Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Good morning. Could you open up your bibles with me to the book of Genesis? We're gonna be in chapter twelve, primarily this morning. And if I have not had the joy to meet you, my name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the village church, and I have the joy to open up God's word with you this morning. So before we jump into the book of second Corinthians next week or next month, we're gonna do a four week series on Leviticus, and we're gonna go deep. I'm kidding.
[00:00:32] Just joking. No, we're gonna do a few weeks series called Hinge points, and I want to define this together.
[00:00:41] Hinge points are critical moments of decision, forks in the road that determine the trajectory of our future. They're the critical moments of decision, the forks in the road that determine the trajectory of our future. And sometimes, let's be honest, for better and sometimes for worst. I know many of you in this room, and there are so many hinge point stories where your life took a drastic turn in a different direction because you made some pretty significant decisions. And I want to share with you one of the most important hinge points in my life. In the summer of 2000, I just finished my freshman year at Michigan State University. And for all the Wolverine fans in the room, I love you.
[00:01:25] Sorry. Forgive me. We'll be fine. No, but I had the greatest year of spiritual growth and transformation in my entire life. There was probably no single year where I saw God move in my life, transform me more. In fact, it was the year where I was introduced to having ministry and teaching the Bible and so many other things. I look back at that year. I met some of the greatest friends I had ever had in my life. It is the fondest year of education that I have.
[00:01:58] I went to bed at the end of my freshman year, and my dad kept saying, get a job. Get a job. You need a job. You need to make money. And so I was like, fine, dad. So I went to bed, and I was like, God, I need a job. I need to make money. And I fell asleep praying. And then I woke up to the sound. I don't know if you guys have ever heard of this or remember this. It's called a landline phone. You guys remember that? It's like a phone connected to a cord. And I was on the top bunk, and so I rolled out of bed and I picked up the phone, and it was pastor art. And he basically said, I know a guy knows a guy, who knows a guy who knows you, and we have a pastoral internship in Missouri for the summer. Would you be interested in applying to this thing? And I went through the process, and lo and behold, I went to Missouri for the summer. And by the end of the summer, I want to tell you what I knew that I knew that. I knew in the deepest parts of my bones, I knew that God was calling me into full time ministry. I knew this. You know those moments where, you know, if you do anything else other than this thing, like, you're living in disobedience. It was that moment. And so I knew God was calling me away from Michigan state into full time ministry. And so I did the most logical thing possible.
[00:03:08] I went back to Michigan State for my sophomore year, and then I sunk into the deepest depression of my life.
[00:03:19] I was not where I was supposed to be. You know, the feeling.
[00:03:24] It wasn't. And I want to be clear, it wasn't. I look back, I don't think it was depression from disobedience. I think what God was doing is he was creating this, like, discontent in my life, preparing me for what he was about to push me into.
[00:03:39] I remember after I decided to leave, I didn't know where I was going, by the way, I decided to leave. And then shortly after, I got accepted into a leadership development program in Colorado to catch this that I didn't even remember that I applied for, like, months prior. And I'm like, my mom calls me. She's like, you got accepted into the leadership institute? I'm like, what leadership? I don't even remember this thing. And so the moment that I decided, you know, I'm gonna follow you, Lord. The Lord had already worked behind the scenes, setting stuff up. And then all of a sudden, I found myself in Colorado, and I still did not know where I was going to land. And through this weird series of events, I landed at a school I had never heard of before. This might be a surprise to those of you who, like, are from Chicago, but I had never heard of Moody Bible institute in my entire life. And when I got there, I thought some of the people were pretty strange, but I knew that was where I was supposed to go. First time I ever laid eyes on this school was showing up for the first day of school. Like, that was my first real time in Chicago. And, like, at Moody, I mean, I had no idea what I was walking into. But behind the scenes, what I didn't quite realize is that the Lord was doing something in a girl's life, and she went to a college, and the lord created discontentment in her, and she was trying to figure out where to go, and she lands at Moody. And then I decide she's pretty cute. I'm going to go to church with her. In 2001, I show up to village church for the very first time because I am trying to date at the time, Brianne Hurlburt. And I never, ever, ever would have guessed what the Lord was up to. That was 23, four years ago that I walked into this building. I had no category then. A few years, I would become the youth pastor here and then the senior pastor. And two plus decades later, I look back and like, I didn't just get to marry into an incredible family.
[00:05:20] This place has been my ministry and where I have grown and learned, and the best friends of my entire life have been here. I mean, my life is every. My kids here. It is so unbelievably special. And I had no category, no script for what the Lord could possibly want to do in my life at that time. And I wish I could go back to that moment and future me could talk to Michael. Me sitting, knowing in the middle of the summer of 2000, like God's calling you to ministry, hey, dude, follow him wherever he asks you to go. You might not have a clue what you're doing next. I'm telling you, bro, it is worth it. It is worth it. Hinge points are these critical moments of decision. They're forks in the road that determine the trajectory of our future. The next two weeks, we're going to look at two really practical hinge points that I think almost everybody in the room has probably already had to deal with. I want to look at these big hinge point decisions, these moments where you know that you know that God is calling you to something different and risky and uncomfortable.
[00:06:29] Hinge point decisions, they're a choice between two possible futures.
[00:06:34] Comfort, which I really like, and calling, which can be petrifying on the other side of disobedience. These moments when you know, like, you know that you know what God is asking is comfort. But there is also loss and the forfeiture of blessings. And I just. I want to be crystal clear. There are things God will ask you to do. And if you say no, he will give the privilege to do those things to someone else. That's life.
[00:07:04] And it doesn't mean he'll never ask you to do anything ever again. But there are a whole bunch of really amazing, beautiful kingdom opportunities that probably many of us in this room have forfeited because we were too scared to follow Jesus to something a bit uncomfortable.
[00:07:18] But on the other side of obedience is the next step of your calling, and it's filled with blessing and transformation. Here's the way I like to think about it. Whether or not you stay comfortable or whether or not you follow Jesus, life's going to be hard no matter what, so I might as well do it. Following Jesus where he's taking me. Amen. It's like I've never looked at somebody who's like, my life's been easy for 30 years, right? And if you follow Jesus, it's going to be challenging. And if you stay here, it's going to be challenging. The difference is comfort or being able to partner with God in the building of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Now, before we get into the text today, there are going to be some of you in here, in this room who identify as old. Okay?
[00:07:59] I'm not going to put an age to that. But you know who you are because you're thinking to yourself, I'm old. Okay? This is a message that is not for young people only.
[00:08:10] Because what we see as a pattern in scripture is that until you're dead, Jesus doesn't stop asking us to follow him into difficult and challenging places. Amen. I had two men after the first service, both in their seventies, come up to me and be like, that was for me. So if you are, quote, old, okay, this is not a young person's sermon. This is a christian sermon. And Jesus will ask you to follow him into difficult places and things until the day you are dead. Can I get an amen from somebody who's old in this room? That's not a lot of people, because you're all so young. Turn with me, Genesis twelve. I'm gonna tell you the true story of a normal man who God called to do something great, and he utterly failed. It is a story of stupidity, of generational heartache, and classic God bringing redemption out of one man's disastrous decisions.
[00:09:06] I have one fair warning before we dig into Genesis twelve. There are going to be some of you here, you know, the Bible, etcetera, and if you think you know what happened in this story, what I have found is about 99% of christians who know the Bible, they get this story wrong because you've listened to the songs and not the text. Okay, so the songs about Abraham, ignore them. We're going to look at the text, and I think. I think for most of us in this room, we're going to be surprised at how foolish Abraham was, especially at the beginning. Genesis twelve, one. Now the Lord said to Abram, who later became Abraham, I'm just going to call him Abraham because I'm going to mess it up. I might go back and forth, but my default will be Abraham. But God said to Abraham, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. So can we just all agree that this is a hinge point moment in the life of Abraham? He is supposed to leave his country. He is supposed to leave his kindred. He is supposed to leave his father's house. Can we agree on this? Right, so here's the hinge point decision. Leave everything you know and go to a different land. But what I want to draw your attention to is there's three things explicitly God tells Abraham. You can't take with you into the calling I'm bringing you into. And here's the three things. Number one is your country, okay? He lives in a place called ur. You are in a region or country called region. Mesopotamia. Ur. That's where he's from. He has to leave behind his kindred. And if that's a word you don't know, kindred is family. That would be not just mom, dad, brothers, sisters. It would be aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, nephews, you name it. It's the whole kind of, like word. Okay? Everybody you're related to, except for your wife, I want you to take. You got to leave her. That's your kindred. And by the way, your father's house, it's very specific here. You can't take your mom and your dad with you, okay? You gotta leave them and out like you are going to a new place. It's gonna be you and your wife all by your lonesome. Are we clear? Leave the country, leave your kindred, leave your parents. Got it? Now, did God mince words? Not at all. I appreciate when God calls, he is unbelievably clear.
[00:11:16] So now, what does God have for Abraham on the other side of obedience? Verse two clues us in.
[00:11:23] And I, if you do this, I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great. Why?
[00:11:34] So that you will be a blessing. We said this earlier. On the other side of obedience is blessing for you and for other people. You don't know what it is yet. When God enters in, he's like, I'm calling you, you to something specific. He doesn't usually tell you all the blessings. Abraham got a little perk here. He told him, if you go, here's what I'm going to do for you now, go to verse four. And verse four does not make Abraham look good at all. In fact, it includes some pretty concerning information. So, verse four, he says this. So Abram, Abraham went as the Lord told him. So he left urdae. And then it says this. And lot went with him. Wait a minute.
[00:12:16] What is lot's familial relationship to Abraham? Anybody know?
[00:12:22] Nephew? Would we call that kindred? I'm gonna go with 100%. That falls in the category of kindred. Is lot supposed to go with him? The answer everybody is no, not at all. And in case you forgot earlier in verse one, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house. He is not supposed to be there. And then some of you will say, but it doesn't say so. And let me introduce you to an Old Testament narrative principle. Old Testament narrative will rarely ever tell you what is right and wrong. It will show you, okay? So if you're looking for the text, to be blunt with you, it is going to show you what is good and what is bad. And here's how we know this. Do you know what happens 100% of the time? Lot shows up in Abraham's life.
[00:13:10] Very bad things.
[00:13:13] Lot is a thorn in this guy's side everywhere he goes. Because what is the narrative showing you? Lot is not supposed to be with Abraham. He is kindred. He is supposed to be left behind. This is his responsibility. He is going to a place. Lot is not supposed to be there. Let me clear with lot or be clear with lot. It's not that lot was evil. When you read the story of lot, it's kind of that. Lot was dumb.
[00:13:44] In fact, frustratingly so, the New Testament calls lot righteous. So, good news. You can be dumb and righteous, but that's what we see with lot.
[00:13:53] The main problem with lot is that he was not compatible with God's calling on Abraham's life.
[00:13:59] The two could not or should not have coexisted together. Now, verse four, it goes on to tell us another concerning piece of information.
[00:14:07] Verse four says Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. You can call it Haran or Haran if you are an american or you're anybody else but somebody who's familiar with this geography, you're going to read, you're going to keep going. But if you are familiar with geography, if you're one of the original recipients of this, you stopped in verse four and you said to yourself something like Heron, why is he in Haran? So let me show you a map. Of what this looks like. So on the right side or the east side, we have ur of the Chaldeans. This level of this area between the Tigris and Euphrates, that's Mesopotamia. And so he is. This is where God calls him. He says, in ur, hey, Abraham, you gotta leave your country, your kindred, etcetera. And he's bringing him over to Canaan, which now is present day Israel. But where does he go? He goes north to Haran. All right, something is happening here.
[00:15:08] Why would you go north to Haran? Let me tell you a little bit about this city. Haran was before it was a city. It was first a man. The man was lot's dad, Abraham's uncle. And here in the city, it's also, guess whose hometown it is. Lot's hometown.
[00:15:26] So if God called Abraham to Canaan, why isn't, why is he in Haran, lot's hometown? Now, you might say, okay, like, if you're a little bit literate in the Bible, you're gonna have a couple good responses. Here's one. Abraham couldn't have traveled straight west because it's dangerous territory, it's desert, and you gotta follow the roads. You gotta go through Haran to get over to Canaan. And you would be right. Or you might say, well, maybe lot just didn't want to stay in ur. Like, Abraham's leaving, so all of a sudden he's like, well, why don't I go with you? We have to go through Haran anyways. So why don't you go, take me there, and then you can continue on your way to Canaan, and I'll just hang out with my dad and my family and my kindred and Haran. How about we do that? And that would be logical, and that would be probably fine until we get to the book of acts in the New Testament, chapter seven. So if you Bible turn over to acts, Stephen is sort of preaching, lecturing to a bunch of jews, and he retells the story of Abraham. And I want you to listen to what he says, because what he does is he actually brings a bit of color to what actually happened in Genesis. Twelve acts, chapter seven, verse two. Stephen said, brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, by the way. What city? Everybody. Ur. You are ur in Mesopotamia. And then he identifies. He wants the reader to hear this. Before he lived in Haran, when God called Abraham, what city did he live in? Ur. You gotta pay the devils in the details here. It's great. Verse three.
[00:17:05] And said to him, go out from your land and from your kindred, go into the land that I will show you. Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans ur and lived in Haran. Wait a minute, I am confused.
[00:17:23] Why are you, quote, living in Haran? Because the songs taught me that when God called you, you were faithful and you went right to the promised land and you were amazing and you made no mistakes.
[00:17:37] And yet Stephen chimes in and he's like, oh, yeah, he went to Haran, stopped and stayed there. Wow. Now, here's what's interesting. Did you know that Haran would be considered the same country as ur?
[00:17:52] So not only has he taken lot with him, his kindred, he hasn't even left the country yet.
[00:17:58] And he decides, well, I haven't left the country yet, and I got my nephew with me, I might as well settle here and live for some time. Now, in case you're, like, wondering, is Herrin sort of like what Elgin is to Chicago? Oh, no. They're roughly five to 600 miles apart from each other. So this would be like landing in Chicago, but you're supposed to be in Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City, Missouri, or Nashville, Tennessee, or Toronto or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, or Memphis, Tennessee. Is Abraham anywhere near where he's supposed to be? Guys, the answer is no. He's still in the same country and he's still got his kindred with him. Verse four, it goes on, tells us even more indicting information about Abraham. Sorry, the bad news keeps coming. Abraham lived and stayed in Haran until verse four. It says, after his father died. Hold up.
[00:18:52] Not only did you not leave your country, not only did you not leave your kindred, but you took your dad with you. I'm sorry. Was there anything you obeyed? The only thing he did is he left one city where he was safe and comfortable, for another city where he was safe and comfortable. He did not leave his country. He did not leave his kindred. He did not leave his father, because it's scary.
[00:19:19] Acts, chapter seven, verse four tells us, actually, a little bit more here. It says, and after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.
[00:19:34] It gets crazier because here's all we know. We know that Abraham was 75 years old when God told him to leave Haran.
[00:19:44] Do you know how old Abraham was when God actually called him an ur in Mesopotamia? We have no idea. He could have been 30 years old. We have no idea how old he was. All we know is that God called him he disobeyed everything, went to a safe place and stayed there and ended up settling. And then, at 75 years old, God says, enough is enough. Your father is dead. We're now going to move on to the right next thing here.
[00:20:17] And you know what he did?
[00:20:19] He took a lot with him there. Dude, what are you doing?
[00:20:26] Go back to Genesis. Now I want you to look at Genesis 1131. Right before Genesis twelve, toward the end of the chapter. Genesis 1131. Terah, who's Abraham's dad. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson lot, son of Haran, and his daughter in law, Sarai, the wife of the son of Abramouse. And together they set out from ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. Did they know where they were supposed to be going? Yep. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.
[00:20:56] You guys catching this?
[00:20:59] We don't know how many decades they sat in Haran. We don't know how many decades God sat and just patiently let them build a life. When they knew that they knew where God called them to be this entire time, whether it was years or decades, Abram was fully aware of what God called him to, where he was supposed to be and who he was supposed to leave behind. And Abram? Abraham willingly chose to settle in Haran.
[00:21:33] There was no room for lot or Terah, where God was taking Abraham. And these two men, beloved as they were to Abraham, they did not have Abraham's best interest in mind.
[00:21:47] Somehow, these two guys either convinced Abraham to settle in Haran and disobey the clear word of God, or they permitted it and didn't challenge him to follow Yahweh wherever he leads. Either way, these guys aren't the best influence on him.
[00:22:10] I want to know, where are the men who are standing up in Abraham's life and saying, follow the will of Yahweh, no matter where he leads? Let's also be clear. It would appear that lot knew he wasn't supposed to be there. And he went anyways.
[00:22:27] I want to share with you a principle, and I need you to pay attention to how this is worded, because this is important. When God calls you to something, he will ask you to create distance from those you can't stand up to.
[00:22:41] And I want to be clear. This is less of an indictment on lot, on Tara, as it is on Abraham.
[00:22:48] There are people everywhere who will tell you, don't obey God. That's too much. That's too far. You just keep a safe, comfortable life. God would never want you to be uncomfortable. He wants you to feel happy all the time. That's God's will for your life. There will be so many people in your life, and they will take what you know that you know that you know is the calling of God in your life. And they will squish it. They're everywhere.
[00:23:10] And your job is you have to have the courage and the ability to look at them and say, but that's crystal clear, not the will of God in this situation.
[00:23:19] And unfortunately, we often have no idea who these people are until we. Until we share with them what we sense God might be calling us to.
[00:23:28] Many scholars actually believe that God had to take the life of Abraham's father before he could call him on that. It was too connected.
[00:23:40] And again, what's so infuriating, drives me insane is that Abraham finally, after the death of his father, while he's in the middle of grieving, finally God says, we're done. And then he says, lot, you're coming with me. I'm not going anywhere without you. Okay, let's go.
[00:23:56] What does lot represent for us? Lot is something that God is asking us to leave behind for the sake of the calling.
[00:24:04] Sometimes it's a person.
[00:24:07] Sometimes it's a place.
[00:24:11] Sometimes it's a thing, an idol, an addiction.
[00:24:15] But I want to be clear with you. When God calls you to something, you will know with clarity what he is calling you to, at least the direction. But you're also going to know the things that you can't take with you. Usually, and most often, it falls into one of four categories. Number one is a relationship that needs to be left behind.
[00:24:38] Number two is a dream that was not from the Lord. You guys ever had a dream that is, like, not from him, but, like, maybe you devoted years of your life to it, and all of a sudden you realize, oh, that was my own ego and my own glory and not from God. Anybody else have those things? Okay. Just me.
[00:24:56] A relationship that needs to be left behind. A dream that was never from the Lord. A sin that has entangled you like there are. And it's like, you know this. You know this in your soul, there are things the Lord will not allow you to do until this thing, this entangling sin, is left behind.
[00:25:13] Or, and I think, honestly, most dangerously, it's a comfort that you won't release.
[00:25:20] Almost always, the question comes out of this, do I take the path of least resistance, or do I follow Jesus? Comfort or calling?
[00:25:30] Why would Abraham take lot in the first place?
[00:25:34] Lot was safe. Lot was home. A lot was comfortable. That was family. I mean, following God, it is really difficult. When God asks you to leave your country, when God asks you to leave your family, when God asks you to leave your kindred, that is a gut wrenching ask.
[00:25:53] And so you try to keep some of it.
[00:25:56] So here's what I know. I know that right now there are some of you in this room, and I am bothering you immensely.
[00:26:04] I'm bothering you because you already know, like you are right now in heron. You are in the place you're not supposed to be. You know what God in the past has asked you to do, and you are choosing something different, right?
[00:26:18] And you have no intention of doing anything about it. You're gonna stay in here until you're dead. You're like, listen, my soul's safe. So this life, I'm gonna be comfortable. Got it? This is not a sermon for you. Unfortunately, what I find is the majority of people are going to fall in that former category. You know, you know exactly what he's calling you to do.
[00:26:39] This sermon is for the minority who will make the difficult decision to leave Haran, who don't need to wait for God to take the life of somebody or for their whole world to be shaken upside down.
[00:26:53] It's for people who have said, you know, goddess, I know the thing you've told me to do, and I have been running for it. Or you're sitting here right now and you're like, it's like you're just flooding me with vision for my life. And I need to go talk to some people to see if this is from you or if it's indigestion. I don't know which one I'm open to both. But like, okay, lord, what's going on? Right? If you are the person who's like, I am ready to do whatever you ask me to do, my life is yours. And this is a message for you and the rest of you.
[00:27:24] I can't do anything for you. But if you want to follow the Lord, here's what I can tell you. It's always worth it. And it's going to be hard if you stay, and it's going to be hard if you go. It's just going to be hard no matter how you slice it. So let's walk through life following the Lord. Now, Abraham keeping Lot for Abraham, it's going to go down as one of the dumbest decisions he's ever made. And this guy, when you read his life story, he's made some doozies. This is going to be a big one.
[00:27:52] Let me illustrate. Do you remember, by chance, the name of Lot's two sons?
[00:27:57] The first is a kid named Moab.
[00:28:01] Moab's mother was Lot's oldest daughter. Sit on that.
[00:28:07] So lot had a child with his oldest daughter. His name's Moab. Then he decides, I'm going to have a child with my youngest daughter, and that child's name is Benjen Ami.
[00:28:19] From these two incestuous children would come the Moabites and the Ammonites, two of the greatest enemies of Abraham's descendants, the Hebrews.
[00:28:30] The Moabites and the Ammonites were Sodom and Gomorrah. But after the flood, as evil and perverse and disgusting as you can imagine, they took after the character of their mother and father. And it's one of the reasons that it drives me nuts that the New Testament calls lot righteous. So he's righteous by the hair of his chinny chin chin by the skin of his teeth. Okay.
[00:28:50] But these two kids and their ancestors would be responsible for the death of tens of thousands of Abraham's descendants. So let me just give you kind of a brief overview, a few examples. If, like, you're a note taker, don't try taking notes in this section. I'm just gonna talk very fast. Here's just a few examples of how annoying the Moabites and ammonites were to the descendants of Abraham. Let's start with the ammonites. Judges three, they joined with the Amalekites to enslave Israel. Judges eleven fought against Israel, and the judge, Jephthah. One Samuel eleven, demanded all Israel gouge out their right eye if they were to be. But if they were too scared to fight another war with them, two Samuel ten warred against David. Two Samuel twelve, killed Uriah the Hittite so David could have Bathsheba. Two chronicles 27, ward again against Israel. One kings eleven and one kings 23, they worshiped Moloch, who required human sacrifice, usually children. Jeremiah 25, they're lumped in with Egypt, Philistia, Tyreside, on babylon, and all who were the enemies of God. Psalm 83 constantly conspired against Israel. Amos one ripped open the wombs of Israel's women so they would not have hebrew babies. That's just the ammonites. Let's go to the Moabites.
[00:30:02] Numbers 22 hired Balaam to curse Israel. Judges three, enslaved Israel. Judges ten filled their land with idols, including Chemosh, who is just like Moloch. Human sacrifice, especially of kids. Put them on altars, lit them on fire. Alive. Judges eleven wouldn't let Israel go through their land first. Samuel four fought against Saul and Israel. Two kings, three warred again against Israel. One chronicles eleven and 18 warred against David.
[00:30:24] So there's a book in the Old Testament, Zephaniah.
[00:30:29] Try finding it real quick. Right. Zephaniah, I want to read this to you. This is the lord of on the Moabites and Ammonites.
[00:30:36] I have heard the taunts of Moab and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boast against their territory. Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles and salt pits and a waste forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them. Deuteronomy 23 gives us a small little insight of how much God hated the Ammonites and Moabites. He says this, no ammonite or moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the 10th generation. None of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever. I don't think I have disliked anybody in my life more than God disliked the Ammonites and the hobbites.
[00:31:31] Do you think that if Abraham knew what would happen because of lot's descendants, do you think future Abraham would go back to Abraham in Genesis twelve and say, leave lot behind?
[00:31:46] This is what keeping lot will do to your generations?
[00:31:51] Here's the heartache that keeping lot will cause on your and your family. I think if he could have preached to himself and told him all the details, I think Abraham would have been like, wow, I'm not taking lot with me.
[00:32:09] And here's the deal. You don't need to be told all the potential catastrophe if you hold on to the things that the Lord is telling you to let go of.
[00:32:19] All you need to know is this. The Lord will never tell you not to do something because he's bored.
[00:32:24] If the Lord tells you to let something go or to stop it, it's because he loves you and he understands that whatever the future that thing is going to bring isn't worth it. It's just going to get in the way and make the things that he asks you to do harder than you imagined. I love that the New Testament says, these stories are written for our instruction.
[00:32:44] So to end, I do have a lot of so whats. So I'm going to go through them, and then I we'll be done soon. Number one, when God calls you to something, he does it with clarity.
[00:33:00] Sometimes, like you're just living your life, everything's fine, and God parachutes in and he's like, we're blowing everything up, calling you to something different. What are you talking about?
[00:33:11] Sometimes I think, especially with sin, God's called us out of something and away from something a while ago and we're in heron and then every once in a while, he just plops back in. He's like, well, I'm still here. And I haven't forgot who I made you to be and where I called you to go.
[00:33:28] And the calling of God can come in different ways. But I think this is what's so important, is that when God actually has a call in your life, you will probably know that. You know, there's also this season that often leads up to it, which is a season of confusion, a season of wilderness, a season of discontent. And you don't know what the next. You don't know if God's calling you out of something. You just know that something isn't right. And so if you're in that season, I just want to be clear. God doesn't play games. He doesn't mince words. He's not, like, fiddling around, like, let's see if they can figure it out. If God calls you to something and away from something, you will have clarity. And if you're maybe in that season where you're like, I'm not sure. But the best next step is to sit down with somebody who loves the Lord, loves his word. And I want to give you a category of people that. That I just think are one of the greatest gifts of the church. You know, those blunt, honest people who don't mince words and they just tell you how it is. I'll tell you, they come in handy. Really? Well, when you're trying to figure out and discern, is this indigestion or is this the will of God? And they are one of the greatest gifts. And I just. I love these truth tellers, right? Some of you are like, I can only take so much blunt truth in a year, right? Like, but this is the moment where you find those truth tellers. You say, I know you love God. I know you love his word. I know you love building the kingdom of Jesus. And I know you're not afraid to hurt my feelings. Can we just talk about this for a moment? And I tell you, those people, one of their greatest gifts is entering into these. What's God doing in my life. Will you speak into this and give me clarity and wisdom?
[00:35:00] So what, number two, take an honest assessment of your past hinge point decisions or hinge point moments.
[00:35:10] Sit down with a journal. Or if you're a verbal processor, sit down with your good friend who loves to listen to you ramble.
[00:35:19] When was your last hinge point moment?
[00:35:24] What specifically do you know that you know God asked you to do?
[00:35:28] Did you follow?
[00:35:30] Was it hard?
[00:35:32] Was there, was there something or someone or some place that goddess told you, if you're gonna go here, you gotta leave these things behind.
[00:35:40] If you messed up and you didn't follow, have the humility to just kind of own that and look at it. And what blessings do you sense you might have forfeited in that moment? I think one of the healthiest things we can do is look back at our failures and the times when we obeyed and say, God, I wanna learn from these.
[00:35:58] Now, what is at stake in each of these hinge points? There's a lot at stake. Number one, we learn with Abraham your legacy, like, you have a spiritual legacy and story that God is writing in your life. And one day I want to be able to look at my children and say, here are the hinge point moments. I messed up. Don't make my mistakes. And here are the ones where I followed. And let me tell you either way, whether I messed up or whether I followed, God got the glory. God was good, God was faithful, and God never abandoned me.
[00:36:25] Our future ministry, we said this earlier, but there are some things that God would give you to do for his kingdom that require you taking this next step.
[00:36:36] Our descendants, like, I want not just my physical descendants, but those that I brought the Lord, my spiritual descendants, if you will. I want them to be able to look and see that in my life. God, you are trustworthy. I want to speak to the next generation and say, follow him. It is worth it. It is good. He loves you and he will be with you wherever you go.
[00:36:58] It's a stake is blessing. Like, I don't want to forfeit blessing so that somebody else can have. Actually, Lord, if you have something for me, I want to lean into that. And God is faithful. If you follow him, I can't tell you what it is. You will not regret following the Lord if you are sure that it's from him.
[00:37:17] So number three, I want to talk to christians for a moment.
[00:37:21] I can't tell you when God will call you to something, but I can guarantee you this, one day he will the most oft repeated promise in scripture is very funny to me. It's this, I am with you always.
[00:37:37] Roughly, we call it pastor math again. But 99.75% of the time God says that. Do you know what just happened or what he's about to do?
[00:37:45] Whenever God says, I am with you always, it is because he has just asked or is about to ask his people to do something in possibly difficult, risky and petrifying.
[00:37:56] And this happens to be the most consistent repeated promise in all of the Bible. It's almost like God is in the habit of regularly saying, oh, would you like to do something very difficult? I'll be with you always. Whenever God says that to you and has a little smirk on his face, that's how I imagine he's like, here we go. It's going to be fun, it's going to be dangerous, it's going to be scary. He's going to be afraid. I'm with you, though.
[00:38:17] I don't know if he has done this with you yet. I guarantee he will.
[00:38:22] Our God loves to reach into our comfortable lives, shake everything up and ask us to build his kingdom in unpredictable ways. And here's the question. When he does this, are you going to run to Haran and take lot and tara with you or are you going to follow him?
[00:38:39] Number four, we'll end with this one. This is for non christians.
[00:38:43] Your first and your greatest pinch point, momentous, will be the day you entrust your soul to Jesus.
[00:38:52] I mean, I want you to imagine this one day you are separated from God, unforgiven, destined to hell, an enemy of God, not a child of God.
[00:39:08] And then the moment in the spiritual realm, the moment you say God, I am sorry for my sin and I believe in the life, death and resurrection. God's promise is that anybody who means it, right, anybody, can mount the words, but anybody who really means it, I mean, you want to talk about a hinge, you move from death to being an adopted son or daughter of God, forgiven once and for all, forever. Not destined to hell, but destined to an eternity with Jesus.
[00:39:37] You move from the domain of darkness, as the scriptures say, an enmity with God, to being a son, daughter, child, friend of God in the world domain, kingdom of light and life, where Jesus reigned. You want to talk about a hinge point moment? Every single Christian in this room, we have gone through this hinge and it happened the day we trusted in Jesus Christ. And I have just such great news for you. God's hand is extended to all of humanity so that anybody who believes in Jesus Christ, who says, God, I'm sorry. I believe in the life, death and resurrection. He will, because he is a promise keeper, forgive you and shift that hinge to life and forgiveness and eternity with him. And then I want to just forewarn you. He will look at you and say, follow me.
[00:40:24] Oh, it's going to be petrifying and it will be difficult, but I will be with you wherever you go. And this is why, believer, let me come back to christians in the room. This is why that when God asks you to go, like if you're in Haran right now, and you know, it's get up and move. Because you need to be able to look at those who are trying to figure out if Jesus is worth it. You need to look them in the face and say, he's worth it. He's worth it because I failed and he was faithful in forgiving me and I followed, and he was faithful to be with me. And I'm telling you that your sons, your daughters, your grandchildren, they need to see moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, the unbelievers in your life need to see examples of people who can testify to the goodness, faithfulness and trustworthiness of God.
[00:41:06] And if you are here, I have great news for you. If you've never trusted in Jesus, he is good and he is trustworthy and he is faithful, you can entrust your soul to him and you can entrust your life. Amen. Village church. Let's pray together. Father, we are so thankful for stories like Abraham in Genesis twelve, all these other holy books that highlight how amazing their forefathers were and their spiritual leaders. And yet, in your word, Jesus is the hero. And the rest of us are strong, struggling.
[00:41:36] Thank you that Jesus is the hero. Thank you that even you tell the darkest parts of the heroes of the faith in their story. I thank you that, Lord, even though some of us have run to heron, God, there is still redemption.
[00:41:49] You are so good and you are so kind. Lord, if there's anybody in this room who's never trusted in you and had that first hinge point decision to be brought into your family, God, would you give them the clarity and courage to do that? And for the rest of us, Lord, whatever that next step is, thank you that you've given us the Holy Spirit, you've given us your word. You've given us such godly, incredible men and women in our lives to hold us accountable and to give us counsel. Lord, may you help us take the next step so that we might follow you to where we know that you know that you're calling us and thank you. You will never forsake us because you always keep your word. We pray all this and thank you. In Jesus name, amen.
