:10:27.610 --> 00:10:32.129 righteousness That's what I'm for. So God is 00:10:32.129 --> 00:10:37.970 missional in His DNA. He initiates value through 00:10:37.970 --> 00:10:42.750 His voice. And whenever we think about this idea 00:10:42.750 --> 00:10:45.429 of being missional, He's calling us to potentially 00:10:45.429 --> 00:10:48.549 leave something. It's something that you might 00:10:48.549 --> 00:10:52.629 be... I don't know. I mean, I'm not wearing my 00:10:52.629 --> 00:10:54.929 Aggie ring because I'm probably not a nice guy 00:10:54.929 --> 00:10:58.250 as your pastor. I'm not ringing my Aggie ring 00:10:58.250 --> 00:11:00.490 because I got a little backwards on what that 00:11:00.490 --> 00:11:04.029 thing really meant to me. And so is my identity 00:11:04.029 --> 00:11:08.389 in this thing? So I had to ask myself that question 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:10.450 when I was working at Home Depot as a church 00:11:10.450 --> 00:11:14.429 planter with my class ring on that my ministry 00:11:14.429 --> 00:11:18.070 was Home Depot and the people of Home Depot. 00:11:18.549 --> 00:11:22.529 Well, not many people at Home Depot have master's 00:11:22.529 --> 00:11:25.980 degrees. Much less an undergraduate degree, and 00:11:25.980 --> 00:11:29.179 that's not a hit on them. It's just some of the 00:11:29.179 --> 00:11:31.740 reality So when I worked with my class ring on 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:33.659 and people asked where did you go to school? 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:36.639 And I said Texas A &M. It was an automatically 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:40.259 an offense to them It became a stumbling block 00:11:40.259 --> 00:11:43.519 to the gospel because I from their perspective 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:46.120 was better than them So let's remove the stumbling 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:48.850 block Put it in the drawer, which I haven't worn. 00:11:48.950 --> 00:11:50.730 I just I'm gonna take it to that I was like I 00:11:50.730 --> 00:11:52.470 think I kind of want to wear this thing now Maybe 00:11:52.470 --> 00:11:55.309 I'm more mature to be able to wear this But where's 00:11:55.309 --> 00:11:58.929 my value come from I? Don't know where you might 00:11:58.929 --> 00:12:01.149 be putting your value in whether it's your status 00:12:01.149 --> 00:12:03.009 whether it's your work whether it's whatever 00:12:03.009 --> 00:12:08.009 what you have on I don't know But God goes just 00:12:08.009 --> 00:12:10.830 look to me for your status. That's where your 00:12:10.830 --> 00:12:13.110 purpose comes from and I'm putting you on mission 00:12:13.799 --> 00:12:17.080 for a purpose. What's the purpose? The fourth 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:20.879 reason. It's not just a spiritual forgiveness 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.779 purpose. So that is amazing. The purpose of Christianity 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:27.559 isn't just so people can be forgiven. That's 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:31.200 an amazing piece of it. But we can't say it's 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:34.059 all of it. Because whenever Jesus comes back 00:12:34.059 --> 00:12:36.179 and He says, whenever I come back and I bring 00:12:36.179 --> 00:12:38.460 in the New Kingdom, the New Kingdom, there will 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:40.899 be no more tears, there will be no more grief. 00:12:41.179 --> 00:12:44.120 Why? Because there will be no more death because 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.059 there will be no more cancer because there will 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:48.340 be no more anxiety Because there will be no more 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:50.639 hunger because there will be no more homelessness 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:55.580 You see the kingdom of God is huge Spiritual 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:58.059 forgiveness is a part of it, which is amazing, 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:01.460 but it's not everything So whenever God says 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:04.320 I am going to cause you to be a blessing to the 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:08.169 world You get to bring people to your chili cook 00:13:08.169 --> 00:13:10.850 -off because chili is fun and good and come to 00:13:10.850 --> 00:13:12.889 a bounce house because it's a glimpse of God's 00:13:12.889 --> 00:13:16.549 kingdom There's flowers on the altar in a boot 00:13:16.549 --> 00:13:22.769 Why? Because we want to have fun Why because 00:13:22.769 --> 00:13:26.210 in heaven it's probably going to be fun Because 00:13:26.210 --> 00:13:28.250 you don't have anything burdening you down You 00:13:28.250 --> 00:13:31.750 could actually be free and beat and just be silly 00:13:31.750 --> 00:13:33.789 and not worry about someone judging you because 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:40.129 you can't dance Right? You see, that's glimpses 00:13:40.129 --> 00:13:43.049 of the kingdom of God. And that's what this blessing 00:13:43.049 --> 00:13:47.250 is about. He's calling Abram to go give people 00:13:47.250 --> 00:13:51.190 glimpses of my kingdom. Go be a blessing. Not 00:13:51.190 --> 00:13:54.029 just go forgive people. It wasn't even a concept 00:13:54.029 --> 00:13:57.769 then. Jesus did the same thing when he sent out 00:13:57.769 --> 00:14:01.529 the 72. He didn't say, go out and tell people 00:14:01.529 --> 00:14:04.720 that Jesus loves them. He didn't say, Go out 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:07.580 and tell him the gospel. He didn't say that either. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:09.580 He said, go out and tell him that the kingdom 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:12.759 of God is near. Why? Because the kingdom of God 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:16.419 is all encompassing all of me and all of you. 00:14:16.580 --> 00:14:18.419 And it has to do with my spiritual forgiveness, 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:20.480 yes, but it has to do with me having food in 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:24.059 my tummy. And it has to do with me feeling secure 00:14:24.059 --> 00:14:26.860 and welcome in front of you like I belong somewhere. 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:30.940 You see, so what do we learn about Yahweh? When 00:14:30.940 --> 00:14:34.429 He speaks, He gives you purpose. We see that 00:14:34.429 --> 00:14:37.909 Yahweh is missional in his heart. We see that 00:14:37.909 --> 00:14:41.250 Yahweh restores all of us. That's what blessings 00:14:41.250 --> 00:14:45.190 are. You see, so this Yahweh, this God, is much 00:14:45.190 --> 00:14:47.490 different than the other gods that people were 00:14:47.490 --> 00:14:50.450 worshipping in the ancient. So now all of a sudden 00:14:50.450 --> 00:14:55.590 people start to go, that's a different God. He's 00:14:55.590 --> 00:14:58.809 using that guy? And they're doing those cool 00:14:58.809 --> 00:15:04.460 things? Yes. So we are all included in that. 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:08.960 He's calling you. He's calling us to be missional, 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:12.019 to be parts and glimpses of restoration to the 00:15:12.019 --> 00:15:16.500 world, to have fun, to do ministries that actually 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:19.700 solve problems. Because in heaven, there are 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:22.679 no problems. So you're just giving glimpses of 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:25.960 God's kingdom. That's who our Yahweh is. That's 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:29.179 who the God who's calling you. And finally, He's 00:15:29.179 --> 00:15:32.889 relational. absolutely mind -blowing for the 00:15:32.889 --> 00:15:36.850 people of the day. He wants to dwell with you. 00:15:37.129 --> 00:15:39.570 I don't know if you caught it. The Lord said 00:15:39.570 --> 00:15:42.509 to Abram, leave your country, your people, your 00:15:42.509 --> 00:15:45.809 father's household and go to the land I will 00:15:45.809 --> 00:15:50.610 show you. Not go figure it out. Like better than 00:15:50.610 --> 00:15:54.190 the twelfth man. Like the twelfth man just stays 00:15:54.190 --> 00:15:59.500 in the third deck. Jesus got out of the stands 00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:02.940 and put on human flesh and died for us like he 00:16:02.940 --> 00:16:07.120 wants to be with us When he comes back on the 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:09.639 last day, he's gonna dwell with his people So 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:12.019 he's going to say I'm removing you from your 00:16:12.019 --> 00:16:15.279 security Abram But I'm not gonna leave you alone 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:17.919 and I'm gonna show you where we're going to go 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:21.379 next. I am with you And I love Abram's response. 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:23.840 What does he do at the end of this verses? He 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:26.860 builds an altar and he worships before he builds 00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:31.840 his own house. Why? Because he realized that 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:35.500 God speaks and his identity changes. He realizes 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:38.059 that Yahweh is missional and he's important. 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:41.830 He realizes that he... There to be a blessing 00:16:41.830 --> 00:16:44.370 not just to build a house in the name for himself 00:16:44.370 --> 00:16:46.870 like his ancestors tried to do just a chapter 00:16:46.870 --> 00:16:49.129 before in Genesis 11 when they tried to make 00:16:49.129 --> 00:16:51.190 a name for themselves for the Tower of Babel 00:16:51.190 --> 00:16:53.549 and God goes now That's not the wrong. That's 00:16:53.549 --> 00:16:56.429 the right. That's the wrong order So your pride 00:16:56.429 --> 00:16:59.870 is not how this is gonna go tears it down distributes 00:16:59.870 --> 00:17:04.470 the people and then uses a Guy like Abram to 00:17:04.470 --> 00:17:09.250 make his name great not for his own names sake 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:12.559 Abram's name, but for God's name so that he could 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.180 be a blessing and the people could know it. That's 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:17.900 what God's calling this congregation. That's 00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:20.160 what God is calling you to do because he loves 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:23.539 you. He sees you. He's going to speak into your 00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:27.380 life so that you can be a blessing and he's going 00:17:27.380 --> 00:17:29.799 to continue to walk with you until he comes back 00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:30.599 on the last day.