Sermon Video: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Abraham's Family Tree - Genesis 24:62-25:18

 

In a transitional section between the finding of Rebekah as Isaac's wife and the birth of their twin boys Esau and Jacob, Genesis pauses to tell us about the death of Abraham and his other sons, Ishmael (whom we already know) and six previously unnamed sons with Keturah.

A few insights emerge: The rift between Sarah and Hagar didn't continue with their sons,  Isaac and Ishmael, at least not when it came to burying their father together.  There is hope that family fractures aren't permanent. 

Secondly, God blessed each of Abraham's sons, but only Isaac was the Child of Promise, the heir of the covenant.  In this we see a reminder that Grace is God's gift to give according to his purpose.

Sermon Video: Finding a Wife for Isaac - The Faith of Rebekah, Genesis 24:28-61

 

After God's providential choice of Rebekah to be Isaac's future wife is revealed to Abraham's servant through his faithful prayer in the first half of chapter 24, the narrative shifts its focus to the potential bride herself and her brother Laban.  They now need to be convinced to also follow God's leading.

After hearing the whole tale from Abraham's servant, Laban steps aside by embracing God's choice of Rebekah.  But then something happens, a delay is requested, and the pivotal moment rests with Rebekah: Will she choose to go this day to a new land to marry a man she has only heard a report about, or not?

Rebekah chooses to live by faith, puts her trust in the LORD, and thus becomes a part of Abraham's larger covenantal story.

Sermon Video: The Supporting Cast at Advent: Simeon - Luke 2:25-35

 

After the shepherds and the angels had paid their visit on the day of Jesus' birth, Luke offers a look at two individuals led by the Holy Spirit who play an unexpected visit to Jesus when Mary and Joseph bring him for the first time to the Temple in Jerusalem. The first of these two is a "righteous and devout" man named Simeon. To him was given an incredible gift by the Holy Spirit: certainty that the Messiah would arrive in his lifetime. In the end, Simeon was in the right place at the right time to meet the baby Jesus because he had been a willing servant of the Lord, a reminder to us of how much God can use those who humbly seek him.

Sermon Video: The Holy Spirit is our guarantee - Ephesians 1:11-14

Already in Ephesians Paul has shared with us the awesome benefits of being "in him," that is, in Jesus Christ: (1) We have become the adopted sons and daughters of God, (2) and we will be a part of the unification of all things with God at the final fulfillment of God's will.  Here he offers yet another blessing: We have a guarantee that the first two things will certainly come to pass.  That guarantee is none other than the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, God himself now dwells not simply among us, but within us.

Sermon Video: God's Promises - The Birth of Isaac, Genesis 21:1-7

 

After decades of waiting, the promised son of Abraham and Sarah arrives. What does this miracle birth tells us about God's promises? About us as we wait for them to be fulfilled?

Sermon Video: Do Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures? - Genesis 19:30-38

In a disturbing episode that speaks to the trauma and hopelessness of those it involves, Genesis relates the origin of the two tribes that would occupy the land east of the Jordan River when the Israelites were journeying through Sinai.  The Moabites and the Ammonites were both connected with Abraham's nephew Lot which doesn't make them part of the Abrahamic Covenant (like the descendants of Ishmael and Esau) with respect to the general blessings upon Abraham's offspring, but it does mean that they are distant kin to Israel and they will have a role to play, for better and for worse, in the years to come.  The most famous example of this interaction is of course Ruth who is called "the Moabitess" over and over in her story.

In the end, there was no need for Lot's daughters to follow the course of action that they chose, because we serve one God whose character and power can be counted upon, his people never have to choose immorality.

Sermon Video: Is Anything Too Hard for the LORD? - Genesis 18:1-15

 

Through the lens of God's conversation with Abraham and Sarah about the impending birth of Isaac, consider the question of limitations on God's power: Are there any limits? In fact, there are, but they're self-imposed. Nothing constrains God except his own character and promises.

Sermon Video: God responds to the foolish choice of Abram and Sarai - Genesis 16

 

Abraham and Sarah are heroes of the faith, but they made plenty of mistakes along the way.  One of the most serious of them was the decision by Sarai to offer her slave Hagar to her husband Abram as a 2nd wife in the hopes that a son born to Abram and Hagar could be considered her son by adoption.  This way an effort to "assist" the fulfillment of God's promise.  Here's the thing: God doesn't need immoral help to accomplish his will.

In the end, the plan works in that Hagar bears Ishmael, but is a disaster in all other respects because it spawns a bitterness between Sarai and Hagar.  In the end, God intervenes to protect Hagar and her son, preventing Abram and Sarai's mistake from going further off the rails.

Sermon Video: The LORD and Abraham "cut" a covenant - Genesis 15:7-21

As a sign to offer reassurance about the future to Abraham, the LORD utilizes an Ancient Near Eastern custom involving the cutting-in-two of animals to symbolize the seriousness of the covenant should anyone break it.

In addition, God explains the upcoming 400 years of sojourning in Egypt that Abraham's descendants will endure in part because his wrath against the Canaanites is not yet ready because theirs sins have not yet reached the "full measure."  This has implications for how we understand God's judgment against sin and evil here in this life.

Sermon Video: God credits Abram's faith as righteousness - Genesis 15:1-6

Does faith exclude anxiety and fear?  As it turns out, it does not.  Abraham, the "father of faith" had them.  Abram's promise from God of a son and heir was a LONG time in the fulfilling.  Abram's expressed his frustration with this to God, and rather than getting angry, God offered him reassurance that his promise still stood.  It is Abram's acceptance of this promise, after expressing his anxiety/fear, that God credited to him as righteousness.

Sermon Video: Abram and Lot go their own ways - Genesis 13

After his failure to trust God while sojourning in Egypt, how will Abram react the next time he needs to live by faith in God's promises?  Genesis 13 offers the answer, in it Abram passes the test with flying colors.  When a conflict arises between his shepherds and those of Lot over the available grazing land, Abram offers Lot the first choice of the land so they can part in peace.  This incredibly generous offer from Abram highlights his faith in God, as the chapter unfolds God speaks to Abram reiterating his promises and once more proclaiming that the future of this land belongs to his offspring.

* Apologies that I stepped out of the frame a bit this time, I was trying to tighten up the zoom a bit, but I guess I don't stand still enough for that to work.

Sermon Video: The Promised Land, Genesis 12:4-9

 

God's promise to Abram about the land of Canaan is the foundation for a conversation about the challenging history and complicated present of this land and its people that leads to two resolutions: (1) The Jewish people have a right to live in this land, (2) everyone else who lives in this land deserves basic human rights and freedoms.

Sermon Video: God's Grace in Action: The Call of Abram, Genesis 11:10-12:3

Following the Tower of Babel incident, when God dispersed a human effort to establish his presence among humanity, the narrative of Genesis turns toward the family line that leads to Abram, the man whom God will choose to begin his relationship with one particular people, and through them bless the world.

God asks a lot of Abram, to leave his homeland and trust that God will make him into a great nation despite the lack of children in his marriage with Sarai.  But God also promises amazing things to Abram, going far beyond what any connection to a God in the Ancient Near East would expect to be by proposing to Abram an enduring relationship.  With God it wouldn't be a mutually beneficially bargain, instead it would be an outpouring of grace.

Sermon Video: The sign of God's covenant with Noah, Genesis 9:1-17

Symbols can be powerful, they can evoke love or hate, assurance or fear.  They can be put to righteous purposes, or evil ones.  In Genesis 9 God chooses to make a covenant with Noah and promises that no other cataclysmic flood like the one that had just ended will occur in the future.  In doing so, God begins a pattern of making covenant with humanity, offering promises to help us navigate this life in connection with him.  God also offers a sign of the covenant, the rainbow, a fitting reminder that one can only see a rainbow when the sun is shining in the midst of a storm.

Sermon Video: Jesus: Fulfilling God's promises to the Jews, showing mercy to the Gentiles - Romans 15:7-13

In his conclusion to the section that began in chapter 14 about the need for Christians to accept each other, Paul offers us a telling analogy: "just as Christ accepted you."  This prompts Paul to a brief explanation as to how Jesus both fulfilled the promises to Abraham, and brought God's mercy to the Gentiles.  Thus our task becomes clear, to be bearers of hope, by overflowing with hope and peace, to both Jew and Gentile alike.

Sermon Video: Why the Church cannot replace Israel: God's plan includes them, Romans 11:25-32

There is a simple and excellent reason why the creation of the Church and the instituting of the New Covenant, both at the direction of Jesus Christ, is not a replacement of Israel: God's promises are irrevocable.  What God has promised cannot be undone.  God promised Abraham that he would bless his descendants, always, and so that promise will remain in effect until the end of time.

That doesn't mean God can't change the way in which his blesses Israel, hence the culmination of the Mosaic Law which Jesus fulfilled, and the bringing of God's new covenant people, Jew and Gentile alike, into one family by faith through grace.

Sermon Video: Why God made Israel jealous - Romans 11:7-15

When the majority of the Israelite people in Paul's generation rejected Jesus as Messiah, did God give up on them?  Absolutely not.  God continued to work with the faithful remnant (see previous sermon in this series) and remained faithful to his promise to Abraham by reserving a future time of restoration.

But what did God do in the meantime?  The era in which we now live is known as the Church Age, is was proceeded by the era of the Mosaic Covenant, and will last until the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.  During this era God's work with the Gentiles, aside from its straightforward purpose of leading countless people to salvation, is also a method of using the jealously of God's covenant people (i.e. the descendants of Abraham, that is, Jews) to draw them toward faith in Jesus.  Why?  Because God's love for them, as a people called to his purpose, remains.

Sermon Video: "being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised." - Romans 4:13-22

Why was Abraham able to wait, without losing his faith in God and hope in God's promises, for YEARS as both he and Sarah grew older and older with the arrival of the son they desired so much?  Abraham knew two truths: (1) God had the power to do what he had promised, and (2) having a child at this point would take a miracle.  In the end, Abraham's faith held firm because he knew God, had a relationship with him.  This is not something exclusive to Abraham but a blessing available to all who put their hope in Jesus Christ.

Sermon Video: The Messiah: David's son and Lord, Mark 12:35-37

While in the Temple courts, Jesus takes the opportunity to set forth a riddle concerning the Messiah, one that his own Virgin Birth is the answer to. In Psalm 110, David calls his son "Lord". Jesus asks how a son can be the superior of a father (or ancestor), a mystery culturally in the Ancient World. We know the answer. Jesus is David's son genealogically, but also his superior because he is the Son of God in addition to being the Son of Man. While David was a hero (flawed yes, but still a hero), Jesus is far more: a sinless savior.

Sermon Video: "Don't be afraid, just believe." - Mark 5:21-43

 On the way to heal Jairus' sick daughter, Jesus is interrupted by a desperate woman who has suffered from a painful malady for twelve years. This woman only touches Jesus cloak, but is still healed. Stopping, Jesus seeks out the woman, and when she falls trembling at his feet, he does not scold her for her impudence, but says to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." Meanwhile, Jairus' daughter has died, prompting Jesus' bold words, "Don't be afraid, just believe." How can this be? Faith is not meant to be irrational or absurd, so how can Jesus say such a thing? Simple. In the last 24 hours Jesus has demonstrated lordship over Nature (calming the storm) and the spiritual realm (driving out the Legion of demons), now he will demonstrate his lordship over Death as well. God is the giver of Life, all life, God can bring life back to the dead as well. Jesus then proves that faith placed in God's promises (Word) are well placed, as he precedes to bring the young girl back to life.

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