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BAR-2012-06

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Abraham was Amazing

Abraham, the Friend of God, towers over the history of the Bible, casting a long shadow from Genesis, through the Historic Books, the Major Prophets, into Romans; and all the way through the Hall of Faith in Hebrews, and finally is placed by God into this passage in James.

Abraham the pagan Gentile, who left the idolatry of Ur, walked to a land he never had seen, and by faith followed the God of the Universe, and became the Father of the Jewish people.

Abraham is amazing, but he is also so normal.

Abraham was So Normal

Abraham struggled with fears, doubts, and with impatience. Yet Abraham obeyed, waited, and followed. Abraham was not perfect, but once he met the Lord, he made a choice to follow Him.

Abraham is a great example of who can follow God: the normal, the ordinary, and the struggler because Abraham was all three, and more. He was as human as they come and showed to all of us who exactly God looks for: the ordinary.

Abraham also shows us what God can do with the ordinary: God can use them in a way like no other until they are extraordinary.

Paul later summarizes God’s plan at the end of the first chapter of I Corinthians. Listen to these penetrating words:

I Cor. 1:26-31 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.

It is time to reset our minds to the truth that God is not looking for superheroes. Rather, God can make superheroes out of the ordinary, the weak, the poor, the undesirables, and the nobodies. That is the God we serve, and that is who the God of Abraham really is.

Jesus Invites Us to Become Friends of God

Jesus elevates friendship with God to a whole new level when He told the disciples that now by God’s grace, believers can choose, by faithful obedience, to become friends of God, and can enjoy the intimacy, closeness, and access that friendship with God brings.

Slides


Check Out All The Sermons In The Series

You can find all the sermons and short clips from this series, Camp Barakel 2012 here

Looking To Study The Bible Like Dr. Barnett?

Dr. Barnett has curated an Amazon page with a large collection of resources he uses in his study of God’s Word. You can check it out here.