Sermon Notes

We Need Each Other

Mark 2:1–12.

¹ When he entered Capernaum again after some days, it was reported that he was at home.

²So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word to them.

³They came to him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them.

⁴Since they were not able to bring him toJesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

⁵Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts:

⁷“Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸Right away Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?

⁹Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’?

¹⁰But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he told the paralytic—

¹¹“I tell you: get up, take your mat, and go home.”

¹²Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

This morning I want to talk to you about how “WE NEED EACH OTHER.”

Church Family…
This Sunday, I am doing something a little different.
We have paused the Genesis Series
Because I want to talk to you as family today.
Because over the last several weeks…
We’ve taken some unexpected hits as a church.
During the week before Easter, 3 families left
(Tim & Heather, Daniel & Elisha, Tru & Elissa)
This past Monday, Shuana & Adam, our newest worship minister,
Just quit with no notice
And I feel the weight of all of this
It’s heavy
It’s frustrating
And some moments, it makes me angry
I don’t like feeling this way
But I am letting you in on my feelings
And I know I’m not the only one in the room
Who has ever felt like that
Some of you walked in this morning
Carrying things nobody else sees.

Fear.
Marriage struggles.
Financial pressure.
Anxiety.
Loneliness.
Grief.
Disappointment.
Spiritual exhaustion.

Some of you are smiling externally
While internally, your soul feels paralyzed.
And one of the things I love about the church…
Is that sometimes when you feel like you can’t breathe spiritually…
God places people around you
Who help breathe courage back into your soul.
What makes that so powerful
Is that it is what our mission as a church is all about
To Inspire People to Trust in and Live Like Jesus.
That word inspire is a powerful word
It literally means to breathe into
To breathe life into
To fill someone with courage
To awaken hope
To stir the soul
To give strength or vision to
All of that connects to our story in Mark 2…
This story helps remind us of something we desperately need to hear:
Jesus never intended for us to carry life alone.
This man could not get himself to Jesus.
He needed people around him.
He needed others willing to carry the weight with him.
That is what the body of Christ is supposed to be.
Not spectators.
Not disconnected Christians who simply attend a service.
But a spiritual family that says:

“When you are weak…I will help carry you until you can stand again.”

We were never meant to follow Jesus alone.
God designed the church to carry people to Jesus together.
That’s what this story is about.
It’s in moments like these that reveal who we really are.
Anybody can show up when things are exciting.
But family is revealed when things get difficult.
And I believe God wants to use this season
Where it does not make sense to have all of this loss
While we have been praying for more (God’s Math)
He wants to use this season
To strengthen us…not scatter us.
To deepen us…not discourage us.
To remind us that the mission He gave us
Is still worth giving our lives to.
Because there are still people in our city who need Jesus.

Still marriages hurting.
Still students searching.
Still families falling apart.
Still people battling addiction.
Still people wondering if anybody sees them.
Still people far from God.

And the mission of New City has not changed.
We still exist to inspire people to trust in and live like Jesus.
So this morning…
I don’t just want us to hear this story.
I want us to see ourselves inside of it.
Let’s look at the text more closely together

Mark 2:3
“They came to him bringing a paralytic, carried by four of them.”

The first thing that stands out in this story…
Is that the man could not get himself to Jesus.
He needed help!
He needed people willing to carry him.
And before we move too quickly past that…
I think we need to sit in that reality for a moment.
Because we live in a culture that glorifies self-sufficiency.

Handle it yourself.
Fix it yourself.
Don’t let people see weakness.
Don’t ask for help.
Don’t burden others.

But the kingdom of God works differently.
The church was never designed to function as isolated individuals.
Scripture calls us a body.
A family.
A flock.
A temple made of living stones joined together.
Everything about biblical Christianity is connected.

Genesis 2:18 says:
“It is not good for the man to be alone.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 says:
“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up…”

Galatians 6:2 says:
“Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

1 Corinthians 12:26 says:
“So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it…”

The Christian life was never meant to be carried alone.
And yet so many people try.
Some people isolate when they struggle.
They disappear when life gets hard.
They stop answering calls.
Stop coming to church.
Stop engaging in community.
And the enemy loves isolation
Because isolated people are vulnerable people.
The paralytic’s miracle started
Because somebody refused to leave him alone in his brokenness.
You know what that is?
That is discipleship.
Discipleship is not just teaching information.
It’s helping carry people to Jesus.

Sometimes spiritually.
Sometimes emotionally.
Sometimes physically.

There are moments in life where people don’t need another lecture.
They need encouragement.
Presence.
Prayer.
Hope.
They need somebody (Chris’s Story)
Who helps inspire them to trust Jesus again
When life has knocked the wind out of them.
And if we’re honest…
Some of us in this room are carrying heavy mats right now.
Some of you are exhausted.
You love Jesus…but you’re tired.

Tired of fighting.
Tired of disappointment.
Tired of trying to hold everything together.

Some of you are carrying ministry pressure.
Some of you are carrying marriage pressure.
Some of you are carrying anxiety nobody knows about.
Some of you are trying to hold together your faith
While your heart quietly feels overwhelmed.
We need each other!
And church…
One of the greatest ways we inspire people to trust in and live like Jesus…
Is simply by refusing to let them suffer alone.
Sometimes the greatest ministry you can offer somebody
Is your presence.

A text message.
A prayer.
A conversation.
A meal.
A hug.
A moment where somebody realizes:
“I’m not carrying this by myself anymore.”

We were never meant to follow Jesus alone.
God designed the church to carry people to Jesus together.
That’s not weakness.
That’s the design of the body of Christ.
And honestly church…
This is one of the reasons
Difficult seasons can actually strengthen the body.
Because pain exposes
Whether we were consumers…or covenant family.

Consumers ask:
“What am I getting out of this?”

Family asks:
“How can I help carry the weight?”

Consumers disappear when things get difficult.
Families lean in closer.
And I need to say this lovingly as your pastor:
This is not the moment for New City
To shrink backward emotionally or spiritually.
This is the moment to pray more.
Serve more.
Encourage more.
Show up more.
Love each other more intentionally.
Church, there are people in this room right now
Barely hanging on spiritually.
And God may want to use your words…
Your prayer…
Your service…
Your presence…
To inspire them to trust Jesus again.
Because the mission is too important.
There are still people in our city who need Jesus.
And maybe one of the greatest testimonies
We can give our city right now…
Is not pretending we never go through hard seasons
But showing what it looks like
For a church family to carry each other through them together.
But the story keeps moving.
Because eventually, these men hit a major obstacle.
And what they do next reveals the kind of faith that changes lives.

Mark 2:4
Since they were not able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

Can you imagine this moment?
The house is packed.
People are shoulder to shoulder.
Jesus is teaching.
The doorway is blocked.
And these men arrive carrying their friend with expectation and hope.
But suddenly they realize:
“We can’t get in.”
Now most people stop there.
Most people would have gone:
“Well… we tried.”

“There’s no room.”
“The timing isn’t right.”

I have heard some of these
When things get difficult

“Church planting is too hard”

“This is too much work.”

But not these men.
Their love for their friend was greater
Than the obstacle in front of them.
So they climbed the roof.
Started digging.
Started tearing through barriers.
Started making a way to Jesus.
Can you imagine being inside that house?
Dirt falling from the ceiling.
People looking up confused.
The interruption of the moment.
And then suddenly…
A man starts being lowered through the roof directly in front of Jesus.
I love this story
Because these men were willing to inconvenience themselves
If it meant getting somebody to Jesus.
That is real faith.
Real faith keeps moving when things get difficult.
Real faith keeps carrying the mat when the journey gets heavy.
Real faith refuses to allow obstacles to become excuses.
I think this is one of the clearest pictures
Of kingdom teamwork in all of Scripture.
Because these men understood something:
Getting people to Jesus was worth the inconvenience.
These men inspired faith in each other.
One man may have wanted to quit climbing the stairs.
Another may have questioned tearing through the roof.
Another may have thought:
“This is getting crazy.”
But together they kept moving toward Jesus.
That’s what healthy churches do.
They inspire each other forward.
And church, that is exactly why we need each other.
Because no single person carries the mission alone.
I may be the pastor, but
God designed the church to carry people to Jesus together.
That is the kind of people we must become.
People who refuse to quit when things get hard.
People who don’t walk away when there are obstacles.
People who adapt.
Sacrifice.
Pray.
Serve.
Persevere.
Because every God-given mission encounters resistance.
Every church does.
Every family does.
Every believer does.
There will always be moments where the doorway feels blocked.
Moments where expectations collapse.
Moments where leadership changes.
Moments where people leave.
Moments where resources feel limited.
Moments where discouragement whispers:
“It would be easier to stop.”
But the mission of Jesus is too important for us to stop digging.
I need you to hear my heart today.
The vision God gave New City
Did not come from one worship leader.
One volunteer.
One personality.
Or one family.

It came from Jesus.

Matthew 16:18 says:
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

This church belongs to Jesus.
And because it belongs to Jesus…
We are not shaken every time difficulty comes.

We grieve.
We process.
We pray.

But we keep moving forward.
Because Jesus is still building His church.
And maybe honestly…
This is one of those defining moments for us.
Will we become discouraged spectators?
Or determined carriers?
Will we retreat?
Or will we lean into the mission more deeply?
Because I believe God may be using this moment
To raise up new leaders.
New servants.
New prayer warriors.
New disciplers.
New faith.
Some of you have been sitting on the edge long enough.
And maybe God is calling you now to grab a corner of the mat.
Because this church moves forward
When everybody carries part of the weight.

We need each other.

To step into leadership.
Serving.
Discipleship.
Prayer.
Generosity.
Mission.
Not because everything is perfect.
But because people still need Jesus.
Sometimes the greatest moments of ministry
Happen after the obstacle shows up.
Because obstacles reveal
Whether we were committed to comfort…or committed to the mission.
Anybody can carry the mat when the road is easy.
But these men kept carrying when things became difficult.
And maybe that’s the word for some of us this morning:

Don’t stop carrying the mat.

Don’t stop praying.
Don’t stop serving.
Don’t stop believing.
Don’t stop showing up.
Don’t stop helping people get to Jesus.

You see, when these men finally get their friend in front of Jesus…
Jesus does something nobody expected.
Because everybody in the room
Was focused on the man’s physical condition.
But Jesus saw something even deeper.
And what happens next
Reminds us that Jesus didn’t just come to improve lives.
He came to forgive sins and restore broken people completely.

Mark 2:5
Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’

This moment is incredible.
Because everybody in the room
Expected Jesus to deal with the obvious problem.
The man couldn’t walk.
That’s what everybody saw.
That’s what everybody thought needed fixed.
But when Jesus looks at the man…
He goes deeper than the crowd expected.
Before healing his legs…
Jesus addresses his soul.

“Son, your sins are forgiven.”

Why?
Because Jesus knew
The man’s greatest problem was not physical paralysis.
It was spiritual separation from God.
And that is true for every one of us in this room.
Our deepest problem is not ultimately:

Financial.
Relational.
Emotional.
Political.
Or physical.

Our deepest problem is sin.
Sin broke our relationship with God.
Sin left humanity spiritually paralyzed.

Unable to save ourselves.
Unable to heal ourselves.
Unable to fix what is broken inside us.

And this is why the gospel is such good news.
Because Jesus did not come merely to make bad people nicer.
He came to rescue spiritually broken people.
People like us.
And I love the tenderness in the way Jesus speaks.

“Son…”

There’s compassion there.
Mercy there.
Love there.
The paralytic is not an interruption to Jesus.
He is someone Jesus moves toward.
And some of you need to hear that today.
Your brokenness does not push Jesus away.
It draws Him near.
Some of you walked in

Carrying shame.

Carrying regret.

Carrying hidden sin.

Carrying disappointment in yourself.

And maybe deep down you feel like:
“If people really knew me…”
“If God really looked closely…”
But Jesus already sees fully.
And He still moves toward broken people with mercy.
That is the gospel.

Romans 5:8 says:
But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus came for broken people.
Not polished people.
Not perfect people.
Stop looking for the perfect church
You won’t find it
Because there are no perfect Pastors
No perfect members
Just Broken people.
And this whole story ultimately points us to the cross.
Because spiritually…
Every one of us is the paralytic.
Unable to save ourselves.
Unable to carry ourselves to God.
And Jesus did for us what we could never do ourselves.
He carried the cross.
He carried our sin.
He carried our shame.
He carried our judgment.
So we could be forgiven and restored.
That is why we do what we do.
That is why the mission matters.
That is why serving matters.
That is why prayer matters.
That is why worship matters.
That is why discipleship matters.
Because there are still people who need forgiveness.
Still people who need hope.
Still people who need to encounter Jesus.
One of the beautiful things about this story
Is that Jesus responds not only to the faith of the paralytic…
But to the faith of the people carrying him.

“Seeing their faith…”

Their faith helped bring someone into the presence of Jesus.
And never underestimate what God can do through your obedience.
You never know what invitation…
What prayer…
What conversation…
What act of service…
Might help carry somebody
Into an encounter with Jesus that changes their life forever.

That’s what we want New City to be.

A place where broken people can get to Jesus.
A place where people don’t have to pretend.
A place where people can come

Exhausted…
Hurting…
Confused…
Addicted…
Wandering…

And encounter the grace of God.
Because Jesus still forgives sins.
Jesus still restores lives.
Jesus still changes people.
And when Jesus changes people…people notice.
Because the story doesn’t end with forgiveness.
It ends with amazement.
The same crowd
That once watched this man get lowered through the roof…
Now watches him walk out completely changed.
And their response
Becomes one of the most powerful lines in the entire passage:

Mark 2:12
Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’

I love how this story ends.
The room that once blocked the man from getting to Jesus…
Is now standing in amazement at what Jesus has done.

People are worshipping.
People are stunned.
People are talking about Jesus.

“WE HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS.”

Church…
That is what happens when people get brought to Jesus.

Lives change.
Families change.
Stories change.

And eventually the people watching begin saying:
“Only God could do that.”
That is my prayer for New City.
Not that people would look at us and say:
“What an impressive church.”
But that they would look at Jesus and say:
“We have never seen anything like this.”
That marriages would be restored.
That addictions would be broken.
That prodigals would come home.
That students would encounter God.
That people far from God would trust Jesus.
That weary Christians would breathe again.
That people carrying shame would find freedom.

And people would say:
“Only Jesus could do that.”

But notice something important:
The miracle that amazed the crowd
Started with ordinary people carrying a mat.
That’s it.
Nobody on the roof was famous.
Nobody on the roof was platformed.
Nobody on the roof was building their own kingdom.
They just refused to stop helping someone get to Jesus.
I think sometimes
We underestimate what God can do through ordinary faithfulness.
A prayer.
An invitation.
Serving one more week.
Showing up again.
Leading a group.
Holding a door.
Praying with someone.
Encouraging somebody who wants to quit.
You never know what mat-carrying moment
Might become somebody else’s miracle story.
This is why we need each other.
Because God designed the church to carry people to Jesus together.
At New City,
We say our mission is to inspire people to trust in and live like Jesus.
And sometimes inspiration looks like preaching.
Sometimes worship.
Sometimes discipleship.
But sometimes inspiration
Simply looks like grabbing a corner of somebody’s mat
And refusing to let them walk alone.
And when the church does that together…
People begin seeing Jesus in ways they’ve never seen before.
I still believe God wants to do that here.
I still believe there are people in our city waiting to encounter Jesus.
I still believe there are stories God has not written yet.
I still believe there are baptisms coming.
Freedom coming.
Healing coming.
Salvation coming.
Disciples being made.
Families being restored.
And I believe some day…
People will walk into New City and say:

“We have never seen anything like this.”

Not because of a personality.
Not because everything always went perfectly.
But because Jesus was present among His people.
And a church family kept carrying people to Him.

So the question this morning is not:
“Is the church perfect?”

Because it’s not.

The question is:
Will we keep carrying people to Jesus together?

Will we keep praying?
Keep serving?
Keep showing up?
Keep believing?
Keep moving forward together?

So let me ask you this morning…

Whose mat are you helping carry right now?
Who are you helping get closer to Jesus?
Who are you praying for?
Encouraging?
Discipling?
Serving?
Walking beside?
Because the church was never meant to be a room full of spectators.
We are called to carry one another toward Jesus.

– But for Some of you may need to ask a different question today:

“Am I letting anybody help carry me?”

Because pride has a way of isolating us.

We convince ourselves:
“I’m fine.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“I don’t need help.”

Meanwhile internally…we are exhausted.
And some of you today need to stop pretending you are okay.
You need community.
You need prayer.
You need people around you.
You need the body of Christ.
Because we were never meant to follow Jesus alone.
I also want to speak to us corporately this morning.
This is not the moment for New City to retreat.
This is not the moment to disconnect emotionally.
This is not the moment to sit back and simply observe.
This is the moment to lean in.
To become family even more deeply.
To pray harder.
Serve more faithfully.
Encourage more intentionally.
Love more sacrificially.
Because the mission is still worth it.
There are still people in our city who need Jesus.

And maybe more than ever…

Our city
Needs to see what it looks like
When the church actually acts like the body of Christ.
Not perfect people.
Not polished people.
But people who love each other deeply.
Carry each other faithfully.
And keep pointing people to Jesus.
And maybe for some of you…
God is calling you today to grab a corner of the mat.

Maybe it’s serving.

Maybe it’s joining a City Group.

Maybe it’s stepping into Discipleship

Maybe it’s leading.

Maybe it’s praying.

Maybe it’s simply deciding:
“I’m not going to stay on the edge anymore.”

Because this church moves forward when everybody carries part of the weight.
We need each other.
And maybe today…
You feel more like the paralytic than the people carrying the mat.
You walked in spiritually exhausted.
Emotionally overwhelmed.

Carrying shame.
Fear.
Sin.
Disappointment.
Pain.

And maybe deep down you wonder:
“Can Jesus really help somebody like me?”
The answer of the gospel is yes.
Because Jesus came for broken people.
He came for weary people.
He came for sinners.
He came for people who could not save themselves.

And just like He said in Mark 2:
“Son… your sins are forgiven.”

That same forgiveness
Is available today because of what Jesus did on the cross.
Jesus lived the perfect life we could not live.
He died the death we deserved.
And three days later He rose again in victory over sin and death.
So now anyone who trusts in Him can be forgiven.
Restored.
Made new.
And today your first step could be salvation.
Today is the day
You stop trying to carry your life on your own and surrender to Jesus.
Today is the day you come home to Him.
I know this season seems uncertain.
But hear me clearly:
Jesus is still building His church.
Jesus is still saving people.
Jesus is still changing lives.
And the mission He has given us has not changed.

At New City, we exist to inspire people to trust in and live like Jesus.

And sometimes inspiration looks like grabbing a corner of somebody’s mat and refusing to let them walk alone.

So church…

Let’s keep carrying people to Jesus.

Let’s keep praying.

Let’s keep serving.

Let’s keep believing.

Let’s keep showing up for one another.

Let’s keep making room for broken people.

Let’s keep moving forward together.

Because I believe with all my heart…

There are still people in our city who are going to encounter Jesus.

And one day they’re going to look at what God has done and say:

“We have never seen anything like this.”

We need each other! Stand with me.

A Study in Genesis: A Stolen Blessing Part 1

Genesis 25:27-34

²⁷When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

²⁸Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted.

³⁰He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom.

³¹Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

³²“Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

³³Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him.

³⁴Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.

Today we are going to look at “The Stolen Blessing” Part 1

I want you to picture for a moment.
Someone sits in front of you with a bowl full of “red stuff.”
We will call the red stuff “short-term desire.”
Now imagine they look at you and say,

“I’ll give you this bowl of short-term desire…but it’s going to cost you your future.”

And instead of resisting the offer…
Instead of walking away…
Instead of recognizing the trap
You say yes.

That’s the moment we just read in Genesis 25.
And it sounds crazy… until we realize:
We do this all the time.
We trade long-term peace for short-term desires.
We trade our calling for comfort.
We trade our integrity for opportunity.
We trade what matters most…
For what feels good in the moment.
And the Bible gives us one line that explains it all:

“So, Esau despised his birthright.”

He didn’t lose it.
He didn’t misunderstand it.
He just didn’t value it.
And that’s what makes this so personal.
Because the biggest spiritual problem in this passage
Isn’t the deception…
It’s the misplaced value.
Most people don’t ruin their lives in one big decision
The ruin comes
Because
They have already been trading it away in little moments
Bit by bit.
Long before that moment
They let their appetites win
Here’s the hard truth
You can be close to something incredibly valuable…
And still not recognize what it’s worth.
Like this
Your relationship with God.
Your calling.
Your integrity.
Your future.
You see what you don’t treasure,
You won’t hold onto it for long
You’ll trade it away.
Until there’s nothing left but the memories of what you gave up

The question we need to ask is:
How do we get to a place
Where, we would make that kind of trade?
Because this didn’t start with a bowl of stew
It started with what Esau valued long before that moment.
Let’s walk back through the text and see it.

Genesis 25:27–28

²⁷When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

²⁸Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

These verses
Introduce us to the two brothers.
Esau is a skilled hunter.
A man of the open country.
Strong. Active. Capable.
Jacob stays among the tents.
More settled.
More observant.
Then we’re told:
Isaac loved Esau…
But Rebekah loved Jacob.
It gives us a picture of tension in the home.
But don’t miss this:
Esau had the birthright.
He didn’t have to earn it.
He didn’t have to chase it.
He was born into it.
The birthright meant inheritance,
Leadership, and
Spiritual blessing connected to God’s covenant.
He was close to something incredibly valuable.

And yet… he didn’t value it.

You can be around something sacred and still treat it as common.
You can grow up around truth and still not treasure it.
You can hear Scripture and still not submit to it.
You can be near the things of God
And still not value God Himself.
For some, that’s what we call familiarity.
For others, especially those still exploring faith,
It’s simply this:
You don’t yet see the value.
And if you don’t see the value…
You won’t pursue it.
That’s where Esau is.
He is not being outright hostile.
Or rebellious in a loud way.
Just indifferent.
And indifference is dangerous.
Because what you don’t value… you will eventually trade.
And this is where the danger is…
If you don’t experience the value of something…
You won’t fight to keep it.
Esau didn’t wake up that day
And suddenly decide the birthright didn’t matter.
He had already stopped valuing it long before that moment.
And the same thing can happen to us spiritually.
If your relationship with God becomes distant…
If His Word becomes routine…
If prayer becomes occasional…
You can be close to something sacred…
And slowly stop treasuring it.
But Scripture gives us a better way.

Psalms 34:8 says:

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Notice—it doesn’t just say know that the Lord is good.
It says taste.
Because God is not just meant to be understood…
He’s meant to be experienced.
You don’t fight to keep what you don’t enjoy.
You don’t protect what you don’t treasure.
And many people struggle to hold onto their faith…
Not because they’ve studied it and rejected it…
But because they’ve never truly experienced the goodness of God.
When you taste and see that God is good…
His presence is no longer optional—it’s necessary.
His Word is no longer a duty—it’s life.
Prayer is no longer a routine—it’s your access.
So, what makes this so valuable?
It’s not just that God gives good things…
It’s that He gives us Himself.
And he himself promises
Peace when life is chaotic.
Direction when we feel lost.
Identity when the world tries to define us.
Grace, when we fail.
And purpose that goes beyond this moment.
Once you begin to experience that…
A bowl of stew doesn’t compare.
Short-term desire loses its grip.
Immediate cravings lose their power.
Because when you’ve tasted something better…
You’re not as easily tempted by something less.
And this is where it gets really practical:
If you want to stop trading it away…
You have to keep tasting it.
You stay in His Word.
You stay in prayer.
You stay around His people.
You keep putting yourself in places where you experience His goodness.
Because the more you experience Him…
The more you value Him.
And the more you value Him…
The less likely you are to trade Him for something temporary.
But Esau didn’t do that.
Instead of feeding his soul…
He followed his appetite.
And that leads us to the next thing we see in the text…

Genesis 25:29–30

²⁹Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted.

³⁰He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted…”

Scriptures uses the word “Exhausted” twice.
He’s tired.
He’s worn down.
His body is demanding relief.
And in that moment…
His appetite becomes his authority.
Now notice this:
The problem isn’t that Esau is hungry.
Hunger is normal.
The problem is that he lets a temporary feeling
Determine a permanent decision.
And if we’re honest…
That’s where most of us live.
Not in moments of clarity…
But in moments of craving.
Because appetite doesn’t just mean hunger for food.
It’s anything in you that says:
“I need this now.”
“I can’t wait.”
“This will make me feel better.”
It can show up as:
Emotional appetite
Physical appetite
Relational appetite
Financial appetite
Sexual appetite
Approval appetite
And appetite has a way of getting loud.
It doesn’t whisper.
It pushes.
“Do something.”
“Fix this.”
“Satisfy this.”
“Take control.”
And here’s what appetite does:
It shrinks your vision.
Esau had a future…
But all he could see was the moment.
He had a birthright…
But all he could feel was hunger.
Listen to what he says in verse 32:

“Look, I am about to die… what good is the birthright to me?”

He’s not actually dying.
But desire exaggerates urgency.
That’s what temptation always does.
It lies about how important the moment is.
It tells you:
“This is everything.”
“You need this.”
“You deserve this.”
“This won’t matter later.”
And in that moment…
What is temporary feels ultimate.
And what is eternal feels distant.
That’s why people make decisions they later regret.
Not because they didn’t know better…
But because they weren’t thinking clearly.
They were reacting.
They were tired.
They were emotional.
They were frustrated.
They were empty.
And instead of pausing…
They fed the appetite.
And Scripture shows us this isn’t random…
It’s a pattern.

James 1:14–15

¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire.

¹⁵Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

Do you see the progression?
Desire…has conceived
Gives birth to
Action…sin
And when sin is fully grown,
It gives birth to death or…Consequence.
It starts small.
A feeling.
A craving.
An appetite.
Then it grows.
You think about it.
You justify it.
You begin to believe it.
Then it gives birth.
You act on it.
You step into it.
You trade for it.
And eventually…
It leads somewhere you never intended to go.
That’s exactly what we see in Esau.
The hunger wasn’t the problem.
The desire wasn’t the problem.
It was what he did with it.
He didn’t stop it at desire.
He didn’t bring it before God.
He didn’t slow it down.
He let it grow…
Until it gave birth to a decision.
And that decision revealed what he truly valued.
And this is where it gets personal:
So many people say,

“I don’t know how I got here.”

But Scripture says—you didn’t get there overnight.
It started with something small…
That was never surrendered.
This is why prayer matters so much.
Because prayer interrupts the pattern.
It stops desire before it becomes a decision.
It brings what you feel into the presence of God
Before it turns into something you act on.
Instead of desire leading to sin…
Prayer leads desire to surrender.

In Galatians 5:16, Paul says:

¹⁶I say, then, walk by the Spirit, and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.

The desires don’t disappear…
But they don’t have to control you.

Charles Spurgeon once said:

“I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages.”

What is he saying
The pressure…
The craving…
The moment of weakness…
Can push you toward God
Instead of away from Him.
How?
By choosing to call out to him instead
Yes, through prayer, but How?

Hebrews 4:16

¹⁶Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

You have to get to his presence
You come boldly
In the moment of weakness
In the moment of struggle
You call out and declare your weakness
And He meets you
With Grace in your time of need
But Esau didn’t pause.
He didn’t pray.
He didn’t process.
He reacted.
And one moment of reaction
Revealed what he truly valued.
So here’s the question:
What has been loud in your life lately?
What appetite has been driving your decisions?
Where have you been reacting instead of trusting?
Because if you don’t learn to lead your appetites…
They will lead you.
And they will always lead you
To trade something greater
For something now.
And what makes this even more dangerous is this:
In the moment…
It doesn’t feel like a big deal.
Which is exactly what we see next…

Genesis 25:31–34

³¹Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

³²“Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

³³Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him.

³⁴Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.

This is the moment everything becomes visible.
What started as misplaced value
And what grew through unchecked appetite
Now shows up in a decision.
And look at how fast it happens.
“Sell me your birthright.”
“Swear to me first.”
And he does.
No hesitation.
No pause.
No wrestling.
And here’s what should catch our attention:
It doesn’t feel like a big moment.
Verse 34 says:

³⁴Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.

He ate.
He drank.
He got up.
And he went away.
That’s it.
No music swelling.
No warning sign.
No immediate consequence.
Life just keeps going.
Because the decisions that shape your life the most
Rarely feel significant in the moment.
They feel normal.
They feel justified.
They feel small.
And this is where everything you’ve already seen comes together:
If you don’t value it…
And you let your appetite lead…
Then when the moment comes…
The decision is already made.
Esau didn’t lose his birthright in that moment.
He revealed what he had already decided
Long before that moment.
Because decisions don’t create direction…
They reveal it.
And direction determines destination.
This is why most people don’t wake up one day
And decide to wreck their life.
They don’t wreck their life overnight
They drift.
They stop valuing what matters…
And start feeding what doesn’t.
And then one day…
There’s a moment.
And in that moment…
They make a decision
That feels small…
But carries more weight than they realize.
That’s Esau.
And here’s the sobering part.
Later in Scripture, we’re told what this moment cost him.

Hebrews 12:16–17 says:

¹⁶And make sure that there isn’t any immoralor irreverent person like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for a single meal.

¹⁷For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, even though he sought it with tears, because he didn’t find any opportunity for repentance.

In other words…
There came a point
Where he realized what he had given up.
But by then…
The moment had passed.
And this is the tension we have to hold carefully:
God is gracious.
God restores.
God redeems.
But that doesn’t mean every decision
Is easily undone.
This doesn’t mean God refuses to forgive—
It means some consequences of our choices
Are real and lasting.
God restores the heart…
But sometimes the story still carries the weight of that moment.
And this is why this matters right now.
Because you don’t feel the weight
When you’re in the moment.
You feel it later.
After the words are said.
After the decision is made.
After the opportunity is gone.
And you look back and ask:
“Why did I do that?”
“Why didn’t I slow down?”
“Why didn’t I think it through?”
And Scripture is showing us:
It’s not because you didn’t know better.
It’s because in that moment…
Something else mattered more.
What you don’t treasure…
You won’t hold onto.
And what you don’t hold onto…
You will eventually trade.
Esau didn’t just lose a birthright.
He walked away from something sacred
Like it was nothing.
So here’s the question for us:
Where are you treating something sacred
Like it’s small?
Your relationship with God.
Your integrity.
Your Marriage
Your Finances
Your calling.
Your obedience.
Where are you assuming:
“I’ll deal with it later”?
Because later

Is where regret lives.
This is why we don’t just need awareness…
We need intervention.
And that’s what prayer is.
Prayer invites God into the moment
Before the decision is made.
Prayer slows you down
Before you say yes.
Prayer reminds you what’s at stake
Before you trade it away.
Prayer brings eternity
Into the present moment.
Because in the moment…
It feels small.
But it is shaping who you are becoming.
And what you choose in small moments
Will determine the story your life tells.
So the question isn’t just:
“What did Esau do?”
The question is:
What am I choosing…
In the moments that don’t feel like a big deal?
Where in your life right now
Are you being tempted to trade something eternal
For something immediate?
What has been loud lately?
What appetite has been driving your decisions?
Is it approval?
Comfort?
Control?
A relationship?
A habit?
A response you know you shouldn’t give?
And here’s the deeper question:
Where have you slowly stopped valuing
What God has already placed in your life?
Your relationship with Him
Your time in His Word
Your time in prayer
Your obedience
Your calling
Because you don’t drift all at once.
You drift by degrees.
By small trades.
By quiet compromises.
So what does obedience look like this week?
Before you react… pause and pray.
Before you say yes… bring it before God.
Before you follow the feeling… ask, “What is this costing me?”
And for some of you, obedience is this simple:
Start tasting again.
Get back in His Word.
Get back in prayer.
Get back around His people.
Because when you experience His goodness again…
It changes what you value.
And when what you value changes…
What you choose will follow.
But here’s the reality…
Even when we know all of this…
And for some of you…
You’re looking at your life right now
And it feels like you’ve already gone too far.
This is where the good news comes in.
Because the Bible doesn’t just show us Esau…
It shows us ourselves.
We’ve all had moments
Where we didn’t value what God offered.
Moments where we treated something sacred
Like it was small.
And the Bible uses that same kind of language
To describe what happened to Jesus.
He was rejected.
He was mocked.
He was treated like He had no value.
In other words…
He was despised.
But God didn’t respond to that by walking away from us.
He responded by coming toward us
Through Jesus Christ.
Where Esau traded away his future…
Jesus stepped in to restore ours.
Where we chose short-term desire…
Jesus chose the cross.
He didn’t take the easy way out.
He didn’t give in to the moment.
He endured suffering
So that we could receive something we could never earn.
Forgiveness.
New life.
A restored relationship with God.
A new identity.
And here’s what makes this so powerful:
The greatest blessing God offers
Is not something you can take.
You don’t earn it.
You don’t force it.
You don’t trade for it.
You receive it.
By grace.
Through faith.

Ephesians 2:8–9 says:

⁸For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—

⁹not from works, so that no one can boast.

That means today…
No matter what you’ve traded…
No matter what you’ve compromised…
No matter what you regret…
You can come back.
You can receive what God is offering.
Not because you’ve earned it…
But because Jesus already paid for it.
So here’s what I want us to do right now.
I believe there are people in this room…
Who can already feel it.
The Holy Spirit has been putting His finger
On something specific in your life.
A place where you’ve been trading
Instead of trusting.
A place where appetite has been louder than obedience.
A place where something sacred
Has started to feel… common.
And here’s the invitation:
Don’t walk out of this room
Holding onto something
That God is asking you to release.
For some of you, you already follow Jesus…
But if you’re honest…
There are areas of your life
Where you’ve been saying yes to the “red stuff.”
You’ve been reacting instead of praying.
You’ve been drifting instead of pursuing.
You’ve been valuing something less
Than what God has given you.
And today is your moment
To come back.
Not in shame.
Not in guilt.
But in surrender.
To say:

“God, I don’t want to trade this anymore. I want to trust You again.”

And for others of you…
Maybe you wouldn’t say you’re following Jesus.
Maybe you’ve been around faith…
But you’ve never truly valued
What God is offering.
And today something is different.
You’re realizing:

“I’ve been settling for less… when God is offering me something more.”

And that “something more” is not a better version of your life…
It’s a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Forgiveness.
New life.
A fresh start.
And you don’t have to earn it.
You don’t have to fix yourself first.
You simply receive it.
So here’s what we’re going to do.
In just a moment…
We’re going to create space to respond.
Because sometimes
The most powerful thing you can do
Is take a physical step
That reflects a spiritual decision.
If you don’t know what to say…
Just say something simple like:

“God, I’ve been trading what matters.
I want to trust You.
I surrender this to You.”

Or if you’re ready to follow Jesus:

“Jesus, I believe You died for me.
I receive Your forgiveness.
I want to follow You.”

As they begin to play…
If God is leading you to respond—come.
If you need to kneel—kneel.
If you need to stand—stand.
If you need prayer—we’ll have people here.
But don’t miss this moment.
Because this isn’t about emotion…
It’s about choosing
What you value.
Today, don’t trade
What God is trying to give you.
Receive it.
Will you come?

Genesis: Isaac & Rebeka Week 2- Trusting God in the Waiting

Genesis 25:19–26

¹⁹These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.

²⁰Isaac was forty years old when he took as his wife Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

²¹Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

²²But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

²³And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb; two peoples will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.

²⁴When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.

²⁵The first one came out red-looking, covered with hairlike a fur coat, and they named him Esau.

²⁶After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

– This morning, I want to talk to you about trusting God in the waiting

What do you do…
When God gives you a promise…
And the reality of your life
And the circumstances around you
Only seems to give you silence?
When you’re holding onto
What His Word says…
That He’s with you…
That He hears you…
That He will come through…
I mean
You’ve prayed…
You’ve trusted…
You’ve stepped out in faith…
And nothing but silence and waiting
You may not even use the word “Promise”…
But you know what it’s like
To hope that God will respond to your prayer.
And if we’re honest…
Waiting is one of the hardest parts of following Jesus.
Today, that is exactly where Genesis 25 meets us.
Genesis 25
Is not a moment of immediate breakthrough…
Instead, it’s a moment of delay.
This is not a story of quick answers…
It’s a story of waiting,
Tension, and
Unanswered questions.
And here’s why this matters to us today:
We are five days into a 40-day prayer challenge.
As a church,
I have asked us to commit to 40 days of intentional prayer
Seeking God daily
And asking Him to move in specific ways.
Many of us have some big prayers
Circled on these cards
Hoping and believing for God to answer.
Specific prayers.
Bold prayers.
Faith-filled prayers.
And five days in…
You may be wondering…

“Is anything happening?”

“Is God listening?”

“Did I hear Him right?”

And here’s what I want you to see today:

Anyone Can Believe God In The Moment…

Real Faith Shows Up In The Waiting

So, let’s dive in
Genesis 25 is about a transition moment.
And from this transition moment
We can learn four truths
Here is the first one

God is working— Even When We Don’t See It

To see this in the text
We have to back up closer
To the beginning of Genesis 25 and read
The first part of

Genesis 25:11

¹¹After Abraham’s death…

Don’t miss that.
Abraham is now gone.
The man who received the promise…
The man who walked with God…
The man who waited decades to see God answer…
He’s gone.
One might expect the story to slow down…
Or even stop.
But it doesn’t.
Because the very next thing we’re told is this:

Genesis 25:11

¹¹After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

God blessed Isaac.
You see the promise didn’t die with Abraham.
Because the promise was never dependent on Abraham.
It was always dependent on God.
And some of us need to hear that today.
Because we tend to think…

“If this person leaves… it’s over.”

“If this opportunity closes… it’s over.”

“If this season ends… then God must be done.”

But Genesis 25 reminds us:
God’s Work Doesn’t Stop When Our Situation Changes.
God is still working…
Even when the season changes.
Even when people change.
Even when circumstances shift.
Even when what you expected looks different.
Isaac didn’t replace Abraham.
He stepped into what God was already doing.
And that’s important for us.
Because sometimes we’re so focused on what was…
That we miss what God is doing now.
And here’s the truth:
God’s promise is bigger than your timeline.
It’s bigger than your expectations.
It’s bigger than your plan.
It’s even bigger than your understanding.
Just because you don’t see movement…
Doesn’t mean God isn’t moving.
Just because you don’t see progress…
Doesn’t mean God isn’t working.
And for some of you…
This is where your faith is being tested right now.
Not in what you can see…
But in what you can’t.
Will you trust that God is working…
Even when you don’t see it?

Hebrews 11:1 says it this way

Now faith is the realityof what is hoped for, the proofof what is not seen.

Will you put your hope in the outcome or the God of the outcome?
Which brings us to our second truth:

2. Waiting is part of God’s plan

The first part of Genesis 25:21 tells us

“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless…”

This should feel familiar.
Because this is the exact same struggle
Abraham and Sarah had.
Barrenness.
Delay.
Impossibility.
And don’t miss what Isaac does.
Isaac doesn’t manipulate.
He doesn’t try to force the promise.
He doesn’t take matters into his own hands.
What does he do?

He prays!

But notice—he doesn’t just pray for himself.
He prays on behalf of his wife.
He carries her burden to God.
He brings her pain before the Lord.
He stands in the gap for someone he loves.
That is the picture of intercession.
Rebekah was the one experiencing barrenness in the visible sense…
But Isaac treated it as their burden, not just hers.
That’s covenant love.
In marriage, healthy love says:
Your pain is not your pain alone.
Your struggle is not your struggle alone.
We bring this to God together.
And this goes beyond marriage.
Some of you know someone who is hurting.
Someone who is stuck.
Someone who cannot seem to break through.
One of the greatest gifts you can give them
Is to pray on their behalf.
To carry their name into the presence of God.
We are in a 40-day prayer challenge.
Maybe your biggest prayer these 40 days
is not even for you.
Maybe it’s for a spouse.
A child.
A friend.
A prodigal.
A person battling sickness or fear.
Isaac reminds us:
Sometimes faith looks like praying
For someone else until breakthrough comes.
And ultimately, Isaac points us to Jesus.
Because Jesus is the greater intercessor.
He not only prayed for others
He now lives to intercede for us.

Hebrews 7:25

Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.

And then the second half of

Genesis 25:21 says

…The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.”

And we can read that…
And move on quickly.
But here is what I don’t want you to miss
This wasn’t immediate.
Isaac is 40 when he marries Rebekah.
And later, verse 26 tells us He’s 60 when the twins are born.
That’s 20 years.
20 years of waiting.
20 years of praying.
20 years of trusting.
20 years of wondering…

“God, are You going to do what You said you would do?”

And this is where it gets real for us.
Because we don’t mind praying…
We just struggle with the waiting.
We’ll pray for a few days…
Maybe a few weeks…
But 20 years?
That’s a different kind of faith.
And here’s what we see in the text:
Waiting Is Not A Detour In God’s Plan…It Is Part Of God’s Plan.
Sometimes God allows seasons
Where the promise feels impossible…
So that when it happens,
Only He gets the credit.
And this is where
I want to connect again to our 40-day prayer challenge.
Because for some of us…
After a few days of praying
Or we make it all the way to the end of the 40 days
And there is still no answer
We can be tempted:
To give up.
To stop praying.
To lower our expectations.
To question if God will ever answer
But Genesis 25 reminds us:
Delay is not denial.
Just because God hasn’t answered yet…
Doesn’t mean God isn’t listening.
Just because we don’t see movement…
Doesn’t mean God isn’t working.
Some of the most powerful things
God will ever do in your life…
Will happen after a season of waiting.
So don’t quit in the waiting.
Don’t lose faith in the silence.
Don’t walk away
Just because it’s taking longer than you thought.
Because God is not behind.
He is working.
Which brings us to our third truth

3. God Works Differently Than We Expect

Rebekah finally conceives…
After years of waiting…
After years of praying…
The promise is finally moving.
But then something unexpected happens.

Verse 22 says:

But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

This isn’t peaceful.
This is conflict.
This is tension.
This is so intense…
That Rebekah says:

“Why is this happening to me?”

Think about that.
She prayed for this.
She waited for this.
She longed for this.
And now that it’s happening…
It doesn’t feel like she thought it would.
And some of us know exactly what that feels like.
God answers your prayer…
But not in the way you expected.
The door opens…
But it’s harder than you thought.
The promise starts to move…
But it comes with tension you didn’t see coming.
So what does she do?
She doesn’t run.
She doesn’t assume.

“So she went to inquire of the Lord.”

And God answers her in

Genesis 25:23

Two nations are in your womb; two peoples will come from you and be separated. One person will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.

Don’t miss this.
This isn’t just about two brothers fighting…
This is about two nations.
Two futures.
And God’s plan moving forward through one of them.
And what God says next…
Would have been shocking.
Because in their culture…
The older always led.
The firstborn always carried the blessing.
That’s how it worked.

But God says:

Not this time.
The older will serve the younger.
In other words:
I’m Not Working According To Your Expectations.
I’m Working According To My Purpose.
And here’s where this hits us.
Because we all have expectations.
We expect God to work a certain way.
In a certain timeline.
Through certain people.
But God doesn’t follow our expectations.

God Will Often Work In Ways You Wouldn’t Choose…
So You Can’t Confuse His Power With Your Plan.

And this is where faith gets real.
Will you trust God
When He doesn’t do it the way you expected?
Will you trust Him
When the answer looks different than you imagined?
Will you trust Him
When the process feels uncomfortable?
Because sometimes…
The very thing you prayed for…
Will come in a way that stretches you.
Not because God is against you…
But because He is doing something bigger than you can see.
And that’s why:

God Doesn’t Work According To What Makes Sense To Us…
He Works According To What Brings Him The Most Glory.

Which brings us to our final truth:

4. It’s Always Been About Grace

Abraham had other sons…
But Isaac was the child of promise.
Isaac and Rebekah had two sons…
But before they were even born…
God declared His purpose.
Why?
So no one could say:
“I earned this.”
“I deserved this.”
“I made this happen.”
And the New Testament makes this even clearer.
Romans 9 actually points back to this exact moment
Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau
To explain how God’s promise really works.
Listen to what Paul says.

Romans 9:10–12 says,
¹⁰And not only that, but Rebekah conceived children through one man, our father Isaac.

¹¹For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand—

¹²not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.

Did you catch that?
Before they were born…
Before they had done anything good…
Before they had done anything bad…
God made a choice.
Why?

Verse 11 tells us:
“So that God’s purpose… might stand.”

Not based on what they would do…
Not based on who deserved it…
Not based on effort…
But based on God who calls.
And then Paul keeps going.

Romans 9:16 says,

So then, it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy.

That’s the point.
And this doesn’t mean God is unfair…
It means God is merciful.
None of us deserve this…
Which is exactly why grace is so powerful.

It’s Not About What You Do For God…
It’s About What God Has Done For You.

And this is where it points us to Jesus.
Because Isaac was a child of promise…
But he was never the final promise.
Jesus was and is.
Jesus is the true and better promised Son.
The one God sent—not because we earned it…
Not because we deserved it…
But because He is merciful.
He lived the life we couldn’t live…
He died the death we deserved…
And He rose again so we could be brought into God’s family.
And just like Isaac’s birth was impossible without God…
Our salvation is impossible without Jesus.
And the good news is this:
You don’t become part of God’s family
Because of your background…
You don’t become His child
Because you try hard enough…
You don’t earn your way in…
You are brought in by grace.
And if you’ve never trusted Him…
This is where it begins.
Not by trying harder…
But by surrendering your life to Jesus.
Romans 9 shows us this clearly:
It’s not about human effort…
It’s about God’s mercy.

Let me bring this right into your life…
And right into this 40-day prayer challenge.
Because Genesis 25 is not just their story…
It’s meant to shape ours.

1. Where are you being asked to trust God right now?

Where does your life feel like Genesis 25?
Where does it feel quiet?
Delayed?
Unclear?
Like heaven has gone silent?
Where are you holding onto what God says…
But your circumstances seem to say something different?
Where are you tempted to believe
What you can see…
More than what God has said?
And instead of running from that place…
What if you leaned into it?
What if this season is not punishment…
But preparation?
What if the waiting place
Is where God wants to deepen your faith?

2. Will you keep praying — for yourself and for others?

Isaac prayed.
Not once.
Not casually.
Not when it was convenient.
But persistently.
And not just for himself.
He prayed on behalf of his wife.
He carried someone else’s burden to God.
He brought another person’s pain
Into the presence of the Lord.
And some of you need to hear this:
This is where you decide:
Am I going to pray based on what I see?
Or based on who God is?
And maybe your biggest prayer these 40 days
Is not even for you.
Maybe it’s for a spouse.
A child.
A friend.
A prodigal.
Someone battling sickness.
Someone buried in fear.
Will you keep carrying their name to Jesus?

3. Will you trust God’s way — when the answer looks different than expected?

Rebekah finally conceived.
But the answer came with tension.
The blessing came with discomfort.
The promise moved…
But not in the way she imagined.
God may not do it the way you expected.
He may not do it in your timing.
He may not do it through your preferred plan.
But He will be faithful.
Will you trust Him
When His way stretches you?

4. Will you trust that grace is still the answer?

At New City, we say our mission is:
To inspire you to trust in and live like Jesus.
And trust is proven here.
Not when everything is clear…
But when nothing is.
Not when answers come quickly…
But when you have to keep walking by faith.
Not when you feel strong…
But when grace is all you have left.
And maybe today…
You need to stop trying harder
And start trusting deeper.
Maybe you need to surrender your life to Jesus.
Maybe you need to remember:
It’s not about what you do for God…
It’s about what God has done for you.
Will you trust His grace today?
So here’s the question:
Will you walk out of here discouraged by the waiting…
Or strengthened in it?
Because anyone can believe God in the moment…
Real faith shows up in the waiting.

So here’s what I want you to do today.
Be a part of the 40-day Prayer Challenge
It’s not to late
If you have not filled out a card
You can grab one in a moment
And each morning at 7:14 when you get the text from me
Stop and pray
Come for the next 5 Wednesday nights
For prayer at 7:14 (childcare is available)
Why 7:14?

2 Chronicles 7:14

“If my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven,

forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

Join us as we pray together
Second, a practical step for right now
It’s time to pray!
We are going to form prayer circles
And ask God to move on the thing we need the most

Easter 2026- Where Is Your Sting?

I want to read two sections of Scripture to you this morning:
The first is found in

Hosea 13:14 (CSB)

¹⁴I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeemthem from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Now look at

1 Corinthians 15:54–57 (CSB)

⁵⁴When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:

Death has been swallowed up in victory.
⁵⁵Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting?

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Here’s the question we’re going to wrestle with this morning
Where is your sting?”

Let me ask you something.
Have you ever felt the sting of death?
Not just physically…
But emotionally… spiritually… relationally…
The phone call you never wanted to get.
The diagnosis you didn’t expect.
The moment everything changed.
Death doesn’t just show up at the end of life
It shows up in loss…
In fear…
In brokenness…
In things that don’t go the way we thought they would.
And here’s what our emotions often tell us:
Death feels final.
It feels powerful.
It feels undefeated.

Because We don’t just fear dying.
We fear what death represents.
Loss of control.
Separation.
Judgment
The unknown.
And if we’re honest…
Most of us don’t feel like we’re winning against it.
But here’s what’s wild.
The Bible doesn’t just comfort us about death.
It actually talks back to death.
It doesn’t whisper.
It doesn’t negotiate.
It taunts it.

Listen to this again:

1 Corinthians 15:55 says,
Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?

That’s not fear.
That’s defiance.
So, the question is
How can anyone say that?
How can you look at something
As real and painful as death…
And say, “You’ve lost”?
To understand that…
We have to go back to where that statement started.
And Remember that

The Sting of Death Is Real

Now the words Paul just said in 1 Corinthians…
Actually, come from an Old Testament book called Hosea.
And Hosea is a book about a people
Who had walked away from God.
They had chased other things…
Trusted other things…
And it left them broken.
Hosea is a picture of spiritual unfaithfulness.
God’s people had turned from Him
Not once, but over and over again.
And instead of giving up on them…
God speaks into their rebellion.
So, when God speaks in Hosea
He’s not speaking to perfect people.
He’s speaking to people
Who have made a mess of things.
And into that mess…
He says something shocking.

Hosea 13:14 (CSB)

¹⁴I will ransom them from the power of Sheol (death). I will redeemthem from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol,(death) where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Now that last line matters

“Compassion is hidden from my eyes.”

That doesn’t mean God has no compassion.
It means He is not going to overlook sin.
He is not going to pretend it doesn’t matter.
Judgment is real.
And yet…
This promise is spoken right in the middle of that judgment.
Which means God is holding two things together:
Justice for sin…
And a promise to rescue.
And that creates a tension
Because sin always leads somewhere.
It leads to death.
And that’s exactly what the New Testament helps us understand.

Listen to what Paul clarifies in 1 Corinthians 15:56:
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

That means this:
Death has a sting… because sin is real.
Death is not just natural.
It’s not just part of the cycle of life.
It’s an enemy.
That’s why it hurts.
That’s why it feels wrong.
That’s why something in us resists it.
Because it was never supposed to be this way.

The sting of death is sin.
And the truth is…
We all carry that.
We have all sinned.
We have all fallen short.

In Romans 3:23 Paul confirms this:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

That means that We have all contributed
To the brokenness of this world.
Not just generally…
But personally.
Your sin.
My sin.
So, when we talk about death
We’re not talking about something “out there.”
We’re talking about something
We all deserve…Because of sin
Death is the just consequence

That’s heavy.
But the Bible doesn’t avoid that tension.
Because we can’t understand Easter…
Until we understand the weight of the problem.
And yet he does not stop there
Instead

God Makes a Promise to Defeat Death

Now listen to the first two lines of Hosea 13:14 again.

“I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death…

Do you hear it?
“I will.”
Not “they will.”
Not “if they try harder.”
Not “if they clean themselves up.”

God says, “I will.”

I will ransom.
I will redeem.
That means this:
A price has to be paid.

Romans 6:23 says it this way

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And with the Price
God says, “I’ll pay it.”
Someone has to step in.
And God says, “I’ll step in.”
Which brings us back to the tension in the last line of Hosea 13:14:

“Compassion is hidden from my eyes.”

Which means the problem hasn’t gone away.
Sin still has to be dealt with.
Justice still has to be satisfied.
So now we’re left with a question:
How can God defeat death…
Without ignoring sin?
How can He show mercy…
Without compromising justice?
That tension sits unresolved in Hosea.
But what Hosea didn’t know
What Satan didn’t know
Was that when Jesus Breathed his last
And said “It is finished”
That Sunday was coming…
Easter was on its way
You see

Jesus Absorbed the Sting of Death

This is where everything comes together.
Because the sting of death is sin…
And Jesus takes sin on Himself.
On the cross,
Jesus doesn’t avoid death.
He steps into it.
He takes the full weight of sin.
The full weight of judgment.
The full sting of death.

Isaiah says it this way In Isaiah 53:5
“He was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities.”

The sting that belonged to us…
Went into Him.

Jesus became the ransom.
Jesus became the redeemer.
He paid the price we could not pay.
And when death struck Him
It looked like death had won.
The cross looked like defeat.
The grave looked like the end.
But it wasn’t.
Because he did not stop at absorbing the sting of death

Jesus Removed Death’s Power

Because three days later…
He walked out.
Jesus didn’t just rise
He rose as Lord over life and death.

1 Corinthians 15:54–55
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting?”

Paul is quoting Hosea.
But now it’s different.
What was once a promise…
Is now a reality.
Death is still present.
But it is no longer powerful.
It has been swallowed up.
That means it has been overtaken… overwhelmed… defeated.

Verse 57 says,
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Notice that word:

Gives.

You and I don’t earn this victory.
You and I don’t fight our way into it.
We don’t prove ourself worthy of it.
It is given.
Through Jesus.

So here’s the picture.
Death is like a bee that has already stung.
Growing up in Kentucky, I got stung more than once.
And I remember what we used to do—
We’d run, grab some mud,
And press it into the sting to try to pull it out.
Because once that stinger is in…
You know it.
It hurts.
It’s sharp.
It gets your attention.
And for me—that hits a little different now.
Because I’m actually allergic to bee stings.
I carry an EpiPen because of it.
So for me, a sting isn’t just painful—
It can be dangerous.

And here’s what Paul is saying:
Death has already used its sting…
On Jesus.
On the cross,
Jesus absorbed the full sting of sin.
The full weight of judgment.
The full power of death.
So now…
Death still flies.
It still makes noise.
It still tries to scare you.
But it no longer has the power to destroy you.
Because Jesus took the sting.
So now the question becomes
What do we do with this?

1. For Those Far From God

If you are here today…
And you have never trusted Jesus…
Then death still holds its power over you.
That’s not to scare you
That’s to tell you the truth.
Because the victory is not automatic.
It is received.
And today…
You can receive it.

Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 6:2,
“Today is the day of salvation.”

Not tomorrow.
Not someday.
Today.
You don’t need to fix yourself first.
You don’t need to clean yourself up first.
You just need to surrender.
Jesus, I believe You died for me.
I believe You rose again.
Jesus I trust in you and I confess You as Lord.”

2. For Believers

Let me ask you
If death has been defeated…
Why are we still living like it hasn’t?
Why are we controlled by fear?
Why are we hesitant in obedience?
Why are we holding back in surrender?
What would change in your life…
If you actually believed this?
If death doesn’t win
Then you can live boldly.
You can give freely.
You can forgive quickly.
You can follow Jesus fully.
Because the worst thing that could happen…
Has already been defeated.

3. Corporate Response

At New City, we say our mission is to inspire people to trust in and live like Jesus.

This is where that begins.
Trusting that what Jesus did…
Is enough.
So here’s what I want us to

What is something in your life right now…
That still feels like death is winning?

Fear.
Loss.
Sin.

A situation that feels final.
I want you to bring that to Jesus.
You can stay where you are…
Or you can come forward.
But don’t stay silent.

Pray something simple:

“Jesus, I trust You.
You defeated death.
Now be Lord over this.”

And If you’ve never trusted Him before
Let today be the day.

Death came for Jesus.
And He gave Himself.
And three days later
He walked out of the grave.
And now Through his resurrection
He offers that same victory to you
Paul says it this way in

Romans 8:11

¹¹And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life throughhis Spirit who lives in you.

That means the same power
That raised Jesus from the grave…
Can change your life.
Today, He offers you that power.
To leave the sting of death behind.
To step out of fear.
To walk in freedom.
Because He has conquered the grave.

GENESIS – Abraham & Sarah Week 5- The God Who Provides
Genesis 22:1–19 (CSB)

¹After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered.

²“Take your son,” he said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

³So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about.

⁴On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”

⁶Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. In his hand he took the fire and the knife, and the two of them walked on together.

⁷Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”

And he replied, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.

⁹When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac^[^b^] and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

¹⁰Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

¹¹But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.”

¹²Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”

¹³Abraham looked up and saw a ramcaught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

¹⁴And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today it is said, “It will be providedon the Lord’s mountain.”

¹⁵Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven

¹⁶and said, “By myself I have sworn,” this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son,

¹⁷I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of theirenemies.

¹⁸And all the nations of the earth will be blessedby your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

¹⁹Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.

I want to talk to you this morning
About what happens
When God asks you to trust Him before He provides.

There are moments in life when following God feels clear.
And then there are moments when it feels costly.
Moments where obedience doesn’t just require trust
It requires surrender.
Because sometimes
God doesn’t just ask for our time…
He asks for what we love most.
Our security.
Our future.
Our plans.
Our Isaac.
Genesis 22
Is one of the more difficult passages in Scripture.
God speaks to Abraham
The man who waited decades for a son
And says:

“Take your son…your only son Isaac…whom you love…
and offer him as a burnt offering.”

And immediately, we feel the tension.
Why would God ask for this?
What is He doing?
And deeper still
What does this reveal about Him?
Because this is not just a test of Abraham’s faith.
This is a revelation of God’s provision.
And remember
Moses is writing this to a people
Who had just been delivered by God
And were now learning to trust Him in the wilderness.
They needed to know:
Can we trust God when we don’t understand what He’s doing?
Before we go any further,
I want you to know something about today.
Today is not just another Sunday.
Today begins a week
Where everything in our faith comes into focus.
This is the week
Where we remember a Father who gave His Son…
A Son who carried the weight of our sin…
And a Savior who walked out of the grave.
And what we are about to work through in Genesis 22
Is not just an old story.
It is setting the stage
For Good Friday…
And for Easter Sunday.
Because on one mountain
A son was spared.
But on another mountain
A Son was not.
And this week as a church
We are going to walk through that story together.
Good Friday at 6:00
We will gather and remember the sacrifice.
Easter Sunday at 9:30
We will celebrate the victory.
And here’s what I believe
There are people in your life right now
Who need to hear this story.
People who are carrying weight…
People who are searching for hope…
People who don’t yet know
That God has already provided what they need most.
So as we walk through this today
Don’t just hear it for you.
Ask God:
“Who needs to be in the room with me this week?”
Let’s walk through this together
First we see

1. The Test Reveals What We Trust

Verse 1 tells us this is a test.
Not because God needs information
God doesn’t test to harm us
He tests to reveal and strengthen our faith
But because faith must be revealed.
God is not trying to destroy Abraham.
He is trying to expose what Abraham trusts most.
And notice how specific God is:

“Your son…your only son…whom you love…”

God names the very thing that could compete with Him.
Because anything
Even a good gift
Can become a rival to God in our hearts.
For Abraham, Isaac wasn’t just a son.
He was the promise.
He was the future.
He was the visible evidence that God keeps His word.
And now God says

“Give him back to Me.”

This is the tension of faith:
Do you trust the promise…
Or the God who made it?

Proverbs 3:5 says,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart…”

Not part of your heart.
Not when it’s convenient.
All of it.
Even when it costs.
Which brings us to a second truth

2. Faith Walks Forward Without Full Understanding

Verse 3 says,
“So Abraham got up early in the morning…”
We see no delay.
We see no argument recorded.
Not even at least a little negotiation.
Just obedience.
And for three days…
He walks toward the mountain.
And don’t miss this detail in verse 6.

“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac.”

Isaac is not just walking up the mountain.
He is carrying the wood for his own sacrifice.
Up the hill.
On his back.
Under the weight of what is about to happen.
And Abraham is walking behind him.
Father and son.
Walking together.
Toward sacrifice.
And Abraham knows something Isaac does not yet fully understand.
But here’s what we see on this side of the cross
This moment is pointing forward.
Because one day…
Another son would carry wood up a hill.
Not just the possibility of sacrifice
But the full weight of it.

John 19:17 says,
“Carrying his own cross, he went out…”

Isaac carried the wood…
But he was spared.
Jesus carried the wood…
And He was not.
And the reason matters.
Because Isaac was only a picture.
Jesus is the fulfillment.
And then Isaac speaks:

“Father…where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

And Abraham responds
With one of the most powerful statements in Scripture:

“God Himself will provide the lamb.”

He doesn’t know how.
He doesn’t know when.
But he knows who.
Faith is not having all the answers.
Faith is trusting God when you don’t.

2 Corinthians 5:7
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

And now we are about to see this played out in Abraham’s life
Where…

3. The Moment of Surrender Becomes the Place of Provision

Now Abraham builds the altar.
He lays the wood.
He binds his son.
And then…he raises the knife.
This is the moment.
This is where faith becomes surrender.
And just as the knife is lifted
God intervenes.

“Abraham, Abraham!” “Do not lay a hand on the boy…”

And then Abraham looks up
And sees a ram caught in the thicket.
A substitute.
And Abraham names that place:

“The Lord Will Provide”

Not “The Lord might provide”
Not “The Lord sometimes provides”

The Lord WILL provide.

And here’s the truth:
God’s provision often comes at the point of surrender. (PAUSE)
Not before.
Not instead of.
But in it.
This moment is not just about Abraham.
It’s pointing forward.
And we already saw it.
Isaac carrying the wood up the mountain.
But now we see it clearly.
Because on that same region
Mount Moriah
Another Son would carry wood up a hill.
But this time
Not as a picture.
Not as a possibility.
But as the fulfillment.
And on that mountain
Another Father would bring His Son.
But this time
There would be no voice stopping the sacrifice.

Romans 8:32 says,
“He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all…”

Isaac carried the wood…
And was spared.
Jesus carried the cross…
And was not.
And the reason is everything.
Because if Jesus is spared…
We are not.
But because Jesus was not spared…
We can be.
That is the gospel.
That is the good news.
On this mountain,
God showed us something:
A substitute would be provided.
And in Jesus
That substitute becomes the Savior.
Isaac was spared.
Jesus was not.
So that we could be.
Which means today
You don’t earn God’s provision
You receive it
By trusting in Jesus.

What Is God Asking You to Trust Him With?

Let me ask you something.
Where is your Isaac?
What are you holding onto
That God is asking you to trust Him with?
Because sometimes trusting God
Looks like releasing what we would rather hold onto
And believing He is still our provider.
Is it control?
Is it your future?
Is it your finances?
Is it your reputation?
Is it your comfort?

At New City, Our Mission Is: To Inspire You To Trust In And Live Like Jesus.

But trust always comes before living.
And trust is revealed in surrender.
Maybe for you today
Obedience feels costly.
And for some of you
Your next step of trust
Is not just believing
But being baptized
And publicly declaring
That Jesus is your Savior.
But here’s what Genesis 22 teaches us:
You can trust the God who provides.
Because He didn’t just provide a ram.
He provided His Son.
Abraham looked up…
And he saw the provision of God.
And today—we look up…
And we see the cross.
The place where God provided
Not just a ram…
But a Savior.

And this is the week
Where we remember it.
Good Friday
We will gather
And we will sit in the weight of the sacrifice.
We will remember
That Jesus was not spared…
So that we could be.
And then Easter Sunday
We will celebrate
That the story did not end on a mountain of sacrifice…
But in an empty tomb.

And church, listen
This is not just something we attend.
This is something we invite people into.
Because there are people in your life
Who are still carrying guilt…
Still carrying shame…
Still trying to earn what God has already provided.
And they don’t need a better version of themselves
They need Jesus.
And this week
You may be the bridge
Between where they are
And where God is calling them to be.
And God has positioned you
In their life
On purpose.

So, this week
Invite the friend.
Invite the coworker.
Invite the neighbor.
Invite the family member.
Not because we are trying to fill seats
But because we are called
To help people who are far from God
Find and follow Jesus.
God has provided
Now let’s make sure people know.

Let’s Pray!

GENESIS – Abram & Sari Week 3 – When a Promise Meets Reality

Genesis 15–16 (CSB)

Genesis 15:1–6 (CSB)

¹“After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.”

²But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

⁴Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” ⁵He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

⁶Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:17–18 (CSB)

¹⁷ “When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘I give this land to your offspring.’”

Genesis 16:1–4 (CSB)

¹ “Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. ² Sarai said to Abram, ‘Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.’ And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

³So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years.

⁴ He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her.”

Today, I want to talk to you about what happens when a Promise Meets Reality

Intro:

There is a moment
In almost every promise,
Where reality starts to feel heavier than hope.
You start with confidence.
You feel certain
God is leading you somewhere.
You believe the promise.
But then time passes.
And the promise doesn’t seem to move.
The door stays closed.
The prayers feel unanswered.
The timeline stretches longer than you expected.
And suddenly
You begin asking the question
That many believers
Are often afraid to say out loud.
Did I misunderstand God?
Or maybe
A different question begins to creep in.
Do I need to help God out?
You start to convince yourself:

Maybe I need to fix this.

Maybe I need to try to open the door on my own…just give it a little nudge

Maybe I need to help the promise along and make it happen.

If you have ever felt that tension,
Then you understand exactly
Where Abram and Sarai find themselves in Genesis 15 and 16.
God has promised Abram something extraordinary.
A son.
A family.
A nation.
A blessing that would reach the whole world.
But years have passed.
And the promise still hasn’t happened.
Genesis 15 and 16 show us
What happens when a promise meets reality.
And what we discover
Is that faith
Must learn to rest in God’s covenant grace
Rather than human strength.

But before we move forward,
Let’s keep reminding ourselves of something important.
Moses, the writer of Genesis,
Is writing to the people of Israel
After they have left Egypt.
They are still wandering in the wilderness.
They are also waiting on God’s promises.
And they are asking the same question Abram asked.
Can we really trust what God has said?
Genesis is not just telling them history.
It is teaching them how God works.
And the message is simple.
God keeps His promises.
Even when His people struggle to trust Him.
And we will see that Genesis 15 and 16
Unfolds in three movements
That helps us understand
What happens
When a promise meets reality.

First, we see The Promise.
God speaks to Abram.
God reassures Abram.
God takes Abram outside
And tells him to look at the stars.
And in that moment Abram learns something
That every believer must eventually learn:
Faith begins by trusting what God has said.

But after the promise comes something
That most of us struggle with.
The Patience.
Because once God speaks
The waiting begins.
And the waiting
Is where faith gets stretched.
It’s where we discover
Whether we really trust
The God who made the promise.

And then comes the third movement.
The Problem.
Because when the waiting gets uncomfortable
The temptation begins to creep in.
Maybe we should help God out.
Abram and Sarai decide
To solve the problem themselves.
And what begins as a solution
Quickly becomes a complication.
So this morning
As we walk through Genesis 15 and 16
We are going to follow these three movements together:
The Promise
The Patience
The Problem
And through all of it
We are going to discover something incredibly important:
God’s promises do not depend on human strength.
They rest on God’s covenant grace.
So let’s look at the first one

TEACHING

Genesis 15 begins with Abram afraid.

Genesis 15:1 says,

“After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.”

God begins by addressing Abram’s fear.
But Abram responds with an honest question.

Genesis 15:2–3 says,

“Abram said, ‘Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’”

Abram is not doubting God’s power.
He is struggling with God’s timing.
God responds by taking Abram outside.

Genesis 15:5 says,

“Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them… Your offspring will be that numerous.”

And then comes one of the most important verses in the entire Bible.

Genesis 15:6 says,

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

Now, before we go any further,
We need to slow down for a moment
And make sure we understand that word-righteousness.
Because it’s a word we use in church a lot,
But many people aren’t always sure what it means.
Righteousness simply means being right with God.
It means being accepted by God,
Standing guiltless before Him,
Having a relationship with Him that is restored and clean.
It means that when God looks at you,
He no longer sees you as condemned by sin,
But as someone who is right in His sight.
And here is the surprising part of Genesis 15.
Abram was not counted righteous
Because he was perfect.
He wasn’t righteous
Because he obeyed every command.
He wasn’t righteous
Because he performed religious acts.
Abram believed the Lord.
And God credited that faith to him as righteousness.
Notice that word again – Credited
The word credited is actually a financial word.
It means something is placed into your account.
Imagine you open your bank account tomorrow morning
And you see a deposit for ten million dollars.
You didn’t earn it.
You didn’t work for it.
You didn’t deserve it.
Someone credited it to your account.
That’s the picture Genesis 15 is giving us.
Abram did not produce righteousness.
God credited righteousness to him.
And when we trust Jesus,
God places Christ’s righteousness into our account.
Which means when God looks at us,
He doesn’t see our sin first.
He sees the perfect righteousness of Jesus.
Now, why is that verse so important?
Because the New Testament
Keeps coming back to it again and again
To explain how salvation works.
The apostle Paul quotes this verse in Romans 4:3 when he writes,

“For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.”

Paul uses Abraham to show that a person
Is not made right with God by works,
Or by performance,
Or by religious effort
But only by trusting the promise of God.
Paul quotes it again in Galatians 3:6 when he says,

“Just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.”

And even James refers back to this moment in James 2:23, saying,

“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.”

Three different New Testament books point back to this one verse.
Why?
Because this is where we see the gospel before the cross.
Abram didn’t earn righteousness.
He didn’t achieve righteousness.
He didn’t work for righteousness.
He believed.
And because he believed
God credited righteousness to him.
And this is the same way every person in this room is saved today.
Not by earning righteousness.
Not by performing better.
But by trusting in Jesus
Who fulfilled the promise
The same Jesus.
Who died for our sins
And rose again.
And here’s the stunning part of Genesis 15.
Abram is declared righteous
Before he has done anything heroic,
Before Isaac is born,
Before the covenant is even sealed.
Which means righteousness
Was never about Abram’s performance.
It has always been about trusting the promise of God.
But God goes even further to reassure Abram.
He establishes a covenant.
In Abram’s time,
Covenant ceremonies involved a somewhat gross scene
Cutting animals in half and laying the pieces opposite each other.
Both parties would walk between the pieces as a way of saying,

“If I break this covenant, may what happened to these animals happen to me.”

Which brings us to our second movement

Something familiar happens to Abram in Genesis 15.
Abram falls into a deep sleep.

Genesis 15:12 tells us,

“As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.”

Why does the phrase “deep sleep” sound familiar.
It is the same phrase used in Genesis 2
When God caused Adam
To fall into a deep sleep before creating Eve.

Genesis 2:21 says,

“So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept.”

Take a moment and think about this.
Some of the greatest acts of God in Scripture
Happen when His people are completely at rest.
Think of all God is doing “While you are sleeping”
I learned this during my last hospital stay
While I slept and rested my body began healing
Here is what we know about the Body and sleep:
1. The Body Repairs Itself
While you sleep,
Your body actually releases hormones
That repair damaged tissue.
Muscles rebuild.
Cells regenerate.
In many ways your body does its
Deepest healing while you are resting.
2. The Brain Cleans Itself
Scientists discovered that while you sleep,
Your brain activates something called the glymphatic system.
It literally flushes waste and toxins out of the brain.
While you sleep,
Your brain actually goes through a cleaning process.
The brain removes waste that built up during the day.
Your mind is being restored and reset
While you are not even aware of it.
3. The Immune System Strengthens
Sleep strengthens the immune system.
Your body produces infection-fighting proteins during sleep.
Your immune system becomes stronger.
While you sleep your body
Is strengthening your defenses.
Fighting infection.
Preparing you for tomorrow.
4. Memory Is Being Processed
Your brain is organizing memories and learning.
Your brain sorts information.
Strengthens important memories.
Discards what isn’t needed.
Even your mind is organizing your life while you sleep.
Just maybe there is something to this idea of rest?
Adam was asleep when God created Eve.
Abram is asleep when God establishes the covenant.
Why?
Because God is making something very clear.
This covenant does not depend on Abram’s ability.
It depends on God’s faithfulness.
Abram contributes nothing to this moment.
He doesn’t negotiate the covenant.
He doesn’t strengthen the covenant.
He doesn’t even walk through the covenant.
He is resting.
And while Abram rests, God moves.

Verse 17 says,

“When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals.”

What is happening is as we mentioned before
Here Abram doesn’t walk through the pieces.
God does.
In the Old Testament,
Fire often represents the presence of God.
God alone passes through.
Which means God is saying something extraordinary.
Changing the normal covenant guidelines
Abram, if this covenant fails,
The responsibility is on Me.
The promise does not stand on your strength.
It stands on My faithfulness.
And this moment is pointing forward to the gospel.
Because thousands of years later,
God would again take the full weight of the covenant on Himself.
At the cross,
Jesus would bear the penalty for the broken covenant of humanity.
The covenant holds.
Not because humanity kept it perfectly.
But because Jesus fulfilled it completely.
His sacrifice is declaring all this depends on Me.
If the promise fails,
The responsibility falls on God.
This is covenant grace.
And the Israelites listening to Moses
Would have been stunned.
Their entire future depended on this covenant promise.
Not their strength.
Not their perfection.
But God’s faithfulness.
But then we come to Genesis 16
And find the third movement

And it shows us
What happens when waiting becomes difficult.
Years pass.
The promise still hasn’t happened.
And Sarai begins to look for another solution.

Genesis 16:2 says,

“So Sarai said to Abram, ‘Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.’”

In the ancient world this was a culturally accepted solution.
But culturally accepted does not mean spiritually faithful.
Abram listens to Sarai.
Hagar becomes pregnant.
And immediately the situation begins to fall apart.

Genesis 16:4 says,

“When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her.”

What was meant to solve the problem only multiplies it.
This self-effort becomes the seedbed where
Pride grows.
Resentment grows.
Conflict grows.
Human effort has taken control of what God promised to provide.
This is one of the great warnings of Scripture.
When we try to accomplish God’s promises
Through human strategies,
We often create consequences
That last far longer than the original problem.
And the consequences of this moment
Would stretch for centuries.
Hagar gives birth to Ishmael.

Genesis 16:12 describes him this way:

“He will be like a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand will be against him.”

That description is not just about personality.
It is about conflict.
It is about tension.
It is about a life
That would be marked by struggle with surrounding peoples.
Later in Genesis we see
That Isaac becomes the son
Through whom God’s covenant promise will continue.
Ishmael becomes the father of a different line of nations.
And throughout the Old Testament
We begin to see tension
Between the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael.
What began as impatience with God
Created generational conflict.
The decision that felt like a solution in the moment
Created tension that lasted far beyond Abram and Sarai’s lifetime.
Even today,
Many historians see echoes of this tension
In the long-standing conflicts of the Middle East.
The line of Isaac eventually becomes the people of Israel.
The line of Ishmael becomes the ancestors of many Arab tribes.
But the Bible does not tell this story
So we will blame one group of people or another.
Scripture tells this story
To show us something about the human heart.
When we stop trusting God’s timing
And start forcing our own solutions,
The consequences rarely stay contained to one moment.
They ripple outward.
They affect families.
They affect generations.
They affect nations.
But even here we still see God’s mercy.
When Hagar flees into the wilderness,
The Angel of the Lord finds her.
And Hagar gives God a remarkable name.

Genesis 16:13 says,

“You are El Roi.” The God who sees me.

Even in the middle of human failure,
God still sees.
God still cares.
God still moves toward broken people.
The story of Abram does not end with human failure.
Because the covenant never depended on Abram.
It depended on God.
Years later
God would still fulfill His promise through Isaac.
But even that promise pointed to something greater.
Paul tells us in Romans 4
That Abraham’s story ultimately points to Jesus.

Romans 4:20–21 says,

“He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith… because he was fully convinced that what God had promised he was also able to do.”

The covenant God made with Abram
Was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.

Hebrews 9:15 says,

“Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant.”

In Genesis 15,
God walked through the sacrifice alone.
But at the cross,
Jesus fulfilled that covenant promise through His own blood.
The promise was kept.
Not because humanity succeeded.
But because Jesus did.
Genesis 15 shows us the promise.
Genesis 15 also teaches us patience.
Genesis 16 shows us the problem when we stop trusting God.”
So let me ask you something.
Where in your life right now is the promise meeting reality?
Where are you waiting?
Where are you tempted to take control?
Maybe it’s financial pressure.
Maybe it’s a relationship.
Maybe it’s something in your family.
Maybe it’s a calling God placed on your life.
And the timeline is longer than you expected.
The temptation is always the same.
Trust God.
Or take control.
Genesis 15 reminds us
That righteousness comes through trusting God.
Genesis 16 reminds us
What happens when we try to replace faith with human effort.
At New City Church
We often say our mission is to “inspire people to trust in and live like Jesus.”
Notice the order.
Trust comes first.
When we trust God’s promises,
We become people who invite others to trust Him too.
Faith rests on covenant grace.
Not human strength.
The gospel reminds us
That the greatest promise of all has already been kept.
Jesus came.
Jesus died.
Jesus rose.
And because of Him,
The promises of God are secure.

2 Corinthians 1:20 says,

“For every one of God’s promises is ‘Yes’ in him.”

So the invitation today is simple.
Stop carrying what only God can fulfill.
Rest in the promise.
Trust the covenant.
Believe the God who keeps His word.
And remember what Genesis 15:6 tells us.

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

Faith rests in God’s grace.
Not our strength.

So this morning
I want to invite you to respond.
Because faith is not just something we understand.
Faith is something we practice.
And for some of you,
The most honest prayer you could pray today is simply this:

“Lord, I’ve been trying to force what only You can fulfill.”

Maybe you’ve been carrying pressure
God never asked you to carry.
Trying to control outcomes.
Trying to fix situations.
Trying to rush God’s timing.
But today you need to lay that down.
So in a moment
I’m going to invite anyone who wants to come forward and pray.
This front area is not a stage.
It’s simply a place of surrender.
A place where we say,

“God, I’m choosing to trust Your promise more than my own plans.”

Maybe you need to pray about something
You’ve been trying to control.
Maybe you need to release something to God.
Maybe you need to ask Him
To strengthen your faith while you wait.
Or maybe today is the day
You finally stop trusting in your own effort to be right with God.
And instead you trust Jesus.
The same truth that saved Abraham
Is the truth that saves us.
Righteousness is not earned.
It is received through faith in Christ.
So if you need prayer today…
If you need to surrender something today…
If you need to trust Jesus today…
I want to invite you to come.
Our team
Will be here to pray with you.
You can kneel.
You can stand.
You can simply come and talk to God.
But don’t leave carrying
What God is inviting you to place in His hands.
Let’s pray.

Genesis Origins Part 2: Abraham and Sarah – Week 2

Genesis:14:1-10

Before we begin reading, let me lay so frame work
In the first Part Genesis 14,
A coalition of four powerful kings from the east
Invades the region where Lot is living.
Five local kings—including the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah
Try to resist them,
But they are defeated in battle.
When the invading armies sweep through the land,
They carry off everything from the cities,
Including people and possessions.
In the chaos of the defeat,
Abram’s nephew Lot
Who had been living near Sodom
Is captured
And taken away with the other prisoners.
One survivor escapes
And runs to Abram to tell him what has happened.
When Abram hears that his family has been taken captive,
He gathers 318 trained men from his household
And sets out to pursue the armies and rescue Lot.

Now let’s pick up the story in

Genesis 14:11–24

¹¹The four kings took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and went on.

¹²They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, for he was living in Sodom, and they went on.

¹³One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, who lived near the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with Abram.

¹⁴When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembledhis 318 trained men, born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as Dan.

¹⁵And he and his servants deployed against them by night, defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah to the north of Damascus.

¹⁶He brought back all the goods and also his relative Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the other people.

¹⁷After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer (ket-ed-a-low-mer) and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley).

¹⁸Melchizedek, king of Salem,brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.

¹⁹He blessed him and said: Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creatorof heaven and earth,
²⁰and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

²¹Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”

²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

²³that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’

²⁴I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.”

Today, I want to talk to you about how Gratitude Gives Back
That Faith doesn’t just trust God in hardship
It honors Him in victory.
True generosity flows from gratitude, not obligation.

Intro:

Most people pray harder when life falls apart.
But the real test of faith
Often comes when life starts going well.
Most people assume faith is tested when life falls apart.
When the diagnosis comes.
When the job disappears.
When the relationship fractures.
When the bank account is empty.
Those are the moments when we cry out to God.
But Scripture shows us something many of us miss.
Hardship is not the only test of faith.
Sometimes the real test of faith comes after the victory.
After the breakthrough.
After the prayer is answered.
After the battle is won.
After things start going well.

Hardship often drives us toward God.
But Success tempts us to replace Him.

God warned Israel
About this very danger before they entered the Promised Land.

In Deuteronomy 8:17–18 He said,

¹⁷You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’

¹⁸but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

In other words, the danger wasn’t the wilderness.
The danger was prosperity.
Genesis 14 shows us Abram after a victory.
And what he does next
Teaches us what faith looks like when things go well.
Genesis 14 unfolds in three clear movements,
And each one reveals something about how faith responds after victory.
First, we will see the rescue.
Then we will see the blessing.
Finally, we will see the refusal.

The Rescue (Genesis 14:1–16)

When Abram hears that Lot has been taken captive,
He does not hesitate.

Genesis 14:14 says,

“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he mobilized his 318 trained men born in his household and pursued them as far as Dan.”

Abram could have stayed out of it.
This wasn’t his war.
Lot had chosen to live near Sodom.
Lot’s choices created the situation.
But Abram moves toward rescue.
Faith moves toward people in need.
That’s part of why we stepped forward in faith as a church through SEEK.
We believe God has blessed us not just so we can be comfortable,
But so that we can move toward people who are distressed and dejected
Those in our city who need help, hope, and the gospel
Through the ministries God has entrusted us with.
Abram takes 318 men and pursues the armies
That had just defeated five kings.
Humanly speaking,
The odds were not in his favor.
Yet Abram trusted God more than he feared the enemy.
(let that sit with you for a moment…)
Do you trust God more than the fear the enemy tries to throw at you?
One of my life verses speaks to this

Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield (Who is? The Lord Not you or me)

My Heart Trust in him, and (here’s the benefit of that trust) I am helped (I am surrounded) Therefore (Because of this fact) My heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song.

How do you know if you are trusting over-fearing the enemy?
Your heart posture is worship
Later in the passage, if we skip to verse 20
We learn the real reason Abram won.

Genesis 14:20 says,

“God Most High has handed over your enemies to you.”

Abram fought the battle.
But God gave the victory.
Faith steps forward in obedience,
Trusting that the outcome belongs to God.
But the real focus of the story begins after the battle is over.
What Abram does next reveals what was living in his heart.
The second movement

The Blessing (Genesis 14:17–20)

After Abram returns from victory,
Two kings come out to meet him.
The first is Melchizedek.

Genesis 14:18 says,

“Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.”

Melchizedek blesses Abram and says,

Genesis 14:19–20

“Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you…”

Notice what happens.
Melchizedek redirects the credit.
Abram may have fought the battle.
But God gave the victory.
And Abram immediately responds.

Genesis 14:20

“…And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

No law required this.
No rule demanded it.
Abram gives because his heart is full of gratitude.
Gratitude always turns into generosity.

When we truly recognize
That what we have comes from God,
Our instinct is no longer to hold tighter.
It is to open our hands.
Gratitude shifts our perspective.
We stop seeing our resources as something we earned
And begin seeing them as something we were entrusted with.
That is what is happening in Abram’s heart.
He knows the victory didn’t come from his own strength.
It came from God.
And when your heart is filled with gratitude toward God,
Giving stops feeling like loss
And starts feeling like worship.
Gratitude leads to worship
Because generosity is simply gratitude put into action. (Pause)
Abram is acknowledging
That everything he has… ultimately came from God.
But this moment in Genesis
Is doing more than showing Abram’s gratitude.
It is pointing forward to someone greater.
Psalm 110:4 gives a prophecy about the coming Messiah. It says,

“The Lord has sworn an oath and will not take it back: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’”

Hundreds of years before Jesus was born,
God promised that the coming King would also be a priest
Now a priest in the Bible had one main role.
A priest stood between God and people.
He represented people before God
And helped bring them into relationship with Him.
But this coming King
Would not come from the line of Levi like the priests of Israel.
He would be a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
The book of Hebrews later explains this connection.

Hebrews 7:1–2 says,

“For this Melchizedek—king of Salem, priest of God Most High—met Abraham and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.”

Then the writer of Hebrews tells us
That Melchizedek was pointing forward to someone greater.

Hebrews 7:17 says,

“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Who?
Jesus is the true and greater priest-king.
Melchizedek appeared suddenly in Genesis
And brought blessing to Abram
As both king and priest.
Melchizedek isn’t Jesus,
But he foreshadows Jesus
The King and Priest who would come.
Jesus comes as the true King and the true Priest
The one who brings us back to God.
And brought blessing to Abram.
Jesus came into the world
As the greater King and Priest who brings salvation to us.
Through His victory over sin, death, and the grave.
And just as Abram responded with worship and gratitude,
The right response to Jesus is the same
Our lives offered back to God in gratitude.
Melchizedek foreshadows Jesus
The true king and priest
Who brings blessing and represents God to His people.
But another king approaches Abram that day,
And the offer he makes reveals a second test of Abram’s faith.
The Third Movement

The Refusal (Genesis 14:21–24)

The king of Sodom now speaks.

Genesis 14:21 says,

“Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.’”

This was the normal reward for victory.
No one would have questioned it.
Abram had earned it.
But Abram refuses.

Genesis 14:22–23 says,

“…I have raised my hand in an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich…’”

Where your blessing comes from matters.

Not every opportunity is meant to be taken.
Not every reward is meant to be received.
Sometimes the real question is not,
“Is this good for me?”
But,
“Where is this coming from?”
Because the source of the blessing
Often reveals the direction of your heart.
Abram understood something deeply important.
If the king of Sodom became the source of his wealth,
Then the king of Sodom could claim the credit.
But Abram wanted it to be clear
That everything he had came from God.
Abram did not want the king of Sodom
To ever claim credit for what God would provide.
Faith refuses anything that would steal the glory from God.
Because faith understands something the world often forgets.
When God is the source of your blessing,
God is the one who deserves the credit.
And Abram wanted his life to make that unmistakably clear.
What Do You Do with Victory?
Abram faced that question in Genesis 14.
And every one of us eventually faces the same one.
This story forces us to ask a question.
What do you do when things go well?
When the promotion comes.
When the business grows.
When the prayer is answered.
When life improves.
Do you take the credit?
And sometimes “taking the credit” isn’t with our words.
It’s with our actions.
We say things like,
“I worked hard for this raise.”
“I earned this opportunity.”
“God wants me to enjoy this blessing.”
And slowly, without realizing it,
We begin treating what God provided
As if we produced it.
This is not about getting bigger offerings.
It’s about exposing our hearts.

James 1:17 reminds us,

“Every good and perfect gift is from above.”

Every victory.
Every opportunity.
Every provision.
It all comes from God.
And gratitude changes the way we live.
Gratitude leads to worship.
Gratitude leads to generosity.
Gratitude leads to integrity.
Genesis 14 ultimately points us to Jesus.
Melchizedek appears as a priest-king who blesses Abram.
Hebrews tells us Jesus is the greater priest in that same order.

Hebrews 9:11–12 says,

“But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come… He entered the most holy place once for all time… with his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.”

Abram gave a tenth of his victory.
Jesus gave His whole life.

Jesus won the ultimate victory over sin, death, and the grave
So that we could be forgiven and restored to God.
Abram shows us something powerful.
Faith doesn’t just trust God in hardship.
Faith honors God in victory.
Abram rescued with courage.
Abram worshiped with gratitude.
Abram refused what would steal God’s glory.
And when we remember that every victory comes from God,
Our hearts begin to live the same way.
Because gratitude always gives back.
And the way we receive that victory
Is not by earning it—but by trusting in Jesus.
So the real question becomes this:
Where in your life right now
Do you need to give the credit back to God?

Maybe it’s a victory.
Maybe it’s provision.
Maybe it’s an opportunity.
But instead of holding tighter,
Faith opens its hands.
Because when we recognize that everything we have comes from God,
Gratitude becomes the way we live.
Why don’t we practice giving it to him by bringing whatever it is
And laying on the altar
We have already learned in the last two weeks
That altars represents a place of worship
And today we learned that a heart posture of Worship
Demonstrates that we trust God
Will you come to the altar
And give the glory back to God?

Genesis Origins Part 2: Abraham and Sarah – Week 1- Call and Compromise

Genesis 12:1–13:4 (CSB)

¹The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
²I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
³I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessedthrough you.

⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

⁵He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

⁶Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.)

⁷The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspringI will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.

⁸From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord.

⁹Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.

¹⁰There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a while because the famine in the land was severe.

¹¹When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.

¹²When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live.

¹³Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.”

¹⁴When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

¹⁵Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household.

¹⁶He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.

¹⁷But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife, Sarai.

¹⁸So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

²⁰Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.

¹Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev—he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him.

²Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.

³He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been,

⁴to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram called on the name of the Lord there.

I want to talk to you this morning about the call and the compromise
Seeing that:

God’s call requires faith not only to go but to stay — trusting His promise even when circumstances look impossible.

Intro:

There is a difference between excitement and endurance.
Excitement is easy.
Endurance is often hard.
It’s one thing to say yes
When God calls you into something new.
It’s another thing to keep saying yes
When the circumstances
Don’t feel like they are matching the promise.
We feel it when we start a new job
And the first week is energizing
But six months in,
The pressure exposes maybe our fears.
You can feel it when you step into marriage with joy
And then conflict surfaces.
Or when we step out in obedience
And instead of blessing, famine shows up.

Genesis 12 is one of the most important chapters in all of Scripture.
God calls Abram.
God makes covenant promises.
God speaks blessing over him.
But almost immediately,
The promise is tested.
And here’s what we learn:
God’s call requires faith not only to go — but to stay.
Trusting His promise
Even when circumstances look impossible.
Now remember who first heard this story.
Moses is writing to Israel in the wilderness.
They had left Egypt.
They were headed to the promised land.
And what were they experiencing?
Hardship.
Hunger.
Uncertainty.
So Moses tells them about Abram.
He tells them:
Your father in the faith also faced famine.
Your father in the faith also felt fear.
Your father in the faith also had moments of compromise.
And yet — God remained faithful.
This story is not just about Abram.
It is about what kind of God we follow.

TEACHING:

Genesis 12:1–3 says:

“The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Notice something first.
Abram did not initiate this relationship.
God did.
God speaks first.
God calls first.
God promises first.
This is grace before obedience.
Abram is 75 years old.
No children.
No nation.
No land.
And God says, “Go.”
Leave security.
Leave familiarity.
Leave what you can see.
Go to what I will show you.
Here’s the thing:
The call is specific in what he must leave
But vague in where he is going.
It’s the perfect picture of Faith
Faith always involves both surrender and trust.

Verse 4 says, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.”

He operated with Simple obedience.

Hebrews 11:8 reflects on this moment and says

“Abram obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going.”

Faith is not full information.
Faith is trusting the character of God.
For Israel in the wilderness,
This mattered deeply.
They were walking toward a land they had not yet possessed.
They were being asked to trust what they could not yet see.
For us, it is the same.
God’s call may be to forgive.
God’s call may be to give generously.
God’s call may be to step into disciple-making.
God’s call may be to trust Him with your family.
The question is not: Do I see the whole plan?
The question is: Do I trust the One who calls?
Now notice verse 7

“The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’”

This Matters
God does not just promise blessing in general
He promises this land
So when famine hits in this land
The real question becomes:
Will Abram trust that God can sustain him
Where God has assigned him?
This is where the “stay” comes in
Faith is not only leaving Haran
Faith is remaining in Canaan
When Canaan feels empty

It is easier to step out in excitement
Than to stay when things get uncomfortable
And notice something else in verse 8.

Genesis 12:8 says:

“From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there and called on the name of the Lord.”

Before famine.
Before failure.
Before fear.
Abram worshiped.
He built an altar.
He publicly declared allegiance to the Lord
In a land filled with Canaanite worship.
That altar is significant.
Abram lived in tents — temporary structures.
But he built altars — permanent markers of worship.
He understood something:

My security is not in land ownership or what I have or don’t have but in covenant relationship with God.

This is covenant grace.
God binds Himself by promise
Not because Abram earned it
But because God is faithful
And that same covenant grace is what holds us today

Genesis 15:6 will later say Abram “believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

Even Abram’s righteousness rest on what God declares
Not what Abram achieves
This is the foundation of justification by faith
This is what I call the rhythm of faith:
God calls.
We obey.
We worship.
But then the test comes.
The Crisis of Famine

Genesis 12:10 says:

“There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay there for a while because the famine in the land was severe.”

The promise said land and blessing.
The reality was famine.
Do you see the tension?
God just promised to bless him in this land
And now the land cannot even feed him.
For Israel in the wilderness,
This would have hit home.
They too had faced hunger.
They too had questioned whether God would provide.

Here’s the issue:

Will Abram trust the promise of God
When circumstances contradict it?
The bigger here-and-now question is,
Will you and I?
What has God said that right now,
When you look around,
It seems impossible?
Will you trust him despite what you don’t yet see
Possible story of Elijah’s servant 2 Kings 6:17
My personal prayer time
Back to our story
Egypt represents security without faith.
Egypt had the Nile.
Egypt had infrastructure.
Egypt had stability.
It made sense to go there.
And the text does not explicitly condemn Abram for going to Egypt.
And that’s important
The crisis itself is not necessarily sin
But what unfolds next reveals his heart.
When we leave the place of promise
Without consulting the Promiser,
Fear often follows.
And fear always distorts.

Genesis 12:11–13:

“When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife.” They will kill me but let you live. Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.’”

Do you hear the language?
“So it will go well for me.”
“My life will be spared.”
Fear has replaced faith.
God had just promised, “I will bless you. I will protect you.”
But famine created fear.
Fear created self-preservation.
Self-preservation created compromise.
Abram did not fully deny Sarai.
She was technically his half-sister.
But a half-truth used to manipulate is still deception.
And notice something heartbreaking.
The one who was supposed to bless the nations
Is now using his wife as a shield for his own protection.
Fear shrinks our calling.
When we stop trusting God’s promise,
We start protecting ourselves at the expense of others.
How often do we do the same?
We compromise integrity to secure income.
We soften the truth to secure approval.
We manipulate perception to secure reputation.
We, in effect, go to Egypt.
And yet, watch what happens next.

Genesis 12:17:

“But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.”

God intervenes.
Abram fails.
But God remains faithful.
Pharaoh rebukes Abram in verses 18–19:

“What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?”

It is and uncomfortable thing
When the world has clearer moral vision than the believer.
Abram, the covenant bearer,
Is corrected by a pagan king.
But here is grace:
God protects the covenant promise
Even when His servant falters.
This story is not primarily about the strength of Abram’s faith.
It is about the steadfastness of God’s covenant.
If the promise depended on Abram’s perfection,
It would have ended in Egypt.
But the promise rests on God.
And here is the good news for you and me
The promise that God has for us
Does not rest on us either.
It does not rest on our flawless obedience.
It does not rest on our perfect faith.
It does not collapse when we falter.
Thank God the promise does not rest on us.
It rests on His character.
It rests on His covenant.
It rests on His faithfulness.
And ultimately, it rest on Christ
Because centuries later,
The true Seed of Abraham would face His own Egypt moment.
But He would not compromise.
Abram feared death and shifted the risk to Sarai.
Jesus faced death and absorbed the risk Himself.
Abram sought self-preservation.
Jesus embraced self-sacrifice.
Abram’s compromise endangered others.
Jesus’ obedience secured others.
And here is where the gospel deepens:
Jesus did not just stay faithful as our example.
He stayed faithful as our substitute.
Where we run to Egypt,
He remains in obedience.
Where we lie to protect ourselves,
He stands in truth and takes the consequences.
On the cross,
He bore the penalty of all our Egypt moments.
The covenant promise stands secure
Because Christ carried our failure.
That is substitution.
That is grace.

Galatians 3:8 says:

“All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

That blessing is Christ.

Genesis 13:1–4:

“So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev — he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him. Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram called on the name of the Lord there.”

Abram went back.
Back to the altar.
Back to worship.
Back to calling on the name of the Lord.
Failure did not disqualify him.
He returned.
For Israel in the wilderness,
This was hope.
You may fail.
You may complain.
You may long for Egypt.
But you can return.
And for us today,
That matters deeply.
God’s call requires faith not only to go but to stay.
Stay in integrity.
Stay in trust.
Stay in worship.
Stay in obedience when famine hits.
But when we fail
And we will
The path forward is not hiding.
It is returning to the altar.
And for some of you,
That return may be public.
Just as Abram’s altar was visible in the land,
Baptism is a visible declaration
That you belong to the covenant-keeping God.
If you have trusted Christ but never publicly identified with Him,
Baptism may be your altar moment.
And for others,
Staying may involve generosity in famine seasons.
Abram’s fear centered around survival.
But covenant people learn to trust God not only with safety
But with their resources.
Even in lean seasons,
We do not run to Egypt for security.
We trust the Promiser.

CONCLUSION:

Let me ask you something.
Where is your Egypt?

Where are you tempted to run when pressure rises?
Is it financial control?
Is it image management?
Is it relational manipulation?
Is it comfort?
God may have called you somewhere
Into a marriage,
Into generosity,
Into disciple-making,
Into leadership
And the famine has come.
And you are tempted to protect yourself instead of trust Him.
At New City,
We say our mission is to inspire people to trust in and live like Jesus.
Trust comes before living.
Abram trusted enough to go
But struggled to trust enough to stay.
Where do you need to stay?
Stay in obedience.
Stay in integrity.
Stay in worship.
Stay in faithfulness.
And if you have already compromised?
Return to the altar.
Return to worship.
Return to calling on the name of the Lord.
Notice something beautiful.
The story does not end in Egypt.
It ends at an altar.
Your story does not have to end in failure.
It can end in worship.
And this is not moral improvement.
This is covenant grace.
The same God who called Abram
Is the God who sent His Son.
The same God
Who protected the covenant through Abram’s weakness
Is the God who secured salvation through Christ’s strength.
You do not stay in God’s promise because you are strong.
You stay because He is faithful.
And today,
We don’t just talk about the altar.
We come to one.
Because the cross is the ultimate altar.

At Abram’s altar,
He called on the name of the Lord.
At the cross,
God made a way for us
To be able to call on His name and be saved.
Communion is our return-to-the-altar moment.
It is where we stop running.
It is where we stop striving.
It is where we stop protecting ourselves.
And we remember:
The covenant does not rest on us.
It rests on Christ.
On the night He was betrayed,
Jesus took bread.
He did not run from the famine of suffering.
He stayed.
He stayed faithful.
He stayed obedient.
He stayed on the path to the cross.
And His body was broken.
His blood was poured out.
So that when we run to Egypt,
There is still a way back.
So that when we compromise,
There is still grace.
So that when famine hits,
We can trust the promise.
Today,
Some of you need to say yes
To the call of God for the first time.
You need to leave your land
Your self-rule
And trust Christ as Lord.
If that is you,
As we take communion in a moment,
You can confess Him.
You can trust Him.
You can return.
Some of you need to stop running to Egypt.
Some of you need to return to the altar.
Communion is not a ritual of perfection.
It is a table of grace.
We come not because we stayed perfectly.
We come because He did.
So let’s stand together.

If you are a follower of Jesus,
Take the bread and remember His body broken for you.
Take the cup and remember His blood shed for you.
And as you do, ask yourself:
Where do I need to stay?
Where do I need to return?
And thank Him
That the promise does not rest on you.
It rests on Christ.
Let’s come to the altar and get our communion together.
Then I will come and walk us through taking it

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 (CSB)

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread,
and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’

(Pray over and take bread)

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’

(Pray over and take juice)

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Genesis Origins Week 7: Human Pride and God’s Purpose

Genesis 11:1–9 (CSB)

¹The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary.

²As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.

³They said to each other, “Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.” (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.)

⁴And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”

⁵Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humanswere building.

⁶The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

⁷Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

⁸So from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city.

⁹Therefore it is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.

I want to talk to you today about Human Pride and God’s Purpose

PRAY!!!

Intro — What Are You Building?

Every one of us is building something.
You may not be stacking bricks,
But you are constructing a life.
You are shaping a reputation.
You are forming a legacy.
You are building something
With your time,
Your energy,
Your relationships,
Your ambition.
Some people build careers.
Some build platforms.
Some build families.
Some build ministries.
Some build quiet internal towers of control and self-protection.
The question is not whether you are building.
The question is why.
Are you building to worship?
Or building to secure?
Or building to prove?

Genesis 11 shows us what happens when humanity decides to build without bowing.

Moses writes this to Israel in the wilderness.
They do not have cities.
They do not have monuments.
They have tents
And manna
And a pillar of cloud.
And Moses wants them to understand something crucial:
Your identity will never come from what you construct.
It comes from the covenant-keeping God who rescued you.
And that is still true for us today.
Are we building towers — or altars?

Teaching — The God Who Comes Down (Genesis 11:1–9)

Genesis 11 opens with unity.

“The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary.”

One people.
One speech.
One shared culture.
One shared capacity.
Unity was not the problem.
Language was a gift.
Creativity reflected the image of God.
Innovation was not evil.
Progress was not sinful.
Verse 3 says:

“Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.”

They had vision.
They had cooperation.
They had technology.
They had momentum.
But verse 4 reveals the motive.

“Come, let’s build ourselves a city…”

“Let’s build…”
shows the heart of it: was for “ourselves.”
Not for God.
Not for His glory.
For ourselves.
And underneath that:

“Otherwise, we will be scattered…”

They were not afraid of danger.
They were afraid of being left alone.
God had already commanded in Genesis 1:28:
Fill the earth.
Multiply.
Spread out.
Represent Me.
But scattering requires trust.
Scattering requires obedience.
Scattering requires
Believing that God is enough
Even when you are not centralized and secure.
So instead of trusting God’s promise,
They attempt to build their own security.
They try construct and manufacture their own identity.
Pride does not always shout.
Sometimes it strategizes.
Sometimes it organizes.
Sometimes it looks productive.
Sometimes it looks impressive.
But at its core,
Pride is self-exaltation.
Pride is self-protection.
Pride is self-direction.

“Come, let us…”

In other words
It is Human initiative without divine submission.
And then the entire story turns on one line.
Verse 5:

“Then the Lord came down…”

They tried to ascend.
God came down.
They aimed for the heavens.
God descended from them.
They built something that looked massive to them.
It was microscopic to Him.
This is holy irony.
But it is also holy mercy.
God saw.
God evaluated.
God intervened.
He did not ignore it.
He did not panic.
He came down.
And this is where the passage deepens.
Throughout Scripture,
When humanity exalts itself,
God comes down in judgment.
But when humanity cannot save itself,
God comes down in mercy.
The same pattern.
The same movement.
The ultimate “coming down” is not at Babel.
It is in Bethlehem.
The Word became flesh.
The Creator stepped into creation.
The King entered the valley.
At Babel,
God came down to restrain pride.
In Christ,
God came down to redeem sinners.

Philippians 2:5-10 says this:

⁵Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

⁶who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
⁷Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,
⁸he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
⁹For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name
that is above every name,
¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth—

He did not grasp for status.
He emptied Himself.
He humbled Himself.
He descended into obedience.
Humanity climbs.
Jesus comes down.
Humanity grasps for a name.
Jesus surrenders His rights.
And because He descended in humility,
God exalted Him.
Gave Him the name above every name.
The only name that will never collapse.
Back to Babel.
Verse 6 says:

“Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.”

That does not mean humanity is becoming divine.
It does not mean God feels threatened.
It does not mean He is nervous about human progress.
It means something far more serious.
When sinful hearts unite around self-glory,
Their capacity for harm multiplies.
Individually, pride is dangerous.
Collectively, pride becomes powerful.
Think about it.
One arrogant person can cause damage.
But when pride organizes,
When it gains structure,
When it centralizes authority,
When it builds systems,
When it institutionalizes itself,
Its reach expands.
Its influence widens.
Its consequences accelerate.
Genesis 6 showed us violence filling the earth.
Genesis 11 shows us pride organizing the earth.
This is not random rebellion anymore.
This is coordinated autonomy.

“Nothing they plan to do will be impossible…”

In other words:
If sinful humanity remains unified in self-exaltation,
There will be no internal limit
To what they attempt.
Technology will serve pride.
Culture will serve pride.
Power will serve pride.
History gives us painful examples
Of what happens when pride consolidates power.
Think about Nazi Germany.
It did not begin with chaos.
It began with unity.
National pride.
Economic frustration.
A shared vision of restored greatness.
A leader rose promising strength, security, identity.
Technology advanced.
Infrastructure developed.
Crowds unified.
But when pride centralized power,
Dissent was silenced,
Propaganda shaped reality,
Minorities were dehumanized,
Violence became policy.
Six million Jews were murdered.
Millions more suffered.
It was not merely one evil man.
It was organized pride.
Systematized sin.
Centralized power serving self-exaltation.
And humanity enslaved itself in the very system it built.
That is what Genesis 11 is warning about.
When sinful hearts unite around self-glory,
Unchecked by God,
Destruction multiplies.
God is not afraid of human potential.
He is restraining human corruption.
Because without restraint,
Sin does not plateau.
It escalates.
It innovates.
It advances.
Unified righteousness is beautiful.
Unified rebellion is catastrophic.
Now some of you may be thinking:
If God intervened at Babel,
Why didn’t He intervene like that in Germany?
Why didn’t He confuse language?
Why didn’t He scatter power?
Why didn’t He stop it sooner?
That is an honest question.
And Scripture gives us three important truths.
First —
God did intervene.
Not always in the way we expect.
Not always as early as we would prefer.
But evil never runs unchecked forever.
The Third Reich lasted twelve years.
It collapsed.
Hitler fell.
The regime ended.
Empires built on pride always fall.
Psalm 2 reminds us

“The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them.”

No tower stands forever.
Second —
God restrains evil in different ways at different times.
At Babel,
He restrained evil by confusing language.
In other moments in history,
He restrains evil through other means:
Through conscience.
Through governments.
Through resistance movements.
Through the courage of ordinary believers.
Through eventual judgment.
Think about it
There were Christians who hid Jews.
There were soldiers who fought tyranny.
There were pastors like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who resisted.
Restraint does not always look like supernatural confusion.
Sometimes it looks like providence working through people.
Third —
God has appointed a final intervention.
Babel was not the last word.
Germany was not the last word.
History is not spiraling endlessly.
There is a day coming
When every regime,
Every tower,
Every centralized pride,
Will answer to Christ.
Revelation 18 describes the fall of Babylon
The symbol of every arrogant empire.
God’s justice may not be immediate.
But it is certain.
And here is the sobering truth:
If God intervened instantly and decisively every time pride rose,
None of us would survive.
Because pride is not just in governments.
It is in us.
The same root that built Babel,
The same root that empowered tyrants,
Lives in the human heart.
Which is why the greatest intervention of God
Was not confusion at Babel.
It was the cross at Calvary.
At Babel,
God restrained evil externally.
At the cross,
God dealt with evil internally.
He did not merely scatter sinners.
He bore their sin.
So the question is not,
“Why didn’t God stop it sooner?”
The deeper question is,
“Why does God still show mercy to proud people like us?”
And the answer is grace.
So when God says,
“Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them,”
He is not expressing insecurity.
He is expressing sober evaluation.
If pride is allowed to centralize unchecked,
It will spread faster,
Reach farther,
And wound deeper.
So He intervenes.
Not because He is threatened.
But because He is merciful.
Because sometimes the most loving thing God can do
Is prevent humanity from perfecting its rebellion.
So God says:

“Come, let us go down…”

Not to destroy.
But to restrain.
Not to react.
But to preserve.
God interrupts pride
To protect His purpose.
And here is the uncomfortable truth:
Sometimes God’s mercy feels like disruption.
Sometimes His love looks like interruption.
Sometimes His grace shows up as scattering.
They feared being scattered.
God scattered them anyway.
Why?
Because He will fulfill His purposes even when we resist them.
Genesis 1:28 — fill the earth.
They resisted.
God ensured it.
Genesis 11 ends in confusion.
Genesis 12 begins in covenant.
Humanity said,
“Let us make a name.”
God said to Abram,
“I will make your name great.”
There is a better way to receive a name.
You don’t grasp it.
You receive it.
You don’t construct it.
You inherit it.
You don’t climb for it.
You bow for it.
And that is the difference between a tower and an altar.
A tower says,
“Look what I built.”
An altar says,
“Look what God has done.”

Conclusion — Lay Down the Bricks

So now the question comes back to you.
What are you building?
What is rising in your life?
What occupies your thoughts?
What consumes your energy?
What defines your identity?
Because everyone is building something.
You are building with your time.
You are building with your money.
You are building with your ambition.
You are building with your relationships.
You are building with your obedience — or your disobedience.
The question is not whether you are building.
The question is who it is for.
Are you building to worship?
Or building to secure?
Or building to prove?
Is there a tower quietly forming in your heart?
A need to be recognized.
A need to be right.
A need to be in control.
A need to be admired.
A need to feel indispensable.
Pride rarely announces itself loudly.
It grows subtly.
It stacks slowly.
It hardens gradually.
Brick by brick.
Decision by decision.
Justification by justification.
Until one day the structure is so tall
You cannot imagine life without it.
And here is the loving warning of Genesis 11:
If you will not bow,
God may interrupt.
Because He loves you too much
To let you succeed at building a life without Him.
Sometimes confusion is mercy.
Sometimes delay is grace.
Sometimes the door closing is protection.
Sometimes the scattering is salvation.
What if the frustration you feel right now
Isn’t God opposing you
But God protecting you?
What if the collapse you resented
Was actually His kindness?
What if He refused to let you build something
That would have quietly replaced Him?
At Babel, humanity tried to ascend.
At the cross, Jesus descended.
He did not grasp for glory.
He did not build a platform.
He did not secure His own name.
He humbled Himself.
He obeyed.
He laid His life down willingly.
He was cast outside the city
So the scattered could be brought home.
And because He descended,
God exalted Him.
The only name that lasts is not the one you build.
It is the one you bow to.
And here is the invitation.
Lay down the bricks.
Stop climbing.
Stop grasping.
Stop securing.
Stop proving.
Build an altar instead.
An altar is not impressive.
It is surrendered.
It is dependent.
It is obedient.
It trusts the God who comes down.
If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus,
Today is the day.
Not when your tower collapses.
Not when your plans succeed.
Not when you feel more worthy.
Today.
You don’t clean yourself up.
You don’t construct your own righteousness.
You dont build your way into heaven.
You receive grace.
You trust the One who came down.
Jesus descended into our pride,
Bore our sin,
Died in our place,
And rose again.
Salvation is not climbing to God.
It is trusting the God who came down to you.
So if you are tired of building,
Tired of striving,
Tired of proving,
Tired of securing
You can surrender today.
Confess your pride.
Confess your sin.
Trust in Christ alone.
Call on His name.
The only name that saves.
The only name that lasts.
The only name that will never fall.
And for those of you who already belong to Him
Ask the Spirit to expose any tower still standing.
Because Babel is not just ancient history.
It is the human heart.
And all of us have bricks to lay down.

The Response (worship team)

Here is what we’re going to do.
In just a moment,
I’m going to pray.
And when I finish praying,
The front of this room becomes an altar.
Not a stage.
Not a performance.
An altar.
At Babel,
They gathered to build a tower.
Today, we gather to build an altar.
If you are surrendering your life to Jesus for the first time — come.
Not because coming to the front will save you.
But because Jesus offers you grace.
When you come,
You will receive one of these small bricks.
Hold it in your hand.
And pray something simple:
“Jesus, I lay down my name. I receive Yours.”
But hear me clearly.
This invitation is not just for a few.
Babel is not about extreme pride.
It is about subtle pride.
Everyday self-reliance.
Quiet towers rising in ordinary hearts.
So in a very real sense
All of us need to come.
Maybe you are not surrendering your life for the first time.
But you need to lay down
Whatever level of pride the Spirit has exposed.
Control.
Recognition.
Fear.
Self-sufficiency.
The need to be right.
The need to be seen.
If the Lord has put His finger on something in you today — come.
If you need to kneel, kneel.
If you need to stay longer, stay.
If you need to whisper a prayer of repentance as you pick up a brick, do that.
If you need to simply stand quietly and say,
“Lord, tear down my tower,”
do that.
This is not emotional pressure.
This is spiritual response.
And when you take that brick home
Put it somewhere visible.
On your desk.
On your nightstand.
On your kitchen counter.
And every time you see it, remember:
Salvation is not climbing to God.
It is trusting the God who came down.
And pride is not defeated in one dramatic moment.
It is surrendered daily.
So this week when you see that brick, pray:

“Lord, keep me from building my own name.”
“Lord, make my life an altar.”
“Lord, let everything I build point to You.”

I’m going to pray.
And when I say amen
If the Spirit is leading you, come.
Lay down the pride.
Build an altar.
Trust the God who came down.
Let’s pray.

Genesis Origins: Week 6 “When the Flood Is Over, but the Problem Isn’t”

Genesis 9:18-29

¹⁸Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

¹⁹These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated.

²⁰Noah, as a man of the soil, began by plantinga vineyard.

²¹He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

²²Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.

²³Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.

²⁴When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

²⁵he said: Canaan is cursed. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.

²⁶He also said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; Let Canaan beShem’s slave.
²⁷Let God extend Japheth; let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem; let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

²⁸Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

²⁹So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.

Today I want to talk to you about when the flood is over, but the problem isn’t

Intro:

There is a moment after every reset
When we assume things will finally be different.
A crisis ends.
God delivers.
The pressure lifts.
And we think, “Surely now we’ve turned a corner.”
That’s exactly where Genesis 9 places us.
The flood is over.
The ark is empty.
The covenant has been spoken.
The bow is in the sky.
Humanity has been rescued from judgment…
…but not from itself.
Moses is speaking again to Israel
On the far side of the Red Sea.
Before they enter the Promised Land,
He wants them to understand something important.
The ark Noah built was a picture of salvation.
And when God saves us,
He removes the guilt of our sin
And breaks its ruling power over our lives.
But until we are fully with Jesus,
Sin is still something we wrestle with.
So the real question isn’t,
“Will sin ever show up again?”
The real question is,
“How do we respond when it does?”
And Genesis 9 answers that question.
Because the very next thing we see after salvation…
is failure.
Noah walks off the ark rescued, blessed, given a fresh start.
And almost immediately, sin resurfaces.
If Noah can fall after the Flood
What hope do we have?
So let’s walk slowly through what happens next
Because Moses is not just telling us what Noah did.
He’s forming a people who know how to live after grace

Teaching:
Genesis 9:20–21 says:
²⁰Noah, as a man of the soil, began by plantinga vineyard.

²¹He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

Noah is the righteous man.
The obedient man.
The one who trusted God when the world mocked him.
And yet Moses shows us Noah vulnerable
Uncovered
Unable to protect himself.
Israel needs to hear this.
They have been redeemed from Egypt.
They have passed through the waters.
They are heading toward a land of provision.
And Moses wants them to understand:
Deliverance does not eliminate the presence of sin.
Here’s the reality
Noah didn’t fall in chaos.
He fell in comfort.
He planted a vineyard.
He enjoyed the fruit.
It was a garden scene.
Adam fell in a garden.
Now Noah fell in a garden.
Different man.
Different moment.
Same problem.
The flood washed the earth
But it didn’t wash the human heart.
You can change your environment.
You can get a fresh start.
You can even experience rescue.
But the real battle is still your heart
Jesus said it this way in

Mark 7:21

For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts…

That’s what Moses wants Israel to see.
The problem wasn’t Egypt.
The problem wasn’t the flood.
The problem wasn’t the nations.
The problem is the human heart.
Which means the real miracle we need isn’t just a new world
It’s a new heart.
And hundreds of years later,
God would promise exactly that.
Through the prophet Ezekiel, He says in:

Ezekiel 36:26

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

You can survive a flood
And still have a hard heart.
You can leave Egypt
And still carry Egypt inside you.
You can start over
And still struggle with the same sin.
What we need isn’t just better circumstances.
We need God to do heart surgery.
The flood changed the world
Only Jesus changes the heart
Let’s keep going

Genesis 9:22 says:
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.”

Why does Moses point this out to us in the story?
Because sin does not only show up in personal failure.
It also shows up in how we respond to someone else’s failure.

Genesis 9:23 continues:
Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.”

They Acknowledge the problem
But refused to exploit it.

1Peter 4:8 tells us

Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.

That’s what Peter is talking about.
Love doesn’t pretend sin isn’t real.
Love doesn’t deny it.
But love refuses to use someone’s failure as leverage.
Now before we go any further,
We need to pause and say something clearly.
Because for some of you, “covering sin” sounds dangerous
It brings up memories of silence.
Of leadership protecting itself.
Of harm being minimized.
Of victims being told to “move on” for the sake of unity.
And let’s be honest
Our culture is filled with stories
Of churches and leaders who have done exactly that.
So hear me clearly:
That is not biblical covering.
That is sinful concealment.
Biblical covering protects the vulnerable.
It never shields abuse.
It never silences victims.
It never avoids justice.

Proverbs 31:8 says:

“Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed.”

Psalm 34:18 reminds us:

“The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.”

Jesus does not excuse abuse.
He protects the vulnerable.
Matthew 18 says it would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck than harm one of His little ones.
That is protective love.
If you were hurt because leaders protected themselves instead of protecting you:
Scripture stands with you.
God sees.
God knows.
He is near.
Now with that clarity in place,
Let’s go back to the text.

Genesis 9:24-27

²⁴When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

²⁵he said: Canaan is cursed. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.

²⁶He also said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; Let Canaan beShem’s slave.
²⁷Let God extend Japheth; let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem; let Canaan be Shem’s slave.

When Noah speaks blessing and curse,
This is not racial.
This is covenantal and prophetic.
The line of Shem will carry promise.
From Shem will come Abraham.
From Abraham will come Christ.
Genesis 10 widens the lens.

“These are the family records…”

The nations spread.
What looks like fragmentation is still under God’s sovereignty.

Acts 17:26 says:

“From one man he has made every nationality…”

Even in scattering, God is writing redemption.

And Revelation 7 shows us the end:

“A vast multitude from every nation…”

The scattering will one day become gathering.
Noah needed covering.
Shem and Japheth brought a garment.
But they could cover his shame.
They could not cure his heart.
Adam failed in a garden.
And Noah failed in a garden.
So the Bible introduces us to another Man in a garden.
In Gethsemane,
Jesus kneels.
And Prays

“Not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42

And this time, the garden does not end in failure.
It ends in obedience.
And that obedience leads to a cross.
At the cross, Jesus is stripped.
Exposed.
Publicly shamed.
Why?
So you and I could stand covered before God.
He bore our shame so we could stand unashamed
Shem and Japheth walked backward so they wouldn’t see shame.
Jesus walked forward into it.
Biblical covering is not about fabric.
It’s about atonement.
He doesn’t ignore sin
He pays for it.
Through His death and resurrection,
He forgive us.
He gives us a new heart.
Not just better behavior.
A better Savior.

Conclusion:

Now, how do we respond to this?
Because this isn’t just Noah’s story.
It’s ours.
Some of you walked in here carrying pain that never got handled rightly.
You were told to stay quiet.
You were told to “just forgive and move on.”
But what you needed was protection.
What you needed was someone to stand up for you.
Hear me clearly:
Jesus is not asking you to call concealment grace.
He is not asking you to pretend silence was love.
He sees what happened.
He knows what was done.
And He stands with the vulnerable.
And some of you walked in carrying shame.
You failed.
You sinned.
You fell.
And instead of being restored gently,
You were labeled permanently.
Your worst moment became your identity.
But that is not how Jesus treats the repentant.
At the cross,
He was exposed
So you could be covered.
He bore shame
So you could walk in freedom.
He doesn’t just forgive your past.
He begins to change your future.
The flood changed the world.
Only Jesus changes the heart.
And here’s the invitation today:
If you need healing from shame…
If you need healing from silence…
If you need a new heart…
I want to invite you to come forward.
Not because we have answers.
But because Jesus does.
And I want to encourage something bold and simple.
Turn to the person next to you and ask:
“Do you need prayer?”
You don’t need details.
You don’t need to fix anything.
Just say, “If you go, I’ll go with you.”
Because that’s what redeemed people do.
We don’t exploit weakness.
We move toward one another.
Noah needed someone to cover him.
We needed Someone to change us.
And in Jesus, we have both.
The altar is open.