Called Out

What does faith actually look like? Looking at the call of Abraham alongside Matthew's encounter with Jesus, this message reminds us that faith is not having all the answers—it is trusting the God who calls us and taking the next step of obedience.

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Couple of different places. So the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, chapter nine. You can go ahead and put a bookmark there. If you want to go ahead and put a bookmark in Romans, chapter four, you can.

And you can also look at Matthew, Genesis, chapter 12. So we're going to look at a couple of different places, but the Gospel of Matthew is where we're going to start. I wanted to take a moment as we were singing our praises. While ago this past week, we were notified that Deborah got some good news. Yes, she has cancer.

Yes, she has some fractures in her bones. Yes, she has anemia. But it had not spread to any other organ. And so is that all? Okay.

So it had not spread to any other organ. So we can celebrate that church. Yes, it was just two weeks ago. I saw a picture while I was at Chrysalis. Y' all gathered in that back area back there.

And you prayed over her. And we prayed for healing, and we prayed for a good report. And God heard and he answered, he is the same God, and he is worthy to be praised. He answered our prayers. And so we are celebrating with our sister and with Bob that God is moving even when we can't see it.

God is answering. Did you make it to the Gospel of Matthew? Stand to your feet and we will read. Picking up in verse 9. As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth.

And he said to him, follow me. And he got up and he followed him. And as he sat at a dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? But when he heard this, he said, those who are well have no need of a physician.

But those who are sick, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have come to call the righteous. For I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners. And while he was still saying these things to him, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, my daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live. And Jesus got up and he followed him with his disciples.

And then suddenly, a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak. For she said to herself, if I only touch his cloak, I will be made well. And Jesus turned, and seeing her, he said, take heart, daughter. Your faith has made you well. And instantly the woman was made well.

And when Jesus came to the leader's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, go away, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and he took her by the hand. And the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

God, thank you for the reading of your word. Thank you for your presence in your house. You know what is needed amongst your people. Jesus, will you move? You were invited today.

Have your way. We pray. Amen. And you can be seated as we think about the Gospel reading. But we heard the reading from Romans.

Paul used the example of a man named Abraham. So I want you to turn to Genesis. Turn to Genesis. Oh, I would love to preach today the woman that touched his garment. But the Holy Spirit directed me to Genesis.

So Genesis, chapter 12. I'm going to read some verses here. Verses 1 through 9. Genesis 12. Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.

I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. And the one who curses you, I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

So Abram went as the Lord had told him. And Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, and his brother's son, Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran. And they set forth to go to the land of Canaan.

And when they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Merah. At that time, the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said to your offspring, I will give this land. So he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. From there, he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and AI on the east.

And there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb. As I look at this text in Genesis we hear about the call of Abram, the call to go. The Lord shows up and gives him a command. The precept Comes before the promise.

The precept comes before the promise. The command is to go. Now, when we read that and it says go, you don't get the umph behind it. This is actually a command that this is God telling Abram, it is time to get out. It is time to gettest thou ist outest.

It is time to go. Go. He commands him. I don't want you to look back. I want you to leave.

Why would he have told him that? Well, he was living in a place. There was idolatry, there was worship, there were things that could distract him. And God shows up and says, I want you to go. And.

And he does that to us today. He shows up in the midst of our situation and gives us commands and gives us a direction to follow the command first. And then he gives his promises. And I want us to look at three specific areas for God's call. Three specific areas.

God's call is a call first to himself. God's call is a call secondly, to holiness. And God's call thirdly is a call to hope, a call to himself, a call to holiness and a call to hope. A call to himself when he tells Abram, I want you to go. In order for Abram to get the directions to where he was going, he had to keep his eye on the one who was calling the commands.

So in order for you to get to your promises, you have to go through him first. Some of us are looking for the promises of God, but we haven't met and encountered God himself. In order to get to the promises, you have to go to him. God's call is a call to himself, and God's call is a call to holiness. What does it mean to live in holiness?

It means set apart. Right? Set apart. I want you to be set apart. A chosen generation, a peculiar people.

Set apart holiness. He moves Abram from what is familiar. His home, his family, his culture. Moves him set apart to something else. Oftentimes in our own individual lives, it is easier to reach for what is familiar and than what is holy.

How often do we find we get into relationships? Oh, I still. I fell for him again. Oh, I went to him again. Why?

Because he was familiar. Has he changed? No, no. God is saying, I want more for you. But if you're going to go for the more, you're going to have to reach out in faith for what is holy instead of what is convenient or comfortable.

It would have been easy for Abram to stay put in his family situation where he was comfortable, where things were convenient. But God says, no, no, no. Even though that is what's familiar to you, I have something more for you. And it's for your good that you call and you reach out for what is holy. Yes, when God calls us to something, it.

It is, it does test our faith will we believe, but it's always for our good. It's always for our good. He knows what he's doing. And also God called to himself to holiness and to hope. We're going to have to put our trust in the Promise Keeper to put our hope in him.

This call for Abram is the call for us at harvest point today. He's calling us to himself. He's calling us to holiness. He is calling us to put our hope and our trust in Him. Now we learn a little bit about Abraham.

Get this from Stephen. When you look in the Book of Acts, Stephen is given his testimony before he is martyred. And he tells us that Abraham got the call when. While he was in Mesopotamia, in his home in Ur, that that's where God called him. And he left the land of the Chaldeans, it says, and settled in Haran.

So the first call of Abram was actually while he was there at home. And then God calls him and Stephen says the God of Glory appeared. The God of glory, those are his words appeared. So Abram didn't have to wonder, is this God talking to me or not? When the God of Glory appears, he leaves no room for questions or doubts.

Has the God of glory appeared to you? The word there is Doxa. A few weeks ago, when we were looking at the high priestly prayer and over and over again, Jesus is giving glory to the other. Giving glory. And Jesus prays for us.

And he says that they would be where I am and see my Dogsa to encounter his glory. Same word. So there God gives the call to Abram. And Abram goes, and Abram follows. And then you see in Genesis 12, he has settled in this place called Haran.

He settled in this place. This isn't the promised land, but this is where he finds himself. And he's been here about five years. His father dies and here God shows up again with another call. Aren't you glad that God calls a second time?

He calls him. And then now as he is settled in Haran, God calls him again in his kindness to us. He keeps speaking to us. He says, I know you've been here five years and I know you feel settled, but there's more for you. This isn't the promise yet.

There's a place that I'm moving you to. I felt the Holy Spirit remind me that some of us obeyed God when he initially called. But we find it more difficult to obey him now because we feel more settled. If God is calling you now, be obedient, even if you feel settled, Even if you're 75 years old, like Abram. Abram is known as this hero, this giant of the faith, and he was but brother and sisters.

He was a man. He was a man that was learning to depend on the God of glory, just like us. I want us to look at the pronouns here. You'll see it over and over again in this text. I will show you.

I will make you. I will bless you. I will bless those who bless you. I will curse those who curse you. What do you see over and over again?

I will. God will. It is God's initiative. It is God's power. Friends, do you believe that God is showing and making and.

And blessing and cursing? It should be a time of rejoicing for us. It should be a sign of just a sigh.

This isn't. Emily is doing and showing and making. No, no, no. He says, I will do it. The one who called you will do it.

He does the blessing. He does the making. He does the. The showing. It's not your strength.

It's his. It's his. And he says to a place, I will show you. You can't see it yet, Abram, but I will show you. I was in a congregation one time, and I don't remember what the fellow was preaching on, but he called me up to the front and he blindfolded me in the middle of the service.

And then he began to give me directions going all over the congregation with a blindfold on my face. And can I tell you that it is a little uncomfortable when everybody else can see and you can't. And I could call up Pastor Marshall today and blindfold him, and we won't. But I can tell you it's uncomfortable. Why?

Because everybody sees you and you really don't want to trip and you really don't want to mess up the illustration. And so you're doing the best you can.

God says, abram, you can't see where I'm taking you, but I will show you. Have you been there in your life? There was a time where me and Ryan knew that God spoke to us both individually and says, I am moving you. Time to sell your house. And we did not know where we were going.

Can I tell you? He took care of us. We sold the house. He Knew what he was doing, and we are not homeless. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. He knows what he is doing. He says, I will show you, but you can't see it yet. Oh, it's not comfortable. It's not convenient.

And this is not familiar, but will you put your hope in me? Will you put your hope in me? Hmm. I thought to myself this past week, what if Abram had a vision board? What if Abram was one of those who wanted to be visual?

And he had his vision board for the next year. Has anybody ever made the vision board? Me neither. And so he's got a vision board, and in the middle of the vision board, he has go. Go.

Okay, that's exciting. And then I thought, what else has he got on his vision board? And I thought, it's empty. It's just go. It's just go.

And then I thought, well, maybe it's a desert with a path. It says go. And then I thought, he probably doesn't even have a path. When God's giving you directions, he takes you off road. Okay, so maybe it's just desert with go.

And then the Holy Spirit reminded me, and he said, emily, is that all that's on the board? The God of glory appeared. So on his vision board, oh, it says go, but there's the God of glory, and then there's his strength. And then there's peace, and then there's faith, and then there's his promises. And before long, Abram's vision board was full.

Could he see it? No, but God could. And he says, I'm taking you somewhere. And Abram said, yes, sir. Not knowing where, but knowing who.

And in your life right now, God can call you to something, and you have no idea what he is doing. But it's enough when you know who is calling you. When you know who is calling you, it's enough. And so continual dependence on him as he's looking with his eyes upward. Where do you want me to go next, Jesus?

Where do you want me to go next, Jesus? It's like the Israelites keeping their eyes on the cloud. He's taking us somewhere. If I had time, I'd like to settle here, but I don't have much time. But I got to just bring it up.

Genesis, chapter 11. What happens is the Tower of Babel. Genesis, chapter 12. You have the call of Abram. Genesis, chapter 11.

It's man's plans, man's desire. We want to stay here. We want to build this tower. We're going to make a name for ourselves. And then you have Genesis 12 where it's God's plan.

And God says, no, I want you to leave it. I want you to leave out of here. I want you to leave your family. I will make your name great. God's plans look very different from man's plans.

You can't live in Genesis 11. We got to look at our example of Genesis 12. And there's a warning, friends. When we try and we make a name for ourself, and we're trying to build and make ourself famous, that's dangerous. It affects not only us, but it has consequences for those around us.

And when we start living like Abram, and we said, okay, God, I trust you. I trust you. And what you have planned for my life, there's a blessing for all of us. What is a part of that promise? He gives them promise after promise, with the greatest promise being that all will be blessed in him.

He gives us these promises. It's funny. He says, I want. I'm going to give you a land. I'm going to give you a land, but I want you to leave yours and I'm going to make you a nation.

But I'm going to do that with someone who's childless. And I'm going to make you famous by leaving your very identity. Isn't it funny how God works? It wasn't just us that he asked to do crazy things. Abram too.

He gives them these promises. And the last one being that all will be blessed in him.

What does he mean by that? What does he mean that all that's us will be blessed in Abram? Well, it pointed to Jesus himself, the Messiah. He came through the lineage of Abram. Oh, all will be blessed.

Why? Because King Jesus came through the line, Abram. So in him we are all blessed. Paul says in Galatians, chapter three. He says, scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles us by faith and announce the gospel in advance.

To who? Abraham? All nations will be blessed through you. So those who rely on faith us are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. There you are.

In the scripture, you are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Because we also are men and women of faith. That's us. We're in there. So at the age of 75, Abram leaves Haran when God showed up and called him the second time.

At a time when he thought he was retiring, at a time when he thought he was getting settled, at a time where he thought, I'm just going to play golf all day. God shows up and says, no, no, no, I'm not done. I need you to follow me. And I love that it says that he goes and he gets to Canaan land. Did anybody else notice that there were no fireworks when he arrived?

I mean, I wanted God to, like, give a welcome party and then have a moment. But no, it just says that he gets to Canaan and he passed through. And I thought, well, did y' all leave something out? Like, what do you. Like, what do you mean, he just passed through?

In fact, it tells us that there were Canaanites in the land. So he gets to the promised land, and people are already there. You think, huh? So it says he passed through and he went to Shechem to an oak tree. I thought, well, okay.

So he gets to an oak tree, and I wish I could settle there. But you'll remember that place of Shechem. Remember all that happened there. Remember Jacob. Remember Jacob built an altar there?

Remember sexual sin happened there. Remember Joseph's bones were buried there. Remember that in the New Testament, that's where Jesus met the woman at the well there. That place is where Abram comes. And there again, God speaks a third time.

And he says before, he said, there's a land. I'm going to show you now. He says, there's a land that I'm going to give. But it doesn't say you. He says to your offspring.

What? To your offspring? Now, can I be y'? All? It would be difficult for me.

I'm following Jesus. I get to the land, and I'm looking at the land, and God says, this is the land that I'm going to give your offspring. And at this point, did he have offspring? No. I'm going to give this to your offspring.

And it would have been real easy for me to say, really, God? Like, I've been following you. And I get here, and this is. This. It's already occupied.

Like, did I take a wrong turn? Did anybody? Like, I would have been thinking, maybe I took a wrong. Maybe this is not it. There was one time me and Ryan went on a beach trip, and we had stayed at this condo before, and we really liked it.

And it was a high rise, and it had the right. On the beach, you open up the. It's just beautiful. And we get there for that trip. We go in to get our card, and they tell us, now, I want you to drive across the highway, and you'll go around the corner, and then you get to your room, and I'm like, excuse me.

So we go across the highway. I can't even see the ocean from where they put us on this time. And I walk in, and it's a little duplex. Like, I'm in a retirement village. And I thought, this is not what I came for.

And we went in, and I look around, and the bed looked like somebody had just been sitting on it. And I thought, I can't do this. And y' all pray for Ryan. Ryan is so patient, and I am not. And I'm like, this is not what I expected.

And I just. This is not what I wanted. And so we go back to the desk, and Ryan goes in, and he probably said, listen, I am married to a crazy woman who really wants to be at the beach. And she's very high maintenance, and she would like to see the ocean. And whatever.

Whatever happened, he worked some magic. I don't know. And we got the room. My point is, in this situation, Abram gets to the land, and it is not what he expected. And he does not throw a fit.

And there are Canaanites living in his room, if you will. And he doesn't get upset. In fact, what he does, if you look, he builds an altar. What? He builds an altar.

What is the altar for? It's a place to meet with God. It's a place to offer sacrifice for sin. It's a place of gratitude. It's a place of gratitude.

So Abram's response was, I am going to build an altar, and I'm going to praise God for what he is doing, even though I can't see it. I believe you at your word, God. And I believe you when you say you will do this for my children. My children that I don't even see yet. And so, even though I may not be here when it happens, I'm going to praise you as if it's already done.

I'm going to praise you as if it's already done. And I'm going to give my praise now in case I can't do it later. He builds his altar of gratitude ahead of time. And he says, thank you. And then he goes on to Bethel, another place.

And there again, he builds an altar. He kept going and pitching a tent, very temporary. Offering his praises, offered another altar. And at the end of that text, in Genesis, the very end, I love how it's worded here. It says, he journeyed on by stages.

He journeyed on by stages. When you're raising children, you know, they have those certain milestones you're looking at. There's growth that happens in stages. And it's the same for us as we're journeying with Jesus. There are times when there's a little.

There's breaks. You're going from this to this to this and learning as you go from strength to strength, journeying on by stages. Following God is not a one time event. Following God is not just that first encounter and you pray and God forgives you of your sins. Following Jesus is going where he tells you to go.

In fact, that is what discipleship is. Discipleship is what is my next step of obedience. What is my next step of obedience? And if I quit taking steps, I stop following him. Have you stopped taking the next step?

Discipleship is what is my next step? Jesus. And my step is. And your step may look different. Pastor Marshall shared that several, several years ago now, God called him to do something that he could not see.

He could not see this, but God saw this. And what started with a call on him in his first step of obedience. And he is still following the steps. That is discipleship. That's what you and I are called to.

And so then when you look at Romans and, and Paul is writing that letter and he says, Abraham believed the one who gives life to dead things. Whoo. He said even though he was almost 100 years old and his body was as good as dead, he knew that Jesus, God gives life to dead things. When he considered his wife, her wound, barrenness, oh, he didn't waver, it said, but he believed he did not weaken in his faith when he considered his body. No distrust made him waver.

I looked at that word, waver, diachrono, meaning to doubt. I think about sea legs and I'm just staggered. There was no doubt. He was standing on the promises of God believing. It's the same word that Jesus uses in Matthew when he says, if you have faith and you do not diaconate, you do not doubt.

You can say to that mountain, go throw yourself into the sea and it will be done. It will be done. No wavering. In unbelief, Father Abraham put his trust in Jesus. And I believe that God is calling us to stop doubting and stop hesitating and start trusting and start hoping and start moving and start building altars of gratitude.

Even though you can't see it, you don't need to. You don't need to. If God said it, it is done. He is a man of his word.

Romans says he was fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Fully convinced. Are you fully convinced that God is able to do what he has promised to do. Do. And if you're not, what would convince you?

What would convince you? I am almost done. It says that faith was credited to him as righteousness and to us, too. Was Abraham parting waters? No.

Was Abraham healing lepers? No. What was Abraham doing? Abraham was obeying the next step. That's what God is calling us to do.

Matthew Henry says, we never hear our Lord Jesus commending anything so much as great faith. Therefore, God gives honor to faith. Great faith. Because faith, great faith, gives honor to God. It's the pointing to the other that we saw in Jesus interceding God.

Jesus is pointing to God the Father. Jesus is pointing to God the Holy Spirit. And then he invites us in and. And we get to points. So, yes, when we say pastor Marshall stepped out in faith, why, that points and gives honor to God, not to Marshall.

It's the God who is able.

And what does that look like? That looks like Matthew, chapter 9. When God calls Matthew and he follows, just like Abraham, he leaves his tax booth, he leaves his identity, he leaves his family. And. And he says, I'll follow Jesus.

What does faith look like? Faith looks like the man who comes to Jesus and says, my daughter has died, but if you would only come, she will live. And his faith moved Jesus. And Jesus went and he touched and she got up. What does faith look like?

Faith looks like a woman who has been suffering for 12 years. Years, who says, if I can only touch the hem of his garment, I will be made whole. And even though I don't have strength to stand up, I have enough strength to crawl and touch the hem of his garment. Do you hear me preaching today? Some of us may be crawling, but do you have faith to reach out and touch the hem of his garment?

Because he is the same God that we just sang about. He is the same God. What does faith look like? Faith looks like being fully convinced that he is able. And what is our response, brothers and sisters?

Our response is to build an altar of gratitude. Build an altar of gratitude. Jesus, we can't see what you are doing, but we trust you. Jesus. We don't know the next step, but you do.

And so we're going to turn our eyes and our attention to following whatever it is you have for us, whether we're 75, whether we're 5, whether we're 105, we're going to follow you and your plan. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Total Duration 00:32:11