Wednesday, August 30, 2006

By Faith... Abraham - Part II, Part 2 of 79

TEXT: "[Abraham] waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10).

IDEA: God has a special interest in cities.

PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate what cities reveal about God.

Where did you grow up?

Did that have much effect on who you are?

Do you think it's easier to sense God in the country or in the city?

I. God has a special liking for cities.

In Hebrews 11, when God called Abraham, it was to leave a city, Ur of the Chaldees, to wait for another city whose builder and maker is God, (v. 10).

Why a city?

In Hebrews when the people of God worshiped, it wasn't on the hills of the high places or by the lake, it was in Jerusalem. Why do you think God put his temple in a city?

II. Cities reveal God because they bring out the best in people.

When you look for the image of God, where do you find it?

In cities you can see people at their best and also at their worst.

Look at the creative genius in buildings and in art.

Yet cities are a place infected with people's sin.

III. What do you think is involved in looking for a city "whose building and maker is God"?

How does that kind of city contrast with a city like New York or Detroit whose builders and makers are men and women?

All that is the best in a city apart from all that is sinful in people is the image here.

Revelation 20 describes God's kingdom as a great city coming from heaven, adorned as a bride for her bridegroom.

What do you think that metaphor tells us about God and about God's kingdom and about the future?