The Journey of Redemption.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Good morning. Welcome to the Village if you do not know, which I think most of you do. [0:05] My name is Steve. I’m one of the pastors here at the Village. [0:09] Well, Happy New Year. It’s what? January 3rd. So it’s been a new year for about two days now. [0:15] Today we’re going to jump right back into Galatians. We took a month off for babies being born, [0:21] and then we had a Christmas series, and now we’re going to jump right back into Galatians. [0:25] We’re going to be in chapter 3 today.

[0:27] But I want to talk about this new year that happens in all of our lives. [0:32] That once a year we start over. It’s kind of a new beginning, I guess you could say. [0:40] And most of the time, when the new year comes around, we make resolutions. [0:45] We say 2010 is going to be better than 2009 in this place in my life, and this place in my life, and this place. [0:51] The number one New Year’s resolution is actually this year I’m going to lose weight, [0:57] or this year I’m going to get in shape. I’m going to become a runner.

[1:00] I’m going to become a weightlifter, a bodybuilder. [1:03] The next one is that you’re going to do better with your money. [1:07] You’re going to save money. You’re going to spend less. You’re going to earn more. [1:12] Then right down the row we have I’m going to get married, or I’m going to get a boyfriend. [1:17] People make New Year’s resolutions about their love life, and this is actually from a poll that was taken. [1:23] And then fourthly, typically we have resolutions about our family.

[1:28] This year I’m going to be a better father. This year I’m going to be a better mother. [1:32] And this year I am definitely going to be a better father because I’ve never been a father before. [1:36] This is brand new for me. So this could be the best and worst year of my fatherhood for all I know. [1:42] I know so far all that it really entails is that I sleep a lot less. [1:46] And I’m tired a lot more. That’s basically the story of my life right now. [1:51] But in these New Year’s resolutions, it’s interesting, I was reading a statistic yesterday that said

[1:55] only 6% of people who make New Year’s resolutions actually follow through with them. [2:03] 6%. Which means that there’s an astounding 94% of people that make New Year’s resolutions [2:10] that never actually follow through with them. Most of them don’t even make it past January 1st. [2:16] Which means if you are a typical American and you’re in here, you have already broke your New Year’s resolution. [2:22] You’re not keeping it anymore. [2:24] If you started that diet, which is number one, you’ve probably already had a piece of cake by now.

[2:29] Or you’ve probably already broken and been through the drive through. [2:31] You got the jitters because you’re so used to sugar and you’re like almost a diabetic like me. [2:36] And it’s like I need McDonald’s ketchup. Because you know they fortify that stuff with sugar. [2:40] That’s why their ketchup is so much better than everyone else’s. [2:43] Because they pour sugar right into that tomato sauce and it just goes right into your bloodstream. [2:49] And it feels so good for like 30 minutes and then you take a nap.

[2:52] But in making these New Year’s resolutions, what we’re really doing, what we’re really saying is [2:58] that we are not satisfied with at least one part of our lives. [3:05] We look at life, we take a step back and we look into our lives and we say, [3:09] In this area, I believe I could do better. [3:13] Or in this area, I want to change completely. [3:17] And I don’t want it to be anything like it used to be.

[3:21] So we turn the New Year into the celebration and it becomes a new beginning for us. [3:27] To where we can wipe away the old and we can have something brand new in our lives. [3:32] And that’s basically true. [3:35] You got to understand, 2009 is gone. [3:38] It could have been the best year of your life or it could have been the worst year of your life. [3:42] But the one universal truth that you’re all going to have to live with right now is that it’s over.

[3:48] You can’t go back and live it over again. [3:51] If there were great failures in your life in 2009, those great failures are over.

[3:58] If there were great successes in your life in 2009, guess what? [4:02] Those successes as well are over. [4:06] They are behind you. [4:09] You can no longer hold on to them and say, this is the success of my life. [4:15] Because guess what? It is now 2010. [4:18] It is a brand new year.

[4:20] And if for the rest of your life all you have are the successes and failures of 2009, [4:26] you will never go anywhere else. [4:30] You will never grow past where you are right now. [4:34] You will never do more than what you are right now. [4:38] And you will have no more successes and you will have no more failures. [4:41] And we kind of like that failure part.

[4:43] It’s like, oh good, I don’t want to have any more failure. [4:45] I have had plenty of that. [4:46] Because my guess is in this room, because of the way that we are in this society, [4:52] right now we’re more focused on our failures than we are on our successes.

[4:57] See, when the new year starts, you rarely talk to a person who says, I’ve made zero resolutions. [5:04] I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing because it’s really working out for me. [5:09] My life, I’ve pretty much peaked. [5:13] I’m pretty much where I want to be for the rest of my life. [5:16] It is a rare occasion that you meet that type of a person. [5:20] And I’m willing to maybe bet that if you have met that type of person,

[5:26] deep down inside, they’re probably hiding something. [5:29] They probably don’t want to let you in and let you know the failures that actually do take place in life. [5:36] Because one thing that I’ve kind of realized in the 29 years that I’ve been alive, [5:42] is that no matter who it is that I meet, no matter how much I respect them, [5:46] no matter how successful they look on the outside, everyone has failures.

[5:53] That’s something that we all have in common. [5:56] Yet it’s something that we don’t think we all have in common.

[6:01] That’s why we hide ours. [6:04] That’s why we don’t let other people in to see our failures. [6:08] We certainly want people to see our successes, but where we fail, we hide. [6:12] Because we feel more alone when we fail than we ever do in our lives. [6:19] But when we’re successful, if we’re feeling some type of victory in our lives, [6:23] if we actually do lose that 15 pounds, and somebody’s like,

[6:27] man those jeans are looking kind of baggy on you. [6:30] It’s like, well thank you. [6:32] Thank you very much. [6:33] Thank you. [6:35] But it’s because we want to celebrate our successes, but the failures we almost want to sweep under the rug, [6:41] and not let anybody know about them, because we want to keep those inside,

[6:46] and we don’t want anybody to know who we really are. [6:50] But the one thing about this new year is, is that you must be honest with who you actually are, [6:58] and you need to admit to yourself right now before we go any further, [7:02] or before we even open the scriptures. [7:04] You need to be honest with yourself right now, [7:06] and you need to identify the failures in your life,

[7:10] and you need to admit that you are not who you want to be.

[7:17] Because if you’re anything like me, you look at your life and you see something that’s missing. [7:26] You see something that you want. [7:28] You see something that you could have better. [7:31] I don’t care if it’s that you’re a little overweight and you want to lose 10 pounds, [7:36] or if you don’t have a good relationship with your children, [7:38] or with your spouse, or with your boyfriend, or your girlfriend,

[7:41] or you want to be better with your money, or no matter what it is, [7:45] you want to be better with your job, you want to have a promotion. [7:47] Each and every one of you have a place in your life where you have identified [7:51] that you could be doing better, and that is failure. [7:56] You are looking at yourself and you’re prophesying to yourself that you are in a sense of failure.

[8:04] Why else would we make New Year’s resolutions?

[8:09] Why else would we see this as a new beginning, and why else would we want a new beginning?

[8:16] Join me in Galatians chapter 3.

[8:23] Because today what we’re going to ask ourselves is in these New Year’s resolutions, [8:27] what does that have to do with our faith? [8:29] What does that say about our faith? [8:31] Because what we’re doing when we gather here together as a church, [8:35] or we gather here together as a church, [8:36] or we gather here together as somebody just checking out the faith,

[8:38] is that we’ve already identified that there are spiritual needs in our lives.

[8:47] See, as a follower of Jesus, we make resolutions a little differently sometimes. [8:53] Like I’m sure some of you have made a resolution. [8:57] This is the year I get through the Bible. [9:02] This is the year I read through the Bible for the first time. [9:05] The whole way. [9:07] And some of you are already a day behind.

[9:10] And you’re like, oh, you’ve picked one of the 20,000 Bible reading plans. [9:15] It’s like one book, yet we’ve identified 20,000 ways to go through it all once in a year. [9:20] And then I was picking, I saw a new one the other day and it intrigued me. [9:23] And I can’t figure out what’s different about that one [9:25] than it’s different about the other 500 that I’ve seen. [9:28] But I know that most of us, we pick this, then we get through Exodus,

[9:32] and then you hit Leviticus chapter 5 or 6, [9:34] and then you’re like, oh, man, this is really inspiring stuff. [9:38] And then the next day, it’s like, oh, I really don’t really need to be inspired by Leviticus today. [9:43] And then five weeks later, you’re like two books behind, [9:46] and you’re like, oh, I didn’t make it through the Bible.

[9:50] Or you have committed to pray 30 minutes a day for the whole year, [9:54] which is like hours and hours of prayers. [9:56] You’re like, I’m going to be a prayer warrior this year. [9:58] I’m going to pray more. [10:00] And then very quickly, that half hour is gone. [10:03] Either you slept through it, you fell asleep, or your car broke down,

[10:07] or somebody needed your help, or you had to work a little overtime, [10:11] and that resolution is gone. [10:13] Or you want to tell one person about Jesus every week. [10:17] You are going to be an evangelist this year. [10:19] You are going to be a witness for the gospel. [10:22] And then like January 5, you’re like, okay, I’ve identified the one person.

[10:26] And then you go and talk to them and it never comes up because it just felt so awkward. [10:31] Or you want to serve the community. [10:33] You’re like, I’m going to pick an organization and I’m going to volunteer. [10:37] And then your family needs you there and your work needs you there. [10:40] And then you’re tired. [10:41] It’s like nine o’clock at night.

[10:42] And where can you volunteer at nine o’clock at night? [10:45] And it’s just like the time’s gone. [10:46] So 2011 is here and you’ve never really volunteered anywhere.

[10:52] You see, when we make resolutions about our faith, [10:54] it’s not quite as funny as when we make resolutions about the rest of our lives.

[11:00] You see, because when we make resolutions about our faith, [11:02] what we’re saying is that our spiritual lives and our walk with Jesus [11:06] and our relationship with God is not where we want it to be. [11:10] And then once we don’t live up to that commitment that we made to make our relationship with God [11:16] a little bit better this year, when we can’t even do that,

[11:23] that’s when it’s just like, what does that say about my faith?

[11:28] What does that say about me? [11:31] I can’t even get through the Bible. [11:33] I can’t even sit and read a chapter of the Bible and identify where it fits in my life.

[11:41] I can’t sit down and pray without thinking about what’s for dinner.

[11:47] What does that say about us? [11:50] This is a question I ask myself. [11:51] What does that say about me?

[11:55] Go to Galatians chapter 3.

[11:58] We’re going to start reading in verse 5.

[12:01] Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law [12:09] or by hearing with faith, just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him [12:16] as righteousness? [12:17] All right, let me push pause right there because we haven’t been here in a month. [12:20] Let me just remind you that the book of Galatians as a whole, [12:24] the big theme of the book of Galatians is the gospel.

[12:28] This is six chapters where Paul just really goes hardcore through the gospel and he talks about how [12:35] faith and Jesus save us from our sins and that because of our sin there is no amount of obedience, [12:44] there is no amount of hard work, there are no sacrifices that we can make in our lives [12:50] that will get us one step closer to God. [12:55] There’s nothing we can do because we’re completely morally bankrupt compared to God. [13:01] So he sent his son to die for us and God does what we could not do.

[13:07] He makes the ultimate sacrifice. [13:09] Jesus dies for us. [13:11] He takes our sin and he gives us his righteousness. [13:15] Let me remind you where we are here in the book of Galatians. [13:19] He has gone from the beginning of redemption to how redemption is actually going to be lived out. [13:28] You see in that verse if you had gone if I had gone to the beginning

[13:34] of verse five he says does he who supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you [13:40] do so by works of the law or by hearing of faith. [13:44] What he’s saying is the Christian life when you live it out the things that God does in your life [13:49] the relationship that you have with God does he come close to you and does he get into your life [13:57] and do things in your life because you have worked really hard and because you are so obedient [14:04] and you have not lied you have not stolen you have not killed you have not committed adultery

[14:10] you have not coveted you have not done any of these things and because of that [14:15] God fills you with his spirit he does miracles in your life or

[14:23] does he do it

[14:27] by hearing with faith and then he uses Abraham as an example. [14:33] It’s very interesting he says as it says which is in Genesis 15 is what he’s quoting [14:38] Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

[14:44] So here’s the question that this really poses to us this morning

[14:49] are we involved in getting closer to God okay do we get closer to God by the things that we do

[14:59] do we get closer to God by hard work do you get closer to God by reading your Bible [15:07] I think if I made a statement like that that if you want to get closer to God [15:12] read the scriptures yes let’s say yes that’s not a bad thing to say but here’s the key [15:21] what are we saying when we say that and I want you guys to track with me and easy to pay attention today

[15:28] not that you never do I’m not trying to be like a history teacher but you’re gonna get the attention [15:32] if you don’t pay attention but here’s the key can you earn your relationship with God and most of [15:41] you would say no you see we got saved okay that’s by grace but remember I’m not talking about back [15:49] here some of you have been followers of Jesus or claim to be followers of Jesus for years I’m talking [15:55] about where you are right now because most of us have a theology of God that he saves us through [16:03] Jesus not our works totally Jesus’s works but then after that we have to take over and we have to

[16:11] take the steps of faith and we have to work really hard to stay as close to Jesus as possible but if [16:18] we screw up we lose the Holy Spirit he leaves us we don’t have the filling of the Holy Spirit [16:24] anymore and God cannot work miracles in our lives because we are not good enough for God to work [16:31] in our lives so he works in the lives of the spiritual giants who sweat hard and work as hard [16:37] as they possibly can to stay close to God that’s not the gospel

[16:50] I think that could possibly be one of the most liberating things in your lives if you could grab [16:56] a hold of that it could change your life and he uses Abraham as an example he says is it by your [17:11] hard work or is it because you have faith and he says look at Abraham it was by faith if you want [17:24] to turn with me to Genesis chapter 12 we’re going to spend the next 15 minutes or so talking about [17:29] Abraham because Paul brings it up he says Abraham didn’t get close to God through hard work

[17:41] so this is the Old Testament this is before Jesus isn’t that how Old Testament people got to God [17:47] hard work obedience they obeyed the 10 commandments Abraham never lied Abraham never [17:52] stole so he got close to God Peter excuse me Paul gives us another example here saying Abraham got [17:59] close to God through faith look in Genesis chapter 12 starting in verse 1 now the Lord said to Abram

[18:09] God changes his name later but we don’t have time to get into that now the Lord said to Abram [18:15] go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you [18:21] and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you [18:27] will be a blessing I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse and in [18:34] you all the families of the earth shall be blessed so Abram went as the Lord had told him

[18:45] we have two things taking place here the first thing I want you to notice is God is speaking [18:50] okay you don’t have like a dialogue here you have a monologue you have God talking to Abram [18:57] and then you have Abram listening God tells Abram Abram I want you to take your stuff I want [19:05] you to take your whole family I want to take all of your servants all of your livestock everything [19:09] that you have and I want you to move to another country because Abram I am going to bless you [19:15] I’m going to make a great nation out of you I’m going to bless those who bless you and I’m going

[19:20] to curse those who curse you God makes a promise to Abram notice though that Abram was not seeking [19:30] God out Abram was doing nothing Abram was minding his own business Abram was tending to his life [19:38] and God steps in and says Abram I exist because you see Abram was not a follower of God

[19:51] Archaeology and history has shown us that the place where Abram lived at that point in history [19:56] they were mostly idolaters and if you go further and you look in these books when Abram moves [20:01] his wife packs up the idols they were idol worshipers

[20:08] Abram did not know God nor was Abram seeking God he was not on a spiritual journey at this point [20:15] I want to find who God is and then all of a sudden God says Abram I’m here

[20:23] God in spite of who Abram is says Abram this is the life I want you to live [20:30] I want you to throw your life out and I want you to live the life that I have for you

[20:37] and then what was Abram’s response

[20:41] Oh okay a God he had never known a God he had never heard from a God he had never heard of [20:50] steps into his life and says Abram I want to take over I want to give you my life [21:00] and it says Abram got up and went and did what the Lord had told him

[21:10] so was Abram given the righteousness and the plan of God because of his hard work no

[21:19] he had none

[21:23] he didn’t even know who God was

[21:26] so why did he get up and go why did he move his life why did he change everything about him [21:34] why did he give up on who he was because he believed God Abram had faith Abram did not do [21:47] what we do see because when God makes a promise to us most times we say that sounds good and so [21:55] we take that promise and we put it into our lives and we try to find a place where it fits [22:01] like it’s a puzzle piece and then we find somewhere where we think it fits is like okay [22:05] I’m gonna put it there on Thursday afternoons at four o’clock I think God will fit there

[22:09] and then we go about our life and Thursdays before it’s like okay it’s God time I’ve got [22:13] to live for God right now that’s not faith

[22:22] God is not looking for where he fits in your life and because you’re trying to find where God [22:30] fits in your life guess what you’re doing you’re working harder at what God’s not really that [22:38] interested in rather than saying okay God you can simply have all of me

[22:46] God does not fit in your life

[22:53] stop trying to find where he does

[23:00] fit in your life [23:00] that’s why most of you are probably riddled with guilt

[23:08] because you can’t measure up to what God wants to do in your life and you can’t live that life [23:20] because you can’t find where God fits and where God you want him to fit he doesn’t so you disobey [23:27] and then you feel guilty so then you try harder not doing what God actually wants you to do [23:33] but instead giving him what you think you can give him and when that doesn’t work out you [23:38] repeat the cycle of guilt in your life over and over and over and here’s the real reason why [23:45] because you have not given your life to God because that is not faith

[23:54] faith is what takes place when God steps into your life and says here is the truth I want to [24:01] bless you exceedingly and you believe God and you throw everything else out

[24:13] and you hold on to that hope in God faith must be rooted in God

[24:24] if it is not in God alone then what you are doing is you are trying to create this hybrid existence [24:32] where you have your plans and then under those plans and in the cracks of those plans you put God [24:40] and you say okay God this is where you fit in my plans and we’re going to live like this and I’m [24:46] going to try to go to church and I’m going to join a Bible study and I’m going to try to read my [24:51] Bible a little bit more this week and I’m going to pray a half hour a day and then I’m going to go [24:56] to work I’m going to live my life as usual I’m going to be a consumer I’m going to be materialistic

[25:01] I’m going to be sexually immoral I’m going to do everything I can I’m not going to have good [25:06] relationships with people I’m not going to serve I’m not really going to do much but I’ll do what I [25:11] can for you and if that offering is not good enough well it just doesn’t fit things aren’t [25:17] working so one thing falls out and then you’re not reading your Bible and then prayer falls out [25:22] because you have time for that and then after a while going to church gets really annoying [25:26] because the preacher preaches all these Bible verses all the time and they just don’t fit and

[25:31] I’m sick and my friends are dying of cancer and my children aren’t who they should be God why aren’t [25:37] you fitting in my life and blessing me and then after a while you just quit on church because [25:41] nobody in church measures up to where you want them to be and then God isn’t measuring up where [25:46] you want them to be and then faith is gone let me just fill you in that wasn’t faith worth having [25:52] to begin with faith is not about your life faith is about God’s life if your faith is rooted in you

[26:09] what’s that going to get you

[26:14] it’s going to get you the failures that you’ve already got

[26:18] see it isn’t that God isn’t good

[26:24] it’s that because our lives are so messy we basically paint a picture of God that looks a lot like us

[26:36] and when he looks like us he’s not very pretty

[26:45] because he disappoints because faith wasn’t ever really rooted in God

[26:57] you say why was Abram willing to give up on everything that he had here’s the key [27:04] when you look at the life of Abram historically speaking he was a wealthy man [27:10] he had servants and oxen and then all of a sudden one day because you imagine being like the cattle [27:15] the guy that takes care of the cows Abram’s like hey we’re moving about 500 miles that way [27:22] I couldn’t pack up the u-haul they said a walk you man’s like what why I met God who God who’s he

[27:39] so you probably didn’t make much sense to those around Abram but Abram knew he had had a life [27:45] changing experience with God so God gave him a vision go back to Galatians chapter five

[27:55] excuse me chapter three

[27:59] verse seven know that it is those of faith who are sons of Abraham and the scripture for seeing [28:10] that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand to Abram saying [28:15] in you shall all may all the nations be blessed so then those who are of faith are blessed along [28:23] with Abraham the man of faith all right here’s the key what God said to Abraham apparently was [28:34] the gospel and some of you were like but I didn’t hear Jesus mentioned no you didn’t because Jesus [28:40] hadn’t been born yet this is the first book of the Bible this is a long time before Jesus ever came

[28:46] so what how are we saying that God knew that he wanted to take the gospel to the Gentiles [28:53] and remember even when he was talking to Abraham Gentiles didn’t even exist at that point

[28:59] so he preaches the gospel to Abraham how is that the gospel notice in what God says to Abraham the [29:06] promises that God says to Abraham is I am going to bless you and it doesn’t have anything to do [29:13] with you it’s the work that I’m going to do and it’s going to go throughout the entire world [29:21] and I’m going to great make a great nation for myself through you and it’s not going to have [29:27] anything to do with you it sounds a little bit like the gospel message to me that God’s going [29:35] to bless us in spite of ourselves

[29:42] Romans chapter 5 remember it says that even though we were sinners Christ died for us the just for the [29:52] unjust it would make sense for somebody to die for a good man but who would die for a bad man [30:01] God would who lifts up people that haven’t done anything for him and blesses them with blessings [30:11] that are innumerable Abraham and in this blessing that God gives to Abraham he catches a vision [30:20] that changes his life completely to where he is willing to throw his comfortable life where he’s [30:27] laying in the lap of luxury literally and he’s willing to throw it all away and make a journey

[30:33] to a country he’s never been to before because God said so and some of us struggle to even read the [30:42] Bible because God said so we’d rather watch Jeopardy makes this whole commitment to reading [30:54] the Bible sometimes a little petty to me yet I still struggle with it

[31:01] yet it’s still one of the hardest things I can find time to do in my day

[31:07] but Abraham uproots his entire household and everything that he has and he goes to a country [31:13] he’s never been to before because God gives him this amazing promise of a blessing and a great [31:20] nation and he says I’m going to do it just change your life

[31:30] faith must bring with it a vision for your life

[31:39] if it doesn’t then is it real faith remember this isn’t a vision that came from Abraham see a lot [31:48] of us have visions for our lives go to a any high school in the area and ask them what are you [31:53] going to do with your life and one of the great responses I used to be a high school teacher one [31:57] of the great responses I would always have was I don’t know but I’m going to make a lot of money [32:01] doing it see we all have a vision for our lives or most of our visions have big houses and nice [32:09] cars and garages and dogs and children swimming pools so we all have a vision

[32:20] but what happens when God steps in and says I want to replace your vision with my vision

[32:27] and I just want you to follow

[32:31] I’ll do it through you if you’ll just say yes

[32:36] see then we’re like wait a second I like the whole get in heaven deal okay so that’s why I’m [32:42] okay with Jesus taking my sins because it means I can get into heaven but when you start talking [32:47] about doing something with it right now that doesn’t sound free

[32:55] see remember where we started you don’t even grow by your hard work you just grow through your [33:04] faith and the key is is when we’re trying to find those places where faith fits and they don’t fit [33:10] and we screw up and we fail

[33:15] what happens though when we do catch a vision we say yes I want to live for the gospel because [33:21] I’m willing to bet in a community like this and with people like you that have probably been to [33:26] church in your lives there’s been a service or two where you have really gotten this vision of the [33:30] gospel and you’re like I’m going to throw all of my rock music away I’m gonna go to a bonfire and [33:37] throw all my rated r movies in and I’m gonna just gonna take everything out of my life that [33:40] God doesn’t fit in and I’m gonna live full steam for the gospel I’m even gonna break up with my

[33:45] girlfriend for the gospel and so you’re like okay changing my life completely getting rid of [33:52] everything I’ve got a vision for the gospel and then a week later

[34:00] man gospel stuff it’s not as good as the other stuff was I don’t like it as much [34:06] so you just kind of go back and then you kind of fail and then you fail in one place and then [34:11] you fail in two places and then it’s like where did the vision go what do you do when the vision [34:16] sometimes has a failure where you fail to grasp a hold of the failure this is where grace steps in [34:23] failure must bring a dependence on grace that is what faith does faith is in God faith brings a [34:34] vision and faith brings this catalyst that when failure happens it makes you depend on the grace

[34:41] of God you see Abraham caught a vision in Genesis 12 of what God wanted to do with his life [34:46] but guess what a few chapters later he fails miserably

[34:54] two different places Abraham is making his journey to this new land that God has told him to go to [34:59] and a king comes in and he’s like oh my goodness my wife is so good looking this king is going to [35:04] kill me so he can have her okay honey Sarah when we go into this land all right we’re going to say [35:10] I’m your brother all right and we’re not going to tell them that you’re my wife this happens to [35:16] him twice where he totally lies God because of his lack of faith this guy who’s a follower of God

[35:29] then in Genesis 15 we see Abraham goes to God and says God how are you going to build for me a great [35:35] nation I’m not sure I believe this promise that you made for me anymore and then God reiterates [35:40] the promise and he says Abraham go outside look at the sky look at the stars that’s how many [35:47] descendants you’re going to have it’s greater than the stars in the sky

[35:54] and by hearing the word of God Abraham believes and it says Abraham’s belief

[36:08] justified him in God’s eyes he got the righteousness of God because he trusted

[36:16] you see failure is a struggle for me it’s hard when it happens to me and it’s hard when I see it [36:23] because I don’t understand I don’t understand how even though I seemingly have faith some days [36:29] some other days I fail nor do I understand how people that have so much great faith for years [36:34] then can fail but what I do know is that when we do fail our response to failure [36:42] shows whether our faith is legitimate or not because when you fail if it does not bring with [36:51] it a radical dependence on the grace of God where you go to God and say God what is going on and

[36:59] God says this is the vision I have for your life repent and believe [37:04] then you say yes God because I am a sinner and I cannot do it but you can do it through me if I [37:14] just depend on you God says that is faith because faith is in God it’s not in me

[37:25] when you walk this journey of redemption you have to understand that redemption brings a life [37:32] based on God’s purposes if you look through Abraham’s life you have failure and you have [37:40] redemption but the over all theme of Abraham’s life is a man who depended on God and a God [37:48] who simply did things through Abraham’s life in spite of him

[37:54] so my question for you today is what do you do when your life is full of failure and full of [38:01] lack of faith what do you do you believe God and you just walk after him because he is blazing the [38:17] trail for you just like he did Abraham see I believe that in 2010 God could do some radical [38:26] things in our lives I believe God could do some radical things with the village church [38:31] but only if we become people who believe God enough to say God I want your life I am sick of [38:38] my hard work my effort and my failures I want to depend on you

[38:46] it’s only if we grab a hold of the vision that God gives us in the mission of Jesus [38:52] if you were to look in Genesis 15 God says the purpose of all that I am going to do through you [38:58] the purpose of this promise that I am making to you is so that my name can be known among the [39:04] nations of the world

[39:08] it sounds a lot like what Jesus said when he left earth when he said go make disciples of all nations

[39:21] your life with God doesn’t start in heaven

[39:26] your life with God starts right now your journey with God starts right now

[39:34] Abraham got up and walked not because he was working not because faith was about his effort [39:44] but rather because his faith in God revolutionized his life

[39:53] are you carrying guilt this morning

[39:56] are you carrying resentment is there a chip on your shoulder about God has God not come [40:03] through in your life in a certain place are you carrying resentment towards other people who claim [40:09] to know God and you’re like no they don’t what are you carrying around with you

[40:21] God simply wants you

[40:24] to give it to him [40:27] God simply wants you to say yes I believe you

[40:37] if we finish the section of verses it says it’s so much better than I could

[40:48] in verse 10 it says for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse for it is written [40:56] cursed be everyone who does not abide in all things written in the book of the law and do them [41:05] in other words if you’re following God under your effort by your sweat [41:11] you’re not going to do it perfectly and you’re cursed because that’s not God’s vision for your life

[41:19] now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law for the righteous shall [41:24] live by faith but the law is not of faith rather the one who does them shall live by them you want [41:33] to live by your morality guess what you’ll die by your morality because you’re not moral

[41:40] verse 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written [41:53] curse it is everyone who is hanged on a tree so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham [42:00] might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith [42:09] see the point of God making a promise to Abraham

[42:15] was so that he could make a promise to us see because if you look through Abraham’s family tree

[42:24] guess who’s right at the end of those branches Jesus

[42:30] you see we’re not supposed to trust in Abraham he failed [42:36] we’re to trust in the God who blessed Abraham

[42:41] we’re to trust in the God who made his own son a curse so that we wouldn’t have to be [42:50] cursed Christ redeemed us from the works of the law Christ redeemed us from the works of the law [43:03] those failures that guilt those resolutions that won’t pan out throw the guilt on Jesus [43:10] because he took it anyway Christ redeemed us from the works of the law God won’t fit in your life [43:18] so he put it on Jesus and he took your life and he wants to give you his own [43:28] that’s what 2010 should be all about that’s the theme that this year should carry through with it

[43:34] for your life and our lives collectively that is a faith worth having

[43:44] father we come before you right now [43:50] God help us to trust help us to believe

[43:58] I simply pray that you would help us to read these words and hear them [44:05] and believe them because when we believe you you transform our lives and you give us a new life

[44:20] amen