July 6, 2025 – Week 1 – The Tension of the Unknown

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Back in 1997 in Taipei they decided, as part of a celebration to do a massive game of tug of war.  Let me ask you, how many of you were the kid that would let go of the rope when playing tug of war…  Ha, just about every guy I know has done that.  The people should have let go of the rope…  That day they had 1,600 people join in the tug of rope.  I can’t even imagine that many people and how long the rope had to have been.  Here’s what I do know, that many people, tugging on one rope exerted 176,369 lbs of force on the rope… Here was the problem, no one thought to check how much force the rope 2” thick rope could actually handle, which was only 57,320 lbs.  What happened was crazy.  When all 1600 people began tugging all at once the rope severed and as it did, two men has their arms ripped from their bodies… It’s not clear if the rope snapped back and severed the arms or if they were literally ripped off their bodies.  Can you imagine standing there looking down at the ground and being like, “someone lost an arm” and then realizing it was you…   Oh man, that’s crazy! This morning we are going to begin to explore the tension that’s created when we follow God by looking at the life and story of Abraham from scripture. I heard someone say once that  Tension is not something you can typically get rid of, rather it’s something you manage. my hope is to help you learn to manage the tension SCRIPTURE: Genesis 12:1-3 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation,     and I will bless you; I will make your name great,     and you will be a blessing.[a] 3 I will bless those who bless you,     and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth     will be blessed through you.”[b] It would be easy for me to preach an inspirational sermon about hearing God, believing God, and following God.  I could preach and get yall fired up and talking about how Abraham didn’t hesitate, he just followed God and how through Abe God will bless all peoples, some day Jesus will come through his lineage and you will sit in this room today because this guy thousands of years ago left everything.   And while that sermon would be good and true, it would miss something. Did you notice what Abe was going to have to leave behind to follow the call of God? b His country, his people, and his family If you’ve ever done something significant like moving away from a place you grew up in you know this wasn’t a quick easy thing for Abe. I’m preaching for the silence right now, and we don’t know for sure.  But you do know that his country is the land he grew up in, it’s knowing all the honey holes for fishing, and knowing the best places to hunt.  It’s all the culture and customs he’s ever known. His country represents everything he’s comfortable with. and his people? Abe is leaving his friends, he’s leaving his neighbors, he’s leaving his aunts and uncles and relatives.  He’s leaving free babysitting and help with sick animals, he’s leaving all his community Leaving his people is leaving his community and friends behind. and then to leave his father’s household.  There’s no phones, there’s no facetime.  Abe is literally saying, “I may never see you again” to the people who are closest to him. Leaving his father’s household is going into the world alone. Look, it would be easy for me to make this seem easy, but following God is not easy, it’s full of tension.  It would be easy to hide the fact that Abe will take things into his own hands because things didn’t happen the way he thought they should.  It would be easy to hide the doubt his wife had or how she laughed at God or how God gave promises to her too to confirm what he called Abe to do.   Following God is not always easy and clear cut. Jesus said it this way: John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. So, I was thinking.  How do I help you make sense of this without overwhelming you.   On one side I want you to start listening to God and being brave enough to follow Him into the generosity of giving your life away like Abraham did b On the other side, I want to make sure it’s God you’re listening to… b 2 Guardrails as you learn to follow God into the unknown: b 1.  Start with what’s clear. God has already called you to certain things, have you mastered those? Love your neighbor, Love your enemy forgive as He forgave you be generous etc. ILLUSTRATION: When our kids were little and wanted to learn to ride a bike, I learned pretty quickly they needed to learn to balance before they learned peddling.  We’d take them to the top of the driveway and have them put their feet down and just let it coast down to the bottom and then go again till that was easy.  I’m not saying God won’t call you to big things when you are a new christian.  But I am saying if you are not faithful in these, why would would he send you big things?   b If you haven’t learned to look at life through the Kingdom lens of “everything I have is on loan to me, so I can give it away,” then why would He give you more? b Most of what God calls us to is small, it’s in the small that He learns if you are able to handle much. (Luke 12:48) 2.  Following God should never be a battering ram to use against others ILLUSTRATION:  we’ve all met the person who claims God has told them to do something, the worst cases are the people who say God told them something that manipulates you into having to do something for them. “God told me you are supposed to come help us…”  Maybe…. Maybe he did…  But Abraham’s story wasn’t that clear cut God revealed it to his wife too (Genesis 18:1-15) God spoke it multiple times to Abraham (Genesis (Genesis 12, 15, 17) b God may be a God who is hard to nail down, but He is not a God of chaos. b It’s ok to take time to confirm what God is calling you to and to make sure you are listening to Him and not just following your emotions… CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: People today are still following God’s call like Abraham did.  They  are still leaving everything they know and giving everything they have to follow Him.  My wife and I have done it several times (moving to Kentucky from Kansas was one of those for us).  I want to introduce you to a young couple who is taking a massive step.  Listen to their story  [PLAY VIDEO OF THE OTTS] ------------- Genesis 12:1-3 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation,     and I will bless you; I will make your name great,     and you will be a blessing.[a] 3 I will bless those who bless you,     and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth     will be blessed through you.”[b] John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. Abraham is called out of a nation that he knew.  A land, a people, all his friends.  This may not seem like generosity, but let me tell you, generosity is the laying down of what you have to benefit another.  Abraham is leaving everything he knows to bless the entire world.  You and I are blessed because this man was faithful in what God called him to.  Jesus will come through his line as a direct result of him being willing to follow God into this.  God still calls people like this.  My wife and I moved from KS to be here to minister at the call of God.  Same with you, He’s still looking for the faithful and to call you to something greater.  The question is whether we will respond with generosity, lay down our life and our rights for the blessing of others.  The secret is that in the laying down, God ends up blessing us as well…  We’ll see this in Abe. Interview or video with the Otts STUDY: It's easy to see Abram as some super human who this was easy for, but trapped in those words are lots of heartache, lots of stress, lots of questioning, etc.  "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you." Let's break it down.  Leave the people and customs you have always known - your country.  Leave the land, the way of life, the culture, leave it all... Leave your people - leave the friends you've grown up with, leave the ones you see at the well when you're watering your animals, leave it all. Leave your father's household.  Leave your family, walk away from those you love - no phone calls, no facetime, no returning.  Leave them and never see them again. this was not easy.  This was complete and utter trust - I wonder what Terrah said to Abe? "Son, this is not a smart move.." "Son, what are you going to do if you run out of food? or get attacked?  What will you do? The narrative that's easy to believe and that most of us believe is we are out there alone, but that's not true.  We forget God. We forget that He is moving and will move.   Following God is not an easy peasy thing, it's not straight forward and efficient like we think of efficiency.  following God is being willing to follow Him into the unknown. The tension Abe felt in following God was extreme.  It was not easy, it was a difficult thing.   Guardrails there are already things God has called you to do that are not special love your neighbor forgive be generous etc. Most things God calls us to are not massive - they are little things like, "hey, give that person some help" or "offer to watch their kids for free".  Jesus very clearly said that whoever is faithful in the little things will be given more This is not about baptizing your ideas and telling people it's from God.  Abe very much heard from God and God reconfirmed it multiple times, even with his wife Sarai having it confirmed to her.  This should never be a battering ram to another person.. What has God called you to be generous in that the tension of the unknown has kept you from being obedient? What's the worst thing that would happen if you listened to Him? Who do you need to invite into praying over this decision to make sure you are hearing from God (John says to test the spirits) ORDER: Starting generous tensions -looking at the tension of following God while still in the skin Abe and his call -would be easy to preach an inspirational sermon about following God -but thats not reality.  What's hidden in these words are the nights spent deciding to follow God (the pain of separation from family, etc.) -what's hidden in that sermon is Abe doubting and not always listening to God, but taking things into his own hands - his wife laughing -what's hidden is that it was confirmed to his wife and when they finally saw the promise was YEARS later there is tension when following God - because God doesn't make things clean and cut perfect, He makes it wild and makes it where you need to stay close to Him, it's why we call it "following" So, practicals, what do you do if you feel God calling you to something big.. Guardrails there are already things God has called you to do that are not special love your neighbor forgive be generous etc. Most things God calls us to are not massive - they are little things like, "hey, give that person some help" or "offer to watch their kids for free".  Jesus very clearly said that whoever is faithful in the little things will be given more This is not about baptizing your ideas and telling people it's from God.  Abe very much heard from God and God reconfirmed it multiple times, even with his wife Sarai having it confirmed to her.  This should never be a battering ram to another person.. I want to introduce you to some friends who are following God in some big and scary ways... -introduce the Otts talk about their story...