Sunday Service 04-14-2024

LaRue Baptist Church, OH iconLaRue Baptist Church, OH

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Failure and Faithfulness Genesis 12.10-13.1 Pastor Tim Pasma

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Well, good morning.
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Good to be with you all this morning. Just a few announcements. Today is a regular day, potluck afterwards after the morning service here with the afternoon service to finish.
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Again, no adult choir practice until fall. Wednesday, flocks resume as usual.
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We did have our semi -annual business meeting last Wednesday, but this
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Wednesday for the evening flocks that will return to the Leroux and North flocks here at the church and the
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South flock in Richwood and then the morning flock as usual. Thursday, likewise, regular schedule, middle school choir and children's choir meeting at those times listed in your bulletins.
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This Saturday, the 27th, will be the last men of faith meeting this year.
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We'll be on the last chapter, so we'll be concluding that. May 11th, it's coming up pretty quickly here, youth group starting up.
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So myself, Joe and Libby Green, and Maddie Gantz will be heading that up under the accountability of Pastor Andrew.
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We have books, several books, I don't know if we have enough, but we have several books that we're going through.
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The five points by John Piper, we'll figure out distribution on that here soon, in the next week or so.
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So stay in touch. I will contact you guys on that to see how that goes. And then lastly, the 21st through the 25th of July is our
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VBS, is on the book of Jonah still, right, Emma?
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Yes. Okay, we're going to go through the book of Jonah for vacation Bible school this year, and that's all
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I've got, Tim. Good morning.
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Well, I just want to mention that May 4th is a Saturday. It's our walk for life. I want to encourage all of you to be there, all right?
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I think this is a really great way we can support the ministry of New Path.
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Be there. If you haven't got people, you know, sponsoring you to raise money, then just write out a check that day for them, okay?
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But this is a good time for us to show our support and to be a financial support to them.
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While we're here to worship, God's orchestrated our week, so every one of us has come here this morning, and he has a purpose for you, to learn some things that maybe you wouldn't have learned before.
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So let's just take the last few moments to finish our preparations for worship. Let's pray together.
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Lord God, we come before you together, glad at heart that we can come corporately worshiping you,
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Lord. Lord, you are the Lord of hosts, holy in all your ways.
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As you say in your word, it is good to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.
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So may we proclaim that love here this morning in song and in our worship,
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Lord, in the receiving of your word to us, and I pray that you would help us in applying that to our lives this week.
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I also pray in the reception of the sacrament today that that would be a grace unto us, that would nourish us, and in that we would grow together, knowing that we have communion with you by Christ, dying for us and living for our righteousness, and also having fellowship and communion with each other.
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So I pray that we would take great joy this day and sing in great gladness, and it would be to your name and your glory, amen.
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But let all who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them ever sing for joy and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exalt in you.
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Well, I would ask you to please stand and turn in your hymnals to hymn number 116 as we sing
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Rejoice, the Lord is King. Lift up your voice, rejoice again,
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I say, rejoice. He does not save your race, the
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God of truth and righteousness.
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He took his seat in earth, lift up your voice, rejoice.
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His kingdom cannot fail, he rules over kings of death and ease us.
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Lift up your rejoice, rejoice in joy, and take his servants up to their eternal home.
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Lift up your heart, lift up your voice.
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You may be seated. Hear now the word of God.
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The Lord said to me, Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous
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Judah. Go and proclaim these words towards north and say, Return, faithless
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Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the
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Lord. I will not be angry forever, only acknowledge your guilt that you rebelled against the
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Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice.
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Return, oh faithless children, declares the Lord, for I am your master. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
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Let us confess our sin to the Lord. Father in heaven, you are faithful and steadfast in all your ways.
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You remain steadfast in your purpose and faithful to your promises, and so you call on us to live by faith, believing your promises and trusting in all your ways.
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But instead of trusting you, we seek protection in our own designs, forgetting your purpose of grace towards us.
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Instead of resting in your promises, we scheme and manipulate, believing that our security rests in our hands.
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Our lack of faith gives birth to all manner of sin, confusion, and heartache.
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We confess such lack of faith as sin. We repent and seek forgiveness in Jesus, the faithful Savior, whose blood covers all our transgressions and reconciles us to you.
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Grant us growth in faith, so that your name will be glorified. Amen.
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Here are the good news of the gospel. Every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin.
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But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemy should be made a footstool for his feet.
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For by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
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Amen. Let us pray.
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Heavenly Father, we come before you and confess our sin and repent.
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Father, we confess our sins of commission, things that we have done, and omission, things that we have left undone.
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And Father, we confess that those sins are rooted in pride, wanting to do things our way.
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Lust, pursuing the things of the flesh. Idolatry, placing anything above you.
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Indifference to those who are perishing around us. And ingratitude to all the things that you've given to us freely and abundantly.
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Father, we confess, we repent, we plead your forgiveness that we might know your pleasure, that we might come into your presence and have fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and be filled with your spirit to walk by faith and not by sight.
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Oh God, grant us grace to live before you and for you lives that are holy and pleasing in your sight, beginning with the desires of our heart.
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In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We'll turn in your hymnals once more to hymn number 106 and stand as we sing,
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Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder. Let us love and sing and wonder, let us praise the
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Savior's name. He has touched the walls of wonder, he has quenched the
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Sinai's flame. He has washed us with his blood, he has brought us nigh to God.
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Let us love the Lord who bought us, did eat us when enemies.
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Called us by his grace and taught us, gave us ears and gave us eyes.
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He has washed us with his blood, he presents us all to God.
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Let us sing, oh fierce temptations, let
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Him hold in you the key to freedom.
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Soon He'll bring us home to God, let us once be sure.
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When through grace and pride He smiles at night.
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He who washed us with his blood has secured us.
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Let us praise and sing, here they trusted
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Him before us. Now they try, you have washed us with your blood.
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You are worthy. You may be seated.
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Will the ushers now come forward. Father we thank you for your gracious hand upon us.
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Seeing to our every need. I pray now as we contemplate that we are moved to generosity
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Father. Seeking to serve you with all that we have. And to do so generously. We pray that these funds be used to benefit your kingdom.
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To advance your gospel. And to see souls be saved. We pray these things in your son's name.
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Please stand in honor of God's word. Old testament reading will be in Deuteronomy chapter 32.
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Give ear O heavens and I will speak. And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
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May my teaching drop as the rain. My speech distill as the dew.
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Like a gentle rain upon tender grass. And like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the
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Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God. The rock. His work is perfect.
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For all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness. And without iniquity.
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Just and upright is he. They have dealt corruptly with him.
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They are no longer his children. Because they are blemished. They are crooked and twisted generation.
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Thus do you repay the Lord. You foolish and senseless people. Is not he your father.
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Who created you. Who made you and established you. Remember the days of old.
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Consider your years. Of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you.
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Your elders and they will tell you. When the most high gave to the nations their inheritance.
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When he divided mankind. He fixed the borders of the peoples. According to the number of the sons of God.
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But the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob his allotted inheritance. The New Testament reading is in 2
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Thessalonians chapter 3 verses 1 -5. It's page 990 in your pew
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Bible. Finally brethren. Pray for us. That the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified.
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Just as it did also with you. And that we may be delivered from perverse and evil men.
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For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
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And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you that you are doing and will continue to do what we command.
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And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into steadfastness of Christ.
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You may be seated. Bow together.
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Father, as we've heard your word, we've heard the gospel, we've been refreshed in who you are and as your people, as we meet together,
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Father, we ask, prepare our hearts for worship in this particular spot where we hear your word being preached and proclaimed.
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Father, we're in need of your grace and your moving of your spirit, Father, to transform our lives more and more in the likeness of our glorious Savior.
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Whom has found all the fullness of God. We know you,
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Father, for we know your Son, and we praise you, Father, for your goodness and steadfast love to us.
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We praise you for you've given us great unity in this body and we're thankful for that. And Father, forgive us for taking that for granted.
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We see many churches that are divided and injured,
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Father, that your people are not taken care of. And we're thankful that you have united us in Christ and built us up in Christ.
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We pray that we would be a people that are built in this community, that we'd be able to evangelize in this community, and also going out in different areas,
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Father. We just pray for evangelism in our personal life and as a body,
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Father, that that would continue and that you would bless those endeavors. Open the heart of the blind,
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Father, and give them ears to hear, that their hearts be made new and become alive in you.
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And so praise your name. Father, we pray for our sister church in India, Pastor Gilbert Dawson.
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We pray for, just to comfort their hearts, they've been through church issues, and grant them wisdom in handling each and every situation.
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We pray you'd bless their church plant in this KPHB colony.
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Father, we ask that you give them more men in the ministry, that you'd help them in their evangelism and street preaching, that they would be diligent and hard at work and faithful to the gospel.
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And so we would ask that also in our midst, Father, that you would guide and shape us, that Christ Jesus would be magnified in this place, that truly those who do not know you would know that we love you, and so want your name to be exalted.
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So we pray all things in Christ Jesus' name. Amen. Take your hymnals once again, turn to hymn number 363, and stand as we sing every promise of your work.
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♪ From the breaking of the dawn to the setting of the sun ♪ ♪
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I will stand on every promise of your work ♪ ♪
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I will stand on every promise of your work ♪ ♪
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For your goodness I am secure ♪ ♪
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I will stand on every promise of your work ♪ ♪
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Patience grants me, I will stand, there seems no more ♪ ♪
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So I'll stand with joy,
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I will listen for your voice ♪ ♪ And I'll stand on every promise of your work ♪ ♪
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Through this dark and troubled ravage to complete ♪ ♪
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Every word behind me ♪ ♪ So I'll stand on every promise of your work ♪ ♪
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Hope that lifts me from despair ♪ ♪
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Love that cuts down every fear ♪ ♪ As I stand on every promise of your work ♪ ♪
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I will stand on every promise of your work ♪
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You may be seated. Take your
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Bibles this morning and turn with me to Genesis chapter 12. I am in the pulpit today because Andrew is preaching at Redeemer in Arlington, and I'm continuing, you recall, maybe you don't recall, that when
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I preach on the second Sunday of the month, I'm doing a series on stories from the Old Testament.
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And so that's where we are in Genesis 12, the story of Abraham. Now before we look at that, let's pray and ask
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God that he'd open his word for us today. God of heaven, we've come to this moment of worship where we now sit and listen to you speak to us by your word.
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Remind us, Father, that this is not just a human speaking, but this is one who ministers the very word of God, the very thoughts that you have, the very stories that you would have us to learn so that we would know how to live.
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Bless our attempt at that today as we look at this story of Abraham. God help us to learn so that we can change.
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In Jesus' name, amen. Genesis chapter 12, verse one, you follow as I read.
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Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.
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I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
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So Abram went as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran, and Abram took
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Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.
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When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem to the Oak of Morah.
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At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, to your offspring
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I will give this land. So he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him.
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From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent. And there he built an altar to the
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Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negev. Now there was a famine in the land.
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So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter
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Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the
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Egyptians see you, they will say, this is his wife. Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.
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Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.
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When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful, and when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
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And for her sake he dealt well with Abram, and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
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But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
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So Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this you have done to me? Why did you tell me that she, why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
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Why did you say she is my sister, so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go.
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And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
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So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and lot with him into the
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Negev. Let's pray. Again, Father, we ask that you open the word to us now.
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In Jesus' name, amen. Many of us here remember
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Paul Savage, dear friend of ours. He died a few years ago of ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.
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But Paul was also a man of faith. He believed the promises of God, and that was particularly evident in the last months of his life.
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Because he believed that he was headed for glory, because he believed that he would really rejoice in the presence of Jesus, he lived differently.
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In fact, I would tell you, he died differently. He let everyone know, I've made it my goal to finish well.
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I remember one Saturday, the youth group went there to work around the yard and help him out, and he called them in, he gathered them around his chair as he sat in that chair, and he gathered them around, and he encouraged them that they needed to think about finishing well.
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He did not lose an ounce of joy in the whole ordeal. In fact, he kept soldiering on, and he continued to share the gospel and to encourage people who would come and visit him, all because he believed that God really meant it when he said, when you die in Christ, you're in the presence of the
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Lord. But let's imagine for a moment that Paul did not have a vibrant faith. He was not living in the light of God's promises.
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Let's imagine that his faith faltered. That's not hard to do. You've seen other people falter in their faith, more to the point, you faltered in your faith.
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We might have seen one who turned into a frightened, despairing, even angry man. A man who, instead of encouraging others, would refuse to see others.
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Maybe a weeping man who sits in his chair saying, why me? Why is this happening to me?
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Well, in our text this morning, we have a case study on living by faith. Actually, actually, it's not a study on someone who's living by faith, but who, for the moment, falters in his faith.
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Now, as I read the beginning of this chapter, our text is from verse 10 to the end of the chapter.
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As we looked at the beginning part of this chapter, we see the faith of Abraham. We see a tremendous faith.
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We see a man who's living in Mesopotamia. And the Lord appears to him and says, Abram, you're mine now.
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I'm going to be your God. You'll be mine. And I'm making you a promise of land. And I want you to go to a land.
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A land he had never seen. Just go there. And what did Abram do?
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He packed up everything and he went to Canaan. That is incredible faith.
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Just on the bare word of God, I'm promising you this, go, he went.
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He went to that land. Okay? In our text, though, you see how his faith falters for a moment and what happens because of it.
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He seems to forget those promises and he embarks on a course of action that reveals his lack of faith.
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Now, if you want to get the point of this text, you have to see that the main character here is not Abraham, but it's
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God. He's the main character. He is the God who remains true and faithful to his promises.
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Now, what does God intend to do with this text? Here's what he intends to do. He intends to motivate you to live by faith, to help you to live by faith in the promises of God.
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And as you read this story, two questions come to mind, two questions that we want to answer this morning.
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The first is this, what happens when you don't trust God? What happens when you don't live by faith in the promises of God?
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Second question is, can you trust God? Can you live by faith? So those are the two questions we have before us.
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Now, the whole story of Abraham throughout the book of Genesis is propelled by Abraham's faith or lack of it.
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And as you read the story of Abraham, you see his great faith and then you see him falter at times. And it's as if God takes him through a number of conflicts that test his faith.
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And that's the story of Abraham. So here's the first question. What happens when you do not trust
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God? What happens when you don't trust God? What happens when you don't live by his promises?
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Verses 10 through 16. Now, there was a famine in the land. So Abraham went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
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When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the
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Egyptians see you, they will say, this is his wife. Then they will kill me, but they will let you live.
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Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you and that my life may be spared for your sake.
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When Abraham entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
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And for her sake, he dealt well with Abraham. And he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
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Here's the deal. Abraham, by faith, has entered the land. Having come to Canaan, he's leaving the promises of God.
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But he had hardly pitched his tent in that land of promise when he finds the land unable to support him and his little family.
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What hope was there now for this great nation that God had promised? At the very beginning, the whole project seems to fall apart.
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He's in the promised land. God has made him these promises. And now there's a famine. They're going to starve.
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We can't fulfill the promises of God if we die. His faith is put to the test almost immediately, and he falters, and he heads for Egypt.
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Now, just before he gets into Egypt, he recognizes he's faced with an insurmountable problem.
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He has a drop -dead gorgeous wife. That's an insurmountable problem, right?
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She's gorgeous. She's 65 years old, and she is still unbelievably beautiful.
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And some Egyptian finding out that she's married is going to kill Abram just to get to her.
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And if he dies, what happens to the promise of God?
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It's done, right? There's no great nation coming from him.
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He's dead, right? So he comes up with a plan. Look, we're going to tell everyone you're my sister.
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Now, listen up. I do not believe that Abraham was willing to sell
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Sarah's honor just to save his own skin. If he told everyone she was his sister, then any potential suitor would have to negotiate with him for her hand.
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And maybe that would keep him alive. Maybe that would buy him some time to figure out what to do.
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I think that's what's going on. Think of it this way. Here's Abram. If they know you're my wife, the only way to get you is to kill me.
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But if they think you're my sister, then at least they'll have to negotiate with me. That may give us some time.
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If that threat appears, we do this, that may give us some time to figure out what to do.
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I think that's what's going on. But then you see, he hits a snag he hadn't counted on.
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Someone gets interested in his wife who does not have to negotiate for anything because he's the most powerful man in the world at the time.
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He doesn't have to negotiate with anybody. He takes what he wants. And sure enough, Abram's entourage enters
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Egypt and some of Pharaoh's staffers see this woman. They report to Pharaoh, there is this gorgeous woman.
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You need to have her. And so, the ruler of Egypt just takes her and makes her part of his harem.
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With all his planning, with all his brilliant work, Abram proves to be powerless.
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However, Pharaoh's not unreasonable. He's not an unreasonable guy. He gives
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Abram a dowry, as it's listed here in verse 16, right?
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He got tons of sheep, and oxen, and male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
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So he's not unreasonable. He's got a dowry, at least. Now, I don't know about you, but I can see
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Abram at this point going, Ah! How did we get to this point?
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How did we get here? This does not, this is not working according to plan. Right? You see,
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Abram, as brilliant as he is in his planning, lacks one essential quality.
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You know what it is? It's faith. But he's lacking faith.
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Now, here's where you have to remember what God had promised him. Look back at verses 2 and 3 and 7.
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Here are the promises that God made with Abram. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.
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I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
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Verse 7. To your offspring I will give this land. So what did he promise him?
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He promised him a great nation. He promised him a great name that will prove to be a blessing.
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He promised that he would be a channel of blessing to all the nations. He promised him the land of Canaan.
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And, he had promised him honor and protection.
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He had promised him honor and protection. Him who blesses you,
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I will bless. And him who dishonors you, I will curse.
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Even though Yahuwah had promised him that he would bless the blessers and curse those who cursed him or who dishonored him.
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Listen, it's not like God saying if they dishonor you, I'm going to say shame on you.
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No, those who dishonor you, I'm going to curse. I'm going to protect you. If anyone dishonors you, they'll have to deal with me.
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You see? That's one of the promises. And you see, even though Yahuwah had promised these things,
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Abraham will manipulate and lie in order to accomplish his own safety and the safety of his wife.
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But Abraham leaves Canaan and devises these schemes as if God had never promised any of it.
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Or at least he's not believing it at the moment. Now notice what an absence of faith produces.
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Notice what an absence of faith produces. First of all, it produces a payoff.
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It produces a reward. You say, what? Yeah. Look at verse 13.
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Verse 13, Abraham speaking, I say unto my sister that it may go well with me.
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Now drop down to verse 16. And for her sake, Pharaoh dealt well with Abraham.
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You know what comes sometimes with a lack of faith? Reward, reward, payoff.
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It did go well. Here's the point. It did go well with Abraham. But at what cost?
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Right? Hey, it went well with him, but he lost his wife. There's no faith here.
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Here's what we need to see. Here's what we need to see. Always remember this. The lack of faith leads to sin.
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The lack of faith leads to sin. So you go out in your backyard and you work up all the ground for your garden.
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But for some reason you can't get to it. And for some reason you don't have a garden that summer. So that land, that dirt just lies there, right?
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Right? You know that's not what happens. What happens? Weeds grow.
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That's always amazing to me. Talk about the curse. You just leave it alone and what happens?
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Weeds grow. Well, when you do not live sin will naturally grow up.
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Because Abram didn't live by faith, he harvests a boatload of sin. Do you see that?
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Notice. Fear of man. That's incompatible with trusting God. Lying.
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Thinking of himself above others. Putting other people in danger. Silence when he should have spoken up.
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He should have said to Pharaoh, yes to Pharaoh, that's my wife. He didn't do that.
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There's the loss of his wife. There's no blessings on others, but rather affliction.
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Instead of bringing blessing to the nation, he brings affliction. And then later on, as you know in the story, he brings rebuke on himself from a pagan king, thus obscuring the glory of the one true
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God. All of that happens because of his lack of faith.
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Now, if that's what a lack of faith looks like, what would a life of faith look like in this instance with Abram?
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Abram would have been truthful about Sarah. If he trusted God, he would have been truthful about Sarah.
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Then he would have had to depend on God to protect him. If Pharaoh would have left
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Abram and Sarah alone, and if he had blessed them in some way, God would have blessed Pharaoh.
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But if Pharaoh would have made any moves towards Sarah, dishonoring Abram, he would have been cursed and Abram's family protected.
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And by the way, that seems impossible. Oh yeah,
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I'm going to waltz into the land of the most powerful man in the world at the time, and I'm going to tell him, she's my wife, and you're going to protect me.
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Is that what I'm supposed to do? Now what do you think? Here's the guy who has the resources at his hand.
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He's got assassins, he could just say, deal with that guy, right? He could have done that, and Abram's supposed to believe that God's going to protect him.
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That's right, because then we have to understand the essence of faith is believing
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God's promises when everything else looks impossible. It's taking
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God at his word when reality says something different. That's the essence of faith.
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What does the lack of faith look like? Let's just think about that. I'm sure you're sitting there thinking, let's not think about that, but let's do it anyway.
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What does the lack of faith look like? Are you full of fear and untruth and deception?
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So you're working, wherever you're working, and you make a mistake. I remember doing this when
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I worked for Brock Bins. I made a mistake that was going to cost the company some money, but why would you lie at that point?
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Why would you hide the truth? Because if you don't hide the truth, you lose your job, right?
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But do you believe the promise of God when he says, I'll provide all that you need if you seek my kingdom and my righteousness?
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Do you believe that promise? You say, but if I own up to it, I may get fired. Yeah, but God has promised that he'll take care of you if you seek his kingdom and his righteousness.
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What are you going to do? See, the lack of faith leads to deception. The lack of faith may lead to disobedience and disrespect.
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Some of you young people, some of you children are here thinking, my parents are the dumbest people in the world.
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They don't get it. They don't get me. How stupid can they be? You think I'm going to obey them and respect them?
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Forget it. Well, what are you forgetting? What are you forgetting at this point? Is God working for your good or is he not?
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Is he working for your good by giving you dumb parents? Absolutely. Okay?
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Yes, he is. But see, you don't believe that. And so what do you do?
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Some of you may be struggling with envy and covetousness, even impurity.
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Because you don't see, you don't believe God's promise that he's working for your good even in your single state.
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You see? You don't want to be in that state, but you forget that God's working for you.
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He's for you, not against you, if you're single. You see, the lack of faith is at the root of sin.
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Take whatever sin you can name, trace it back to its root, and I believe you'll always find a lack of faith in the promises of God.
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Unless faith grows, sin will blossom. Always remember that.
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Can I tell you something? When you're tempted to sin, one of the first things you need to ask yourself is, am
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I going to believe the promise of that sin, or am I going to believe the promise of God? It takes faith to grow.
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It takes faith to resist temptation and to grow in holiness. Unless faith grows, sin will blossom.
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Now this narrative, what we have to keep in mind is this narrative was first heard by the children of Israel as they were leaving
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Egypt and going to that promised land. This was written, they were the first ones to hear this story, and they would have noticed some interesting parallels, such as, like them, like them,
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Abraham and Sarah came down to Egypt How did
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Israel end up in Egypt? Because their ancestors came down to Egypt because of a famine.
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Like them, Sarah and Abraham were threatened in Egypt.
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Like them, the promised seed was in danger. If Sarah remained in Pharaoh's harem, the promised seed would not come.
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For the Israelites who heard this story, the seed was endangered by the killing of the male babies.
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So they were in the same boat. Like them, God used a plague to deliver them.
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Abraham and Sarah are delivered by what? A plague. There were 10 plagues that delivered
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Israel. Like them, Sarah and Abraham left with great wealth supplied by the
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Egyptians. And like them, Sarah and Abraham were sent out of the land.
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All of those parallels, that's exactly what they experienced. What's the point? Why did
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Moses purposely draw those parallels for them? Here's why. Although those events had happened 400 years earlier, although they had happened 400 years earlier, the same
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God could be trusted. The same God could be trusted.
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Moses wrote this narrative to drive you to the second question. Can you trust God? Can you trust
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God? What do we find? Verse 17. But the
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Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. So Pharaoh called
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Abraham and said, What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
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Why did you say she's my sister so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife.
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Take her and go. And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
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Well, God sends a plague or a sickness of some kind that overwhelms Pharaoh's household.
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Quite possibly, I don't know, but quite possibly he struck everyone in that household except Sarah, which might cause him to ask some questions.
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What's going on here? And so she tells him, Well, here's what's happened.
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Here's the story. So Pharaoh summons Abraham to him and rebukes him for what he had done.
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He then expels the family from his kingdom and sends an escort with him to make sure they leave.
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Now what becomes obvious is that although Abraham did not believe the promises of God, God remained faithful to the promises he had made.
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God remained faithful. Far from safeguarding the promise,
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Abraham's crafty strategy nearly destroyed the whole plan, or it would appear that way.
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Him trying to save the whole project could have destroyed it if God hadn't remained faithful to his promises.
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He was gone from the promised land. Sarah was lost to the Pharaoh's harem, looking like she would not then bring the promised seed.
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And instead of blessing the nations, instead of being a channel of blessing to that nation, he became a channel of affliction to that nation.
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But look, our sin can never thwart
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God's gracious plan of salvation for us. Always keep that in mind.
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Despite Abraham's failure, God remains faithful to the promise of protection. Right?
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Despite Abraham's failure, God remains steadfast in accomplishing his purpose, that is, blessing the nations, all the nations, through his seed.
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And who is that seed? Jesus. The blessing to all the nations.
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Have you ever thought this thought? Abraham almost messed it up so that we would not be here today.
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But God was not going to be thwarted in his determination to save us.
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And so he remained faithful to his promise. You can trust
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God because nothing is going to keep him from fulfilling his plan. The God who called the universe into existence by the mere breath of his word will not be foiled by the bungling of his servants.
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Circumstances, folly, and even sin cannot stand in the way of God's purpose to make
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Abraham a great blessing to the nations. Do you ever think you've botched it so badly that God can never use you again?
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Do you ever think God botched it so badly or that you've botched it so badly that there's no hope for me?
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I'm just, I'm never going to be useful again. Maybe you think that about at work or maybe even with your children or maybe you think you'll never be suitable for any kind of ministry or you can't, you can never frustrate the grace of God.
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He will remain true to his promises. So you say,
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Pastor Tim, so let me get this right. The lesson from this story is that be lazy. You can be lazy or fudge difficult situations and God will make sure everything works out.
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Is that what it's about? No, not at all. The lesson is this, God's fame will be expressed to everyone around us when his people live by faith.
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When we live by faith, when we live like we really believe the promises of God, God's fame will explode.
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God's fame will be seen. Like a horse trainer always brings a horse to the fence over, to the fence over and over in order to get him to jump, right?
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That's what God does with Abraham. He keeps bringing him to the fence. And as you read the story, he learns the lesson and he becomes a man of great faith.
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And God does the same thing with you. He wants you to live by faith.
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Now here's the deal. We live in a gap. Get this in your mind.
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We live in a gap. The gap between what God has promised and our reality.
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The gap between the promise and the reality. We're always living in the gap. If you tell the truth, if you tell the truth, here's the reality.
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If you tell the truth, you're gonna lose your job. Here's the promise. I'll take care of you.
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You seek my kingdom and my righteousness and I'll add everything on. I need to spend more time with my family and they're promised me a promotion that'll take me away from my family.
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Your family's important. There's great blessing in them. What are you gonna do?
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This marriage seems like it's gonna kill me. And Jesus says, obey me and I'll give you abundant life.
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You're living in the gap. The neighbors are always trying to take advantage of you.
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They're always doing things. They're trying to take advantage of you. But God says, peace can be yours if you return good for evil.
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If you do good to them. Right? Your body aches all the time with chronic illness.
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But God promises you joy as you focus on the reality of a state where there'll be no more pain and no more sickness and no more death.
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You see, we live in the gap. The reality and the promise. But you know what?
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Someone else lived in the gap between promise and reality. The one who has promised all the nations as an inheritance came to the earth and his own people did not receive him.
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The exalted son of man pictured sitting on the throne of judgment in Daniel chapter seven was himself judged by the
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Sanhedrin and condemned to death. Unlike Abraham who lied to save his life, Jesus told the truth and died.
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The one who promised to rule the nations with a rod of iron was scourged by the
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Romans. The only sinless one who ever lived was lifted up on the cross as a condemned criminal.
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Jesus lived in the gap. He lived in the gap between the promises and the reality.
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And you gotta live by faith trusting God's promises every day. And the only reason you can do that, the only reason you do that is because Jesus lived in the gap and died believing the promises of God.
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And because of that faithful death you now have the power to live by faith. And you can count on the promises of God because he raised
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Jesus from the dead guaranteeing everything that he had declared. You can trust the
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God of Abraham because he's the God of Jesus. Father, thank you for this word from, this word from you that challenges us to live by faith.
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Oh God, for your fame to be known we need to live by faith.
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God help us. Lord help us to think carefully, clearly, concretely about the gap that we're living in now and the promises we need to believe.
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And God help this congregation to be one where the people live by faith.
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They believe the promises of God and live in light of those promises.
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Oh God, help us. Help us, I pray, to do that. We're living in the gap.
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Give us faith. Thank you for Jesus who because he believed your promises to him endured the cross and scorned its shame.
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Thank you for a savior who has died to conquer sin that we might live by faith.
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And we pray this in his name. Amen. Please turn in your hymnals to hymn number 361 and stand.
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Before we sing, I'm going to have Sharon play through this song one time. We haven't sung this in a while so it might be a little bit unfamiliar.
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But then on the second time through we will come in. When the work is done
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We'll walk by faith and not by sight
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By faith our fathers on the earth
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With the power of the promised city Built by God's own hand
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A place where peace and justice reign
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We will stand as children We will raise our souls in work
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Till the race is finished And the work is done
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We'll walk by faith and not by sight
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By faith the prophets are they
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We'll walk for Messiah will be
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With the power and righteousness
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Children of the promised We will fix our eyes on Him Our souls reward
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Till the race is finished And the work is done
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We'll walk by faith and not by sight
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By faith the church was called to know In the power of the spirit to the lost
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Teach good news
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We will stand as children
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We will raise our souls in work
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Till the race is finished And the work is done
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We'll walk by faith and not by sight
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By faith this mountain shall be moved
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For all who call
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We will stand as children We will fix our eyes on Him Till the race is finished
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And the work is done We'll walk by faith and not by sight
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And are liable to all manner of afflictions, tribulations, and persecutions
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Being predestined and appointed thereunto And whatsoever the saints possess or enjoy of God spiritually
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Is by faith You may be seated By faith we celebrate this table
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A sacrament given to us by Christ Remember not only what is done
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But what is for just believers
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If you're not a believer It's a sacrament for His glory and strength
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Reminded of the unity we have in Christ We're strengthened by one another, are we not?
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This table unites us One purpose The glory of Christ Christ sacrificed at the cross
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So that He would give us strength To believe Your promises, Lord To know that Your plans are not for them
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We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen The Lord Jesus on the night He was betrayed
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Took bread And when He had given thanks He broke it and said This is my body, which is for you
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Do this in remembrance of me We thank
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You for the sacrifice That You made possible for us That we may be saved
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That we may be with Him And be free from Your wrath Come, Lord We thank
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You for His body and His blood That You shed for us We thank You for His sacrifice And we pray this in His name
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In the same way He also took the cup He says, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood
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Do this as often as you drink it In remembrance of me Let's stand and sing the doxology
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Praise God from whom all blessings flow
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Praise Him, all preachers, dearly low
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Praise Him, above the heavenly host
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Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Receive this benediction
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Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself And God our Father Who loved us and gave us eternal comfort
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And good hope through grace Comfort your hearts and establish them In every good work and word