"Abraham and Sarah's Land" (Genesis 23)

“Abraham and Sarah’s Land” (Genesis 23)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM March 13, 2016
Genesis 23 (NIV)

23 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

3 Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites.  He said, 4 “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”

5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”

7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”

10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. 11 “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give  you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

12 Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”

14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.

17 So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded 18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
1.    The Faithfulness of God
a.    In fulfilling his promise to give Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan.
b.    In fulfilling his promise to give Abraham and Sarah a son.
c.    In fulfilling his promise to make Abraham great and give him a “name” among the peoples of the land.
d.    In fulfilling his promise to bless others through Abraham.
2.    The Faith of Abraham
a.    In recognizing his pilgrim status in the land (3–6), but trusting God to bless him with the land in the future.
b.    In choosing to purchase a burial plot in Canaan and not back in Haran, demonstrating his commitment to the Lord’s call and his faith in God’s promise to give him this land.
c.    In choosing the location of Sarah’s burial place – at one of the original sacred sites where Abraham worshiped God when he first came into the land of Canaan and where the Lord appeared to him (Gen 13:18; 14:13; 18:1).
d.    In his humble negotiations with the Hittites, the people of the land, trusting God to bless him with what he needed.
e.    In his faithful and dependable interactions with the Hittites.
f.    In his looking to the future inheritance of the land by his descendants as the Lord promised.
i.    Hebron/Mamre became the central dwelling place of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (18:1; 23:2; 35:27; 37:14)
ii.    Abraham is buried there with Sarah (25:9)
iii.    Isaac/Rebecca and Jacob/Leah are buried there (49:28–33; 50:13)
g.    In trusting that God would keep his promises even after Sarah (and Abraham) were gone.
i.    The death of Sarah reminds us that God’s covenant people still go through the common disappointments and struggles in this world.
ii.    God’s promises do not always come to full blossom in our lifetimes. They certainly didn’t in Abraham’s. The writer of Hebrews tells us that he was looking for a better city.
Main Idea: Abraham’s purchase of a burial plot for Sarah in Canaan teaches us the faithfulness of God in keeping his promises and provides us a model of faith in God, trusting God to keep his Word even when the fullness of those promises have not yet matured.

"The Ultimate Test of Faith" (Genesis 22)

Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM March 6, 2016
Genesis 22:1–24 (NIV)


22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,  because you have obeyed me.”

19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

20 Some time later Abraham was told, “Milkah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maakah.

"Promises and Provision" (Genesis 21:22-34)

"Promises and Provision" (Genesis 21:22-34)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, February 28, 2016
Genesis 21:22–34 (NIV)

22 At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. 23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”

24 Abraham said, “I swear it.”

25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized. 26 But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”

27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty. 28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29 and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”

30 He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”

31 So that place was called Beersheba,  because the two men swore an oath there.

32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
1. Abraham is Prospering by the grace of God.
2. Abraham is Promising as a reflection of the God who makes and keeps promises.
3. Abraham is Praising God for his provision.
Main Idea: Let us be true and honest in our dealings with all
people, and let us always give thanks to the God who provides us with what we
need in this life.

"The Best Is Yet to Come" (Ruth 4)

"The Best Is Yet to Come" (Ruth 4:1-22)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, February 28, 2016
Ruth 4:1–22 (NIV)


4 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer  he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. 3 Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.”

“I will redeem it,” he said.

5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”

6 At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”

7 (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)

8 So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.

9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!”

11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.


18 This, then, is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

19 Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

21 Salmon the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

22 Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, NIV)
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39, NIV) 
1.    The path that God has planned for our good is not always a smooth, straight path (vv. 1, 4; 3:12–13).
2.    We have a responsibility to face life’s challenges with wisdom and righteousness (vv. 1–10).
3.    When the good that God has planned for us comes to pass, we should respond with joy and praise (vv. 11–17).
4.    We must remember that the good that God is doing in our lives may not be fully realized during our lifetimes (vv. 18–22).

"God Fulfills His Word" (Genesis 21:1-21)

"God Fulfills His Word" (Genesis 21:1-21)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, February 21, 2016
Genesis 21:1–21 (NIV)

21 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac  to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.

15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.

17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
1. In God’s own timing, He will fulfill his Word (vv. 1–7).The Lord fulfills his promises at the appointed time (1–2).The fulfillment of the promise provides opportunity for obedience (3–5).The fulfillment of the promise prompts great rejoicing (6–7).2. The fulfillment of God’s plan is not hindered by our failures (vv. 8–21).God’s sovereign plan to fulfill his promises is not challenged by the consequences of our failures (vv. 8–13).God’s sovereign plan often graciously turns our failures into blessing (14–21).Main Idea: God keeps his promises in his own time, and his plan is never hindered by our failures.

"Grace Greater than Our Sin" (Genesis 20)

"Grace Greater than Our Sin" (Genesis 20)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, February 14, 2016
Genesis 20 (NIV)
20 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”

4 Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”

8 Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” 10 And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”

11 Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ 12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

14 Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”

16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”

17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, 18 for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah. 1. Abraham’s deception put the promised blessing in jeopardy (vv. 1–2). 2. God intervened in order to protect the promised blessing (vv. 3–7).3. Abraham’s deception is confronted by the pagan King Abimelech (vv. 8–13).4. God graciously turned Abraham’s lack of trust into an opportunity to bless him (vv. 14–18).Main Idea: God’s grace can conquer our failures. There is grace that is greater than our sin.

"Behind the Scenes" (Ruth 2)

"Behind the Scenes" (Ruth 2)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, February 14, 2016
Ruth 2 (NIV)


2 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.

2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.

4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”

“The Lord bless you!” they answered.

5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”

8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

13 “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.  18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

20 “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers. ”

21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’ ”

22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
1.    God delights in accomplishing his purposes through the everyday circumstances of life (vv. 1-3).God works through our human relationships.God works through our use of practical wisdom and diligence.God works through events and circumstances that seem purely coincidental from our perspective.2.    God delights in using men and women of noble character to accomplish his purposes (vv. 4-17).**Both Boaz and Ruth are described in the book as a man and woman of noble character.Those who treat others with dignity (v. 4)Those who show compassion for the needy (v. 5)Those who work diligently (vv. 6–7)Those who give generously to others (vv. 8–9, 14–17)Those who treat strangers/foreigners with kindness (v. 10)Those who sacrifice for the well-being of others (v. 11).Those who entrust their lives to the hand of God (v. 12).Those who display gratitude and humility (vv. 10, 13).3.    God delights in working out his purposes in ways that we do not expect (vv. 18-23).God may not work out his plans in our life exactly the way that we expected or even hoped. Because God may have something in mind for you better than what you had expected or hoped for.Main Idea: God delights in working out his purposes in order that he might show us his grace.

"A Lamentable Legacy" (Genesis 19:30-38)

"A Lamentable Legacy" (Genesis 19:30-38)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, February 7, 2016
Genesis 19:30–38 (NIV)

30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites  of today.Main Ideas: When you live comfortably in this
world, the pleasures and values of the world may invade your heart and the
hearts of your family members.
God’s sovereign grace
can turn any situation into good for his glory.

"Bitter and Sweet Providence" (Ruth 1)

"Bitter and Sweet Providence" (Ruth 1)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, February 7, 2016
Ruth 1:1–22 (NIV)

1 In the days when the judges ruled,  there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons—13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”

14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty  has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
1.    Pain and suffering are a part of this life (vv. 1–5).Sometimes we experience suffering because of our own bad choices.We also experience suffering because we live in a sin-cursed world.Ultimately, everything that happens is a part of God’s plan.2.    We must respond with trust in God in the midst of our suffering (vv. 6–21).We must not respond with bitterness.Instead, we should trust in God.3.    Everything that God does is for our good and for his glory (vv. 6, 18, 22).Main Idea: In the midst of the trials of life, we need to respond with trust in God because everything he does is for our good and for his glory.

"A Just and Righteous King" (Psalm 72)

“A Just and Righteous King” (Psalm 72)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, January 31, 2016
Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,

the royal son with your righteousness.

2 May he judge your people in righteousness,

your afflicted ones with justice.

3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,

the hills the fruit of righteousness.

4 May he defend the afflicted among the people

and save the children of the needy;

may he crush the oppressor.

5 May he endure  as long as the sun,

as long as the moon, through all generations.

6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,

like showers watering the earth.

7 In his days may the righteous flourish

and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

8 May he rule from sea to sea

and from the River  to the ends of the earth.

9 May the desert tribes bow before him

and his enemies lick the dust.

10 May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores

bring tribute to him.

May the kings of Sheba and Seba

present him gifts.

11 May all kings bow down to him

and all nations serve him.

12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,

the afflicted who have no one to help.

13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy

and save the needy from death.

14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,

for precious is their blood in his sight.

15 Long may he live!

May gold from Sheba be given him.

May people ever pray for him

and bless him all day long.

16 May grain abound throughout the land;

on the tops of the hills may it sway.

May the crops flourish like Lebanon

and thrive like the grass of the field.

17 May his name endure forever;

may it continue as long as the sun.

Then all nations will be blessed through him,

and they will call him blessed.

18 Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,

who alone does marvelous deeds.

19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Amen and Amen.

20 This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.
1.    Prayer for God’s Anointed King (1)2.    A Just and Righteous Kingdom (2–4)3.    An Enduring Kingdom (5–7)4.    A Universal Kingdom (8–11)5.    A Compassionate Kingdom (12–14)6.    A Prosperous Kingdom (15–17)7.    Praise to God the Universal King (18–20)Main Idea: God’s ideal anointed King would rule his people with justice, righteousness, and compassion, and the kingdom would flourish forever under his rule. This kingdom will ultimately come in the reign of Jesus the Messiah, and the whole world will be blessed under his reign.

"Justice and Mercy" (Genesis 19:1-29)

"Justice and Mercy" (Genesis 19:1-29)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, January 24, 2016
Genesis 19:1–29 (NIV)


19 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”

16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar. )

23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
1. Lot's Insistent Hospitality (1-3)2. Sodom's Wicked Violence (4-9)3. The Angels' Insistent Hospitality (10-22)4. The LORD's Righteous Violence (23-29)Main Idea: In his holiness God judges the wicked, but in mercy he saves a remnant. Those whose hearts remain loyal to the world will perish with the world.

"Abraham the Intercessor" (Genesis 18:16-33)

"Abraham the Intercessor" (Genesis 18:16-33)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, January 17, 2016
Genesis 18:16–33 (NIV)


16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.  23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”

“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”

He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
1. The Lord reveals his righteous and merciful character to his covenant people (16-21).2. The Lord's covenant people should intercede before the Lord on behalf of those who stand in danger of judgment (22-33).Main Idea: As his redeemed covenant people, we have been given the privilege of knowing the righteousness and justice of God; let us then be faithful in interceding before our God on behalf of those who are in danger of his judgment.

"The Sign of the Covenant" (Genesis 17:1-27)

“The Sign of the Covenant” (Genesis 17:1–27)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, January 3, 2016Genesis 17:1–27 (NIV)

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham,  for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.  I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
1.    God obligates himself in covenant to his people (1–8).2.    God’s people are called to obligate themselves in covenant to God through covenant signs (9–14).3.    God honors his covenant obligations by keeping his promises (15–22).4.    God’s people honor their covenant obligations through obedience and participation in the covenant signs (23–27).Main Idea: God graciously enters into covenants with his people and obligates himself to fulfill his promises. God’s people must respond in faith and obedience by obligating themselves to God’s covenant and its accompanying signs.

"The Lord Reigns" (Psalm 96)

“The Lord Reigns” (Psalm 96)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, December 27, 2015Psalm 96:1–13 (NIV)

1 Sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth.

2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name;

proclaim his salvation day after day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

he is to be feared above all gods.

5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

6 Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

bring an offering and come into his courts.

9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;

tremble before him, all the earth.

10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”

The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;

he will judge the peoples with equity.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

let the sea resound, and all that is in it.

12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;

let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,

he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples in his faithfulness.
The Gospel (Good News) is not just about the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The full Gospel message must include the declaration of the glorious reign of Messiah.1.    The Lord’s Reign is Universal (1–3).2.    The Lord’s Reign is Victorious (4–6).3.    The Lord’s Reign is Glorious (7–10).4.    The Lord’s Reign is Righteous and Just (11–13).Main Idea: The Good News (the Gospel) is that the Lord has come in the person of Jesus the Christ to conquer all evil powers and rule over the whole world in splendor and righteousness.

“The Lord Our Righteous Savior” (Jeremiah 23:5–6; 33:14–16)

“The Lord Our Righteous Savior” (Jeremiah 23:5–6; 33:14–16)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday AM, December 20, 20155 "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.  6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior. (Jer. 23:5-6, NIV)14 "'The days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.  15 "'In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land.  16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior.' (Jer. 33:14-16, NIV)1.    He is a Branch from the line of David.2.    He will be called the LORD = the covenant name of God. 3.    He will be called the Righteous One. 4.    He will be called the Savior. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matt. 1:21, NIV)Main Idea: Jesus, the child born in Bethlehem, is the long awaited Son of David, our Righteous Savior, and God in the flesh…. Let us Worship and Adore Him!

"The King's Highway" (Isaiah 35)

"The King's Highway" (Isaiah 35)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, December 13, 2015
Isaiah 35:1–10 (NIV)

35 The desert and the parched land will be glad;

the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;

it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.

3 Strengthen the feeble hands,

steady the knees that give way;

4 say to those with fearful hearts,

“Be strong, do not fear;

your God will come,

he will come with vengeance;

with divine retribution

he will come to save you.”

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert.

7 The burning sand will become a pool,

the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

In the haunts where jackals once lay,

grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there;

it will be called the Way of Holiness;

it will be for those who walk on that Way.

The unclean will not journey on it;

wicked fools will not go about on it.

9 No lion will be there,

nor any ravenous beast;

they will not be found there.

But only the redeemed will walk there,

10 and those the Lord has rescued will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away. From a desert to a garden (1-2, 6b-7).From fear to courage (3-4).From sickness to health (5-6a).From impurity to holiness (8-10a).From sorrow to joy (10b).Main Idea: The future hope of God’s people is an eternal place of sustenance, strength, wholeness, purity, and joy in the presence of God.

"Impatient Faith" (Genesis 16:1-16)

"Impatient Faith" (Genesis 16:1-16)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, December 6, 2015
Genesis 16 (NIV)


16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:

“You are now pregnant

and you will give birth to a son.

You shall name him Ishmael, 

for the Lord has heard of your misery.

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;

his hand will be against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he will live in hostility

toward all his brothers.”

13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. Main Idea:
When
we ignore God’s Word and impatiently take matters into our own hands, the
consequences are devastating.

"The Abrahamic Covenant" (Genesis 15:7-21)

"The Abrahamic Covenant" (Genesis 15:7-21)Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, November 29, 2015
Genesis 15 (NIV)

15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield, 

your very great reward. ”

2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”

8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”

9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” Main Idea: The God who makes and keeps his covenant with Abram is the same God who makes and keeps his covenant with those whom Christ has redeemed.

"Justified by Faith" (Genesis 15:1-6)

Eastside Baptist ChurchPastor Cameron JungelsSunday AM, November 15, 2015
Genesis 15:1–6 (NIV)


15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield, 

your very great reward. ”

2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Main Idea: When we put our trust in what God has
done for us, his righteousness becomes our righteousness.

"To the Rescue" (Genesis 14:1-24)

Pastor Cameron JungelsEastside Baptist ChurchSunday PM, November 8, 2015
Genesis 14:1-24
14 At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar,  Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim, 2 these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.

8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Creator of heaven and earth.

20 And praise be to God Most High,

who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share."Main Idea: Faith trusts God to deliver. Faith trusts God to provide. Faith trusts God to keep his Word.