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Mark Wheeler
Genesis 12:1-4
01/08/2023
“Embracing God’s Call”
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
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Welcome to worship friends – let’s start right in with our Prelude of Praise #364 . . . Jesus in the Morning
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And let’s join in as Pastor Kathy leads us in our Call to Worship – from Genesis 12:1-4
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Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Greetings from Brianna and her family in Alaska! Shalom Aleichem!
Huge thanks to everybody who helped make last Sunday happen while I was away! Pastor Kathy did her usual masterful job of proclaiming the Gospel and leading our corporate worship.
As we begin a new calendar year, and a new century in this sanctuary, this month we are going back to some deep roots of our faith – to the call of Abraham from Ur to the Land God Promised him and his people.
Come, let us worship our Sovereign God!
Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!
Let’s take a second to welcome each other, those in the room and across the globe, to a moment of Sabbath in God’s presence and peace, and with others whom we love and with whom we grow together. Tell your loved ones, whoever you can see , “The peace of Christ be with you – and also with you!!”
Welcome to this “gathering” in God’s name. We are assembled in NorthEast Spokane, WA, along with people from all over the world. We are very glad you are “here” with us.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God’s Word.
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Choir –! Thank you leading us in worship with this Sunday’s Choral Anthem – listen to these words: Let the Love Shine Through
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The year 2023 is a BIG year for the life of Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church. It is, in fact, our first full year in our second century of ministry in this building right here on the corner of 17th and Nevada Streets. In 115 years we have seen and been a part of many changes – 16 different called-and-installed pastors (not to mention at least that many short-term interim pastors between the called-and-installed pastors; membership explosions in the late 1950s (well over 600 members); financial-and-membership woes when we considered closing our doors and/or combining with other small Presbyterian churches in Spokane; faithful ministries of outreach, education, child-care, home-bound care, spiritual discipline, Bible studies, fellowship, youth ministry, and in the last decade new ministries that stretch across the globe to Kenya in Africa, and into the soil with our Garden o’ Feedin’ on the south end of our lot, and the list just goes on and on.
Part of what makes 2023 a big year, however, is what makes every year a big year – the re-discovery God’s call for our faithful ministry in northeast Spokane for right now and for the next 100 years.
This is never be a microwave oven process for cooking up church growth plans; it is always more like a crock-pot process for preparing faithful ministry plans.
Let’s prepare to receive a Word from our Majestic God by singing a song of Song of Devotion and Praise – that also declares God’s eternal sovereignty – God of the Ages – #363!!
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Lord Jesus, on THIS day we are barely a week into another whole year – another chance to make things right with our families, or to hurt them again; another chance to succeed at work, or to sluff off; another chance to discover how we fit into Your glorious plan, or to only come to You when we’re in need, or worse, to not come to You at all. On THIS day, dear Lord, help us to set our sights on Your purposes for us, and to stay focused on You all the time. It is by the Word of Jesus Christ that we pray this prayer. Amen.
This morning as we embark on a new year, a new adventure, a new journey of discovery and of faith, let’s start with a man of faith from the Old Testament – a man who Embraced God’s Call and trusted God to accomplish His purpose. Let’s turn to Genesis 12:1-4 —
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- 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.
- “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
- “And I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on the earth will be blessed through you.”
- So, Abram left as the Lord had told him ….
These 4 verses telling us about the call of Abram illustrate the primary qualities of faithfulness. This man is presented in Scripture as a faithful person – not without blemish, but whose life consistently demonstrates that he knows exactly who God is, and therefore he trusts God to accomplish His purpose.
Abram is called … and he goes! He apparently doesn’t really know God before this encounter, but when he hears God’s Call, he embraces it. This faithful embracing makes Abram, next to Moses, the most recorded figure in the Old Testament. Abram makes the genealogy of Jesus cut – in both Matthew and Luke! His faith and obedience are indeed worthy of our attention – not only because he is an example for us to follow, but more importantly he reveals that God is completely trustworthy to accomplish His purpose.
Abram heard the Call of God, an invitation to abandon the false securities and idolatries of life, and enter a relationship with the One who called him. As an example he shows us that it is important to hear God’s voice calling us.
I’ve heard people claim to have never had a prayer answered; I say they just aren’t looking in the right places – not that He always answers prayer the way we expect, but that He answers in ways that are best. I’ve heard people claim that they have never heard God speak to them; I say they’re not listening correctly – not that God always speaks with an audible voice, but that He speaks to us in circumstances, through friends, through events, and in His Word.
From what are we being called to abandon? What “false securities” and “idols” do we need to part ways with? We cannot follow God if we hang on to the things He calls us to leave behind. We need to look deep within ourselves and honestly answer those questions. We may not like the answers we get, but I’m not at all sure Abram was necessarily particularly happy with having to abandon his securities and idols either.
Abram responded to God’s Call with a sweeping trust and obedience. As an example he shows us what it means to trust in God as both Savior and Lord. Most of us do a fine job of believing we have salvation through faith in Jesus Christ; but we do a lousy job of allowing Jesus to be Lord of our lives – we still want to be in charge!
I hear people tell me that they trust God with their lives, but then they say that they give anywhere from 1% to 3% of their income to God’s Kingdom work! If we trust God, won’t we obey His Call for a 10% tithe, even when we can’t see how we’ll pay our bills?
In what ways are we supposed to trust and obey Jesus as Lord and Savior? We cannot follow God if we won’t allow Him to lead us. We may not know how God will take care of our needs, but Abram didn’t even know where He was going when God told him to leave his homeland and not stop going until God told him he was at the place God was leading him.
Abram heard and responded to the Word of God … and then he lived his life on the basis of that Word from God – he Embraced God’s Call – which was both command and promise. As an example Abram shows us how to commit our lives in a faithful relationship with God – and complete service to God. Most of us here – after all, we’re the ones that are at church on a cold January Sunday! – most of us commit our lives to be at church on Sunday mornings – some of us to be here at 9:00 for choir rehearsal, some on mid-week-days for Bible Studies; but do we really commit our 24/7 lives in a relationship with God and to service to Him?
Either we allow God to guide us, to lead us, to Call us … all the time … or we don’t. What kind of Christians do we want to be? What kind of church do we want to have? I want – now I have to be honest – I want to be good, but like Paul says in Romans 7, I don’t always do what I should and sometimes I do what I shouldn’t do; I want to be good and faithful and follow wherever Jesus might take me … and I want to serve with a church that is willing to allow God to be in charge even when it’s scary and we don’t know what’s around the corner.
So we need to ask, what’s next in God’s Call for us? We need to listen and to respond, don’t we?
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But this story about Abram is more than just a faithful example … it also tells us who God is. God is a God who makes promises … and we know from reading the rest of the story, He’s a God who keeps … promises. And what does Abram do? He turns his faith toward the future created by God’s promise.
We began a new year last Sunday. Do we also begin a new journey of faith today? Are we willing to Embrace God’s Call for us? The earliest followers of Jesus understood Abram’s journey with God as a guide to their own faithful relationship.
As we begin a new calendar with our Lord, together, let us invite Him to be Lord of our new year. Together, let’s Embrace God’s Call into the future He promises for us.
Listen in as Pastor Kathy opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving
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16 Gloria Patri
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- what are some praises, thanksgivings, adorations we want to offer?
- Is there a person or a situation you want to lift to our Lord for His answers and grace?
20 We pray this in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray: [The Lord’s Prayer]
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Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.
– Offering (4449 N Nevada St, Spokane, 99207 ; or click HERE, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)
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23-24 Expedition Song #523 – Trust and Obey – just the first and the last verses!
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We continue with this benediction: May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.
And as we do that: “May the Lord bless you and protect you;may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”
27 Announcements
- Annual Congregational Meeting & Potluck Lunch –January 29, to receive our Annual Report and to elect all our new officers
Resources:
Journey of Discovery Bible Study; 2005; P. 3.
Wheeler, Mark; “Embracing God’s Call”; Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church; 01/01/2006.
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