“How Can I Be Confident in Trusting God?” – Genesis 15:7-8,18

Genesis 15:7-8,18

“And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give

 this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,”

“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today!” This was the offer repeatedly given by Wimpy, one of the mainstay characters in the Popeye cartoon. No one believed Wimpy or ever took him up on his offer without considering their money lost for good. We can become skeptical from our past dealings with others who overpromise and under deliver. So it’s natural to be leery of promises that seem a little too good to be true.
When God presented another of His big promises to Abram, he wanted a little reassurance. “How can I be sure that this is really going to happen? How can I know that if I step out in faith, you’ll be there to catch me?” God in His loving patience gave Abram three things to confirm that this promise would come to pass. 
  1. His past performance – God started this conversation reminding Abram of the ways that He had delivered on His earlier promises. “Remember, I’m the One who has already moved you from there to here.”
  2. The promise of His Word – God made a covenant, a sacred contract with Abram laying out the specifics of what He would accomplish in and through him and his descendants. 
  3. A ritual to represent and remind – God had Abram provide a sacrifice of several animals. And different elements of the ritual were a reminder to Abram who he was dealing with – the perfect and powerful creator of the Universe, a King who was not only able but willing to bless him for his faithfulness for generations to come.
When God calls us to step out in faith with our actions, our relationships, and our resources, we can trust Him that He will be faithful. Our confidence is based on His character, His promises, and our prior experience with Him. 

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • Can you identify times that God has shown His power in your life? 
  • Why do you think we have trouble trusting Him in spite of past experience? 
  • What are some of the promises that God has made to those who follow Him through Christ? 
  • What’s a ritual we do today in church that reminds us of God’s faithfulness and love?  
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Jon Price, Associate Pastor

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“You’re Making it Too Complicated!” – Genesis 12:1-3

Genesis 12:1-3

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”


I want to be as simple and direct as I can with this devotion. For most of us, our lives are too complicated and it is not supposed to be that way. God made life to be simple and ordinary. Let me explain.

God gave Abram a promise that he would be a blessing to all nations and God would give him some land. God later said this blessing would come through Abram’s children. So, it seems that God was calling Abram to an extraordinary life. Well, He was, but for that to happen, Abram just had to live a normal life in faith and God would produce the extraordinary. 


What was the rest of Abram’s life? “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” Abram’s goal was to try to have a child and live on the land God promised. It really was that simple.

Noah was told an extraordinary flood was coming. But, Noah did the ordinary and built a boat. David slung a rock, Daniel went to sleep, Elijah preached a sermon. All ordinary acts that God used for extraordinary plans.

God intends for us to live, work, raise families, love one another, and even struggle, but He will squeeze divine things out of it. In essence, our contribution to the divine is to live obediently and leave the divine result to Him.

Life does not have to be complicated. Obey God’s voice by living a normal Christian life. Then God will bring out the divine plans that make your normal life extraordinary. It relieves unwarranted worry and allows us to live restful in the present. Oh! The sweet fellowship we can have will Christ in the simple life.


While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • Do you find yourself making things too complicated at times? In what ways? 
  • Do you believe that living through faith in Christ is simple? Are simple and easy the same thing? 
  • What would a less complicated life lived in faith look like for you? What are some practical steps you can make today in that direction? 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Pastor Stephen Williams
Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash

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“You’re Never Too Old To Start Something New” – Genesis 11:27-12:4

Genesis 11:27-12:4

“Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.”

It’s typical for many folks to reach a certain age where they believe they’ve done all that they’re going to accomplish of any real significance. They enter into a phase of life where their plans include sitting back, relaxing, stepping away from all responsibilities, and letting others pick up the ball and run with it. They’re happy to look back in fondness at years gone by, to live in the memories of the past, and get as comfortable as possible until God sees fit to punch their one-way ticket to glory. After all, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Right? 
When we look at the passage above, one of the things that the author makes sure to point out is that Abram is 75 years old when his life (as we know it) really begins. We don’t know anything about Abram up to this point other than where he came from and who his relatives were. Was he popular in high school? Did he have a successful career? Was he in the top 30 under 30 according to the Chaldean Chronicle? We don’t know, and as far as the Bible is concerned, it doesn’t matter. In fact, everything that Abram might have amassed during his younger years was left behind as he obediently followed God into the next phase of his life.
Consider the following questions: 
  • As you consider your own age, is there a time that you’ve given yourself as your productive years? In your opinion, is there an age when God will be done using you? 
  • Can you think of any people you know that are living to their fullest at a time when culture tells them their best days are behind them? 
  • Could God be calling you into a new chapter in your life, one that just might eclipse everything you’ve done and experienced so far? Take some time to listen to God and allow Him to speak a challenge for tomorrow into you.
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Jon Price, Associate Pastor

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“God Keeps Giving Us A Chance”

One of the challenges we face as we plan our journey from Genesis to Revelation in 2021 is what to include. There’s simply not enough time to cover all that we would like to in the daily reading and the sermons. So every once in a while it’s great to look to our friends at the Bible Project for an overview of the sections that we cover. They do a beautiful job filling in the gaps and showing connected themes. For your devotional today, enjoy their video on Genesis 1-11 and join us tomorrow for worship as we wrap up this section. Just click on the picture below. 

The Bible Project 

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“The Walls We Make” – Philippians 2:1-6

Philippians 2:1-6

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,”

When I was in college, I watched a historical event that was celebrated around the world – the collapse of the Berlin Wall. This concrete wall separated a city and represented two competing ideologies from 1961 to 1989. One side represented oppression and the other freedom. The wall separated families and restricted travel. Those trying to cross would be turned away or gunned down. The wall’s demise ushered in a time of unity among many and became one of the biggest symbols of the collapse of Russia and the end of the Cold War. 
Some walls are important, they protect and mark boundaries. But some walls need to come down. Whether we realize it or not, we can be guilty of building walls that separate us from the very people we are commissioned to reach. In Philippians, Paul describes the material that can be used to build unhealthy walls: 
  • Selfish ambition
  • Conceit
  • Exclusively pursuing our own interests and
  • Grabbing all that we feel we’re entitled to 
By building such a wall we can feel smug, safe, and shielded. But by insulating, we can end up isolating – ourselves and others. So let us be encouraged and admonished by the same words that were so powerful spoken in Berlin over 30 years ago, “Tear down that wall!”  
While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • Has Christ made a difference in your life? What if we could help make a similar difference in someone else’s life by using the same tools that Christ did?
  • Look through the passage again and identify the tools that we can use to tear down walls and free us up to Live Loud. 

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 

Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Jon Price, Associate Pastor

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But what about “my truth?” – 1 Corinthians 1:10

I Corinthians 1:10

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”

We live in a bizarre world where individuals believe their experience, preference, intellect, feelings, upbringing, social or political status, education, relationships, and power somehow changes the universe to fit “their truth.” Life shapes us, but truth never changes. Truth is never new, it’s just discovered. God’s word is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I hate to burst your bubble, but there is no “my truth,” no matter what famous person claims it.
The Apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth about unity. Some folks wanted to have their “own truth” about the Gospel. When you add or take away anything from the Gospel message – it is no longer the Gospel. He refocuses the church on what Jesus taught and warns of others preaching a different message. 
There are Gospel truths that never change. 
  • Our God is Three in One – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 
  • Jesus’ birth, death, resurrection, and return
  • Salvation by Grace, through Faith, in Christ 
  • We are created in the likeness of God, not the other way around! 

“Scripture speaks in black and white, while our world is increasingly gray.” Because one chooses to not believe in salvation, miracles, morality, creation, return, position, or any Biblical truth does not diminish its reality. It becomes a matter of your faith and living for Christ.

Christians need to be united in sharing and living the Gospel message. One message! Truth! This increases one’s faith, evangelizes those around us, and prevents others from stumbling on questionable interpretations. Maybe we are in the wrong fitting room. Instead of trying to fit the Gospel into “my truth”; “my truth” needs to be fit by the Gospel.
Two trues I have found: 1. There is a God! 2. I am not Him!
While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • Do you agree that there is only one truth? If so, how have you found it challenging to share that truth in a world that is increasingly embracing the idea of relative (personal) truth? 
  • What are some possible consequences to holding and trying to live out a belief of relative truth? 

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 

Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Jim Sellers, Minister of Music and Senior Adults

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