Sunday, June 21, 2015

Zero to Hero: Abraham

I have three 5 x 8 sheets filled with sermon notes.  Too much debris in the yard today.  we are worn out.  Blessed, though, to have good neighbors who pitched in and did the heavy lifting and a bunch of raking and carting.  Nevertheless,  I think I have to abbreviate this.  Too bad, because it was an excellent sermon.



  • It is human nature to ask "why?"
  • Abraham with Isaac and his servants traveling to the Mount of sacrifice, Abraham was surely asking, "How could God bless, then take away the blessing?"
  • Isaac questions what is going on, Abraham starts to explain that God will provide.
  • Abraham binds his son, raises the blade to spill the blood.  God speaks after three days of silence, "Abraham."
  • "Here am I."
  • "Because you have not withheld, I will bless.  (Genesis 22)
Abraham did not hold anything back.
Few seem to understand what it is God wants us to learn from this lesson.  We need to get to the point where we can answer the question "Why?"  Why do you serve God?  Why do you believe?

This is the "why."  Isaac was the "why," the promise of God, and now God says, I want it back.

==If God took away every "why" I had for serving Him, would I still serve Him?

==Abraham acknowledged that God could rewrite the contract anytime He wants.

Abraham did everything required of him.  He was a hero of the faith (Hebrews 11:17-18) because he gave everything back to God.

==If there were no promise of heaven still having God in my life is worth it all.
==He is God and I am not.

If you are the god of your own life, God does not meet your expectations.

==It is one thing to offer God to your children; it is another thing to offer your children to God.

God has already laid down His life for you; you must lay down your life for Him.

==What you offer in worship matters.  You must give of yourself fully.  That that brought pain, that that brought joy, should be turned into praise.
Offer God the best of what you have, not the last of what you have.
The "why" matters, the heart matters.

Pastor Johnnie Blair
Sunday morning 

2 comments:

Lin said...

Did you have a lot of damage from the storm? I know our farming friends had a lot of crop damage. :(

vanilla said...

Lin, no property damage, just a lot of branches and litter in the yard, no uprooted trees. Many places in town had severe damage both to trees and buildings. Then we had neighbors who worked all Sunday morning cleaning up the mess in our yard. We were blessed. Crops will suffer and that is a tragedy for the farm communities.