1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:03,040 Welcome to the Illuminate Church podcast. 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:05,640 We hope today's message is encouraging to you. 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,920 Stepping out is the opposite of being stuck. 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:19,920 Stepping out is the opposite of being in a rut. 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:25,640 Stepping out is the opposite of living in the land of fear. 6 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,880 Stepping out is the opposite of a dead end. 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,520 Stepping out, as it turns, is movement forward in your life 8 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:38,240 based on your faith and the promises that are backed by God 9 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,360 alone. And that's enough. 10 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,720 So maybe you're not sure if you need it right now, but I hope by 11 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:46,640 the end of the message you realize there's an error in your 12 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:48,880 life. God saying, hey, why don't you 13 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,160 step out with me? Why don't you believe on my 14 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:56,280 promises and move forward in this area of your life and for 15 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:57,960 everyone in this room, it could be something different. 16 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:00,640 Could be your finances, could be relationships, could be a new 17 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,200 career change, could be new mental state of mind, a new 18 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,320 level of faith. Maybe it's crossing over, 19 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:11,040 stepping out into the line of faith yourself and believing in 20 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,080 Jesus. But I'm praying and believing 21 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,520 God's got you here today because He wants you to step out. 22 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,720 Not tomorrow, but today. Amen. 23 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:22,880 We're in Genesis chapter 12. If you're brand new and you 24 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,800 haven't been along with us, we're in the book of Genesis in 25 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:27,720 this entire series called Faith Begins. 26 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,000 If you need a Bible, by the way, raise your hand and our ushers 27 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:31,280 will bring you a Bible. You can keep it. 28 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:34,160 I'd love for you to have the word of God in the book of 29 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,520 Genesis. We have the origination of 30 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:40,080 everything. First facts, faith I've, I've 31 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:42,280 been saying it throughout the entire series if you got 32 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,040 questions about anything. It's design, its purpose is 33 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,520 always found in Genesis, specifically Genesis one through 34 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:50,000 11. God's laying all of this 35 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,520 foundation. And now in Genesis chapter 12, 36 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,240 it's as if the Kingdom is stepping out. 37 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,560 It's no longer just going to be God with his people, but God 38 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,800 wants to impact the entirety of the of the world. 39 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,400 And so this movement is stepping out and it begins with a man 40 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,840 named Abram. Everyone say Abram in Genesis 12 41 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,040 we get what's called the Abrahamic covenant. 42 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,720 God making a promise with humanity and he makes it with 43 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:19,960 Abram. Genesis 12, verse one, the Lord 44 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,480 had said to Abram, go from your country, leave it. 45 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,720 Go from your people, leave them, go from your father's household, 46 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,560 leave him to this land. I will show you. 47 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,360 Then he makes the promise. Verses 2 and three, I will make 48 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,000 you into a great nation, and I will bless you. 49 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:39,520 I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 50 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,840 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I 51 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,240 will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through 52 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,440 you. So Abram went as the Lord had 53 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:53,920 told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he 54 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:58,600 set out on his purpose in life from Haran. 55 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:03,960 He took with his, he took his wife Sarai, his, his nephew Lot, 56 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,720 excuse me, all the possessions they had accumulated and the 57 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,400 people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the 58 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,560 land of Canaan and they arrived there. 59 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:14,800 Verse 6. Abram traveled through the land 60 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,280 as far as the side of the great tree of Mora at Shechem. 61 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:19,480 At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 62 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,400 These are foreigners to him. The Lord appeared to Abram and 63 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,040 said, To your offspring, I will give this land. 64 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,600 So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who appeared to him. 65 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:33,960 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched 66 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:37,680 his tent with Bethel on the West and AI on the east. 67 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,520 There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of 68 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,240 the Lord. Then Abram set out and continued 69 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:49,680 toward the Negev. In Genesis 12 we have the 70 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:54,280 beginning of Abram's story, the beginning of God's people 71 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,760 stepping out to fulfill the purpose on the earth. 72 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,960 I want to Fast forward all the way to 2026 and just begin to 73 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,280 look at how Abram's story is going now. 74 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,120 Are you with me to say yes, one word for you? 75 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,760 This is how Abram's story is going now in 2026. 76 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:14,560 Gird yourself as I show it to you. 77 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:21,519 It's called anti-Semitism. Now, please don't let your mind 78 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:24,760 go political here. Don't let your mind go to CNN or 79 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:29,000 Fox social media. I want to look biblically at 80 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,720 what's happening on our Earth. And there's a reason we're 81 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:34,360 looking at this. So nobody get tense. 82 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,320 Anyone tense who's going to say yes? 83 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,960 anti-Semitism in general is the hate throughout the world 84 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,120 against Abraham's descendants. And if you have eyes to see and 85 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,840 ears to hear, it is on the rise globally. 86 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,360 Let me just show you in the United States of America from 87 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,800 secular institutions that have nothing to do with faith or 88 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,600 religion whatsoever, the numbers that they have compiled and they 89 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,680 are startling. The latest numbers come from 90 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,320 2024 from the Anti Defamation League. 91 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:12,680 They note that 9354 anti-Semitic incidents have happened in the 92 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,840 United States of America. That's harassment, vandalism and 93 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:20,520 physical assault and verbal assault, a record high since 94 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:26,520 tracking began in 1979. The numbers for 2024 are 5% 95 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:32,240 higher than they were in 2023, when there was 8000 only 8873 96 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:37,320 incidences of anti-Semitism. Over the last five years it has 97 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:42,440 grown 344%. In the last 10 years it has 98 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:46,440 grown 893%. This is the Anti defamation 99 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,440 league. Just giving us the facts. 100 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,080 Then you have this other group called the FBI. 101 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,120 Anyone ever heard of them? Anyone ever had time with them? 102 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:04,240 OK they say from 2024 that anti Jewish hate crime incidents 103 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:12,480 account for 69% of all religion based hate crimes by far more 104 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:14,440 than any other group. Because the rest of the groups, 105 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:18,360 Christians and Islam and whatever other religion fit in 106 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:24,640 the rest of the 31%. And here the anti-Semitism 107 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:30,320 accounts for 69%. anti-Semitism hate for semites? 108 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:36,080 Who are the semites? Have you ever thought about it? 109 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,200 Like we say anti-Semitism Like what? 110 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:40,600 Why are people against semites? Who are the semites? 111 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:42,560 Well, let's look back to last week. 112 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:48,760 We met a man named Noah. Noah and only seven other people 113 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:54,800 were saved through the ark. They were saved from the flood, 114 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,120 from destruction. Three of those eight were the 115 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,720 sons of Noah. And in the Bible it lists them 116 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,400 like Ham, Japheth and Shem, though that's not actually 117 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,200 listen this way. Shem, Japheth and Ham. 118 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:10,680 Why does that matter? Well, Shem, you would think, 119 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,200 because he's listed first as the first born, but Shem is actually 120 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:18,120 the middle child. Can we put some respect on the 121 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,640 middle child in the world? Anybody. 122 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:28,040 I got issues. Now you know why Shem in some 123 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:33,480 languages is written SEM no H and it is from Shem that the 124 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:38,520 people called the Semites arise. The lineage of Noah to Shem, the 125 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:43,360 Shemites, the Semites. Shem has some genealogy. 126 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,640 After him you get our faxes, then you get Shayla. 127 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:47,840 Then you get to a man named Eber. 128 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,160 Everyone say Eber and maybe Eber. 129 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:56,440 Shem is the great grandfather of this man named Eber and it is 130 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,960 from Eber or Eber that we get the people called Hebrews. 131 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,400 Anyone ever heard that? You thinking about your barista? 132 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:13,680 You like Hebrews? OK, no, dad jokes there cost you 133 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:15,720 nothing because they're worth nothing. 134 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,880 Well, I have a lot more to say on Eber and the Hebrews later. 135 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,720 I just want you to remember Eber and the Hebrews for later. 136 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:25,760 And it has some more genealogy so everyone lock in. 137 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:27,280 Don't get lost here. And all these names. 138 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:29,760 Eber of course has genealogy behind it. 139 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,919 Peleg, Roo, Serig, Nahor, Tara, and then finally Abram. 140 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:40,159 Eber's great, great, great, great grandson is this man named 141 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,400 Abram. It is this man, the descendant 142 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:48,000 of Noah through Shem, through Eber, this Abram that will 143 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:53,920 become father Abraham, whose descendants will become the 144 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:59,160 nation of Israel. Abraham's grandson is a guy 145 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:03,760 named Jacob, and God changes Jacob's name from Jacob deceiver 146 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:06,280 to Israel, one who will prevail with God. 147 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:11,040 What a great name change, right? Deceiver, the one who from Jacob 148 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:13,680 to Israel are you? Are you still following? 149 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:15,720 Say yes. Keep your big brains on. 150 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,920 Now. The nation of Israel will be the 151 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,000 nation that blesses all other nations. 152 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:23,640 How? I'm glad you asked. 153 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,520 These are the people who will bring forth Messiah. 154 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,880 These are the people who will bring forth Jesus from Nazareth. 155 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,280 It is this Jesus who will claim his victory in the region of 156 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:40,840 Judea, in the city of Jerusalem. And it is the people from Judea 157 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:45,520 who are called the Jews. Do you see all the names now? 158 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,000 You putting us all together? The Semites become the Hebrews. 159 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:51,720 Who are the Israelites? Who are the Jews? 160 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,960 Are you following? It's an oversimplification, but 161 00:09:55,960 --> 00:10:01,520 anti-Semitic. 8 is Semite Hebrew Israeli Jewish hate. 162 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:08,640 We talked about this two weeks ago, but why is there so much 163 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:16,520 enduring all throughout history hate for the people of Abraham's 164 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:18,920 descendants, the Semites, the Israelites, the Hebrews, the 165 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:20,120 Jews? I didn't do this in the right 166 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:24,920 order, but you got it. Remember something very specific 167 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,880 that happens in Genesis chapter 3 and we understand why there's 168 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,560 so much hate against the Semites. 169 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,920 Genesis chapter 3, the devil comes and deceives Adam and Eve, 170 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,360 and then God confronts the devil, saying to him in Genesis 171 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,600 chapter 3, verse 15, God speaking to the snake. 172 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:48,760 I will put enmity between you snake, and the woman, between 173 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,320 your offspring and her offspring. 174 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,920 The woman's offspring will crush your head and you will strike 175 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,600 your heel, his heel, meaning the devil will wound humanity. 176 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,520 But this one, this offspring that comes from this woman who 177 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,680 is an Israelite, he will destroy the devil. 178 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:14,680 Abram's family will be the family that fulfills the promise 179 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:18,200 of Genesis chapter 3. That's what's happening in 180 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,360 Genesis chapter 12. God's commencing the plan. 181 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,080 Abram's family will be the family of the woman whose seed 182 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:28,880 will crush the head of the enemy and give freedom to sinners and 183 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:34,480 eternal life to believers. And that's what happens through 184 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,480 the work of Jesus. We are returned to creation. 185 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,880 We are returned to our original intent that we talked about in 186 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:45,760 week 1, where God's entire desire to build the earth and to 187 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,040 fill it populated with humans was to dwell with us and us with 188 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:56,760 Him in this beautiful paradise. Genesis chapter 12 is the first 189 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:03,160 call for humanity to step out. Go and do what I've called you 190 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,960 to do to advance the Kingdom in Abraham. 191 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,640 We move from God just creating humans to creating people, and 192 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,440 now He's moving us to creating God's chosen people who have a 193 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,720 specific job and will do a great work based on the calling of God 194 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:21,840 to go and do it. It's affirmed in the New 195 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,160 Testament. Galatians chapter 3 look at this 196 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,560 verse 7, understanding that those who have faith, those who 197 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:30,720 have placed their trust in Jesus are children of Abraham. 198 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:36,000 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith 199 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,440 announced in the gospel in advance to Abraham. 200 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:42,000 With the writer here, Paul is referring all the way back to 201 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,240 Genesis chapter 12. All nations will be blessed 202 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:50,080 through you verse 9. So those who rely on faith are 203 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,960 blessed along with Abraham the man of faith and then look down 204 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,560 in verse 16. The promises were spoken to 205 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:58,480 Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say and to 206 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:02,000 seeds meaning many people but and to your seed meaning one 207 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:08,920 person who is Christ. What is promised in Genesis 208 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:13,600 chapter 3 gets activated in Genesis chapter 12 and now Paul 209 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,000 in Galatians is calling back to him and said God kept the plan, 210 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,640 the arrival of Christ, the one and only seed who would bring 211 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:26,120 salvation to the world. This is more than about land and 212 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,080 descendants. In other words, this covenant. 213 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:33,200 It's about a family that has a heavenly purpose and God has 214 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:35,880 given it to them. Therefore, putting this all 215 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:40,200 together, Abraham's family, according to the devil, must be 216 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:45,720 destroyed, for this family is the root of the one that will 217 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:49,080 bring the Messiah. So this family must be 218 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:50,760 destroyed. It's the root of anti-Semitism. 219 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:54,680 It all began in Genesis. It goes on to this day. 220 00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:56,640 Are you here? Say yes, Yeah. 221 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:03,080 However, try as he may, this is good news. 222 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:07,360 The devil's plot against the people of God has not prevailed. 223 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,960 Did you hear what I said? Despite all of us trying to 224 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,560 snuff out the lineage that would bring Jesus, we know standing on 225 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:19,560 this side of Jesus that the devil's plan did not prevail. 226 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:25,080 Glory to God, Jesus arrives, brings with them his freedom. 227 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,680 The captives are set free. The devil has suffered 228 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,160 irreparable damage because of the victory of Jesus Christ, 229 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,040 which means that believers in Jesus are unshackled from sin 230 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:36,520 and await eternal glory with him. 231 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:41,360 The plan failed, Devil. Amen. 232 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,240 But how did it fail? That's the question we need to 233 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,800 answer today. How did the plot of the Enemy 234 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,120 fail? Why didn't the devil succeed? 235 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:57,960 2 things. The ability of God and the faith 236 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,080 of people. Write it down, some of you 237 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,120 taking notes. The rest of you, I'm glad you're 238 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:07,600 here. The ability of God and the faith 239 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,160 of people caused the devil's plan to fail. 240 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,840 Somebody stepped out in faith. And what happens when we step 241 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:18,720 out in faith is that we intersect with the ability of 242 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,240 God and the devil's plan fails and the God, the Lord's plan 243 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,880 goes forward. Let me say it over here. 244 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,800 When we step out in faith, we intersect with the ability of 245 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:30,600 God. And when we do that, the devil's 246 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,520 plan fails and the Lord's plan goes forward. 247 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:41,280 So maybe we should step out Genesis chapter 12. 248 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:42,520 Let's look at the covenant again. 249 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:48,880 Let's see the ability of God. Verse two and three, God says I 250 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,320 will make you into a great nation and I will bless you and 251 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,760 I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. 252 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,320 I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will 253 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,560 curse. And all the peoples on the earth 254 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:04,280 will be blessed through you. The I wills of God. 255 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,920 Did you see them? Did you note them in your 256 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,440 spirit? I put a little emphasis on them, 257 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,880 The I wills of God. Every I will is a promise of 258 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:22,920 God, which means that everything begins with God's ability. 259 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:27,400 Everything, even our stepping out, is based in faith, on God's 260 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:31,240 ability. And when we step out in faith, 261 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,840 we intersect with the power and the ability of God. 262 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,000 And the devil's plan fails over your marriage. 263 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:43,680 The devil's plans fail over your mental health, your physical 264 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:47,560 health, and the Lord's plan prevails. 265 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,160 Everything begins with the ability of God. 266 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:55,560 God is the beginning of this Abrahamic movement to redeem the 267 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:59,800 earth and all of it to happen. Inhabitants, The plans to 268 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,840 reverse the work of the enemy are here and now unfolding in 269 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:05,960 Abraham. And God is saying, I'm going to 270 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,760 make it so I will make it happen. 271 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,280 I will assure this. And praise be to God, He did it. 272 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:17,560 We live in the history, the testimony of the finished work 273 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:21,119 of Jesus Christ. God even proves to Abraham that 274 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,520 it will be him that does it in the way that they signed the 275 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:26,560 contract together over this covenant. 276 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:32,360 A covenant is a contract between people and in the days of old, 277 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:35,400 just as we do now, there was a signing of the contract, if you 278 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,720 will, a handshake between gentlemen, an agreement that 279 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:43,320 says I will do this and you will do this and together we'll go 280 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:45,080 forward. But God that in a specific way. 281 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,520 I think you've seen this before. If not, this will blow your 282 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:48,280 mind. It's so good. 283 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:52,600 Genesis chapter 15, the Abram story goes, goes on verse 7. 284 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,680 He also said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of UR 285 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:00,440 of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of 286 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,680 it. But everyone's got a question 287 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,040 for God. I don't know if God's ever given 288 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,280 you a promise like how's that going to work? 289 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:12,200 It doesn't make sense to me. Can you give me some more 290 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:13,840 information? That's what he does here verse 291 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:14,880 8. But everyone says, sovereign 292 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,720 Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of this land? 293 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:20,880 So this is what the Lord God said. 294 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:22,840 This is how this is how it's going to happen. 295 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:28,880 Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along 296 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,640 with dove and a young pigeon. Abram brought out all these to 297 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:34,520 him. Cut them into and arrange the 298 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:37,560 halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not 299 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:39,600 cut in half. Verse 11. 300 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:43,240 Then the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram 301 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,880 drove them away. We could do a whole message just 302 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,400 on verse 11. When God gives you a promise and 303 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,360 the distractions and the defeat tries to sit at your door, you 304 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:55,800 drive them away in faith. Resist the devil and he will 305 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:00,320 flee. Verse 12 As the sun was said and 306 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:02,600 Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful 307 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,040 darkness came over him. Verse 17 jumped down. 308 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,120 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking 309 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:12,040 fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the 310 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,000 pieces. On that day the Lord made a 311 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,080 covenant with Abram and said To your descendants, I will give 312 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,280 this land from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river the 313 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:28,880 Euphrates. I've taught here a few times on 314 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,600 this, so I will be brief. What we have here is an Old 315 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,240 Testament back in the day version of signing a contract 316 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,560 and they called it cutting a covenant. 317 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:43,840 Cutting a covenant, they would bring these animals and they 318 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,760 would line them up on a path on the left and the right, cutting 319 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,240 the animals in half, setting them here like this, and then 320 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,600 the birds down here like this. And then two people who were 321 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:59,480 coming into a very serious agreement saying like, I'm going 322 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,920 to be committed to this. How much this much? 323 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:04,840 Well, we're going to pass to these animals. 324 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:09,280 And the idea is if I break this covenant, may it be unto me as 325 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:14,160 it is to these animals, meaning I am putting my life on the line 326 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:18,480 to keep this covenant. That's how serious this is. 327 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:23,880 Are you, do you understand? Do you understand except and 328 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:26,920 maybe you saw this? In this case, since God already 329 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:31,200 told him in chapter 12, I will make you a great nation and I 330 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,760 will bless you and I will curse those against you, I'm going to 331 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,520 do the work. Instead of God and Abraham 332 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,560 walking between the pieces of animals together, it's God and 333 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,800 God, the smoking fire pot and a blazing torch. 334 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,480 I have kind of a rudimentary picture to show you. 335 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:49,680 The rest of the pictures were too grizzly. 336 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:52,080 So you have like, it looks like my 5 year old. 337 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,280 I don't even have a 5 year old, but looks like a 5 year old drew 338 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,560 this. The smoking firepot and the 339 00:20:57,560 --> 00:20:59,960 blazing torch. What you don't see passing 340 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:05,640 between the animals is Abram. It's God and God. 341 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,320 Abram is asleep while this is happening. 342 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,880 You can call this moment the handshake between God and Abram. 343 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,240 Except when they went to shake hands, God didn't shake Abram's 344 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:18,240 hand. He shook his own hand. 345 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:24,600 Yeah, God alone will keep the covenant because God knows that 346 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:32,240 when man fails, he will not. So should be obvious, and I've 347 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,480 been saying a little bit, but stepping out requires God's 348 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,840 ability. We don't step into nothingness, 349 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,400 right? We step into the ability of 350 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:47,360 God's proven promise keeping nature over and over again. 351 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,120 The covenant is ratified by God alone. 352 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,880 Abram is passive in it, which means in no way that it depend 353 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:58,360 on Abram, but solely on the work and the character and the nature 354 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,320 of God. Verse 8, Abram says how I know a 355 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,440 game, possession of the land, what's going to happen? 356 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,000 What do I have to do? And God's answer is sacrifice 357 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,240 covenant. I'm going to take care of it. 358 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,560 I will assure it through the shedding of blood. 359 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:16,720 Later he will do this again in Jesus saying like how do we gain 360 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,760 possession of the promised land of heaven? 361 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:25,360 God says sacrifice covenant. I will assure it, I will take 362 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:29,080 care of it. Verse 12 we find Abram deep 363 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:34,760 asleep should sound familiar to you if you've been with us in 364 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,600 the series. God does a lot in the sleep 365 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:43,120 hours. Adam's asleep and Eve is 366 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:46,240 produced. Thank God for that. 367 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,200 Men and husbands, this is when you say yes. 368 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:53,800 Men, husbands, this is when you say yes. 369 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,160 I'll give you a second chance. I'm so glad God created my wife 370 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:01,800 in Jesus name. When Abram's asleep, God 371 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:08,600 produces the covenant, and when Jesus is asleep in death, God 372 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:13,040 produces the new covenant, the gateway to eternal life of the 373 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,480 Father. God does it all. 374 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:22,040 What God is doing in Abraham's time and our time cannot be 375 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,400 supported nor stopped by humanity. 376 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,960 The work of God, because He is God, will be fulfilled, in fact, 377 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,040 has been fulfilled in Christ Jesus. 378 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,960 Just stop here and have just a devotional moment for your 379 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,520 heart. What breakthrough are you 380 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,600 looking for in your life? I want to tell you it will only 381 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:50,880 be done by the ability of God. It's been that way since 382 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,960 Genesis. It was that way with Jesus. 383 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,280 If you're beginning with human ability, you're not beginning, 384 00:23:58,720 --> 00:23:59,880 you're just staying where you are. 385 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:03,960 We're stuck in a rut. Let me just speak for ourselves. 386 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,960 I, I get stuck in a rut when I go on my own ability. 387 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,720 And when I speak of ability, I'm thinking mostly about my 388 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,520 thoughts. Like I'm thinking this way about 389 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,920 this situation. And when I think about it 390 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,240 through my own thoughts, there's no ability behind it because 391 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:25,040 they're not backed by the power of God is backed by the power of 392 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,840 Tim. And then I get you one Taco Bell 393 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:37,800 Taco. So what's our part? 394 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:40,280 If it's all God's ability, what's our part? 395 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,760 No surprise. It's a step of faith, a step of 396 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,760 faith. Abram's response to God is 397 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,040 amazing. Genesis 12 verses 2 and three 398 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,000 says go, I'm going to bless you. Do all this. 399 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:57,240 Verse 4. So Abram went, did you see it? 400 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:01,000 It happened so quick. Imagine if Abram said I'm not 401 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,560 going to go. There is no Abram went. 402 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:15,440 Abram didn't went, but Abram went as the Lord had told him he 403 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,760 took action based on the word of God. 404 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:23,440 And it's pretty strong faith here. 405 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:29,880 Abram is essentially leaving everything to start over based 406 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:31,800 solely on the Word of God. Here's a little picture. 407 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,600 You can see his journey, and it extends beyond what we're going 408 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,040 to be teaching today. But I want you to see he starts 409 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:39,000 over here in ER with his dad, Tara. 410 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,760 And in Genesis 11, they leave ER and go up to Haran and they live 411 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,520 there. And that's when the Lord speaks 412 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,400 to Abram here in Haran, and he crosses over the Euphrates River 413 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:53,560 and marches down into the land of the unknown. 414 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:57,520 He leaves everything he knows to go to the land of the unknown. 415 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,800 The only thing he does actually know is the Word of God. 416 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:06,880 And based only on the Word of God, he leaves down and arrives 417 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:11,800 in the promised land at Shechem, pitches, pitches his tent near 418 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:18,640 Bethel. This is his journey by faith, 419 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,840 leaving behind what he's known. Abram in this moment, therefore, 420 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:27,360 is led to a new people, a new purpose, and a new place. 421 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,920 This is what Abraham is receiving as he steps out in 422 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:32,960 faith. This is what Jesus has promised 423 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:34,560 to us today. He made this promise and said, 424 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,760 hey, John chapter 14, behold, I'm going to leave this place. 425 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:39,200 I go prepare another place for you. 426 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,880 And if I made a place for you, I'm going to come back and get 427 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:43,160 you to take you to be where I am. 428 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:45,720 I'm preparing a new place for you. 429 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,120 You got to step out in faith to receive it. 430 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:51,000 Stepping out leads from this place that you're currently 431 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,880 living, the place that you might be stuck in mentally, 432 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,520 relationally, physically, you name it, in a rut. 433 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,040 Stepping out leads you from that place to the new thing that God 434 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:01,840 has for you and for your situation. 435 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:07,280 We just got to be like Abram. We just need to step out based 436 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:10,800 on the word of God. See essential part be one thing 437 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,480 if Abram went, it's another thing that Abram goes because 438 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,000 it's the Lord has told them. So what stops us from stepping 439 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:22,120 out our old friend doubt? Everyone say doubt, Hallelujah, 440 00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:26,760 doubt. When we're listening to doubt, 441 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:28,640 it means we're not listening to the words of God. 442 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:32,560 Doubt means we're listening to other words. 443 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,560 I will tell you this, if you're trying to step out on anything 444 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,320 other than the word of God, you're stepping in to a void. 445 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:43,040 There's nothing there to stand upon. 446 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,400 Everything else is sinking sand. Have you heard this before? 447 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,600 But the Word of God is the assurance of the rock of Jesus 448 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,880 Christ that when you stand upon it, you know what happened. 449 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,480 Stepping out based on the Word of God, not based on any other 450 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:59,280 words. Man, we have so many words, so 451 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:05,640 many modern day prophets peddling all sorts of beliefs 452 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:10,280 and then you weigh them against the word of God and they do not 453 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,360 stand. But we try to pin our whole life 454 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:15,800 on something other than the word of God and then we're shocked 455 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:17,440 when we're dismayed and we're broken. 456 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:25,760 And God said, build your life on the rock, on my word. 457 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:30,120 Well, even happens for our good friend Abram, we think of him so 458 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:32,360 highly because he has stepped out in faith, but he has some 459 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:34,720 doubt. He arrives in Israel. 460 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,520 Wasn't Israel at that time was the land of the Canaanites? 461 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,560 God promises it to him, it belongs to God and God gives it 462 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:44,880 to, He wants to. And God chose the Israelites to 463 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,240 give to. And he says, but there's a 464 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,640 famine here. There's a physical famine like 465 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,160 not enough food, water, and there's a spiritual famine. 466 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,200 So thanks for bringing me here, God, but I'm out. 467 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,680 And Abram, as we'll later see with the Israelites, and we even 468 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:06,760 see with Jesus and Mary and Joseph for a little bit, they 469 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:11,800 descend into Egypt. Abram leaves the promised land 470 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,440 where the Word of God has led him to seek rescue by his own 471 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:21,880 plan and his own wisdom. Can we be? 472 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,120 Can we have like real church and not just pretend church? 473 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,000 Usually I ask rhetorical questions that might be too 474 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,960 embarrassing for you to answer out loud. 475 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:32,880 But we're all going to answer this question out loud. 476 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:34,920 Well, not with our voices, with our hands together. 477 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,480 Have you ever? Don't raise your hand yet left 478 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:43,760 the promises of God because you had doubt in your mind that He 479 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:49,280 would fulfill them, and then enacted your own plan, thinking 480 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:50,840 that might go better on the count of three. 481 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:55,600 Anyone ever done that? 123 Now look around, look 482 00:29:55,600 --> 00:30:01,200 around, you're not alone. You and me and Abram were all 483 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:03,520 the same. We start to doubt, which is the 484 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,760 beginning of the sin cycle. Remember, doubt leads to 485 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,680 deception, which leads to disobedience, which leads to 486 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:10,720 disgust, which leads to destruction. 487 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,640 And back we go again. And again it's happened for 488 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,840 Abram. Not only that, when Abram was 489 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,560 looking around, he's like, hey, I'm like getting near 90 and you 490 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:22,760 said I'm going to have offspring. 491 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:24,960 And me and Sarah, I have had no offspring. 492 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,840 So let me take the plan again in my own hand. 493 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,640 He has a child by his wife's maidservant, Hagar, and she's 494 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:34,920 named or the child's name is Ishmael. 495 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:38,440 Listen to what Genesis 16 says about Ishmael. 496 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,080 Ishmael will be a wild donkey of a man. 497 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,800 His hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand 498 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,960 against him, and he will live in hostility towards all his 499 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:55,200 brothers. History always proves what God 500 00:30:55,200 --> 00:31:01,360 has told us before, and if you look in the Middle East, Arab 501 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,840 nations which contain many of the descendants of Ishmael, 502 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:12,440 they're still to this day at war with their brothers as was 503 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,320 prophesied. It's still true to this day. 504 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:21,920 Genesis 1612 is being played out on your newsreel, not just in 505 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,080 the Middle East, but all throughout the nations. 506 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:29,280 All this to say, it does not go well when we take things into 507 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:33,040 our own hands. Somebody say man, our job is to 508 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:37,600 be faithful and obedient to the word of God and when we step out 509 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,600 based on the word of God, it's when the ability of God 510 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:42,800 intersects and arrives in our lives. 511 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,200 Jesus fulfills this Matthew chapter 4 verse 19. 512 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,800 You still you'll see familiar language to Abram and he said to 513 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,720 them, follow me. Here's the language and I will 514 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:58,120 make you fishers of men. Same thing you said to Abram. 515 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:02,520 I'm going to do the work. I have the ability, I'm going 516 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:03,760 to. I will do it. 517 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:09,920 The disciples just had to follow, to step out, to obey. 518 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:16,800 And when they did, woo y'all, we're living, we're sitting, 519 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:20,880 we're commuting right now. In the evidence of their faith, 520 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,680 2000 years ago, they stepped out. 521 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,800 The church is born. They meet the miracle of God. 522 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:28,520 By the way, the church is a miracle. 523 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:30,920 So many times I should have died. 524 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:35,480 They're trying to kill it now. God keeps it alive. 525 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:39,840 His ability based on the faith of people to step out. 526 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:47,640 I remember the first time I ever preached to adults, a big group 527 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:52,880 of adults, in fact, right around 4000 adults. 528 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:56,880 I had been in ministry for 12 years, started student ministry 529 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:02,200 in 1995. And then in 2007, Christine and 530 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:04,600 I were called to another church, the Crossing Church. 531 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:06,120 And I left student ministry behind. 532 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:08,640 Very sad to leave that behind, by the way. 533 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:11,600 But God called us and we hadn't been there long. 534 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:13,520 And the lead pastor, Pastor Greg, who was here for men's 535 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:15,000 conference, any men you remember Pastor Greg? 536 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:19,600 I say, Yep, uh huh. He says, hey, I want you to 537 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:25,720 preach the weekend service. And I'm like me, like, I'm just 538 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:32,880 like a silly youth guy. Like no way, I said yes, it's 539 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:37,120 like October ish of 2007. Been at the church maybe three 540 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,760 or four months. I literally had preached 1000 541 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:43,320 messages roughly in my life to that point. 542 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:45,440 Preaching twice a week for 12 years. 543 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,720 Sunday night Senior High, Wednesday night middle school. 544 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,640 And in those groups roughly between 60 to a hundred 120 kids 545 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:55,800 each night. That was it. 546 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,240 That was my jam. I could own a room of 100 people 547 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:06,080 that didn't know nothing, right? Just like it was amazing. 548 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:12,880 So there I was in 2007. It's time to preach. 549 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,800 And I was behind a leg, which this curtain thing on the side 550 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:18,560 is called the leg. That's why they say break a leg 551 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:20,560 because you got to open it and close it so many times it breaks 552 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:24,360 for the anyway, who goes and I'm behind that can't. 553 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:29,719 Can you hear me? OK, I'm behind. 554 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,960 Stop looking. I'm behind the curtain and the 555 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:38,199 bumpers playing and I know it's got like 10 seconds left and 556 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:43,639 it's go time and I'm back here stalked to the ground like, Oh 557 00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:48,960 my word. There are so many adults who 558 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:53,639 know the word of God really well, and they've been preached 559 00:34:53,639 --> 00:34:57,480 to by Pastor Greg Dumas, who is an authoritative, biblically 560 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,160 incredible man. And who am I to go out there and 561 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:03,520 say anything? It's going to be terrible. 562 00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:08,360 And the bumper ends and I'm still standing here. 563 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:12,200 The lights come up and I'm standing here. 564 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:17,080 It's, it felt like 45 minutes, but it was like one second. 565 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,160 Well, there was an elder back here with me. 566 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:24,360 His name is Paul Brooks and he just leans over and I could feel 567 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,160 his breath on my ear. He was that close. 568 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:31,960 And he says this. You are a mighty warrior. 569 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:44,760 And I just walked out, right? I didn't mean for that to be 570 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:47,080 silly, but there it is. Typical. 571 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:48,480 You can take the youth out of the pastor. 572 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:54,520 What a nude whatever. I stepped out and in that moment 573 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:58,440 I went from darkness to light. In that moment I went from being 574 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,320 terrified to stepping into my calling. 575 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:06,400 And it was a pivotal moment. Like God had matured me in some 576 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,080 way that He allowed me the privilege of preaching to those 577 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:14,520 people that day, but I could have stayed stuck behind the 578 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:16,040 curtain. I'm just looking around and 579 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:20,640 wondering if you're ready to move forward in your life, if 580 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,960 you're ready to step out in your situation, to step out in your 581 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:27,920 relationships, to step out in your job, to step out into your 582 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,000 calling, to step out into your spiritual health. 583 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:32,800 If you're ready to do that, then tell your neighbor I'm stepping 584 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:37,360 out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 585 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:40,520 It's kind of tepid. I'm not sure you you're there 586 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:42,080 yet. I just want to share with you 587 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:47,360 one last point because if you're breathing, you probably have a 588 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:51,560 situation where you're on one side of the river and on this 589 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:55,080 side of the river, if your life's like my life, and I'm not 590 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,400 saying it's got to be, but maybe it is on this side of the river, 591 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:01,640 There's such things as enemies, threats, depression, angst, 592 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:05,480 bitterness, rivalries, scarcity mindset. 593 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:09,440 We're never going to make it hopelessness on this side of the 594 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,720 river. And it's really ugly over here, 595 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:15,760 by the way. And then you look over there and 596 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:17,680 on the other side of the river is the Kingdom of God. 597 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:22,000 On the other side of the river is the Kingdom of God. 598 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:24,360 And the Kingdom according to the word of God is full of 599 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:30,080 righteousness, joy, and peace. The will of God according to the 600 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,360 Word of God is good, pleasing, and perfect. 601 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:38,000 On this side, Scarcity, nothing on that side. 602 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:40,760 Hope, joy and love flowing like milk and honey. 603 00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:46,040 But I'm over here and I want to get over there in my 604 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:48,320 relationships, in my mental health, in my life, in my 605 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,520 spiritual life. I want to move from me existing 606 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,680 to God existing in me. I want to get there. 607 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:00,640 How do I move from the land of desolation to the land of my 608 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:03,480 destiny? How do I go? 609 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:06,040 How do I crossover? Well, it should be obvious now. 610 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:09,000 It's a step of faith, right? It's just a step of faith. 611 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:12,720 Which takes me back to our buddy Eber. 612 00:38:13,240 --> 00:38:15,480 You remember him? Have you held on to that name 613 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:17,240 this whole time? Yeah. 614 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:19,800 Anyone OK. Good. 615 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:26,760 Ever. Hebrew means from Eber. 616 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,280 One who's from Eber. So these are people of Eber, the 617 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:34,280 Hebrew people. But what does Eber's name mean? 618 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,880 Check this out. Eber's name means from the other 619 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:45,400 side, or one who crosses over. The Hebrew people are the people 620 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:52,480 who crossover. Look at the record that's given 621 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:58,320 to us biblically. Abram crosses over the Euphrates 622 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:03,280 to get to the land of promise. Don't you know that Moses 623 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:08,280 crosses through over the Red Sea to get to the land of promise? 624 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:13,880 Don't you know that Joshua crosses over the Jordan River to 625 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:20,840 get to the land of promise? And Jesus literally crossed the 626 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:25,840 distance of sin so that you and I could enter the land of 627 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:27,880 promise now here. Amen. 628 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:38,510 Go ahead. When we enter by faith in Jesus 629 00:39:39,230 --> 00:39:43,680 from the land of sin and scorn and shame and death and not 630 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:47,120 being in God's presence, into his presence by faith in Jesus, 631 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,640 we're actually entering into the family of Hebrews. 632 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:54,760 We are grafted in, the Bible says, into their family. 633 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,320 We keep trying to make Hebrews Christians, but actual 634 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:02,080 Christians are not Hebrews. People who believe in Jesus have 635 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:03,800 been grafted into Abraham's family. 636 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:07,120 Now, of course, we don't replace the Hebrews. 637 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:09,640 This isn't replacement theology where the church has become 638 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:11,960 Israel. We've been grafted into their 639 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:15,080 family, and by the graceful invitation of the Lord, we get 640 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:17,920 the opportunity to minister to everyone, including other 641 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,440 Hebrews who do not yet know him as Savior, Jesus, as Savior. 642 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:25,320 You follow me, say yes, but it's this crossover. 643 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:30,600 You have free will, and free will lets you decide. 644 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:35,840 You could say no, I'm not going to crossover, but you could also 645 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:39,960 say yes and crossover. So I just need to ask you today, 646 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:46,320 what is the word of the Lord speaking to you in your life? 647 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:52,120 That it's time for you to step out in faith and crossover where 648 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:57,600 you've been stuck dead end, fear, you name it in the rot and 649 00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:00,920 believe on His word that His supernatural ability is going to 650 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:04,080 meet your obedience. And when you walk to that door, 651 00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:06,240 you have no idea the goodness that's on the other side. 652 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:09,920 It just takes a step of faith. What is it for you? 653 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:13,320 Where is God asking you to step out of faith? 654 00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:17,000 Leave behind something old and walk into something new. 655 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:21,600 Thanks for joining us today. We hope God is speaking to your 656 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:24,200 heart through this message. If you'd like to connect with 657 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:31,400 us, you can text connect to 407-588-0115 or visit Illuminate 658 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:34,000 dot church. Have a great week.