22 1-19 Teaching Teens The Life Of Faith
liberty bible church 2/17/08 P.M.
By Tom Zobrist
“Teaching teens the life of faith”
How to keep them from falling away?
Genesis 22:1-19
introduction
Illus. of “Teen Eyesight” Teens can be a stress sometimes. They can be so attune spiritually as children and seem to get lost somewhere in the teen years. What happens? How can we keep them motivated to keep serving God?
Illus. of “Always Late” Is it this simple? Is it just a matter of proper motivation? If so, maybe we can get them some motivation tapes. If there are not teem ones, there are some for dogs that might work. Let me show you. Put picture on the screen.
How can we keep teens from falling away from the faith they proclaim as children?
OPEN to passage.
Prop. In this passage, we see one parent lead their child down a path of faith.
Open in PRAYER.
PREVIEW the passage. We jump several years into the future in life of Abraham. Most believe that Isaac is in his late teens, perhaps as old as 20 or more. Our key tonight is if we want our children to live lives of faith in Jesus, then we must set the example for them to follow. How does Abraham demonstrate his faith for His son?
i. genuine faith submits to God’s will vs. 1-8
Illus. of as teens become more and more independent, they begin to make and more of their own decisions. It becomes much more difficult to micromanage their lives. If you want them to make decisions based on obedience to God, they have to have witnessed that in their parents’ lives. Isaac sees that in Abraham here.
a. this is only a test
V 1 1. A test of faith comes for Abraham. A test that defies logic and would be something that Abraham would want to resist. At one time, he was asked to send Ishmael away. Now he is going to be asked something even more difficult in relation to Isaac.
V 2a 2. As if Abraham needed it, God reminds him of how special Isaac was. He was a unique child, the circumstances of his birth being miraculous. He also reminds him of his love for him, as if Abraham didn’t know it.
V 2b 3. He is to go to Moriah and sacrifice him to God. Even though child sacrifice was common in Canaan at this time, how could Abraham do this? How could God fulfill His promise that He had made in Gen. 12? Hos could Abraham’s loss be replaced? What about Sarah. How is he going to explain this to her? What would he do? Would he faith be able to withstand this test?
b. Abraham unquestionably obeys
V 3 1. He asks no questions. He rises early, gathers what he needs and leaves. No long good-byes. Once again, Sarah is not even consulted.
V 4 2. It was three day journey, about 50 miles. That had to be a fun trip.
V 5 3. Abraham asks the servants to stay behind. He and Isaac would go and worship and then return. What he was thinking we do not know. God had promised that the future would come through Isaac. He knew that he had been asked to sacrifice Isaac. Like election and free will, how they go together, we don’t know, but we have faith that they do. Abraham’s faith was great here! Cf. Heb. 11:17-19 He knew God could raise him from the dead if necessary. He brought him from a dead womb.
V 6 4. Like Jesus carrying His own cross, Isaac carries the would for the fire. Abraham knows they have everything they need. But, Isaac doesn’t.
V 7 5. Abraham had not shared the details of the worship. But, his answer reveals his faith to God and to his son.
V 8 6. Isaac, even as a teen or perhaps college age young man, trusts his father.
Trans. GENUINE FAITH SUBMITS TO GOD’S WILL and Abraham’s faith as genuine. Second…
ii. genuine faith is willing to sacrifice all vs. 9-14
Illus. of Voice of the Martyrs defines a Christian martyr as “Someone who chooses to suffer death rather than to deny Christ, or His work… Sacrifices something very important to further the Kingdom of God… Endures great suffering for Christian witness.” Abraham fits that bill here. But, notice that he doesn’t have to sacrifice his son, he just has to be willing. Genuine faith is willing if called to sacrifice.
a. abraham and isaac are willing to sacrifice
V 9a 1. Abraham prepares the alter. Perhaps Isaac helped him. Then…
V 9b 2. Isaac has to submit to his father’s leadership here. He was strong enough to resist an old man. He trusted the faith of His father. I’m sure he had heard the accounts of his amazing birth and he too had to trust God.
V 10 3. Abraham was going to go through with it and God now knew it. When we are willing to sacrifice…
b. God’s will becomes clear
V 11 1. This may have been Jesus calling out to him from Heaven.
V 12 2. To “fear God” means that we reverence Him as sovereign; we trust Him and are willing to obey without question. God knew that Abraham feared Him.
V 13 3. God does provide as Abraham had told Isaac.
V 14 4. Abraham names the place to commemorate his experience, but it would become a reminder to the nation. This is the mountain on which the Temple of God eventually would be built. The Jews would come here with their animal sacrifices and find atonement for their sins. God provided for them as well. He eventually provided for us all, when Jesus was crucified as the Lamb of God for the sins of the world.
Trans. GENUINE FAITH SUBMITS TO GOD’S WILL, GENUINE FAITH IS WILLING TO SACRIFICE ALL and finally…
iii. genuine faith spreads to others vs. 15-19
Illus. of the flu. It is contagious and we stay away from it. Faith is contagious as well. Others try to stay away, but blessings are available for those that want to respond to God’s invitation.
A. Confirmation of the covenant
V 15 1. Abraham is called to by the Angel of the Lord again.
V 16 2. The covenant is unconditional. Abraham’s response of faith confirmed that God would fulfill the choices that He made.
V 17 3. Abraham’s descendants will grow and they will eventually conquer the land. They did under Joshua’s leadership.
V 18 4. This would be fulfilled in Jesus.
V 19 5. They returned home. I wonder what Sarah said.
b. Lessons on wORship here:
1. GENUINE FAITH SUBMITS TO GOD’S WILL.
2. GENUINE FAITH IS WILLING TO SACRIFICE ALL.
3. GENUINE FAITH SPREADS TO OTHERS.
conclusion
True worship is costly. Young must people must know our faith is genuine or they won’t want to pay the price. They won’t want to follow Christ when it rests upon them to make their own decisions. What can we do to make sure we set a good example?
1. Are we obedient in all of our lives or do we change when we leave church. Hypocrisy is easily spotted by teens.
2. Are we willing to sacrifice our children? Are we willing to let them follow God? Many time Christian parents become the biggest road blocks to young people serving God.
3. Is our faith contagious? Do we share our faith? GOSPEL If want our kids to evangelize, we must be willing to.
4. 1 Cor. 15:33
Illus. of “faith crisis” for teens. How do we help them through this?
Illus. of “Favorable Environment”
Our kids not only need to avoid bad company, they need a favorable environment in which to grow in Christ. If we provide that, when the faith crisis comes, they will desire to serve Jesus and their faith will get them through.
pray
liberty bible church 2/17/08 P.M.
By Tom Zobrist
“Teaching teens the life of faith”
How to keep them from falling away?
Genesis 22:1-19
introduction
How can we keep teens from falling away from the faith they proclaim as children?
i. genuine faith to God’s will vs. 1-8
a. this is only a test
b. Abraham _______________________________________ __________________
ii. genuine faith is willing to vs. 9-14
a. abraham and ___________________________ are…
b. God’s ___________________________ becomes clear
iii. genuine faith vs. 15-19
A. Confirmation of the covenant
b. Lessons on wORship here:
1.
2.
3.
conclusion
What can we do to make sure we set a good example?
1.
2.
3.
4.