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Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

Sacrifice

David Wright

Life: The Final Goal of All Sacrifice

The Reproach of Those Closest

God Wants To Hear You Sing

Salvation: An Expensive Gift

Sacrifice: Leftovers or Copper Coins

Never Enough

Sin Spotters

Sacrifice Required

Sacrifice for the Gospel

We're going to start a nine-part series on sacrifice because I don't believe we really know in our culture what it means to sacrifice.

And so we'll be looking at that a little bit, and I'll tell you a little bit more about that, but it's gonna culminate on November 12th is the offering of annual sacrifice.

Well, that's something that started back in 1922 When our funds were really low and the economy was in a rough place in this country we didn't have funds for the frontline missionaries and so they pleaded with the people here to sacrifice and To give up meals or some wages to do without in certain areas to save money and the week of prayer following leading up to that they pray Lord what can I sacrifice what can I do without what can I give up and so we're gonna practice that here and we'll talk more about that but for the week leading up I'd like to see our church have groups, small groups of prayer that entire week, meeting every night of the week?

To pray that the Lord will help to show us in what ways that we can sacrifice for this offering that will go to frontline missions.

If we truly believe we're living in the last days, then we need to sacrifice, don't you think?

Are we supposed to live like kings up until Jesus comes?

So that's what we're gonna be talking about, but we're gonna be looking at a lot of aspects of sacrifice along the way.

But to start out, I was just gonna tell you a brief little story of a test.

I was wanting that perfect story and I didn't find it.

I'm sure somebody here has it, Pastor Brian probably has it, of when somebody has to go through something they have no idea and all of a sudden there's this aha moment and they're so glad they did the right thing, you know what I'm talking about?

Well I couldn't find that story, at least not 1 that happened to me.

But I can think of 1 occasion in particular that someday I may tell you how Elizabeth and I met, but we had met and we started spending lots of time together and having lots of conversations.

And on December 7, a day that will live in infamy, we started to date.

So we began to date December 7th, but I had to still go meet her parents.

I had met them 1 time before, but it was kind of like, hey dad, here's a guy I think is cute, just shake his hand.

Oh, hello, nice to see you, da da da da, whatever.

But this time, I was actually gonna go up to meet the parents as the boyfriend.

Well, we hadn't been dating that long, but you know.

And I have this weird feeling because we, I'll tell you our story another time, Or maybe I won't, but we had kind of a rough start.

But by the time we were dating, we'll tell each other this now, but I was pretty certain that she was the 1.

And so as I was driving up to Maryland, I thought, I really think I just might be meeting the in-laws.

I was trying to remember, is her mom cute?

And we get up there and I meet the parents, and because you know your wife's gonna look like your mom, anyway.

So I get up there and I meet the parents, and I'm trying to practice all my good manners and be polite and the whole thing, but the test came when her dad said, David, have a little bit of a project that maybe you could help me with.

Eager as can be, sure, what can I help you with?

Well, and he starts to go into a lot of detail.

There's a little spot above this bedroom that we've just changed from, anyway, and it needs insulation and we need to crawl down, I mean, this was a pretty rough job.

I've never been on the show Dirty Jobs and this isn't really dirty so much but it's rough because you have to get up in the attic which was very hot, even at Christmas time it was hot, and we had to go in this tiny little space, the crawl space is not so bad, But then when it gets to the edge where the roof and the gutter all that area you had to reach back in there and and There was nails poking in from the top so several times you're hitting your head on these nails Oh that didn't feel good and you're putting insulation and we had to to be Special with this insulation and cut it around certain things and and anybody who's dealt with insulation.

And so I'm back there, and I'm breathing in all of this stuff that's shortening my lifespan.

And I'm trying to put this insulation in there a little bit further down Dave that's good that's good a little bit to the right I mean he was working it let me tell you but we finished the job the insulation was installed And I'm pretty sure 4 kids later I passed the test.

I don't know Have you ever been tested and did you ever have to suffer in the process now I suffered a little bit not much But I have to tell you it was worth it It was very very worth it.

I mean if you stop and think, there's a lot of times in life when we are tested.

A job interview is very much like a test.

Any type of a relationship, there's a form of testing that takes place.

Sure, they're nice on the surface, but when the going gets tough, do they get going?

And so, that's where the test comes in, to help us to see and to know who this person is.

And so we put them through a test of some sort.

And we don't necessarily always think of it as such, but a test.

Like I said, this morning we're looking at character of sacrifice, but we're gonna be looking at physical sacrifice, sacrifice of relationships, the sacrifice of self-reliance, the sacrifice of means, of pleasure, of pride, how sacrifice is required and sacrificing for the gospel.

And our theme verse for this series that I'm just going to call sacrifice, Is whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it But whoever loses his life for my sake will what?

Will find it Sacrifice If you don't give if you don't put in if You don't sacrifice if you don't give your all you're not gonna get all of life that God has for you You're not gonna get all the benefits all the joys.

I Don't know if I want to enter into a relationship I might get hurt I Don't know if I want to go downhill skiing that might turn out badly I don't know if I want to enter into a relationship.

I Don't know if I want to go downhill skiing that might Turn out badly I don't know if I want to you know And we can just be so reserved and so cushioned all our lives that we don't ever really experience life.

And the same is true I believe with the Gospel.

Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

This morning I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you brought your Bibles to Genesis 22 a tremendous story of sacrifice that we have here in Genesis chapter 22.

And before we jump into that story, we need to give a little background.

I know you know the background quite well but I think it would be helpful to do a little review.

You might recall leading up to this chapter, rather than trust in God, Abraham lies about Sarah being his sister to Pharaoh in chapter 12.

Which was in fact a half truth, they had the same father.

So they were half brother, sister, siblings, but it really wasn't the whole truth because the truth of the matter was she was his wife.

But for fear of his life and all the rest he told a lie not just once you recall But twice again in chapter 20 to King Abimelech same lie.

He didn't learn the first time He didn't learn to trust in God to trust him to be in charge and to have let the outcome rest with him No, I'm gonna do things my way.

At age 75, Abraham was promised a son, an heir.

First in Genesis chapter 12, and again in chapter 13 the promise is seen and Abraham is extremely wealthy Yet he and his wife are unable to have kids and all of his wealth will do nothing to change the circumstance Have you ever seen that individual?

Who finds himself in the hospital and they're the type of person that they just, they grab the world, and they just do whatever everything they touch turns to gold, and they're used to making everything go just the way they want it to go, and then they have a health crisis in their life.

And some of them, for the first time, they are helpless to do anything about it.

Their bank accounts, their resources, who they know, all of that is for naught because now they are left with an illness that nobody knows a cure for.

So here's Abraham with all of his money, all of his resources, yet he's unable to produce a son.

So after waiting 11 long years, think about that, 11 years is a long time.

He follows his wife's poor advice and has Ishmael through his servant Hagar.

This, of course, adds all kinds of drama.

Yet Ishmael, we know, is not the fulfillment of the promise.

And so after Sarah has now gone through menopause, the promise is repeated to Abraham.

In Genesis 17, 17 it says, Abraham fell on his face and laughed.

He couldn't even stand upright and laugh.

It wasn't a snicker or a giggle, it was a hearty laugh.

Series

Sacrifice

Life: The Final Goal of All Sacrifice

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

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Sound Doctrine