Notes for Lent 2
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Sermon Staging Area
SIX STEPS TO STOP SINNING 2 of 6
Review: Stop trying to stop sinning, start living as God's friend.
MOTIF
> "Jesus is the answer": Is he? What if someone's question is, "How can I get rich? An easy life? More pleasure"? Is Jesus still the answer?
> Yes---but he isn't the answer that we may want: Riches not of money but of satisfaction with what he's given, ease not of a life without troubles but of finding rest in him, pleasure not of physical ecstasy but the sheer joy of knowing God of universe.
DILEMMA
> What if our question is, "How do I live as God's friend?" Is Jesus the answer? Yes---but it may not be the answer we expected.
> Abraham: "the friend of God" [James 2:21-23].
> Let's look at Abraham and find out how God answers the question, "How do I live as God's friend?"
TEXT
> Read Genesis 16:15---17:17 and pray.
> So far, Abram's attempts at stopping sin, living as God's friend, have not gone well ...
--> Gn12 [does leave, but arrives in Egypt and lies, saying his wife is his sister]; Gn16 [immediately after this, he has a son not with wife Sarai but with her servant Hagar---still doesn't trust]
--> Why? Focused on problem instead of on living as God's friend: First words when God appears in Gn15: ?Oh Lord, how can this be? You haven't given me what I've asked for.?
--> For Abram, ?friend? means ?do what I want.?
--> ?Abram? means ?exalted father?--which feels like a mockery. His wife's name Sarai means ?one who second guesses?--this is closer to the truth.
> In Gn17, God doesn't give Abram the answer he expects?he gives him the answer that he needs to live as God's friend.
--> 17:1: 99? 86? 13 silent years. Ever been in those years?
--> 17:2: ?I am El Shaddai.?: First time this name for God appears in Scripture!
-----> El: God/Shaddai: [could mean ?mountains?] Sh'e: ?One who is?/D'ai: ?Sufficient? or ?Enough.?
-----> God's answer to, ?How do I live as your friend?? is not, ?I'll do what you expect.?
-----> God's answer is, ?I am sufficient, enough, all you need.?
> Every sin begins with a single lie: ?God is not enough.?
--> Began in Garden of Eden: ?Has God said?? ?Is God really enough??
--> Abram: Lied about wife: God's not strong enough to keep safe/Questioned God: God's not strong enough to give child to 86 ... /Has son with Hagar: God is not sufficient to do what he promised.
--> Answer? El Shaddai?God who is sufficient, God who is enough!
> What does God do to remind Abraham? He gives a sign.
--> Circumcision: ?You want me to do what? Why not a secret handshake or a decoder ring? Why this??
--> Two things: Sacrifice/separation: ?When truly recognize I am enough, your life will become a sacrifice and you will be separated, different from the world.?
--> Circumcision is not part of joining God's people today?which is good because if you think it's difficult to get people for certain committees, imagine if we had a Circumcision Committee.
--> We are called to sacrifice and separation?when we live as if God is enough [sacrifice of our expectations/separation because we live by different values]
> What else does God do to remind Abram? He changes his name.
--> Name is identity ... we still recognize that a little ... wouldn't change name without an excellent reason: CLASSIFIED AD RE: GRAVE STONE.
--> In ancient world, when you named someone, you possessed power [Adam and animals]??Abram, you are my special possession.?
--> 17:4: ?Exalted father?>?The father of many?: God places his promise?the promise that he is enough?in the middle of Abram's name.
--> ... and not only for Abraham: ?Sarai?: ?Contentious,? ?second-guesses?>?Sarah?: ?The princess.?
-----> Dream of every little girl/Anastasia/?You're a princess.?
-> God does this to remind that he is enough??I am enough to turn you into father of many, to turn you into princess!?
-> God does the same for you: Rv2:17; 3:12.
-> What does this mean? It's your reminder that El Shaddai, God is enough.
> Abraham breaks down: 17:17-18: Why does he laugh? The first birth that Medicare will have to pay for, first couple to find themselves buying Depends and Pampers in same trip to Wal-Mart! Both parents and baby eat the same strained vegetables because no one in the family has a tooth in their head.
> This is too good to be true! But it comes true because El Shaddai?God's friendship is enough.
RESOLUTION
> You cannot live as God's friend until you trust that God's friendship is enough to fill your deepest needs.
> Problem: Throughout your life, you experience times when a person or circumstance wasn't sufficient: Parents whose love wasn't enough, tainted with abuse or selfishness/Time when you didn't have enough to get by/Time when someone you trusted took advantage, were not protected enough ...
--> Each of these leaves a scar, a point of emptiness where you feel empty.
--> Every sin you commit is a vain attempt to fill these points of emptiness: [Looking for father's love/Looking for security in possessions/Trying to fill the pain of abuse with one more relationship or to numb the pain with one more drink].
--> When you come to faith in God, you are faced with a crisis: Will I trust that God is enough to fill this need? Do I believe that God is El Shaddai?
--> You cannot live as God's friend until you trust that God's friendship is enough to fill your deepest needs.
> This is difficult in a culture that tries to convince us that we never have enough: Commercials [highlight our points of emptiness, convince that what we need is product] ... we are addicted to the main tool that works this into lives: [[[No? Hide remotes, hide Bibles, see which one gets noticed first/Remote with beeper/Industry is built on convincing you you don't have enough.]]]
-> ?If I have God as my friend, I have all that I need because El Shaddai.?
APPLICATION
> Think about sins you struggle with: What need are you trying to fulfill? El Shaddai.
> You can't beat the sin until you live as God's friend, and you cannot live as God's friend until you trust that God's friendship is enough to fill your deepest needs.
[STILL LOOKING FOR CLOSING ILLUSTRATION]