Video Transcript: God’s Covenant with Abraham
David - So if you follow along, and kind of keeping track of how many lessons there are where we're at, at this point, you would see that we're about halfway through, you might start to think, Alright, 12 out of 24 halfway through this process, but we want to encourage you not to think that way, because that misses the point in a variety of different ways. You know, as you're walking this journey with somebody else, the reality is there may be things we need to camp out more here or there. This is very fluid, it's not okay, I just got to check these boxes off week after week after week, then that misses the point. And then remember, this has all about a lifestyle. And so just to continue to bring back in, okay, the person or people you're deciphering? Are they? Are they already starting to teach some of these things to other people? Are you encouraging them to do that? Or is that? Is that being reproduced in their life? Are they planning to do that soon? And so this is a continual process. It's not just okay. Once I get to this, I'll check this off and gotta make sure.
Francis - I also think it's a good time, though, for you to evaluate yourself as a leader going, Okay, does this person know me yet? You know, are they really seeing my life? Or have I just been going through a study because and I can't emphasize enough, that's where we learn. That's where our kids learn. That's where we learn from our parents wasn't so much the lessons they taught us, but
we saw the way they lived, you know, was caught not taught, you know, they say we saw we caught, I mean, I remember, when I was in college, the first year in college, I lived with this family, this, this couple with a young baby. And I had no idea just for that one year living with them. That years later, when I got married. It's crazy. I naturally did what that husband because he was such a role model to me, like the way I would treat my wife, I think, what would Mike do in this situation? You know, and then once I had a kid, as a man, what would Mike do, because he was such a great father, such a good dad. And it's weird how he never sat me down and said, Hey, this is how you treat your wife, or this is how you raise your kids or, you know, this is how you share your faith. I just naturally caught it. And so it's a good time for you to think through. Okay, is that happening here? Am I really sharing my life as well as the word you know, like Paul says, I You saw my life? So is that happening?
David - So avoid getting into just Bible Study mode in this whole picture? Yes, there's Bible study. We're teaching people to obey everything Christ has commanded us. But it's so much more than that. And that's really even illustrated in this this lesson. Because this is this is a critical picture in the story of Scripture when we see God enter into a covenant with His people through Abraham. Now, there's some words in here that you kind of tossed around in the church sometimes that I think we don't always really understand what we're saying. But covenant is a picture of relationship that's built on promise. And, and
the storyline of scripture really revolves around God initiating covenant relationship with his people, God saying, I'm going to make some promises to you to be faithful to you that I'm going to keep those promises to you. And that's the basis upon which our relationship with Christ is built.
Frasncis - Yeah. And let your disciple admit, if they don't understand, like, almost pull it out of him, like, Are you sure you understand what covenant means? That's kind of, you know, he understands like a promise, you know, bringing out redemption. I mean, that's, that's spoken of a lot in the material. But redemption, I didn't understand what that word meant, until someone broke it down simply and said, it's like a bottle, you know, you see how it went on, you know, like, on a glass bottle or whatever, it'll say, redemption value, five cents. And like, okay, that's redemption, that means this thing was gonna be tossed in the trash. And someone's gonna say no, give that to me. I'll give you a nickel for it, you know, I want that I'm pulling it out. And it was like, Oh, I get it now. So my purpose for Yeah, after the fall, yeah, after the fall, it's like, throw me away, I'm a waste and God saying no, no, I want to purchase I want to, I want that there's actually a value to that. In fact, I'll pay for that. And, you know, jumping ahead of myself, but you know, it's that whole idea of, I'll pay I'll pay with the cross. It's that valuable, the redemption value. And so explain these things simply as you're explaining to your disciple because you want them to be able to repeat it,
David - you know, even a word like faith. So that that's that's it, but what is faith really mean? I mean, this is more than just intellectual belief that that and that's where a lot of people kind of stop with faith. Okay, I believe that Sure. But let's just put your life in the in I mean, basically staking your life on a promise that God is going to be faithful and and trusting Him with everything and following Him that to really flesh out that idea of faith.
Francis - Yeah, I just want to say, the stupidest thing I ever did at church. Okay, I'm a visual person. So that's why I'm telling you about a bottle or whatever, you know, it's just the way my mind works. But I wanted to get that explanation of faith and what does it mean to believe and please don't do this ever. Like this is I did not model this don't follow my example on this, but it is a good story. One time I was teaching, and I brought this little balloon to church, you know, probably about the size of my fist, and I just taped the to a wall, you know, on the other side of the stage, and I brought a BB gun. And so I stood, stood on the other end stage, and I go, how many guys believe I can hit this and it's about 80% of them, you know, raise their hand. And so I said, Okay, how many of you are willing to hold that in your hand, then? You know, and some of them kept their hand out, you know? And I said, Okay, would anyone stick this between their teeth? You know, and this one guy kept his hand up. And I didn't think
anyone would. So I like, come on forward, you know. And I actually just in case, there was someone, you know, I had this medical release form, and I had him fill it out and sign his name, you had him fill it out, I did right in front of everyone. So
he signed it, he gets, and I didn't think, you know, I'm trying to scare him, because I'm thinking, you know, he;s not going to do it. So he's all the way on the other side of the stage. And he sticks this thing between his teeth and just, you know, it's just smiling going sideways. And so I want to just scare him. So I pulled the BB gun up, right up, you know, look in the scope thinking he's gonna get scared. And you know, that was gonna put it down. And guys, just kidding, you know. But once I got lined up, I thought I could hit this. And I pulled the trigger. And I just, everyone was so mad. I thought everyone would be like, yeah, everyone's just like, are you stupid? What are you 12? Well, you know, attorneys are coming up to me, like, you could have lost the whole church and, and so pleased that that was dumb, but it was a good illustration. I was really stupid. It was stupid. But my point was at the end, I'm going, Okay, how many believers were in the room? How many true believers? Was it? The 80% of you that raised your hands? And yeah, I would do Yeah, I think you'll hit it. Was it? You know, the few of you that sit on hold it, you know, the tip of my fingers? Or is it the guy that's going to stick it between his teeth And everyone's like, there was one believer in the room. And, and it was just that idea of faith. That was Abraham, Abraham was saying, You know what, I'll leave. You say, I'm gonna have a new nation, everything else. I'm gonna stick this thing between my teeth, and I'm gonna go for it. And those are the things we want to make sure people understand. When we say believe in Jesus and Abraham believed in God. That's what we're talking about. He stuck it between his teeth. There was an action that went with his posted belief.
David - So flesh out these words, these really important Biblical words, in the context of sharing life with the people that you're discipling