Thursday, June 1, 2006

By Faith... Abraham - Part I, Part 53 of 56

TEXT: "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8).

IDEA: Crises don't make faith as much as they reveal faith.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that what we are is revealed in what we do.

Have there been situations in your life when you were faced with going with God or going against Him?

What were the tensions that made the issue significant?

I. We may face situations where what we ought to do conflicts strongly with what we want to do.

As seen in Hebrews 11:8, Abraham faced two major decisions in his life where the conflict between what he ought to do and what he wanted to do was evident.

He was called to leave his security in Ur to walk with God to where, humanly speaking, what God promised was absurd.

He was called to give up his only son at God's command.

Abraham faced two great questions:

Will I give up what seems like security for what appears to be uncertain?

Will I give up my most cherished possession to God?

II. We sometimes face decisions like that.

Marriage to an unbeliever.

Giving up a career because it conflicts with what you know is right.

Giving up a son or daughter who wants to serve Christ in another part of the world.