Abraham’s Story

Matthew 1

🌟Sermon Show Notes: A Timeless Message of Faith with Our Father Abraham🌟

Join us for a journey through time and faith with none other than our forefather Abraham, a man whose remarkable journey still resonates with us thousands of years later. As we gather, we’ll discover the joy awaiting us in God’s glorious presence, a sight Abraham assures us is truly breathtaking.

Though our friend Abraham hails from an era long before our own, with a lifespan reaching an astonishing 175 years, he brings a message that is as fresh and vital as if it were given just yesterday. His story connects us across millennia to the heart of God’s plan for humanity.

Abraham grew up in a world of idol worship. Yet, in an incredible encounter, God shone His glory upon him and turned his life around. This same God, who intervened in Abraham’s life, is eager to make Himself known to each of us today, especially during this season of Christmas.

With humour and warmth, Abraham shares how despite his initial doubts, the miraculous promise of a son was fulfilled in his and Sarah’s lives. Yet the story does not end there, for the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise would not be found in his immediate descendants but in one who was to come many generations later—Jesus Christ.

1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,440 Thank you for your welcome. Hello everybody. It is wonderful to be here. 2 00:00:06,240 –> 00:00:14,640 I tell you, you look pretty good from here, but I’ll tell you, you look far better from up there. 3 00:00:15,760 –> 00:00:23,120 See, you don’t know, but there is a glory in all of you who know Jesus Christ that 4 00:00:23,120 –> 00:00:30,959 we see from up there, you can’t see it here, but when you’re with us, and when you see it in each 5 00:00:30,959 –> 00:00:37,919 other, you are going to be overwhelmed with joy. It’s great to be with you. 6 00:00:38,880 –> 00:00:44,720 I hear, by the way, that your pastor’s been complaining about a sore back. 7 00:00:46,000 –> 00:00:50,799 Well, I could tell him a thing or two about aching bones. You see, 8 00:00:50,799 –> 00:00:59,200 I live to the grand old age of 175 years, and if you live to be 175 years old, I can tell you 9 00:00:59,200 –> 00:01:07,760 the last 50 years can be pretty difficult. But all that, my life on earth here, was 4,000 years 10 00:01:08,239 –> 00:01:16,879 ago. 4,000 years. Imagine that. But of course, being up there 1,000 years is just like a day, 11 00:01:17,599 –> 00:01:24,559 and it’s gone by like a flash for me. I can’t describe to you the joy of life 12 00:01:24,559 –> 00:01:30,559 in the presence of God. Now, you’re probably wondering why they would invite 13 00:01:30,559 –> 00:01:37,680 me to tell you the Christmas story. In fact, seeing that I lived 2,000 years before the Lord 14 00:01:37,680 –> 00:01:43,279 Jesus Christ was born, some of you might really think I had nothing to do with the Christmas story, 15 00:01:43,279 –> 00:01:51,599 but that’s where you would be wrong. See, God spoke to me about the birth of the Savior. 16 00:01:51,599 –> 00:01:56,720 You can check it out in John’s Gospel. Jesus actually spoke about me. Did you know that? 17 00:01:56,720 –> 00:02:06,720 He said, Abraham rejoiced in the thought of seeing my day. Then Jesus said about me that Abraham 18 00:02:06,720 –> 00:02:15,279 saw my day and he rejoiced in it. That’s true. I saw while I was still here on earth 2,000 years 19 00:02:15,279 –> 00:02:23,119 before Jesus was born. I saw His day and I can tell you that His day coming changed my life 20 00:02:23,119 –> 00:02:30,720 even 2000 years before, and it has changed my eternity ever since. So let me tell you my story. 21 00:02:31,520 –> 00:02:40,479 I grew up in Ur of the Chaldees. It was in Mesopotamia, the area you would refer to today 22 00:02:40,479 –> 00:02:49,520 as southern Iraq. I grew up not knowing the first thing about God. In fact, I worshiped idols. All 23 00:02:49,520 –> 00:02:56,479 of my ancestors had done that. Isn’t it interesting? When folks don’t know the living God, 24 00:02:57,199 –> 00:03:05,360 what they do is they worship something else. That’s what I did for years. I enjoyed a comfortable 25 00:03:05,360 –> 00:03:11,339 life in the city with my extended family. There was my father, Terra. There was my nephew, Lot, 26 00:03:11,339 –> 00:03:20,240 and of course my marvelous wife, Sarah. Boy, she was a very remarkable woman. Why she married me, 27 00:03:20,240 –> 00:03:26,399 I will never really know and she said sometimes she’s not very sure why she did. 28 00:03:26,779 –> 00:03:37,160 But you know one day God broke into my life. All I can tell you is that he appeared to me just 29 00:03:37,160 –> 00:03:46,639 like God appeared to Adam and to Eve in the Garden of Eden. I saw the glory of the Lord. It 30 00:03:46,639 –> 00:03:54,279 was absolutely overwhelming to me. I can’t really describe it to you except to say that it was like 31 00:03:54,580 –> 00:04:00,639 being surrounded with radiant lights and to know that you were in the presence of one who was 32 00:04:00,639 –> 00:04:08,919 unlike anyone else you had ever met or ever could meet. Years later, Isaiah described it when he 33 00:04:08,919 –> 00:04:15,679 said, the people who walked in darkness. They’ve seen a great light. That’s what happened to me. 34 00:04:15,679 –> 00:04:22,399 And you know the same thing happened to the shepherds. Luke says in his account of the 35 00:04:22,459 –> 00:04:29,320 Christmas story that the angels of the Lord appeared to them and did you notice that he 36 00:04:29,320 –> 00:04:39,179 says the glory of the Lord shone around them. They saw God’s glory and that’s just what happened to 37 00:04:39,179 –> 00:04:50,760 me. I saw His glory. Here’s something wonderful that I still can’t explain to you. The God of 38 00:04:50,880 –> 00:04:58,239 the Bible breaks into the lives of people who don’t even know him. Breaks into the lives of 39 00:04:58,239 –> 00:05:04,760 folks who aren’t even looking for him. That’s what happened to the shepherds. That’s what 40 00:05:04,760 –> 00:05:12,459 happened to me and I’m praying that’s what’s gonna happen in your life over this Christmas 41 00:05:12,619 –> 00:05:23,619 season. And God blessed me. In fact God gave to me a sevenfold blessing. You can count the 42 00:05:23,619 –> 00:05:29,579 blessings with me. Here’s what he said. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless 43 00:05:29,579 –> 00:05:36,459 you he said to me. I will make your name great. I will make you a blessing. I will bless those 44 00:05:36,459 –> 00:05:41,820 who bless you. I will curse those who curse you and all peoples on earth will be blessed 45 00:05:42,179 –> 00:05:47,980 through you. This was more than I could take in. First I couldn’t understand why God would 46 00:05:47,980 –> 00:05:53,940 bless me. I hadn’t even known him. I certainly hadn’t done anything for Him. I wasn’t a worshiper 47 00:05:53,940 –> 00:06:00,779 of him. Why would God break out of heaven and bless me? You have a word for that. Grace. 48 00:06:00,899 –> 00:06:07,899 Grace, the mercy of God. God just picked me out, and He blessed me. His love was poured 49 00:06:13,279 –> 00:06:19,880 out on me for no other reason than that God is merciful and God is compassionate. He had 50 00:06:19,880 –> 00:06:26,880 mercy and he had compassion on me and that means He has mercy and compassion for you. 51 00:06:31,160 –> 00:06:36,859 But then there was something else in what he said that really blew me away. God said, 52 00:06:36,859 –> 00:06:45,500 all people on earth will be blessed because of you. Now how could that be? How could 53 00:06:45,500 –> 00:06:52,519 one life in this world bring blessing to all people? I just couldn’t understand that! 54 00:06:52,519 –> 00:06:57,000 Later God spoke to me again and He made it clear that this blessing was going to come 55 00:06:57,739 –> 00:07:03,640 through a son. That seemed absolutely crazy to me because Sarah and I didn’t have a family. 56 00:07:03,640 –> 00:07:08,059 We’d been trying to start a family for years, but absolutely nothing had happened. 57 00:07:08,059 –> 00:07:16,059 So when God spoke about us having a son I laughed. I said, will a man have a child when 58 00:07:16,059 –> 00:07:21,899 he is 100 years old and he’s got a wife who is 90? Let me tell you something from 59 00:07:21,899 –> 00:07:32,019 my experience. Never laugh at the promises of God because what God said is 60 00:07:32,019 –> 00:07:39,019 exactly what happened. When the little fellow was born, Sarah and I were full of 61 00:07:39,019 –> 00:07:45,799 joy. We called him Isaac, which means he laughs, which we thought was an 62 00:07:45,799 –> 00:07:51,619 appropriate name for a baby born to a couple of Geriatrics. It soon became 63 00:07:51,619 –> 00:07:58,299 pretty obvious though, that Isaac wasn’t gonna change the world. I mean, most 64 00:07:58,299 –> 00:08:04,579 people cannot name a single thing that Isaac accomplished in his life, can you? 65 00:08:04,579 –> 00:08:11,880 So we began to think over time, that maybe God’s blessing to the world would 66 00:08:11,940 –> 00:08:16,700 come through my grandchildren. And I know some of you dote on your grandchildren. 67 00:08:16,700 –> 00:08:23,519 You want to of met mine? Boy, these two lads were a pair of rascals. The older 68 00:08:23,519 –> 00:08:27,519 one was a wild kid, you don’t want to get on the wrong side of his temper. The 69 00:08:27,519 –> 00:08:34,820 younger one, they called Jacob, and he was as slippery as an eel, that boy could 70 00:08:34,820 –> 00:08:41,719 lie to your face, without blinking an eye. In fact he told so many lies, it was 71 00:08:41,719 –> 00:08:46,640 very hard to know when he was telling the truth. I said to Sarah, where in the 72 00:08:46,640 –> 00:08:55,640 world does he get that from? And she just gave me one of her withering looks. 73 00:08:55,640 –> 00:08:58,440 Anyway it didn’t take me long to figure out that neither of them were going to 74 00:08:58,440 –> 00:09:09,340 bring blessing to the world, and then I died. By the way some of God’s promises 75 00:09:09,340 –> 00:09:18,900 happen in your lifetime. Some of them happen after you die. That’s worth 76 00:09:18,900 –> 00:09:24,400 remembering. If we only hope in Christ for this life we’re gonna be the most 77 00:09:24,400 –> 00:09:30,179 miserable people in the world. I knew God’s blessing during my life here in 78 00:09:30,179 –> 00:09:35,820 this world but when I died I was still looking for and waiting for the great 79 00:09:35,960 –> 00:09:42,840 blessing that he had promised. Of course, after I died I had a grandstand view to 80 00:09:42,840 –> 00:09:49,039 watch how God would fulfill his marvelous promise. Well, Matthew takes up 81 00:09:49,039 –> 00:09:54,599 the story at the beginning of your New Testament. He says that there were 14 82 00:09:54,599 –> 00:10:02,400 generations from me until the time of David. David. Now there’s a son I was 83 00:10:02,400 –> 00:10:10,960 really proud of, at least most of the time. And then another 14 generations 84 00:10:10,960 –> 00:10:16,960 from David until the exile— what a miserable business that was! And then 85 00:10:16,960 –> 00:10:22,119 another 14 generations from the time of the exile until the coming of the Christ, 86 00:10:22,119 –> 00:10:29,280 that is, the one who God had promised to me. Now here’s what you need to 87 00:10:29,280 –> 00:10:36,380 understand about him—he was different from any of my other descendants. 88 00:10:36,380 –> 00:10:41,460 You look at the list of them there in Matthew and Chapter 1—I tell you what a 89 00:10:41,460 –> 00:10:48,099 family tree. There are a bunch of rascals in that list, I’ll tell you, but he was 90 00:10:48,099 –> 00:10:58,580 different. I said to Sarah, they all came from us, but he came to us. 91 00:10:58,580 –> 00:11:06,020 Thank God he didn’t have my old nature like all the others did. See that’s why 92 00:11:06,020 –> 00:11:12,460 he was born of a virgin. The 42 generations that came after me gave 93 00:11:12,460 –> 00:11:18,179 clear evidence to you and to everybody else that nobody that was coming from my 94 00:11:18,179 –> 00:11:24,080 seed could actually fulfil the promise of God. No the Son of God did not come 95 00:11:24,080 –> 00:11:32,000 from us, he came to us, and the miracle of grace was that he was born into my 96 00:11:32,000 –> 00:11:41,239 line. Now I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this but when he came one of the 97 00:11:41,239 –> 00:11:48,520 greatest conflicts of his life was an argument that was mainly about me. In 98 00:11:49,260 –> 00:11:55,419 fact the folks who opposed Jesus used my name, can you believe this they used my 99 00:11:55,419 –> 00:12:00,580 name to try and renounce him. Can you imagine what that was like for me? John 100 00:12:00,580 –> 00:12:04,239 records this story in chapter 8 of his Gospel and you can check it out there if 101 00:12:04,239 –> 00:12:10,419 you want to. It all began when Jesus said the most amazing thing he said, I am the 102 00:12:10,419 –> 00:12:16,460 Light of the world whoever follows me will never be in darkness but will 103 00:12:16,960 –> 00:12:22,239 have the light of life. Well the Pharisees who were listening to him 104 00:12:22,239 –> 00:12:27,020 didn’t like that and so they began to challenge him what right did he have to 105 00:12:27,020 –> 00:12:34,140 talk like this and to say these things. Jesus began to speak about his Father he 106 00:12:34,140 –> 00:12:41,020 said I stand with the father who sent me but they didn’t understand what he was 107 00:12:41,020 –> 00:12:45,880 saying about his father and so he said to them when you have lifted up the Son 108 00:12:45,960 –> 00:12:51,039 of man that was the name Jesus liked to use to refer to himself when you’ve 109 00:12:51,039 –> 00:12:57,340 lifted up the Son of man then you will know that I am the one that I claim to 110 00:12:57,340 –> 00:13:03,159 be. Well some folks started to believe on him as he was speaking to them and 111 00:13:03,159 –> 00:13:09,799 Jesus said to them if you hold to my teaching you will really be my disciples 112 00:13:09,919 –> 00:13:18,140 then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Now you only 113 00:13:18,140 –> 00:13:22,400 needed to say the word free and that one really got them going rather like I hear 114 00:13:22,400 –> 00:13:27,419 the word freedom gets you going in your country as well. It really annoyed them 115 00:13:27,419 –> 00:13:31,659 that Jesus was suggesting that somehow they weren’t free. They said we’re 116 00:13:31,659 –> 00:13:36,919 Abraham’s descendants. Well when they said that it got my attention you can 117 00:13:36,919 –> 00:13:41,700 imagine. We’ve never been the slaves of anybody they said which made me nearly 118 00:13:41,700 –> 00:13:46,559 fall off my chair. Had they forgotten the 400 years of slavery in Egypt? What 119 00:13:46,559 –> 00:13:49,919 about the seventy years in exile and what did they think was going on with 120 00:13:49,919 –> 00:13:55,239 the Roman army right outside the temple that where they were speaking? Never been 121 00:13:55,239 –> 00:13:59,979 slaves of anybody. Of course Jesus was talking about a 122 00:13:59,979 –> 00:14:07,979 deeper kind of slavery. I tell you the truth he said, everyone who sins is a 123 00:14:07,979 –> 00:14:17,299 slave to sin. I’ll tell you the 42 generations that came after me there 124 00:14:17,299 –> 00:14:27,760 wasn’t a single one who was without sin until he came and he said, if the Son of 125 00:14:28,099 –> 00:14:36,179 God sets you free then you will be free indeed. Well the crowd was getting really 126 00:14:36,179 –> 00:14:39,020 worked up about this. They began to appeal to me again. 127 00:14:39,020 –> 00:14:45,619 Abram is our father they said, as if that would make you free from sin. Isn’t it 128 00:14:45,619 –> 00:14:52,099 interesting how people get all worked up about race, as if the family or the 129 00:14:52,099 –> 00:14:57,419 country you were born into could somehow change or define your relationship with 130 00:14:57,440 –> 00:15:03,340 God. I wanted to shout down to them, don’t say Abraham’s our father. Abraham needed a 131 00:15:03,340 –> 00:15:09,780 Savior and so do you! But of course they couldn’t hear me. Then Jesus said 132 00:15:09,780 –> 00:15:17,520 something that really pushed them over the edge. He said, I tell you the truth, if 133 00:15:17,700 –> 00:15:27,780 anyone keeps my word he will never see death. I’ll tell you I was smiling when 134 00:15:27,780 –> 00:15:33,000 he said that because I’m the living proof of it. Here I was, someone who had 135 00:15:33,000 –> 00:15:38,059 lived centuries before and had died and along with all the others with me we 136 00:15:38,059 –> 00:15:45,760 were rejoicing in the Lord. But the crowd went wild, now we know your demon 137 00:15:45,760 –> 00:15:54,900 possessed. Someone said. Demon possessed? Abraham died, they said, and you say that 138 00:15:54,900 –> 00:15:59,020 if anyone keeps your word they will never see death? Do you think you’re 139 00:15:59,020 –> 00:16:02,760 greater than Abraham? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I wanted to shout 140 00:16:02,760 –> 00:16:11,580 at them, of course he’s greater than me. But they couldn’t hear that. Who do you 141 00:16:11,580 –> 00:16:16,799 think you are they said to Jesus. I cringed as they said that don’t they 142 00:16:16,799 –> 00:16:25,840 know who he is? And then Jesus said to them your father Abraham rejoiced at the 143 00:16:25,840 –> 00:16:35,159 thought of seeing my day. He saw it and rejoiced in it and then he said I tell 144 00:16:35,299 –> 00:16:47,679 you the truth before Abraham was I AM. The Son of God whose glory had appeared 145 00:16:47,679 –> 00:16:57,460 to me was now standing in the flesh before them and you know what they did? 146 00:16:58,280 –> 00:17:10,400 They picked up stones to kill him but Jesus time had not yet come He slipped 147 00:17:10,400 –> 00:17:19,920 away from that crowd but I’ll tell you when his time did come his death was 148 00:17:19,920 –> 00:17:28,140 much worse than stoning. I can’t tell you what it was like for me to watch the 149 00:17:28,140 –> 00:17:32,979 suffering of the one who had been promised, the one whose glory appeared to 150 00:17:32,979 –> 00:17:44,060 me but he was arrested and he was condemned and he was scourged and they 151 00:17:44,060 –> 00:17:57,119 spat on him and he was nailed and he was crucified. I’ll tell you my mind went 152 00:17:57,119 –> 00:18:05,020 back to a story you might have heard about me. God had told me to take my son 153 00:18:05,020 –> 00:18:13,180 Isaac up a mountain called Mariah and sacrifice him there. I can’t tell you 154 00:18:13,339 –> 00:18:21,180 what agonies I went through but when the moment came God intervened and he said 155 00:18:21,180 –> 00:18:26,199 don’t lay a hand on that boy, don’t do anything to him and I looked up and 156 00:18:26,199 –> 00:18:33,540 there was a ram caught in a bush. God provided a sacrifice to save my son’s 157 00:18:33,540 –> 00:18:42,920 life and mine as well so I called that place the Lord will provide. Now here’s 158 00:18:42,920 –> 00:18:49,459 the amazing thing the one who called to me from heaven and saved my son’s life 159 00:18:49,459 –> 00:19:00,400 and mine, I was now watching him hanging on a cross becoming the sacrifice God 160 00:19:00,400 –> 00:19:09,900 provided in my place. God spared my son but he did not spare 161 00:19:09,900 –> 00:19:21,260 his own son but gave him up freely for all of you. You often think about what 162 00:19:21,260 –> 00:19:28,300 it cost the Son of God to give himself for you. I often think about what it 163 00:19:28,339 –> 00:19:40,900 cost God the father to give his son for you. That’s an amazing love. God 164 00:19:40,900 –> 00:19:48,000 demonstrates his love for us in this. That while we were still sinners, rebels 165 00:19:48,699 –> 00:19:52,300 there was justice against him. 166 00:19:52,300 –> 00:19:56,140 Christ died for us. 167 00:19:58,959 –> 00:20:04,520 When he died there was silence in 168 00:20:06,920 –> 00:20:09,819 But that’s not the end of the story. 169 00:20:09,819 –> 00:20:14,939 Jesus said No one takes my life from me. 170 00:20:15,380 –> 00:20:19,119 And I have the power to take it up again. 171 00:20:19,119 –> 00:20:22,260 And on the third day he burst out of the grave, 172 00:20:22,260 –> 00:20:24,359 triumphing over death. 173 00:20:24,359 –> 00:20:28,079 No wonder he said if anyone keeps my word 174 00:20:28,079 –> 00:20:30,119 he will never see death. 175 00:20:30,119 –> 00:20:32,699 The sting of death is sin. 176 00:20:32,699 –> 00:20:36,719 And the power of sin is that we have broken God’s law. 177 00:20:36,719 –> 00:20:40,300 But thanks be to God he gives us victory 178 00:20:40,300 –> 00:20:43,640 through Jesus Christ our Lord. 179 00:20:43,640 –> 00:20:48,140 See, Jesus did not come to join his people in our sins, 180 00:20:49,000 –> 00:20:51,699 like all of the 42 generations that came after me 181 00:20:51,699 –> 00:20:53,219 and have ever lived since him. 182 00:20:54,140 –> 00:20:58,880 No, he came to save his people from our sins 183 00:20:58,880 –> 00:21:01,680 and from death and from hell 184 00:21:01,680 –> 00:21:04,640 and to give us life in his presence forever. 185 00:21:04,640 –> 00:21:07,599 And that is the promise of the gospel. 186 00:21:09,359 –> 00:21:13,160 Do you know, Jesus said something else about me 187 00:21:13,239 –> 00:21:14,599 that’s very important. 188 00:21:15,760 –> 00:21:17,359 He said this, 189 00:21:18,599 –> 00:21:21,560 many people, he said, 190 00:21:21,560 –> 00:21:26,119 will come from the East and from the West. 191 00:21:26,119 –> 00:21:28,520 And he said these folks from the East and the West 192 00:21:28,520 –> 00:21:31,780 would take their places at the feast 193 00:21:31,780 –> 00:21:36,780 with Isaac, Jacob, and Me in the kingdom of heaven. 194 00:21:37,160 –> 00:21:38,540 Don’t you love that? 195 00:21:38,540 –> 00:21:42,500 Many from the West, you’re about as far West 196 00:21:42,500 –> 00:21:44,579 from where I lived, as you can go. 197 00:21:46,119 –> 00:21:48,040 That means many from among you 198 00:21:49,000 –> 00:21:52,280 will be at the feast with Me and Isaac and Jacob 199 00:21:52,280 –> 00:21:53,420 in the kingdom of heaven. 200 00:21:53,420 –> 00:21:56,760 And I hope that I will be seeing you there. 201 00:21:59,040 –> 00:22:02,020 And then Jesus said something else about Me 202 00:22:02,020 –> 00:22:03,660 to those who rejected Him. 203 00:22:04,739 –> 00:22:09,260 He said that they would see Isaac and they would see Jacob 204 00:22:09,260 –> 00:22:10,780 and they would see Me. 205 00:22:11,780 –> 00:22:14,199 Feasting in the kingdom of heaven 206 00:22:14,199 –> 00:22:17,739 but they themselves would be thrown outside. 207 00:22:19,959 –> 00:22:22,739 I hope that won’t be true of any of you. 208 00:22:24,800 –> 00:22:26,859 Let Me tell you in this last moment 209 00:22:28,699 –> 00:22:33,699 how you can be sure that you will be with Me 210 00:22:35,060 –> 00:22:40,060 in that great feast that launches the eternal joy 211 00:22:40,060 –> 00:22:44,239 of Life that is promised through Jesus Christ. 212 00:22:45,500 –> 00:22:47,400 I want you to understand this clearly 213 00:22:47,400 –> 00:22:51,020 that I lived 2,000 years before Him. 214 00:22:51,020 –> 00:22:53,339 You guys lived 2,000 years after Him. 215 00:22:54,599 –> 00:22:58,800 But we are saved in exactly the same way. 216 00:22:59,739 –> 00:23:03,160 Paul describes how that happened for me 217 00:23:03,160 –> 00:23:05,959 and it’s exactly the same for you. 218 00:23:05,959 –> 00:23:07,459 Here’s what he says, you can check this out 219 00:23:07,459 –> 00:23:08,739 in Romans chapter four. 220 00:23:08,739 –> 00:23:13,119 He said, Abraham believed God 221 00:23:13,119 –> 00:23:17,839 and it was credited to him as righteousness. 222 00:23:18,819 –> 00:23:20,180 Here’s what that means. 223 00:23:21,060 –> 00:23:24,920 Faith is the way in which Christ’s death 224 00:23:24,920 –> 00:23:27,599 becomes my righteousness. 225 00:23:27,599 –> 00:23:31,040 It is by faith that what Jesus Christ 226 00:23:31,040 –> 00:23:34,140 accomplished on the cross was applied to me. 227 00:23:34,140 –> 00:23:36,839 It is by faith that what Jesus accomplished 228 00:23:36,859 –> 00:23:40,000 on the cross is applied to you 229 00:23:40,000 –> 00:23:41,560 so that we might be brought 230 00:23:41,560 –> 00:23:44,739 into a right relationship with God. 231 00:23:44,739 –> 00:23:47,020 Although I was a sinner, 232 00:23:48,459 –> 00:23:51,339 by faith what He did on the cross 233 00:23:51,339 –> 00:23:54,459 is applied to me so that I in Him 234 00:23:54,459 –> 00:23:57,020 am counted righteous before God. 235 00:23:57,020 –> 00:23:59,260 That’s what God did for me. 236 00:23:59,260 –> 00:24:01,300 That’s what He did for Isaac. 237 00:24:01,300 –> 00:24:02,900 That’s what He did for Jacob. 238 00:24:02,900 –> 00:24:05,260 And that is what God will do 239 00:24:05,359 –> 00:24:10,140 for all who believe in His Son Jesus Christ. 240 00:24:10,140 –> 00:24:13,300 I trusted Jesus looking forward to Him. 241 00:24:13,300 –> 00:24:15,339 You must trust this same Jesus 242 00:24:15,339 –> 00:24:17,400 looking back to Him, the One who 243 00:24:17,400 –> 00:24:20,939 came for you, who died for you, 244 00:24:20,939 –> 00:24:22,859 and who rose again for you. 245 00:24:23,719 –> 00:24:27,119 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 246 00:24:28,079 –> 00:24:31,359 and His righteousness will be yours. 247 00:24:32,239 –> 00:24:35,300 My Savior will be yours 248 00:24:36,280 –> 00:24:39,079 and together for all eternity 249 00:24:39,079 –> 00:24:44,079 we will share the blessing of God in His presence.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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Christmas Stories brings a fresh perspective on the birth of Jesus as seen through the eyes of those who were there! Speaking in the first person voice of characters such as Joseph, Herod, the Angels, and others, Pastor Colin recalls the story of the coming of Jesus and the hope this gives to all humanity.

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