University Of Faith

0:05 Pop quizzes. They can make your stomach drop. You're either ready for them or you're not. Now I know for some of the young people here, you're like, what's a pop quiz? Well, just ask your parents. Testing is crazy, isn't it? There are all sorts of tests. You've got your pop quiz, you have your regular test, then you have the final exam. I talked to an attorney recently who told me in no uncertain terms, he said, we had a test one time in law school, and whatever grade you made on it, that was it. Isn't that crazy?

0:50 I don't really trust things unless I know they've been tested, like a bridge. I intuitively know the bridge has been tested before I drive over it. Certain software, tested. A car, tested. And then, of course, I can trust it. All of us here are going through one test or another. We might not realize it, but we are. We're going through a test. I'm not talking about the SAT or ACT or GMAT or what's that. I'm talking about a test. We're enrolled in the university of faith, whether you're a believer or not. And because you're enrolled in that, you're tested.

1:42 I'm tested. Our great God is the God who tests. Well, does he tempt? No. God tests us to make us strong. The enemy tempts us to make us do wrong. And that's important to think about that because in every test, God's agenda is for me to activate my faith, to step out in faith, to receive his provision, and then move to a whole nother level. I want to go to a whole nother level. I know you do too. It happens in the zone. The zone is the blessed place in space. See the God cam? Yeah. If I'm here in the zone, I realize God's the blesser. I'm blessed and I can be a blessing. But the most difficult part of that is moving from being blessed to being a blessing.

2:47 Because when I receive the provisions of God and receive his grace and receive his promises, cool. Now though, I've got to step out and act on those. We've been talking about the A train, Abraham. I'm talking about the goat of faith. Abraham lived. in a place called Ur of the Chaldees.

3:16 He came from a family who was worshiping, yeah, idols. An idol is anything that gets in between you and God, and that's where the majority of people live in the land of Ing. And yeah, you can live a good life in the land of Ing. You're gonna be on the receiving end of the residual blessings of God, but you'll never understand what it means to really walk with God and know God until you're in the zone. Abraham, by faith, the Bible says, left the land of Ing and moved into God's sweet spot of success, Canaan. He lived there, and as we've been studying, he went through a pop quiz or two.

4:14 Now and then he was ready. Certain times he wasn't ready. I'm so glad the Bible is so honest about people's struggles. Today, we find Abraham facing an exam. I'm just going to tell you right up front, what I'm going to talk about will cause a theological problem in our minds. What I'm going to talk about will rattle some of our theological cages. What I'm going to talk about is something that is unusual. It's a biblical anomaly. It only happened one time. I'm going to talk about the fact that God, are you ready for this? asks Abraham, are you ready for this? To kill, to sacrifice his only begotten son.

5:14 He and Sarah's only begotten son. God asked him to sacrifice him. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking like I think. Why would God do that? I thought God was a loving God. I thought the Bible says thou shalt not murder. Why would God do that? He's contradicting himself, but I'm going to slap a big old warning sticker on this message. Warning, this message can be dangerous to your spiritual health. You remember back in the day, you know, I would maybe be watching the Brady Bunch or Gilligan's Island, and you'd hear this sound. This is a test of the emergency broadcasting system. This is only a test.

6:09 Remember that? They stopped doing that in 1996, for those of you who are into figures. those tests would always come at the wrong time. So the test that God is giving you and me in our limited world is not always gonna be at the right time. It's not like we're like, okay, God, now I'm in the zone. You're blessing me. And I'm blessed. And I'm gonna be a blessing. Now, okay, now test me. No, no, no. testing comes in all shapes and forms and sizes. And many times it comes in your life and mine about the things we love the most.

6:55 God said, Abraham, Abraham. Genesis chapter 22, verse one. Sometime later, God tested Abraham's faith. Abraham, God called. Yes. Here I am. God tested him. I'll say it once again. When we're tested, when God tests us, it proves the quality of something. And he's going to get into a major exam. The only other time, well, there's several times the Bible uses the word test, but one of the times where God says, test me. In fact, the only time he said in those words happened to do with the tithe. Isn't that something? In Malachi chapter three, God says, test me in this. You bring the first portion, your best to the altar. And God says, I'll take care of the rest. You bring your best. I'll take care of the rest. And then God says, hey, test me on this. So every time we're paid, it's a test.

8:12 Every Sunday, it's a test. Every day at work or school, it's a test in one way or another. But This one is a massive one. God said, Abraham, yes, Lord, take your son, verse two, your only son, yes, Isaac, whom you love so much and go to the land of Moriah, go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.

8:45 Now that's strange. You know what Abraham did? He moved. I've discovered that delayed obedience is disobedience. The Bible tells me in James chapter four, verse 17, remember, it's a sin to know what you ought to do and then not to do it. Abraham obeyed God without the details. Husbands, you're lying on the couch, just chilling. Like I was a couple of days ago. And Lisa goes, honey, the trash is overflowing. Take out the trash. I said, okay, I will. I will. I was still lying there comfortably on the couch. And then I heard her huff and puff 10 minutes later, kind of slam the door.

9:44 I go, where have you been? I just went and took the trash out myself because you didn't move. it's okay to laugh. Abraham moved. I mean, he was moving, man. And he trusted God. And here's what takes place. Genesis 22, verse five. Abraham takes his son Isaac, a couple of his employees, remember he was a billionaire, to Mount Moriah, a three-day journey. and then he gets to the base of Mount Moriah.

10:27 You see how I'm making these steps? Are you impressed? You know I'm taking Pilates now. I have so, I mean, I am so balanced. I can't believe it. How many of you have never taken Pilates before? Lift your hand. Oh, that's a sin. So I think it's really helped my preaching too. Anyway, he had Isaac with him, his only son. And remember, Isaac, just to give you some homework, was the link to carry on the Jewish nation. Jesus will be born through that, and you and me will be born again. So we're talking important, man. But just think about your only son. And then he says to his employees, This is the A train.

11:19 Stay here with the donkey. Abraham told the servants, the boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, which again is odd. You're gonna take your son, sacrifice your son, and you're gonna worship there. Okay.

11:42 Uh-oh. and then we will come right back. Did it say we? And then we? Yes. What's up with that? Hey guys, you chill. I'm going out with my son to sacrifice him and we'll be back.

12:06 Huh. It says we will come right back. Is this a crazy story? and really this whole sermon can be summarized with these two stories. I'm just giving you story A, and then I'll conclude with story B. This is story A. A, think Abraham.

12:27 Genesis 22, verse 8. You know what Abraham said? He's walking up the mountain. God will provide. God will provide his sheep for the burnt offering, my son, Abraham answered, and they both walked together. because you know Isaac, he's a teenager. You're just going, dad, where's the lamb? Dad, where's the sacrifice? Dad, there's wood, there's a knife, and you have stuff to build a fire and an altar, but where is the lamb? Abraham had faith, didn't he? He had faith. If you have your Bibles, turn to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 17 through 19. This is interesting.

13:08 By faith, Abraham, when God, there's the word again, tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. What you love, what I love, God challenges us to put on the altar. By faith, Abraham, who tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son. So God had promised Abraham all of these great things through his family. And now he's gonna sacrifice his son. Even though God had said to him, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead. And so in a manner of speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. Wow.

14:14 Question, had Abraham seen the resurrection before? Answer, yes. His wife's womb was resurrected. She was like 100 years old when she had Isaac. Fathers, can you imagine being 100 years old and all of a sudden you're the father of a bouncing baby boy? The critical cog in the world? Man, that's a heavy situation. I think it's interesting that Abraham had this faith. He understood that God was going to provide because the mountain, Mount Moriah, Abraham named it God Will Provide.

15:14 it's Jehovah Jireh and the the word Jireh means to see beforehand say that with me to see beforehand you didn't say it with me say it with me to see beforehand I want you to check this out God in his pre-vision already knows what our provision is going to look like because he's seen it before we have. So the only one who is surprised at our provision is you and me, not God, because God is omniscient. He's omnipotent. He's omnipresent.

15:56 Well, what happened, Ed? I'll tell you what happened. Abraham put Isaac on the altar, tied him to the altar took out his knife to kill his only begotten son and then a voice from heaven called him repeatedly Abraham, Abraham you can write in your margin Jesus look at the thicket look at the thorns and he saw a lamb, a ram caught in the thorns he took Isaac off of the altar put the animal on the altar, sacrifice the altar, sacrifice the animal on the altar, worship the Lord, and then turn back and walk back down to his employees. He said, I told you we'd be back. I told you we'd be back. God can be trusted. When we give the best, he takes care of the rest.

16:59 When we give our best, God takes care of the rest. It doesn't happen in the land of Eang. It only happens in the zone. Story B, next story. This is going to be a quick one. Another father and son walked up Mount Moriah, God the Father and Jesus. Jesus carried wood just like Abraham carried wood. Jesus lived a perfect life. He was called the Lamb of God. he died on the cross for our sins.

17:44 Some people ask me, who nailed Jesus to the cross? The Jews? Wrong. Oh, it must be the Romans. Wrong. God the Father. God the Father. Jesus had to die. The perfect, sinless sacrifice, the Lamb of God had to die, yet death couldn't hold him down. Three days later, he burst forth with resurrection power.

18:20 So story A is a foreshadowing, obviously, of the ultimate story. it's pretty cool isn't it faith man god pre-sees what you're going to be provided faith but we're not going to see it unless we step out and give our best Abraham and God the Father, Isaac and Jesus. They both had unique births, didn't they? Three days were critical in both stories. The wood was there, was prominent in the stories. Mount Moriah, Mount Moriah was where Jesus was crucified. turn to your neighbor and say, you've got to be kidding me.

19:20 Is that amazing? How about the thorns? Didn't they put thorns on Christ's head? How about the lamb? How about the sacrifice? Mount Moriah. God will provide.

19:46 As I've told you before, four years ago, I was studying on this text and I just wrote the words God will provide and that's when our daughter died in our house. I heard a sound, I was in my study, ran into the room where she was sleeping and she passed away after I wrote those words. those words are from God, and those words are a reality, because I'm here to tell you God will provide. We don't always understand everything. We live in a fallen place. We live in a space that is full of depravity, yet God will provide. God will provide. When we give our best, he takes care of the rest.

20:44 I want to pray a prayer right now. And we're going to pray this prayer with our eyes open. You don't have to close your eyes to pray. Did you know that? Yeah, you knew it. You knew it. doing. But I want to give you an opportunity to apply story A and story B. And here's how you do it. I'm going to say some, some words. I'm going to recite a prayer that I prayed years ago. And I want all of you, okay, to recite this prayer with me. Okay. Even if you are a believer, because it gives people the confidence to say it. Are you ready? All right. Say, dear God, I admit to you that I'm a sinner. I turn from my sin and turn to you, Jesus.

21:41 I believe you're the Lamb of God who died on the cross for my sins and rose again. and right now I ask you, Jesus Christ, to come into my life. I give you all that I am and all that I will ever be.

22:07 Give me the faith to step out each and every day in Jesus' name. Let's give God a crazy round of applause. for the people who became believers. I was speaking a couple of months ago in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and I gave people an opportunity in this church. There were about 8,000 people there to become believers. And when people prayed that prayer, confetti just rained and it was just like, I've never seen anything like it. Because, you know, the Bible says when someone becomes a believer, there's a party in heaven going on with the angels and those saints who had followed us. Incredible.

23:03 Today, we have something that is, we have something that's really, really exciting. We have this anchor project, and this is going to be our first offering to the anchor project. If you're not a part of Fellowship Church, just listen. You don't have to do anything, but if you are, listen. And please just stay with me just for a couple of moments in an attitude of worship. If you're a part of Fellowship, if you call this home, we're going to pass out some cards. If you're on the end of one of the rows, take one of these cards. You might have had one last week. That's cool. Take one again. Take one again. because these cards are not just cards. They represent a massive commitment that we're making. How do we build facilities at Fellowship?

23:58 It's very, very simple. This is a 60,000 square foot facility. It's going to cost $30 million. We ask you, challenge you, we can't make you, to do a two-year commitment to make this a reality. And if we get in around 30 million, we'll start. If we don't, we'll wait. It's that simple. but I want you to think about and maybe talk to your spouse right now about what you can do. Lisa and I are giving a gift that for us would be unique. I mean, it would probably make an accountant go, are you crazy?

25:04 Or a financial planner to go, I'm not sure, Ed. You're 64 years old, but we believe God spoke to us, and that's what we're doing. But it's going to be a stretch as we continue to do this. I think others here, others of you, maybe last week, you wrote a commitment down, but that's like throwing pocket change at God. You're like, okay, I've got this in savings or whatever. I'll just do that. I mean, that's great, but it's a sacrifice. David said, King David said, I'm not going to give God anything that doesn't cost me something. So the number that you're writing down, if it doesn't cost you something, it's not really your best.

25:54 What are you talking about? I spoke to a young couple a couple of days ago, in fact. And they said, you know, we were going to bring $3,000 to Fellowship Church to begin our two-year commitment. And they said, quite frankly, we were going to buy a new car, but we decided to hold off until this project is complete. That's a sacrificial gift. Others here, it could be in different ways. That's not just the only way. And I've seen God bless because in this family, this young family, that said they're going to bring the $3,000.

26:36 Their insurance company called them, and this is crazy, several days later after they made that commitment, and they said, by the way, we owe you $5,000. Isn't that great? So those kind of God winks, those kind of God moments will happen over and over. But see, it's not gonna happen unless you put the best on the altar. Because when you put the best on the altar, God takes care of the rest. Abraham didn't know everything. He just obeyed God. I don't know everything about our gift, and I don't know everything about your gift. It's interesting, too, that we have some guys here, some guys that are high rollers, you know, but when it comes to church, you put the dice away. It should be the opposite.

27:28 You should be treating the church like you treat Las Vegas. Surely you don't go to Las Vegas, do you? That's a joke. I like Las Vegas. I'm not a big gambler, but I like the shows and stuff. I've spoken. There's some great churches out there.

27:49 But what is God doing? What does God want to do through you? Some of you made a commitment. You need to double it. I talked to someone about four days ago, and they're going to double their commitment. I don't know. but if you want to see God work and move, you begin to get in on his currency. So you need to have wisdom when you make this decision, but also with wisdom, you need to say, okay, God, I want to write a number down that only you can make happen. You see what I'm saying to you? In my life. so wisdom is what can I do and faith is the sacrifice so fill those cards out completely and if you've already filled one out and you don't want to change your number cool but if you haven't everyone every everyone can do can do something I think that's about all I have with the cards.

29:11 We're going to ask our ushers to come forward now and collect these cards. This is a holy moment, a special moment, because this Anchor Center is going to be a true anchor for scores and scores of people. and I'm just so thankful for a church like Fellowship that understands giving the best because so many of us have given our best. That's why you're enjoying this facility. That's why you're enjoying our incredible Source Cafe. That's why you're enjoying our children's area, our preschool area. That's why you're enjoying our gorgeous parking lot. That's why you're enjoying walking around our lake out there. That's why you're enjoying the Frisco campus. That's why you're enjoying the Fort Worth campus. That's why you're enjoying the Dallas campus.

30:11 That's why you're enjoying Alasso Ranch. I mean, those things didn't just happen. It happened right here, the way I'm talking right now. So what are you going to do for the next group. So make sure all those cards are in. I want to have a prayer and then we're going to continue to worship. Father, thank you for the generosity of your church. Bless us, God. We look forward to the provision because you have already pre-seen everything. We receive God, your grace, your power. We step out on faith and we receive your blessings. And we bless you, God, right now in Christ's name.