Talks
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Dying Well (Genesis 23-25)
Posted on December 5th, 2011
We’re all gonna die. So let’s die well…like Abraham did. He kept trusting God’s promises right to the end. But his faith in a sovereign God didn’t mean he kicked back in retirement. He kept working to see God’s promises fulfilled and fleshed out in his own family. How are you going with that? Guest preacher Dave Miers (youth pastor, St Faiths Narrabeen) unpacks this section of Genesis for us.
check out the sermon here
Zac died well…
The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.
Genesis 25:5-11
5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. 7 Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
Sacrifice your son? (Genesis 22)
Posted on November 29th, 2011
After 25 years of waiting for God to fulfil His promise, Abraham finally gets his son Isaac. And now God commands him to slit his throat and set him on fire. What kind of God asks for that? And what kind of dad is prepared to do that? And why does the bible think this was a great moment in history? The New Testament says Abraham was a man of faith and we’re to imitate him. But is he really a man of faith? Or is he or bit unhinged, willing to kill his kid? Seriously, what on earth has this horrific story got to say to us?
check out the sermon here
Genesis 22:1-2
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
God’s merciful warning (Genesis 18-19)
Posted on November 22nd, 2011
Our culture doesn’t want to hear about God’s judgement or His perspective on sexuality. And neither did the people of Sodom. But God is our Maker and our Judge. He has the right to determine our morality, and our sexuality. And He will hold us accountable. What God did to Sodom and Gomorrah stands as a loving warning for us today. And what God did for Lot reminds us of God’s mercy to us in Christ. Are you ready to meet your Maker at the Judgement?
check out the sermon here
Genesis 18-19
Blood Covenants – be cut, or be cut off (Genesis 15-17)
Posted on November 14th, 2011
God makes an everlasting covenant with Abraham to bless him and his descendants. God vows to keep His promises…even it it kills Him. And God expects Abraham to chop off part of his penis as a display of obedience.
What the???? Are you serious????
God also says “My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
So does this mean we need to get the snip? Be cut, or we’ll be cut off from God’s blessings??
Brace yourself, you might not like what you hear.
check out the sermon here
Genesis 15-17
Honouring God’s Priest-King (Genesis 13:5-14:24)
Posted on November 7th, 2011
Wealth and success can be blessings from God AND huge tests of our faith. How we respond to them says a lot about us and our relationship with a promise-making and promise-keeping God. In Genesis 13 and 14 Abraham’s faith is tested in a number of ways, and he handles them well, providing us a good model of faith and trust. And he meets a guy called Melchizedek…who really should rock your world!
check out the sermon here
Genesis 14:18-20
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem[Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Test of Faith (Genesis 12:10-13:4)
Posted on October 31st, 2011
What do you do when you’re faced with some massive challenge that looks like it won’t turn out so good for you if you play fair? Sometimes our fears can kick in and make us start thinking God doesn’t love us, won’t provide for us, isn’t trustworthy or that He’s not in control. And instead of trusting Him and doing things His way, we can get tempted to try and ‘fix’ things on our own by coming up with our own ‘dodgy plan b’. Ever done that? Doing it now? In Genesis 12, Abram’s faith gets tested, and we learn how to deal with tests of faith…and failures.
check out the sermon here
Genesis 12:10-13:4
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. 17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
(Ch 13) 1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. 3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.
Trusting God’s Promises (Genesis 12:1-9)
Posted on October 24th, 2011
How should you relate to a God who makes and keeps promises? Get to know what His promises are, and cling to them! As we check out Genesis 12, we see that God is a promise-making God. His promises to Abraham set the scene for how God will act throughout history. He partially fulfils his promises in the Old Testament, and finally fulfils them in Jesus Christ. And every human being will either be blessed or cursed by God in relation to how they treat Abraham….and his great descendent Jesus Christ. That’s a promise.
check out the sermon here
Genesis 12:1-9
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He 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, and they arrived there. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring [or seed] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.