[Blessed Life Intro VIDEO]

[Blessed Life LOGO SLIDE]

Intro raise hands more blessing Acts 20:35 more blessing look @ text

[Genesis 12:1-9 SLIDES]
[Abraham SLIDE]
9 Greats from Noah doesnt know God. Joshua 24:2 God says to Joshua,
Long ago your ancestors Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor lived
beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. Abram, his father and his
brother are serving other gods.

Idol worshipping Gentile
[The Land SLIDE]
God specific about what to leave vague on details of blessing

This is a story of faith. Hebrews 11 comments on this calling of Abram in Haran:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he
was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was
going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a
foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs
with him of the same promise. [Hebrews 11:8-9 SLIDE]

[Walk By Faith SLIDE]
By faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 We walk by faith, not by sight.
Abe doesnt know God but God calls him to leave
One of my Bibles has a footnote: A major component of Abrahams faith
consisted in his going out without knowing where he was going. He had an
implicit trust in God

Leave what you know to get what you dont Struggle Implicit here.

When Lori graduated college

But for Abram, this isnt like graduating from school and maybe leaving Corry for
a job this is like graduating from school and leaving Corry for Mars.

This is way more than just a change in geography. This is leaving all that he
knows his security, his surroundings a life that is predictable and controllable
for the great unknown from what he HAD to what he DID NOT HAVE. Dont
miss that he left what he HAD for what HE DID NOT YET HAVE.

But thats the nature of faith, isnt it? Ultimately, faith comes down to trusting in
Gods character. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the
evidence of things unseen. (Hebrews 11:1) SLIDE If there is any
requirement of Abram here, it is simply that he trust God and go.
Going, however, is scary.
Going is scary because it is a step off into the unknown.
Going is scary because it is not safe.
Going is scary because we are not prepared.
Going is scary because we cant control things because we dont
know who or what we will find.
Going is scary because it is way easier and safer and way more
controllable to stay where we are.

But staying doesnt reveal to us Gods heart and Gods character. It is in going
and in trusting that God reveals himself to us. And Im, of course, not talking
about you moving to Tibet or the Sudan or even Union City This isnt a story
about geography. As much as Abram makes a physical journey to a land that will
belong to his descendants, he makes an even more important spiritual journey.
His putting his feet on the dirt of this promised land was a result of his heart
beginning the journey from safe to Savior from all the things that he could
control to giving all the control to God. He believed that God had the power to
deliver what He promised would be delivered even if it seemed ridiculous.
Abram was 75 years old, Sarai was 65 when they left Haran and Isaac wouldnt
be born for ANOTHER 25 YEARS. Yeah, Sarah was 90 when she had Isaac

But this is not a story about biology. This is not a story about geography. This is
a story about who God is and how God works. This is a story about how God
calls us from what we know and where we are and how we should respond.

Abraham was promised that if he would go to this land that God was going to
show him, that God would bless him and that all the world would be blessed
through him. Because the blessings of God are not to be held on to but to be
released to bless others. Blessed to be a blessing.

[The Blessed Life LOGO SLIDE]
Think about the ways God has blessed you:

Me Lori, girls, ALL OF YOU I love being a pastor techno stuff retreat
Youth praise band

A friend of mine popped his head into my office and said, Bill, you have no
idea how many blessings I have. Im not talking about my bank account but
Ive got riches in heaven. And he said when he sits down and really thinks
about it God is pouring into his life in amazing ways and hes pouring out his
life into other people, into relationships, into lives that reach way beyond his...

You? How has God blessed you? Where is God calling you to go? How is God
calling you to be a blessing remember it is more blessed to give than receive
to have a more blessed life is to give of your life, a generous heart. Abram gave
up everything without any real sure sense of where he was going with the
promise that God would bless him to be a blessing to the world.

Where is God calling US this church, this congregation? How are WE blessed
how can we be a blessing to the world to the community to our neighbors?

Abram trusted in Gods character that God would do even the most outlandish
things that God promised to do so that in Abrams giving of himself, the world
would be blessed.