Monday, April 24, 2006

By Faith... Abraham - Part I, Part 25 of 56

"The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.' Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, he promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him" (Acts 7:2-5).

IDEA: Faith often demands a ruthless abandonment of the past.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that to go forward, you have to leave what is behind.

Have you ever known folks who started out to be Christians, but in a short time had abandoned their commitment? Why would this happen?

I. One reason we don't move ahead with God is that we won't let go of the past.

Faith often demands a ruthless separation from the past.

Abraham was called by God to leave the comfort, the consolation of the familiar with its traditions and move ahead with God.

Ur of the Chaldees was a developed city of 250,000 people, with heavy commerce and manufacturing.

One firm of weavers produced 12 different grades of cloth.

Jewelers worked in gold, silver, mother of pearl, lapis-lazuli.

Ur had copperworkers, shipbuilders, potters, leatherworkers, carpenters.

Abraham turned his back on his religious traditions.

The city was dominated by a huge temple-tower in 3 stages rising 150' above street level, dedicated to the moon god Suen or Sin.

Religion in Ur was polytheistic, with more than 300 other gods worshiped there.

It was in that polytheistic background that Abraham grew up and married.

II. Do men and women who come to commit themselves to Jesus Christ face some of those same choices today?