Halfway: All the Way

Halfway – Sermon Notes Pastor Brad Myers

All The Way! September 15, 2024

God called Abram to leave the world that he knew and loved, and go to a new, unknown place that God would show him.  

God promised Abram

1. Land, People, and a King and new Kingdom
2. Abram was very affluent and that could have made it much harder to leave.

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From Haran to Canaan

• Haran (south Turkey) to Canaan (Israel) is about 400 miles.
• Very difficult: Caravan of people, possessions, and livestock.
• Abram needed faith to begin this new journey.

It is God’s responsibility to guide us. It is our responsibility to go!

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God continues to build a relationship with Abram:

• Dependence & Trust!

Genesis 12:4-6 (NLT)

• Arrived Canaan: Promise Land! No Welcome, no Fanfare, no Parades.
• They made it All The Way but it was not the end!
• Shechem: Halfway into Canaan! Actual Middle of the Promised Land!
• The Midpoint!

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What happened in the Middle of the Promised Land?

Genesis 12:7 (NLT)

• The celebration was an altar to God not fanfare for Abram
• Glory always goes to God not to man!

“Then the Lord appeared to Abram”

• First biblical record of an actual physical appearance of God to man. 
• God talked to Adam & Noah. But it doesn’t say that they could see God. They felt His presence and heard His voice.
• Preincarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus

That is why Jesus is called the WORD of God (God speaks) and why Jesus is EMMANUEL (God with us). God is only approachable only through the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son.

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So why did the LORD appear to Abram?

1. To reaffirm the promise that this land the land that God had promised him.
2. It would be the place where God would raise up a nation out of his descendants,
3. Where He would bring forth the promised King.

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Abram leaves Shechem: He’s exploring his land!

Genesis 12:8-9 (NLT)

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All The Way: Fear shows up again

Genesis 12:10 (NLT) Abram and Sarai to Egypt

• Abram reasoned that it would be best to leave where God had led him, and head south to Egypt where there was food.

We either trust our own perception or His divine orchestration; but we can’t trust both!

• Dependence and Trust tested again!

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How far do we go?

Luke 18:1 (NLT) Parable of the Persistent Widow