One of the benefits of living in an affluent society is that there are a lot of safety nets for when you might fall on hard times or have difficulties. The vast majority of the world doesn’t have that. This is one of the challenges for the Christ follower; they’re told that they’re supposed to rely on God to provide for all of their needs. One of the things that Pastor Mike will be talking about in his message is that the believer has to learn to trust God. Not only in the good times but when things are less than ‘good’.

Sometimes, it would be nice to know the future, wouldn’t it? Not so you could make lots of money on the Super Bowl, but so you could avoid that car accident. It seems like that would take a lot of stress out of your life, too. Sadly, that isn’t the way this world works. But the great thing about being a follower of God, as you’ll learn in Pastor Mike’s teaching today, is that you have access to the One Who does know the future. Not only that, but He wants to help you and guide you through this crazy life.

It’s probably safe to say that God’s never asked you to put your child to death. That may be the most gut-wrenching thing for a parent to even consider. And some people might think that this shows that God is cruel. But you’ll hear Pastor Mike teach today about the fact that God sees everything, from beginning to end. He has a plan, and He knows the best course to get to His goal. God loved Abraham and Isaac, and He knew His plans for their lives, just like He loves you and knows the best course for your life.

It is human nature, isn’t it – to only try to get close to God when there’s trouble in your life? When things are going smoothly – the job is successful, family life is great – it’s too easy to not only take God for granted but to start to think that your success is due to your strength alone. It’s pretty certain that you’ve never had the kind of test that Pastor Mike will be teaching about today: to offer your child up to God. But as you hear the message, you’ll understand why Abraham is called the father of the faith.

There have been lots of people through time who have said that you don’t need to follow God’s rules about getting to heaven. They have a better way, and it has way less personal cost than God’s way. It’s the same today – name it and claim it, easy believism, and many others. But as Pastor Mike will teach today, you can see in the Bible that from Abraham’s time, the most important person to satisfy is God. Do things His way and you’re in; decide to do things the way you want and you’ll end up in outer darkness.

It’s easy to pray for God to do…something…for your grandma’s neighbor, or your cousin’s father-in-law. After all, that situation’s removed from you and you don’t have much personal investment in seeing the outcome. But if it’s your father-in-law or your child – well, things get a lot more real, don’t they? And as you’ll hear in Pastor Mike’s teaching today, this is where Abraham and Sarah had been. God had made them a promise of a miracle child and they’d waited and hoped and trusted. And God kept His promise.

Let’s be honest – every single Christian has an area where they struggle with temptation. It could be lust, or greed, or gossiping, but it’s out there, waiting for an opportunity to rear its ugly head. And it’s so frustrating to give in to temptation – again! You ask for forgiveness – again! – and promise God this is the last time. Well, you’re going to hear in Pastor Mike’s teaching today about a time that the father of the faith, Abraham, let an old area of his lack of faith show up again, and man, did it have consequences?

Christians like to say that they’re sinners saved by grace. And yet too many times they’re accused of being ‘holier than thou’ and judgmental towards others. The problem with Christians, which is the same problem non-Christians have, is that they are all sinners. And although the Christian has the power of God working in them, they still mess up. And Pastor Mike’s teaching today will show a time when the ‘father of the faith, Abraham, played with the truth and caused a big problem for his wife and himself.

If you read the stories in Genesis, Lot and Abraham were both extremely wealthy – the reason they split up was that the land couldn’t support feeding both of their flocks together. But why does the Bible speak so differently of the two men? Well, Pastor Mike will answer that question in today’s teaching. They were both met by angelic beings who had messages for them. The contrasting ways Abraham and Lot reacted to those messages made huge differences in the way their lives turned out.

The story of Lot’s wife being turned into a pillar of salt is pretty well-known, even by those who aren’t much interested in the things of God. But that story, as important as it is, often distracts from the story of her husband, Lot. And while his heart might not have been as invested in Sodom as his wives were, Pastor Mike’s teaching today will show that Lot had his problems with a divided heart as well. You’ll learn the dangers of trying to have one foot in the world system and one in the kingdom of God.