Harbor Church Honolulu

Some of us are running on 3%. Nothing left to give, and the week isn’t even over. This Sunday we launch Becoming, six weeks exploring the life of Joseph, a man who received everything he needed before he had anything to give. You don’t start this journey full. You start it empty, and you receive.

What does a Jesus-follower look like? We’re not talking about what they wear, what they drive, or what sticker is on their bumper. If somebody snapped a picture of the people of God, what would they see? Good news: we don’t have to guess. 
In Acts 2, God posted the very first family photo. And that’s what the Harbor family is aiming to look like.

We all love the idea of going all in with God, but most of us still keep a hand on a few valued chips, just in case. So sometimes God has to take the things we value away from us (even things he himself gave us), to help us see that God is so much better than his gifts.

Ever feel like you don’t fit in? Maybe you feel it at pau hana time when you’re the only one who doesn’t down a 6-pack. Maybe you feel it at family dinners when you’re the only one who doesn't laugh at the joke. You feel it because every Christian is a spiritual alien in this world. An “elect exile” like it says in 1 Peter 1. Abraham was an alien in the land where God placed him, but he’ll show us how to live well as an outsider.

God is absolutely sovereign. He made a sovereign plan for our lives before the foundation of the world. But he chooses to use our intercessory prayer as part of his sovereign plan. So how can we pray for God to move mightily in our families, neighborhoods, and islands? Abraham will show us the way.

Quick: on a scale of 1-10, how are you at waiting? If 10 is a monk on a mountaintop, and 1 is a toddler in the checkout line at Costco, where do you land? Most of us are extremely waiting-resistant, but then God says things to us like, ”Wait patiently for the Lord.” We don’t like it, so we find shortcuts and workarounds to the waiting. But God will show us how to trust him and his loving plan.

We’ve all experienced broken promises, and those disappointments can make it difficult to trust anyone. So how can we be sure that God will actually keep the promises he makes? We’ll see Abram wrestle with fear, doubt, and waiting, and discover why God’s promises don’t rest on our faithfulness, but on his unchanging character.

We all want God’s blessing, but what does his blessing actually look like? Is it getting what we want, having things work out, or seeing the doors we’ve prayed for open? Through the story of Abram and Lot, we’ll see that God’s blessing is about more than what we have. Ultimately, the greatest blessing God gives us is himself.